Rudolf Steiner School (Chch)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and Rudolf Steiner School (Chch) 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 

Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School is a special character area school located in Ōpāwa, Christchurch. The school delivers the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum along with the New Zealand Curriculum. It caters for learners from kindergarten to Year 13. A new principal was appointed in 2022.

Rudolf Steiner School (Chch)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• meet the needs and aspirations of the community underpinned by the special character of the school
• promote a culture of high expectation in an inclusive and responsive learning environment
• form effective partnerships and community connections to develop a localised curriculum and bring prominence to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Rudolf Steiner School (Chch)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school is using student progress and achievement information to meet the needs of individual learners more effectively.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school’s own internal evaluation process has identified this aspect of practice as requiring further development
• the school has a range of achievement information and has identified the need to use it more effectively to inform teaching and learning
• the school intends to identify the most effective assessment practices for its special character and area school context.

The school expects to see:

• greater consistency in assessment practices, including use of data, moderation and assessment
• increasingly equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners
• assessment practices that consider the localised context.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how well they are using student progress and achievement information to meet the needs of individual learners more effectively.

• an established special character and an approach to learning and assessment that involves the whole school community
• leadership that has prioritised school improvement through a process of internal evaluation
• the availability of a range of qualitative and quantitative information which reflects the holistic development of each learner.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• building teacher knowledge and practice in assessment and moderation to meet individual learner needs
• building capacity in the school community to evaluate practice for effectiveness and sustainability.

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

25 May 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

This school has a kindergarten onsite.