Timatanga Community School

School 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.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the School 

Timatanga Community School is a state-integrated, special character school providing education for 26 learners in Years 1 to 8. 56% of learners identify as New Zealand European | Pākehā and 20% are of Māori descent. The core values of Ukaipōtanga | Connectedness, Aroha | Compassion, Tūhuratanga | Discovery, Whakamana | Self-Management, Manawaroa | Resilience and Tākaro | Play support the special character of the school. The school Board appointed a new principal in Term 2 2025. 

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

Improvement and progress

This section is about the progress the school has made since the February 2023 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

Expected improvements

The school focused on evaluating how the Timatanga Community School’s curriculum leads to equity and excellence in wellbeing and learning for all learners.

The school expected to see consistency of teaching of the local curriculum resulting in high levels of achievement, equity and metacognition across all learning areas.

Findings 

A new school curriculum captures the school’s valued beliefs and approaches has been created and is being reviewed and refined by the school community through ongoing consultation. High quality teaching and learning across the school is well aligned to this document and is guided by learner interests and passions. Continuing to accelerate learner progress and achievement, to ensure equitable and excellent outcomes, particularly in writing and mathematics is a key focus for the school moving forward. 

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• A small majority of students attend school regularly.
• The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
• Attendance information has not been collected in a way that shows analysis of trends over time. 

Assessment 

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

• The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately 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

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

School leadership was unable to provide ERO with an analysis of schoolwide achievement information over time to show the extent to which learners have made progress in reading, writing and mathematics. 

The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.

The school is unable to identify if they are 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. 

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of strength

• Students engage in learning that is co-constructed with teachers and connected to their interests and passions, supporting their strong sense of identity and wellbeing.
• Students benefit from respectful and collaborative relationships with peers and teachers. Consensus approaches to decision-making empower students as active participants within the school.
• Teachers work collaboratively across all aspects of school life, sharing strengths and planning together to respond to a wide range of learner needs.
• Leadership and the school Board foster meaningful partnerships with whānau and the community who actively contribute to daily school life. Students benefit from parent-led sessions, engaging in rich opportunities across the curriculum.
• Well considered staff professional development aligns to the school’s priorities and is purposefully implemented for ongoing improvement of teaching and learning practices.
• Leadership and staff are embedding structured, explicit and consistent approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics schoolwide.

Key priorities

• Strengthen the collection, analysis and use of achievement and wellbeing information to inform high quality teaching and learning, strategic planning and improvement priorities.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of teaching, learning and assessment practices on student outcomes, with a focus on accelerating progress and achievement in writing and mathematics.
• Improve regular attendance. 

Actions to bring about improvement 

Within three months:

• leadership and teachers design and implement robust schoolwide systems for the collection and tracking of progress, achievement and wellbeing information

Every six months:

• leadership and teaching staff analyse and monitor student progress information to identify priorities for teaching and learning
• teachers engage in professional learning to deepen their understanding of the refreshed curriculum and assessment changes, adapting practice to embed these priorities schoolwide
• leaders review attendance initiatives and plans, working in collaboration with the school community to increase regular attendance 

Annually:

• leadership analyses and reports to the Board on achievement, attendance and wellbeing information to plan priority actions and make responsive resourcing decisions
• leadership evaluates schoolwide teaching, learning and assessment practices to inform ongoing strategic planning for improvement.

Expected outcomes

• Accelerated progress and achievement outcomes for all groups of students in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Sustained high quality teaching, learning and assessment practices embedded schoolwide.
• Improved rates of regular attendance for all students.

Regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements. 

Board assurance with regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of health, safety and welfare

Yes

Personnel management

Yes

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within four 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
Director of Schools

17 March 2026