67 Higginson Street , Otane
View on mapTēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.
We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.
Otane School, a rural school located in the village of Otane, Central Hawke’s Bay, provides education for students in Years 1-8. At the time of this report the roll was 86. Māori students make up 57% of the school roll, with 34% identifying as European/Pākehā and 9% of Pacific heritage and other ethnicities.
The school vision, Together we inspire and empower children to make the best choices in life, is underpinned by the school values of (KAPAI) Kindness, Attitude, Participation, Achievement, Identifying.
| How well are learners succeeding? | The school is working towards high levels of success and progress for all learners. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from good quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. |
| How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
| How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | The school is establishing planning and conditions that support improvements in the quality of education for learners. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
| How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school is improving its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range of information gathered through community consultation, to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
| Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
| Reading | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school is yet to have a suitable plan to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is reducing over time.
The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Teachers are developing assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Staff have high expectations for student success. Students learn in an inclusive environment. Learners express a strong sense of belonging and enjoy the relationships that they have with staff and other learners across the whole school.
Students requiring additional support are identified and receive targeted support focused on literacy and numeracy.
Implementing structured literacy and numeracy approaches are progressing well and continue as a priority for all staff.
Teachers demonstrate highly collaborative practice with opportunities to plan, share and apply strategies acquired through their participation in professional learning to improve outcomes for learners.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
Every six months:
Annually:
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children
Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools
22 May 2025
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Otane School, a rural school located in the village of Otane, Central Hawke’s Bay has students in Years 1 to 8. Since the December 2016 ERO report, the school roll has grown significantly. The current roll of 67, includes 47 students who identify as Māori.
The school’s vision for learning is ‘KAPAI: For children to act, think and be KAPAI’. This is enacted through: ‘kindness, attitude, participation, achievement and identity’.
Current goals and targets are focused on accelerating the learning of all students below expectation in literacy and mathematics, educational success for Māori learners and strong school, whānau and community relationships.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
Professional learning and development (PLD) in literacy has been sustained over three years. The focus for 2019 is mathematics, Developing Mathematical Learning Inquiries (DMIC).
The school is part of Te Angi Angi Kāhui Ako.
The school continues to steadily move towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students. Overall achievement levels are improving for all students, including Māori, in reading, writing and mathematics. Girls are achieving better than boys in reading and writing. There is evidence that disparity for boys is reducing over time.
The end-of-year 2018 achievement information, showed that a high majority of students achieved at or above curriculum achievement expectations in reading with the majority in writing and mathematics. Māori students are achieving as well as their peers in reading and writing, less so in mathematics.
Inclusive practices and collaboration with external agencies, parents and whānau enables students requiring additional learning support to learn alongside their peers. Appropriate use of resourcing for students with high needs further promotes their participation and engagement in the programme.
Acceleration for students at risk of not achieving is evident. Teachers know these students and their needs well. There is a shared focus on improving outcomes for these learners.
In 2018, the school was successful in accelerating the learning of almost all those Māori and other students who need this, in reading and most in writing. The school was not successful in accelerating many students in mathematics. The school has identified this is a priority for development in 2019.
Highly evident in practice for learners is a sustained focus on KAPAI values that promotes a shared understanding and a sense of belonging and connection to the school. Parents and whānau have identified that these values are upheld and demonstrated at home and in the community. This has a positive impact on student participation, engagement and improved learning outcomes.
Students learn in a positive, caring and supportive learning environment where they are acknowledged for who they are and what they bring. The curriculum is responsive to their individual strengths and interests and provides a range of meaningful and authentic learning opportunities. Student choice and leadership are promoted. A focus on developing students’ hauora and wellbeing is actively prioritised in collaboration with iwi and other community agencies.
Parents, whānau and community are respected and valued partners in learning. They participate in a wide range of school activities and contribute constructively to decision making. Relationships of care and connectedness are fundamental. Whanaungatanga and manaakitanga are highly evident.
A well-considered and strategic approach to change and improvement puts improving outcomes for students at the centre of all decision making. Leadership in collaboration with staff, uses a wide range of information, inquiry and knowledge building activities to inform future direction. Planning is underway to implement an innovative learning environment to support continuity of learning and relationships as the roll continues to grow. There is a focus on increasing students’ responsibility and management of their own learning and sharing this with parents and whānau.
The appraisal process and the use of an on-line system is strengthening teachers’ inquiry into how specific teaching strategies impact on the learning of priority students. Teachers are collaboratively tracking, monitoring and discussing the progress and achievement of these students, including what is working or not working for them.
Review of the curriculum is underway to better reflect localised place-based education. The school is working alongside kaumatua to do this. Curriculum review provides the opportunity to update and have: clearly stated guidelines for effective teaching, learning and assessment practices; provision for careers learning and second language options for students in Years 7 and 8.
New trustees to the board bring a range of relevant knowledge and skills. They actively seek external advice and guidance to inform decision making. To sustain and grow practice, trustees should undertake further training to strengthen their understanding of their roles and responsibilities as stewards of the school.
Reflection and inquiry are used to inform decisions for improvement. Continuing to develop a shared understanding of internal evaluation should enable trustees, the principal and teachers to better know the impact of newly implemented initiatives and teaching practices on supporting successful outcomes for students.
Before the review, the board 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 the following:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Otane School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:
Phillip Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
11 June 2019
| Location | Otane |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 2634 |
| School type | Full Primary Years 1 to 8 |
| School roll | 67 |
| Gender composition | Male 37, Female 30 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 47 NZ European/Pākehā 20 |
| Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | Yes |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | May 2019 |
| Date of this report | 11 June 2019 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review December 2016 Education Review July 2014 Education Review December 2011 |