School Evaluation Report
Tēnā 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.
Context
Te Paepae o Aotea is a new coeducational state school providing education for students in Years 7 to 15. It opened at the start of the 2023 in response to the closure at the end of 2022 of Hāwera High School and Hāwera Intermediate. The school belongs to the South Taranaki Kāhui Ako. The school hosts an Alternative Education facility offsite.
The school’s values are; Aotea, a caring environment to explore identity, Taupaenui, attainment of human potential and Paepae, courage, adventure, strength and persistence. The whakatauāki is Kia eke atu ki Taepaenui o te tangata, people reaching their full potential.
There are two parts to this report.
Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings.
Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.
Part A: Current State
The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.
Learner Success and Wellbeing
| The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for learners. |
- The majority of Year 7 students achieve at expected curriculum levels for literacy and mathematics; less than half of students in Years 8 to 10 are at expected levels.
- The majority of students achieve National Certificate Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 1 to 3.
- The school has yet to address disparity in achievement and attendance for identified groups of learners.
- Few students attend school regularly; an attendance strategy for improvement is in place so that the Ministry target for regular attendance can be achieved.
Conditions to support learner success
| Leaders are embedding a culture committed to high quality teaching and improving equity in student outcomes. |
- Leaders are steadfast in their determination for ongoing improvement and equity in learner outcomes; they increasingly build teachers’ knowledge and capacity to use evidence-based approaches to improve practice.
- Leaders and teachers’ model and promote the school’s vision and values through their actions and expectations for curriculum delivery.
- Leaders respond quickly to challenges and collaboratively develop considered schoolwide responses and expectations; this supports an increasingly settled school environment for learning.
| Learners have an increasingly responsive curriculum that promotes the community-wide vision for learning. |
- Learners have multiple opportunities to develop literacy and mathematics skills as well as accessing other learning areas of The New Zealand Curriculum; Individual Learning Programmes help students and whānau align learning to needs, interests and aspirations.
- Teachers know their learners well and increasingly use assessment and other information to effectively respond to learners’ strengths and needs.
- The curriculum is intentionally designed and implemented to help young people develop the skills to realise their potential.
| Planning for improvement of key conditions is increasingly informed by evidence and in partnership with the school’s community. |
- The establishment board has consulted widely, supporting leaders to implement what the community wants for their young people; a new strategic plan has been developed that directs ongoing improvement-focused priorities.
- The board, leaders and staff actively strengthen partnerships with whānau and mana whenua to support Māori learners to achieve educational success as Māori.
- Parents and whānau are respected for their views; their opinions are regularly sought to guide ongoing development and strategic improvement.
- Leaders and teachers draw on a range of community resources to effectively promote and support learner health, wellbeing and career pathways.
Part B: Where to next?
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- improve learner achievement and progress and to reduce the disparity for identified groups of learners; continue to regularly collect and analyse achievement and progress information and use this to evaluate what is working and who for
- raise the rates of regular attendance at school; continue to collect and analyse attendance information to help determine what works best to support improved attendance
- continue to develop and refine coherent and meaningful curriculum pathways through the school for all learners
- continue to seek and use a wide range of student, whānau and staff voice to support prioritising ongoing improvement
- continue to build teacher capacity and capability to respond to a wide range of student learning and pastoral needs.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within six months:
- collect wellbeing information from students; respond to their expressed needs and aspirations and further inform improvements to programmes
- have a fully elected board in place so they can work towards achieving the identified school improvement priorities.
Every six months:
- collect and analyse attendance data to ensure strategies are working to engage more learners in attending school regularly
- collect, analyse and share achievement data so that teachers and parents can help learners set and achieve their goals and aspirations
- collect and analyse a range of feedback from community, teachers and students to help the school know what is working and who for; use this information to make further improvements to programmes and practices.
Annually:
- report progress against improvement priorities for better learner outcomes to the community, to help them know what is working and who for
- use student, whānau and community voice to inform improvements to curriculum and pastoral support systems.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- equitable and improved outcomes for learners particularly in attendance, achievement and wellbeing
- coherent and meaningful curriculum pathways through the school with all learners supported to achieve their aspirations
- learners and their whānau knowing that their identity, language and culture are valued and nurtured by the school
- teachers who respond effectively to a wide range of student learning and pastoral needs.
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
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
30 October 2024
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