Michael Park School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 23 months of the Education Review Office and Michael Park 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 

Michael Park School is a well-established state integrated Steiner school in Ellerslie, Auckland. The school caters for students aged from 6 to 19 years of age. A new principal was appointed in term 3 2021.

Michael Park School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• relate - promoting the mana of each person through understanding, acceptance, and celebrating their diversity
• create - build participation in leadership through service, working with others and representing their Kura and community with pride
• inspire - encourage aspiration and excellence through creativity and resilience.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school is implementing and strengthening their local culturally responsive curriculum and practice throughout the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• honouring our bicultural partnership and valuing Aotearoa’s unique place in the world
• celebrating diversity throughout the school
• embedding a localised curriculum in alignment with our Steiner pedagogy. 

The school expects to see:

• a curriculum that that encourages active student engagement and inquiry, centred around authentic, relevant, real-world tasks that are of interest to our students
• teachers equipped to embed culturally responsive pedagogy into their teaching and learning practice
• students will feel that their language, culture and identity is valued and integrated within the course content and that learning is connected to the world beyond the classroom.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to implement and strengthen its local culturally responsive curriculum and practice throughout the school:

• special character values are highly evident, empathise and promote inclusion and respect
• students have a strong connection and belonging, many whānau have long associations with the school
• leadership that reflects ongoing commitment to achieve the school’s principles and strategic direction
• leaders and teachers know the students well and respond to their individual strengths, skills, and abilities to meet their needs.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• strengthening and embedding the school’s culturally responsive curriculum
• evaluating the curriculum to ensure it continues to be aligned with the school’s special character.

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 Schools

10 August 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