Mt Albert Grammar School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Mt Albert Grammar 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 

Mt Albert Grammar School is a large multi-cultural school located in the central Auckland suburb of Mount Albert. The school provides a co-educational learning environment for students in Years 9 to 13.

Mt Albert Grammar School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• using a collaborative leadership approach to ensure systems address equity for all students

• using established data measurement and student achievement tracking systems to guide pedagogy

• sustaining a culture of high expectation and use of culturally responsive professional practices that encourage and challenge all students to pursue personal excellence in all aspects of their school life

• fostering an empathetic, inclusive and equitable learning environment that celebrates diversity.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well staff and students access and engage with data to improve achievement outcomes, with particular focus on Māori and Pasifika students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that school leaders recognise: 

• the importance of improving achievement equity for all students through the use of data and culturally responsive practice

• student engagement and understanding of their own learning is integral to determining individual achievement outcomes.

The school expects to see:

• staff engaged in regular, timely analysis of achievement data to inform classroom teaching and planning

• high expectations, effective pedagogy and responsive teaching practice that produce consistently high levels of achievement for all students across all levels

• effective use of pedagogical practices that foster student engagement with their learning outcomes

• increased student resilience and confidence in their capabilities and capacity to determine positive achievement outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how well both staff and students access and engage with data to improve achievement outcomes:

• collaborative engagement by staff with achievement data to guide responsive practice and improve achievement outcomes

• an established mentoring programme and reporting processes that foster the development of student agency

• embedded systems for data retrieval, analysis and processes to address individual learning needs.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• further developing staff analysis and use of achievement data to guide responsive pedagogical strategies for equitable student outcomes

• providing a comprehensive induction programme and professional learning opportunities for staff to ensure an aspirational learning environment

• increasing student’s knowledge and ability to use data to support their learning and to successfully achieve their academic goals.

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

17 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

This school has two hostels: School House (boys) and Centennial House (girls).