Te Waka Unua School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 19 months of the Education Review Office and Te Waka Unua 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

Te Waka Unua School is situated in Christchurch east and caters for children from Years 0-8. The school’s values of Excellence, Integrity and Respect underpin the day-to-day curriculum implementation supported by the core skills of Communication, Problem Solving, Courage, Teamwork and Self-Management. Te Waka Unua School provides bilingual education in Te Reo Māori with six bilingual classes and a Samoan Enrichment Programme is integrated throughout the school. They are a part of the Tamai Kāhui Ako.

Te Waka Unua School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• teaching pedagogy will be relevant, informed and responsive to our vision in order to meet the diverse needs of all individual ākonga learning needs

• ākonga staff and whānau learn in an inclusive, safe and supportive environment

• to engage with the school community to form strong learning partnerships.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Te Waka Unua School's website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which the school’s assessment for learning practices ensure ākonga are able to identify their next learning steps and are more actively involved in their learning process.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the need to use authentic real time assessment to inform teaching and learning programmes

• to provide teachers with tools to identify ākonga next learning steps and meet individual needs

• to continually strengthen partnerships with whānau in supporting learning at home.

The school expects to see:

• a consistent and cohesive schoolwide approach to the use of authentic, real time formative assessment that informs teaching and learning programmes, catering to student’s individual needs

• Ākonga as partners in learning with their kaiako and whānau. Students will take ownership of their learning through feedback from teachers and support in achieving learning goals.

Progress has been made on:

• development of schoolwide consistency when gathering, analysing and reporting real time assessment data

• the kaiako are developing strategies to scaffold and sustain a global approach for ākonga learning progress and achievement

• implementation of purposeful and authentic assessment tasks

• collaborative learning focused conversations between ākonga, kaiako and whānau where realistic individual next steps drive the teaching and learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths in their goal to develop assessment for learning practice:

• a reflective staff who critique their own practice and the role that plays in ākonga success

• a leadership team and staff dedicated to the success of all ākonga by meeting their individual needs

• the board of trustees prioritises resourcing to provide equity of access to learning, and its strategic areas for improvement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• embedding across the school the use of authentic and real time assessment to identify learning needs and inform teaching and learning programmes

• building on teaching strategies that ensure ākonga are motivated to take ownership of their learning and are able to articulate their next learning steps

• partnering with ākonga by providing feedback on learning goals and sharing this with whānau through the school’s student management system

• strengthening engagement with whānau in the best ways to be supporting their child’s learning at home.

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 October 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