Ashburton College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 19 months of the Education Review Office and Ashburton College 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 

Ashburton College is a large co-educational secondary school located in Mid Canterbury. It provides education for students in years 9 to 13. The college’s values are Quality | Te Ata Pai, Pride | Manawa Whakahīhī, and Respect | Whakaute. Its vision is that learners will be engaged in learning for life, collaborative, connected and creative. The vision is used to inform the development of learning programmes.

Ashburton College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• raise student achievement through being future-focused, culturally responsive, learner-centred, challenging, opportunity-rich, and meeting the diverse needs of all ākonga
• accelerate progress for identified priority learners, including Māori and Pacific students.

A copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan can be requested from Ashburton College.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of programmes and initiatives targeting the achievement and engagement of year 11 and 12 Māori students who need this.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the school has: 

• identified the need to continue to accelerate the achievement of Māori
• committed to embedding bi-culturalism and acknowledgment of Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles across its programmes and operations.

The school expects to see improved achievement and engagement outcomes for Māori, tracking towards equity with the overall cohort.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the impact of programmes and supports targeting the achievement and engagement of year 11 and 12 Māori students who need this:

• a strategic plan for Māori achievement has been developed, in consultation with Māori, and is informing initiatives
• a cross-curricular programme, based on the principles of culturally responsive pedagogies through a te ao Māori lens, was introduced in 2021 and provides a platform for development into the senior school
• targeted year 11 programmes, introduced in 2022, are contributing to lifting achievement for Māori
• the majority of teachers have increased their capabilities in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and biculturalism through formalised professional learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• increasing consultation and engagement with whānau Māori and mana whenua to inform decision-making and measure progress
• embedding bicultural partnerships in the school’s culture, environment, leadership, and learning
• strategically evaluating data to measure the impact of programmes and initiatives towards improving equity and excellence for Māori.

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

18 March 2024 

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