Makarewa School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Makarewa School is situated on the northern city boundary of Invercargill. It provides education for students in Years 1 – 6. Its mission statement is: ‘to provide high quality learning in a safe, caring environment, which values diversity and prepares students for an everchanging world’. Its vision is for students to be ‘Hooked on Learning - Pūmau ki te Ako.’ 

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

• learners will strengthen and develop ‘skills for life - pūkenga mo āke tonu atu’ 
• the curriculum will prioritise Literacy and Numeracy progression 
• the community will be actively involved in their children’s learning 
• the environment will ensure highly effective teaching and learning programmes. 

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s curriculum strengthens and develops learners’ ‘skills for life’ and fosters learning outcomes that are both excellent and equitable. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the school has recently focused on student agency and developed a rubric for ‘Assessment Capable Students’. Leaders wish to implement plans to embed the evolving teacher practices in relation to ‘Assessment Capable Students’ and evaluate the extent of its impact on learner outcomes, particularly for boys.

The school expects to see:

• all students strengthening and developing their ‘skills for life’ to positively impact on learner agency and literacy and numeracy outcomes 
• a rich, local curriculum that is more responsive to the needs of students, particularly boys. 

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively the school’s curriculum strengthens and develops ‘skills for life’ and fosters learning outcomes that are both excellent and equitable: 

• high expectations for learning and behaviour, which support students to achieve well 
• high quality analysis of assessment information, which has identified positive trends in achievement outcomes for students 
• leaders focus on continuous improvement with a consultative approach, which values the input of all stakeholders. 

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• developing a plan for implementing the ‘skills for life’ rubric so that teachers can provide opportunities for students to reflect and set goals in relation to this 
• professional learning for staff to grow their collective understanding of how to best capture evidence of students strengthening their ‘skills for life’ 
• gathering feedback from students, teachers and whānau around the ‘skills for life’ in order to better understand its impact on learners at school and in other contexts. 

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
Acting Director Review and Improvement (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

28 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