Omakau School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Omakau 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 

Omakau School is a small, full-primary school in a rural area in Central Otago. A new principal was appointed to start in Term 3 of 2022. A major building project has added an extra classroom and upgraded the administration areas of the school. The school and the community share a swimming pool, a library and an assembly hall.

Omakau School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners align with those of their Dunstan Kāhui Ako which are to:

• develop within the staff, culturally responsive teaching practices

• build consistent assessment practices across the school and support students to know about and take appropriate responsibility for their learning

• strengthen students’ achievement in aspects of mathematics.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well culturally responsive teaching practices are engaging students and raising their achievement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• acknowledge and better reflect New Zealand’s cultural heritage and for Māori students to feel their culture is valued

• grow an awareness of the richness of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history within the school and local community

• support consistent understandings of culturally responsive teaching practice and implement this across the school

• grow students’ knowledge of how well they are learning, their next learning steps and what they need to do to consolidate their achievement, particularly in mathematics.

The school expects to see:

• teachers and students with increased understanding of Te Ao Māori who are comfortable and confident to participate in tikanga Māori activities

• students fully engaging in, and taking an increasing level of responsibility for their learning

• improving achievement in mathematics.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to build culturally responsive teaching practices that are engaging students and raising their achievement.

• The internal and external expertise that the school can draw on to support it in its goal to strengthen te reo and tikanga Māori.

• Staff who are improvement focused, welcoming of new learning and who access professional development to grow their skills and support students’ outcomes.

• Community support within the school to enhance the curriculum and support students’ learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• students, teachers and parents participating in on-line learning to support a greater understanding of Te Ao Māori

• strengthening engagement with local Māori families so that learning partnerships are created to benefit tamariki

• providing a cultural context within mathematics programmes to further engage all students and improve outcomes in aspects of mathematics.

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.

Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Acting, Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

29 March 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