50-64 Waerenga Road , Te Kauwhata
View on mapThis Profile Report was written within ten months of the Education Review Office and Te Kauwhata College 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
Te Kauwhata College is located at the intersection point of the Waikato, Auckland and Hauraki regions, and near sites of great historical and social significance to mana whenua. The school provides education for students in Years 7 to 13 and seeks to promote a whānau focused and genuinely bicultural environment.
Te Kauwhata College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
enable and support all students to achieve their personal best
maintain a culturally inclusive, supportive and challenging teaching and learning environment
promote a school-wide culture of respect and consideration for self, others and the environment.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Te Kauwhata College’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which practices tailored to student need are promoting wellbeing, engagement and achievement.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
responding to student and whānau voice
the need to promote an environment in which all students can flourish.
The school expects to see:
student learning and wellbeing needs being identified, and responsive approaches being implemented to meet those needs
student and whānau voice informing ongoing refinements to responsive practices
partnerships with whānau, community and mana whenua supporting student wellbeing and engagement
improved student wellbeing and engagement leading to improved learning outcomes.
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve student wellbeing, engagement and learning outcomes:
an established, inter-agency approach that identifies, tracks and responds to students with high and complex needs
the systems and structures to promote and maintain teacher capability and collective capacity to improve learner outcomes
an authentic relationship with mana whenua that supports the school to understand and respond to learner needs.
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
ensuring pastoral practices for identifying and responding to student need are implemented consistently and effectively
using student achievement information to identify learning needs, and developing tailored, responsive approaches to meet those needs
continuing to gather the voice of students, whānau and mana whenua to inform improvements to responsive practices.
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
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of August 2023, the Te Kauwhata College Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ERO and the board have identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
a police vet has not been obtained or renewed for every person, contractor or employee who works at the school.
[Education and Training Act 2020, Schedule 4]
The board has since addressed the areas of non-compliance identified.
For further information please contact Te Kauwhata College, School Board.
The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.
Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
17 October 2023
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Students at Te Kauwhata College benefit from a range of academic, sporting, cultural and social opportunities. They participate and enjoy success within an affirming, inclusive school culture. Relationships among students, teachers and whānau are positive and respectful, and this helps students achieve to their potential.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Te Kauwhata College is located in a rural town approximately 50 km north of Hamilton. It provides education for students in Years 7 to 13 from the town and surrounding rural areas. The school roll has steadily increased since the last ERO review in 2013. The current roll is 502 students, of whom 35% identify as Māori.
The school is guided by the mission statement ‘Ko te matauranga te huarahi ko te anamata, Education is the key to the future’. The school actively encourages students to be ‘competent, connected, curious, caring, creative, and confident citizens’.
The school is undergoing a significant period of growth and change in all aspects. Since the last ERO review in 2013 there has been significant changes to the senior leadership team with a new deputy principal and assistant principal appointed. A new principal was appointed in 2016 and has started the process of reviewing current systems and practices to ensure they meet the needs of students. This has led to several changes to leaders of curriculum and learning across the school and redefining roles and responsibilities, including the pastoral and academic care team.
There has also been significant changes to the teaching staff. The board of trustees includes a combination of newly elected and experienced members. The chairperson is experienced in the role. Trustees bring a wide range of skills and expertise to their governance roles and have strong links in the community. The principal is working to develop a strong relationship with Waikato-Tainui and to access external professional development for staff in cultural responsiveness.
The school has a positive reporting history with ERO, however the areas identified for development in the previous ERO report continue to be an urgent priority for the new leadership team.
There remains a need for the school to make better use of achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement.
The school uses a range of standardised assessment tools to gather achievement information on students in Years 7 and 8. Information gathered in Term 1 is used to identify students at risk of underachieving. However there is a need to use this information in a more timely fashion to ensure students whose learning requires acceleration are targeted more effectively from the start of the year. The school is currently developing systems to ensure more robust moderation processes.
School data in 2016 shows that 78% of Year 7 and 8 students achieved at or above National Standards in reading, 60% in writing and 52% in mathematics. There is a significant disparity between the achievement of boys and girls, and between Māori and other children in reading, and especially in writing and maths.
The school acknowledges that they do not currently have school-wide collated and analysed data on achievement and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for students in Years 9 and 10. A key next step is to:
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) data for 2016 shows that 72% of students gained Level 1, 78% gained Level 2, 70 % gained Level 3 and 35% gained University Entrance (UE). There was an overall improvement in the achievement at Level 1 including the achievement of Maori students. However there was a significant disparity in the achievement between Māori and other students at Levels 2, 3 and UE.
To address this significant disparity, there is an urgent need to develop and implement a focused, strategic approach to raise the achievement of Māori students. Particular attention should be given to:
Some aspects of the school’s curriculum promote and support student learning. These include:
Student engagement and wellbeing are effectively supported by comprehensive pastoral care processes. Committed deans carefully monitor students’ attendance, emotional safety and academic progress, and develop useful partnerships with parents and whānau. They are well supported by a range of health professionals and work closely with outside services to provide effective ‘wrap around’ support for students and their families.
The newly appointed Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) has considerable experience in identifying and addressing learning and behavioural issues for students and is developing systems to effectively track and monitor at-risk students. The SENCO works collaboratively with leaders, teachers and teacher aides to provide support and individual learning plans for students whose learning requires acceleration.
The curriculum is yet to effectively respond to a significant proportion of Māori and boys. Reviewing the curriculum to see how it can better meet the needs of these students is an urgent priority.
The school promotes initiatives that support educational success for Māori. Te Puawai vertical form classes provide a strong sense of whānau and belonging for Māori students. Kaiako of theses classes regularly mentor individual students, track and monitor their progress and work collaboratively with teachers and whānau in the best interests of students. The positive impact of these relationships has led to the extension of these strategies for Māori students in other form rooms and the creation of the Kaitiaki Hauora role.
The school hosts regular whānau hui which are very well attended. These hui provide a highly effective forum to celebrate Māori language, culture and identity and showcase Māori student success in all aspects of the curriculum. Staff and trustees also attend hui which are also opportunities for informal conversations about children’s learning and wellbeing, and make whānau feel welcome and valued in the life of the school.
The principal has established a group, Te Ropu Kaiwhakatere, to lead the direction for cultural responsiveness in the school. This group provides professional development in te reo and tikanga Māori or staff and sessions about Ka Hikitia and Tātaiako. Teachers have also learnt about the local history and stories of the region at their local marae. These connections have strengthened relationships with local iwi and there is a developing relationship with Waikato-Tainui to find productive ways to further support Māori students and their learning.
Building on these effective initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori students is an ongoing priority for the school.
The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. Supportive factors include:
The key next step is for the board and school leaders to continue to focus on raising levels of achievement and reducing disparity. This includes:
Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of the school completed the ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:
ERO recommends that the school participate in an ERO internal evaluation workshop to support the school to develop effective planning and monitoring processes to support equity and excellence for all students.
Students at Te Kauwhata College benefit from a range of academic, sporting, cultural and social opportunities. They participate and enjoy success within an affirming, inclusive school culture. Relationships among students, teachers and whānau are positive and respectful, and this helps students achieve to their potential.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato/Bay of Plenty
12 June 2017
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Location |
Waikato |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
115 |
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School type |
Secondary (Years 7 to 13) |
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School roll |
502 |
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Gender composition |
Boys 255 Girls 247 |
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Ethnic composition |
Pākehā Māori Other Pacific Asian |
50% 35% 7% 5% 3% |
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Review team on site |
April 2017 |
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Date of this report |
12 June 2017 |
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Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
December 2013 January 2011 April 2008 |