Review 13 May 2025
LatestSchool Report
Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.
We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.
About the School
Waitahuna is a small rural contributing school that provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision is for students to be successful, and confident life-long learners. This is underpinned by the philosophy ‘e tu kahikatea‘, which the school defines as ‘standing together and supporting each other’. The school roll is currently 4 students.
Part A: Parent Summary
How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics |
| How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
| How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
| How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school is improving its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
| Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
Achievement in Years 0 to 8
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
| Reading | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | Almost all learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
Attendance
The school is at the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Assessment
The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
Progress
The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has significantly improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has significantly extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.
An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office
Part B: Findings for the school
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Areas of Strength
The school has maintained consistent levels of achievement over time. Teachers know their learners’ well and intentionally plan teaching and learning that responds to learners’ strengths and needs.
The school is using a structured approach to literacy to support learner progress and achievement, and the school is well placed to implement structured mathematics practices.
Leadership is continually reviewing and improving processes to strengthen teaching practices and delivery of the school's curriculum.
An environmentally based curriculum increasingly reflects local contexts and provides a wide range of activities within the school environment, so learners see themselves in their learning.
Key priorities and actions for improvement
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- plan for appropriate professional learning to help leaders and staff implement and understand changes to The New Zealand Curriculum
- further develop assessment practices across the school to support students’ knowledge of their own learning and next steps
- strengthen and develop the school’s environmentally based local curriculum
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Every six months:
- review and revise strategic planning to reflect any changes to identified priorities for learning
- analyse and monitor learner progress, achievement and attendance information to inform next steps in teaching and learning
- embed teaching and learning practices that improve achievement outcomes for learners by building on their strengths, needs and interests
Annually:
- use learner progress and achievement data and evidence from a range of sources to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learning, sustain attendance rates and engagement, and report the outcomes to the board to inform strategic decision making
- report to the board on the effectiveness of the school's implementation of the refreshed curriculum and identified next steps for ongoing improvement
- gather feedback to evaluate the impact of strategies used to strengthen engagement and learning partnerships with parents, whānau and the wider community.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- sustained excellent progress and achievement outcomes for all learners
- changes in curriculum and assessment implemented in a timely, effective manner
- sustained levels of regular attendance
Part C: Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Board Administration
Yes
Curriculum
Yes
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Personnel Management
Yes
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within three years.
Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children
Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools
13 May 2025
Education Counts
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home