Geraldine High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 29 months of the Education Review Office and Geraldine High 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

Geraldine High School is located in South Canterbury and provides education for students in Years 7 to 13. The school describes itself as a co-educational school in a rural environment with a vision to inspire and empower individuals. The key values of Whakatutukitanga | Achievement; Manaakitanga | Respect; Rangatiratanga | Responsibility; and Whanaungatanga | Relationships, inform school life. 

Geraldine High School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• create meaningful connections
• foster self-awareness and belief
• be motivated to reach their highest potential.

A copy of the school’s strategic plan can be requested from Geraldine High School.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well teacher practices respond to students’ identified needs, strengths, and cultures, in order to address disparity.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to: 

• address identified areas of disparity for some learners, including the achievement of boys
• better support students who identify as Māori to succeed as Māori. 

The school expects to see:

• improved student achievement, with accelerated progress for boys in particular
• increased student confidence in articulating their own progress and identifying their next steps for learning
• consistent practice in teacher planning, pedagogy, assessment, and reporting.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how well teacher practices respond to students’ identified needs, strengths, and culture, in order to address disparity.

• Facilitated opportunities to engage Māori whānau inform school reviews to bring about improvements.
• Analysis of data, including student voice, is used to track achievement and inform teaching and learning.
• A shared vision for learning has been collaboratively developed which is bringing about consistency of teaching for increasingly engaged learners.
• Professional learning in tikanga and te reo Māori, developing growth mindsets, learning design, and effective feedback, is aligned with goals and initiatives identified for improvement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing to investigate the needs, aspirations, and interests of learners and their whānau to broaden opportunities for learning
• developing consistency of practice in teacher planning, pedagogy, assessment, and reporting, with a focus on accelerating progress for boys in particular
• refining systems for tracking student progress and achievement in Years 7 to 10 
• evaluating the impact of changed practices on student engagement and achievement.

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

29 November 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