9 Ash Pit Road , Rerewhakaaitu, Rotorua
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.
Lake Rerewhakaaitu School is located approximately 40km southeast of Rotorua and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll is maintained at around 55 students; 40 percent of the roll identify as Māori, and 60 percent identify as New Zealand European/Pākehā.
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| 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.
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| 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? | School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school reasonably 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 reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school is improving its collection and use 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 becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school has a suitable plan in place 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 has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has significantly 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 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.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within six 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 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
Director of Schools (Acting)
13 May 2025
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Lake Rerewhakaaitu School is located approximately 40km south east of Rotorua and provides education for students from Years 1 to 8. The school’s current roll of 70 includes 36 Māori students.
Since the 2015 ERO review, flexible learning environments have been created and there have been some changes to the teaching team. New trustees have been appointed including the board chairperson.
The school’s mission focuses on ‘preparing the students of today for the possibilities of tomorrow.’ Priority is placed on empowering students to reach their potential, stand tall in their cultures and make a positive contribution to society. Promoting the values of excellence and innovation, diversity and respect, manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, wellbeing/hauora and perseverance.
The school’s strategic goals are based on providing rich learning opportunities and developing skills for life-long learning. There is also a focus on developing student agency through inquiry-based learning, supported through the use of digital technology.
Teachers have undertaken a range of professional learning and development in oral language, writing and mathematics, culturally responsive practices and dyslexia. The school is a member of the Te Kāhui Ako o Reporoa/Community of Learning (CoL) and the principal is the CoL leader. Some trustees have participated in Treaty of Waitangi workshops.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
The school is achieving excellent outcomes for most students and working towards equity for all.
The school’s data from 2018 shows that almost all students are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics, and most are achieving in writing.
Māori students are working at comparable levels to their Pākehā peers in reading and mathematics, while some disparity remains in writing. Girls are performing highly in all areas. Boys are working at slightly lower levels than girls in reading and mathematics. Boys’ achievement in writing remains an area to improve. Data over the last two years shows significant improvement for Māori in all areas of the curriculum.
The school is accelerating learning for Māori and other students that need it. Recently analysed achievement information shows effective acceleration for at-risk students in reading, writing and mathematics. Students with additional learning needs are making appropriate progress in relation to their individual goals.
Strong professional leadership guides all aspects of school development. Leaders set high expectations and have a clear vision for continuous improvement. They promote and participate in professional learning and development to build and sustain teacher and staff capability. Clear guidelines have been implemented to promote effective teaching and learning across the school. A strong focus on processes that guide teachers to reflect on their practice are evident. Leaders implement a comprehensive approach to teachers’ induction, coaching and mentoring.
Teachers effectively use deliberate strategies to enhance learning. Students benefit from warm and affirming relationships in a calm and settled environment. Teachers provide clear intentions and goals for learning. Students have access to digital technology to enhance and support learning. Planning is differentiated to support individual student achievement and their progress is monitored through appropriate assessment information. Teachers view parents and whānau as valued partners in learning.
The school has a highly inclusive culture for learning. Students with additional needs are well catered for through individualised planning. There is a strategic approach to supporting learning through targeted programmes and interventions. Leaders effectively liaise with a wide range of outside agencies to support student learning and behaviour.
Effective, culturally responsive practices support student learning. Whānau relationships are supporting the learning of te reo Māori across the school. Liaison with iwi is strengthening the teaching and learning of local history. Kapa haka is valued and promoted within the school and all students participate in the wider community’s annual cultural festival. Māori students are affirmed in their language, culture and identity.
Teachers should give priority to implementing practices that support students to have greater understanding of their current achievement and next learning steps. While some students are aware of their next steps this is not yet consistent across the school, particularly for at-risk students. This would support teachers to provide more specific feedback to students about their progress.
There is a need to refine the school’s targeted approach to accelerating the achievement of at-risk students. Leaders gather information on individual student achievement and report this regularly to the board of trustees. Leaders and trustees should implement a more aligned approach to accelerating achievement including:
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 Lake Rerewhakaaitu 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
Central Region
26 August 2019
| Location | Rerewhakaaitu, Rotorua |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 1787 |
| School type | Full Primary (Years 1-8) |
| School roll | 70 |
| Gender composition | Male 38 Female 32 |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 34 NZ European/Pākahā 36 |
| Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | No |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | June 2019 |
| Date of this report | 26 August 2019 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review February 2015 Education Review December 2011 Education Review December 2008 |