Pukerau School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Pukerau 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

Pukerau School is situated in Eastern Southland. The school provides education for students in years 1 to 6. Its mission statement is to develop confident, lifelong learners who are connected, engaged, actively involved and inspired to reach their full potential in a safe and caring learning environment. The school has four core values that underpin all that is done at Pukerau, they are respect, resilience, honesty and excellence.

Pukerau School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to ensure:

• all students develop strong foundational skills in literacy and numeracy
• students requiring extra support are identified early and relevant support plans are put in place
• relevant progress information is provided to key stakeholders.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well students with diverse needs, supported by culturally responsive practice and targeted programmes, are provided with equitable opportunities to learn.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• to further support students with diverse learning needs within the school
• the staff and leadership wish to further develop their own capacity to understand and support these students
• for learners and their whānau to understand how they learn and what they need to be successful learners.

The school expects to see:

• staff building pedagogical capacity and culturally responsive practices
• staff, students and whānau understanding how students with diverse needs learn and what is needed to support them in their learning
• evaluation of existing and new practices with analysis and ongoing monitoring of the impact of improvement actions.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to deliver equitable outcomes for all students:

• strong leadership and an experienced teaching staff that work collaboratively for schoolwide improvement
• consistent support from the board and whānau that strengthens learning partnerships
• a strong, schoolwide focus on foundational skills.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing the understanding and implementation of strategies and programmes that support diverse learners
• ensuring all staff have ongoing opportunities to further develop and extend teaching practices
• increasing school wide understanding of te reo and tikanga Māori and strengthening relationships with whānau and iwi to broaden the localised, responsive curriculum.

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 April 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