Broad Bay School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Broad Bay 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 

Broad Bay School is a small semi-rural primary school on the Otago Peninsula. The school caters for children from Years 1-8. The values of Whakamana - upholding mana, Manaaki - being part of the community, Kaitiaki - being guardians of the environment and Whakaoho - inspiring excellence, shape the way the school community interacts with their environment.

Broad Bay School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• engaging students in their learning especially their writing

• using the unique and special environment to enhance the local curriculum

• supporting new leadership within the school.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of targeted structured literacy practice on student achievement outcomes in the senior school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• community consultation at the end of 2022 indicated support for structured literacy practice across the school

• the data shows that there is a need for better engagement of structured literacy practice in the senior school

• structured literacy has been implemented across the junior school, Years 1-3, with considerable success.

The school expects to see:

• increased student achievement and progress across the whole school in literacy

• all teachers engaging in the professional learning that is offered by the school to strengthen their understanding and practice in literacy

• teachers using a variety of resources that will be more engaging for boys across the school.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to have the structured literacy approach used schoolwide to improve learner outcomes:

• learners are highly engaged and achieve well in science, mathematics and reading 

• the school environment provides children with a range of localised, relevant learning opportunities such as the open water swimming safety programme

• learners are encouraged by a supportive and interested parent community

• learners have an environment that runs as a whānau and is inclusive of all community members.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• integrating the structured literacy approach across all learning contexts so children have equitable learning opportunities 

• building links with mana whenua and runaka at Ōtākau marae to enrich the curriculum

• a seamless transition of new leadership and staff to bring about best outcomes for students.

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

13 June 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