Pine Hill School (Dunedin)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and Pine Hill School (Dunedin) 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 

Pine Hill School is a year 1-6 contributing school located in North Dunedin. Students come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those who have English as a second language (ELL). The values of respect, responsibility, aiming high and caring are reflected throughout all aspects of the school.

Pine Hill School (Dunedin)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• for all learners to progress and achieve as part of a community of learners

• to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• to have active and open community participation.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Pine Hill School (Dunedin)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the ongoing impact of a school-wide structured literacy approach to improve outcomes for all learners and to raise teachers’ pedagogical skills and knowledge.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the school:

• has noticed a decline in literacy achievement and the staff want to respond to ensure equity and excellence for all learners

• has identified the need to build strong foundational literacy skills, particularly in the junior school

• wants to ensure that gender and cultural background are not limiting factors in literacy success

• is introducing structured literacy as the main approach to teaching literacy and wants this to be implemented consistently throughout the school.

The school expects to see:

• consistent implementation of literacy programmes across the school

• an improvement in literacy achievement for learners

• an evaluation of existing and new practices with ongoing monitoring of improvement actions.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the ongoing impact of a school-wide structured literacy approach to improve outcomes for all learners and raise teachers’ pedagogical skills and knowledge:

• a well-considered professional development programme that supports quality teaching and learning

• a collaborative approach to learning across the school

• a clear understanding by all staff of the diverse needs of students.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing the implementation and understanding of a structured literacy approach

• strengthening teacher practice in literacy

• a focus on internal evaluation that aligns with the school’s strategic direction to ensure equity and excellence for all.

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

8 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