Kimi Ora School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report  

Background 

This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and ​Kimi Ora​ 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 

This report is part of a nationally coordinated evaluation of 27-day specialist schools during the second half of 2023. This included the development of day specialist school evaluation indicators by ERO with significant input from principals, staff and the Special Education Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SEPAnz). 

Context 

Kimi Ora School is a day specialist school for students aged five to twenty-one years with a range of special educational learning needs and intellectual and physical disabilities. All students are from the wider Wellington region and the Hutt Valley. 

All students have high or very high needs are funded through the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS). A team of specialists and therapists provide support for students in consultation with families, whānau and staff. Each student has a personalised learning programme (PLP).  

Beyond the base school there are satellite classes in three local host schools and a young adult transition centre in Lower Hutt.  

A specialist teacher outreach service provides support for ORS funded students enrolled in local schools. 

The school continues to navigate and manage roll growth pressures along with the property demands associated with this. 

Kimi Ora School’s vision is to work alongside whānau to enable ākonga to meet their full potential by developing independence, communication and participation in all areas of their lives. 

​​Kimi Ora​ School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are: 

• enhancement of our cultural responsiveness to ensure staff understand Kimi Ora School’s obligations to the Te Tiriti o Waitangi 
• review and design a Kimi Ora curriculum to strengthen content and systems to effectively provide guidance for teaching, learning to improve outcomes for learners 
• maintain our school culture and values to strengthen ākonga, whānau and kaimahi sense of belonging to our community as we grow. 

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on ​Kimi Ora​ School’s website. 

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the Kimi Ora School’s curriculum design is strengthening and supporting practice to promote positive learning and wellbeing outcomes for students and staff.  

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:  

• to promote positive student outcomes through responsive curriculum design  
• to provide guidance for staff in curriculum delivery through a time of evolving change and growth in relation to staff wellbeing and capability. 

The school expects to see a curriculum that is responsive to the unique needs of learners and enables the ongoing capability building of staff to improve equitable outcomes for all learners. 

Strengths  

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively Kimi Ora School’s curriculum design is strengthening and supporting practice to promote positive learning and wellbeing outcomes for students and staff. 

• Students experience a positive and supportive school environment that is responsive to individual learning goals and needs. 
• Distributed leadership is highly responsive and creates and sustains conditions for improving outcomes for learners.  
• Transdisciplinary knowledge of the learner is consistently evident in planning for learning. 
• School systems and processes effectively identify and respond to the holistic needs of all learners and their whānau. 
• Staff consistently demonstrate and enact high expectations for learners and their success. 
• Collaboration between outreach and other schools is positive and effectively supports ORS learners. 

Where to next? 

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:  

• launching and implementing the first year of the new differentiated three-year long-term plan for curriculum delivery 
• seeking feedback from staff to identify challenges and success within the long-term plan   
• monitoring and evaluating the ongoing impact on learners that includes whānau views at key points in time. 

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 

​​10 April 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