Twizel Area School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 19 months of the Education Review Office and Twizel Area 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 

Twizel Area School is located in Te Manahuna | the Mackenzie Basin and provides co-educational learning for students from Years 1 to 13. The school’s vision is to develop future leaders by nurturing their emerging passions and to enable learners to be inspired, to collaborate with others and achieve their personal goals. Learning is supported by the WAKA values of: whānaukataka | kinship; awhinataka | nuture; kaitiakitaka | guardianship; and ārahi | leadership. An experienced principal joined the school in 2021.

Twizel Area School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• develop a curriculum and educational facility that is responsive to cultures, needs, interests, and aspirations for all

• strengthen resilience and wellbeing for all students and staff

• foster authentic learning partnerships with whānau and the wider community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which strengthened student agency improves engagement and achievement in the years 7 to 10.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the school has:

• analysed feedback from Years 7 to 10 students which identified the need to refine learning to better meet the diverse needs of future learners

• prioritised the need to build on student agency and strengthen the use of digital portfolios

• recognised its curriculum needs further development so it is more responsive to cultures, needs, interests and aspirations for all.

The school expects to see:

• a revised, responsive curriculum implemented in the middle school, informed by student voice, aligned with key competencies, and the school’s WAKA values and goals, which sets aspirational achievement and progress targets

• increased learner engagement in, and ownership of, their learning resulting in improved achievement

• digital portfolios of learning and achievement shared with whānau by students to foster authentic learning partnerships.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the extent to which strengthened student agency improves engagement and achievement in the Years 7 to 10:

• the WAKA values, recently developed in consultation with the community, are informing meaningful curriculum development

• support and teaching staff engage collaboratively in professional learning that enhances teaching practices and curriculum design

• the systematic collection, analysis, and review of data informs programmes for learning

• upskilling students, staff and whānau in digital fluencies is extending partnerships for learning

• the new leadership team is working collaboratively to deliver the school’s strategic direction.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing to investigate the needs, aspirations, and interests of learners and their whānau to broaden opportunities for learning

• further development of the graduate profile and values system so they align with and are implemented throughout the curriculum

• targeted professional learning in utilising student agency and digital portfolios to inform learning design.

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

29 May 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