Tahakopa School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and Tahakopa 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

Tahakopa is a small rural school in The Catlins which provides education for children in Years 0 to 8. Children learn together in one multi-level class. The school aims to foster students with a life-long passion for learning and who strive for personal excellence. A new principal started at the school in 2022.

Tahakopa School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• connecting with the local environment including local experts to enhance authentic learning
• to promote and encourage whānau involvement and partnership in student learning
• ongoing improvement in responsive teaching and learning programmes to continually strengthen student achievement.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school’s culturally responsive, localised curriculum supports students’ learning, sense of belonging and identity.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the school’s commitment to:

• ensure teaching and curriculum responds to the culture and identity of all students
• respond to changes to the New Zealand Curriculum and commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• work purposefully with the community and in the local environment to provide authentic learning opportunities for students.

The school expects to see students:

• have increased awareness, learning and sense of connection to their local community, environment and history
• have meaningful opportunities to learn te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori
• make progress and demonstrate their literacy and numeracy learning in a range of authentic contexts and learning areas.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths in its goal to foster student engagement and learning through culturally responsive, local curriculum:

• a strategic focus on enhancing learning opportunities through community connections and the use of the local environment
• a committed, collaborative teaching team focused on meeting individual students’ learning and wellbeing needs
• a nurturing and caring learning culture that promotes positive and respectful relationships with students, whānau and community.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing to foster relationships with the local community and use of resources in the local environment to enhance learning
• consultation with Māori whānau and tamariki on their aspirations to inform curriculum planning
• continuing to build the knowledge and capability of teachers to deliver culturally responsive teaching and curriculum
• developing local curriculum guidelines to guide curriculum planning and teaching.

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
11 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