Totara College of Accelerated Learning

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within nine months of the Education Review Office and Totara College of Accelerated Learning 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

Totara College of Accelerated Learning’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• Focus on broadening the range of engaging and fun learning opportunities for all students.
• Improving resourcing to facilitate high quality teaching and learning.
• Growing partnerships and facilities to give high quality individualised learning opportunities and career pathways for secondary students.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how changes to the school curriculum can improve outcomes for secondary students, particularly those in need of individualised pathways, leading to success in qualifications and career direction.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• to increase the engagement of students across a wide range of learning opportunities
• to provide curriculum experiences that raise students’ awareness and knowledge of their local stories, histories, places and people
• to provide secondary students with opportunities to grow and learn about themselves and their town, leading to a firm career/further study direction when they leave school.

The school expects to see:

• students learning in an environment in which teachers utilise information and modern teaching strategies to plan and implement programmes to improve student engagement, achievement, and wellbeing
• students who need to make accelerated progress making shifts in achievement.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to make changes to the curriculum which keep core Christian values as part of an engaging localised curriculum:

• positive relationships with students and whānau that support engagement in learning
• school values that are well known and consistently enacted to support the wellbeing of all
• established partnerships with local tertiary providers that support students to follow a variety of learning pathways
• increasing access to a range of facilities and resources to facilitate learning and engagement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• the refinement and implementation of the revised curriculum that aligns with the PACE model while providing opportunities for secondary students to “understand, know, do” through local and nationwide stories and contexts
• review assessment practices and use of achievement information to inform curriculum redevelopment and improve outcomes for learners across the curriculum
• shared opportunities for professional learning amongst teachers to engage students in collaborative learning activities.

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

22 January 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