Excellere College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 9 months of the Education Review Office and Excellere College 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 

Excellere College is a small state integrated Christian school in Kamo, Whangarei. It caters for ākonga in Years 1 – 13. The school’s vision is “Excellence in learning, Christianity in living”. The vision is underpinned by the school’s special character and the values of integrity, compassion, and honour.

Excellere College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• at Excellere College everything they do reflects their special character

• Excellere College will work with students and families to maximise learning

• drawing on dependable assessment evidence, Excellere Collage aims to improve outcomes for students who are not achieving, or have special learning needs

• all students at Excellere College will be given opportunities to gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values identified in the NZ Curriculum, from a Christian perspective

• Excellere College will work with Māori communities to plan, and set targets to achieve better outcomes for Māori students

• Excellere College will provide a safe spiritual, physical and emotional environment for all students

• Excellere College will report to students and their parents/caregivers on the progress and achievement of individual students

• Excellere College will gather and analyse sufficiently comprehensive evidence to evaluate the progress and achievement of their students.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how the school can effectively enhance the knowledge and use of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, te ao Māori, and embed culturally responsive teaching and learning practice within Excellere College.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• further support the special Christian character of the school by creating more effective cultural connections with whānau

• further develop teachers’ knowledge and cultural competence of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, te ao Māori

• embed culturally responsive teaching practice to benefit all students.

The school expects to see increased teacher confidence and ākonga that have deep connections to their school and undertake meaningful pathways that lead to greater career opportunities.

The school expects to see:

• ākonga who develop a deepened sense of cultural and spiritual connection to their place

• increased teacher capability and confidence

• senior students who engage in extended meaningful pathways that lead to greater career opportunities.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to effectively enhance the knowledge and use of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, te ao Māori, and embed culturally responsive practice within Excellere College:

• using the values of the special Christian character to enhance relationships

• committed and collaborative staff who are open to change

• supportive Kāhui Ako, whānau and community.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• engaging in appropriate professional learning in te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, te ao Māori

• assigning resources and funding to support the school's evaluation focus.

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

31 July 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