Whitney Street School

Whitney Street School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Whitney Street 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 

Whitney Street School is a contributing primary school situated in the centre of Blenheim. Their vision is ‘The Whitney Way – the Way We Learn | Ko te ara o te Witini – te āko tika. The Whitney Way is to be honest, caring, respectful, learners. The Way We Learn is by being self-managing thinkers who are collaborative and connected.

Whitney Street School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • strengthening teacher and leadership capability through utilising reflective practice within spirals of inquiry, and implementing and promoting the local curriculum

  • value and improve staff and student hauora through investigating strategies to cater for challenging behaviours

  • develop community engagement and culturally responsive relationships to raise achievement and belonging of Māori, Pacific and other priority learners.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effective they are in raising Māori, Pacific and other priority learners’ achievement and belonging through engagement with Māori and community.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • The school has set a strategic priority to improve engagement with Māori and the community.

  • Deeper engagement with Māori and Pacific communities is important to further enhance culturally responsive practices and improve equity and excellence.

  • This includes improving the visibility of students’ culture in the school community and working in partnership with whānau to understand and enact their aspirations for their tamariki. 

The school expects to see further strengthening of the visibility and valuing of diverse cultures in the school, with a deeper, more educationally powerful relationship with parents, whānau, hapu and iwi.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to enhance achievement and belonging through engagement with Māori and community:

  • A well thought out evaluation plan that provides actions and indicators of success.

  • A strong leadership team focused on strategically improving equity, excellence and belonging for all students.

  • Existing systems and processes which support effective evaluation.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • Strengthening partnerships with whānau, hapū, and iwi Māori.

  • Continuing to strengthen responsive teaching and learning practices that will ensure parity for all students.

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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

29 July 2022 

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

Whitney Street School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of September 2021, the Whitney Street School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Whitney Street School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements is due in December 2024.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

14 December 2021 

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