Shirley Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 15 months of the Education Review Office and Shirley Primary School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

Shirley Primary School is located in Shirley, Christchurch and caters for learners from Years 1 to 6. It is a member of Ōtākaro Kāhui Ako with several other local schools and early childhood centres. The school’s vision for all is to Reach for the stars / Whāia te iti kahurangi.

Shirley Primary School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• increasing community engagement from all stakeholders to improve learner outcomes

• implementing a culturally relevant localised curriculum so that each child is able to achieve academic success

• creating a school culture which is reflective of the school’s vision and values.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Shirley Primary School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the curriculum, teaching and learning support equity and excellence in literacy for diverse learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school’s data picture identifies scope to further grow achievement, progress and engagement - including for Māori and Pacific learners, and for the high proportion of English language learners

• senior leaders are seeking to review and refine existing curriculum guidelines and teaching approaches

• Professional development has been sought to build capability in literacy teaching, including the introduction of a structured literacy approach.

The school expects to see students supported to achieve to their potential, engaged in authentic and meaningful learning experiences. The teaching team will demonstrate effective and consistent literacy practices that systematically build on students’ strengths and prior knowledge. Curriculum pedagogy and practices will be purposefully and collaboratively grown and sustained. The school will engage with whānau and families to deliberately foster learners’ enjoyment and success in reading and writing. Students and families will share their perspectives in a learning partnership with the school, where adaptations to teaching and learning approaches are highly responsive to their ideas and aspirations.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to strengthen and sustain effective literacy practices that promote success for diverse learners:

• an embedded relational and inclusive culture, underpinned by shared values

• well-considered leadership structures, designed to create and sustain shared expectations of quality practices, and purposefully grow teacher capability

• collaborative and supportive teaching teams, purposefully sharing expertise to support greater learner wellbeing and success.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• using an ERO evaluation plan to further inform existing strategic and annual planning

• reviewing and refining literacy guiding documents based on best-practice evidence and research from professional development, to develop a coherent literacy learning pathway and practice expectations

• engaging with Māori whānau, Pacific communities and English language learners in the evaluation for improvement journey for literacy.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

16 August 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home