Maraekakaho School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Maraekakaho 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 

Maraekakaho School is situated on the rural outskirts of Hastings. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. A large majority of students come from the surrounding agricultural community.

Maraekakaho School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all students through quality teaching and learning opportunities
• to maximise the unique rural context of the Maraekakaho community to support learning and provide opportunities to gain an understanding of the world around us
• to develop a resilient attitude to learning and an empathy for others so everyone feels safe, appreciated and included for who they are
• to ensure that identity, language, culture and whakapapa are respected and valued.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which high impact teaching strategies in literacy and numeracy support equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• the school recognises the need to further respond to learners who require accelerated progress 
•  to embed high impact strategies, including those that encourage students to intentionally think about their learning, to support students’ learning and improved outcomes
• to inquire into the effectiveness of teaching strategies using a range of data.

The school expects to see:

• effective teaching strategies practices embedded schoolwide
• accelerated progress in literacy and numeracy for targeted students
• teachers empowering learners to actively make choices about their learning 
• consistent and effective use of data to lift student achievement.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve learner outcomes through high impact teaching strategies:

• a respectful and inclusive environment that supports learning and teaching
• highly committed and collaborative leaders and teachers focused on continuous improvement
• positive partnerships with parents and whānau that support the culture of learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• embedding effective teaching strategies in literacy and numeracy 
• developing and implementing a programme to further support target students to monitor and reflect on their learning and progress 
• strengthening the effective use of data to inform teaching and learning and to measure impact for all groups of 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

29 February 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