Hastings Christian School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 13 months of the Education Review Office and Hastings Christian 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 

Hastings Christian School is a Years 1-13 interdenominational state-integrated school in Hastings. The school values are reflected in the mission statement, ‘To walk students through all fields of human thought and endeavour, discerning and celebrating ‘Truth’ at every turn for the purpose of challenging and equipping them to use their unique gift to forge lifestyles marked by exemplary dedication to God and neighbour‘.

Hastings Christian School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to continue to design a curriculum that realises the school vision and mission and engages with contemporary needs and challenges

• to nurture a hospitable, unified service-oriented community of learning that strives for excellence.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate to what extent the Hastings Christian School (HCS) effective pedagogy framework is embedded across the curriculum to promote equity and excellent outcomes for all learners, particularly target students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the need:

• to strengthen schoolwide collaboration for consistency of effective pedagogical practice within the school to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners

• to continue to build cultural competency and develop a responsive local curriculum for all learners

• to build collective capacity to do and use evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building to continue to improve learner outcomes.

The school expects to see:

• the HCS effective pedagogy framework embedded across the school

• a responsive broad-based, knowledge rich curriculum implemented within a Christian Worldview

• foundation learning areas of reading, writing and mathematics strengthened to improve learner outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate to what extent the HCS effective pedagogy model is embedded across the curriculum to promote equity and excellent outcomes for all learners:

• the special character of the school underpins all aspects of school life

• staff are committed to enacting the school vision and values to promote positive outcomes for learners

• positive relationships that support a strong sense of community and belonging

• active involvement in the Lower North Island Christian Kāhui Ako to promote a culture of learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• ensuring the purpose of the HCS Effective Pedagogy framework is understood schoolwide

• implementing a professional growth cycle that supports staff to reflect on ‘what they are teaching’ and ‘how they are teaching,’ enabling them to be more responsive to the learner

• progressing a curriculum that meets the needs of all learners.

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

4 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