Cnr Borman Road and Hare Puke Drive , Flagstaff-Hamilton, Hamilton
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.
Te Ao Mārama School, a large primary school located in Flagstaff in Hamilton City, provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The vision for the school is focused on inspiring, challenging and empowering their learners. The school is multi-cultural and comprises of many ethnicities, including 45% Asian, 25% European/Pakēhā and 12% Māori.
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high 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 rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a 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 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 reports usefully and accurately 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 needs to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning environment. |
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 | A large majority of 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 approaching 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 uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well 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 significantly 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.
Senior leaders, staff and the board have high expectations for student success. A pattern of improved achievement in in reading, writing and mathematics over time is evident, with Māori students’ outcomes showing the greatest increase.
Effective and concise tracking of student progress results in early identification of those students requiring additional support and targeted provision of this.
Leadership is strongly embedded throughout the school. High staff retention, a well understood culture, and evidence-based decision-making fosters collaboration and high-quality teaching.
A consistent, well understood approach to teaching and learning is evident across the school. Learning is thoughtfully planned, with structured approaches to reading, writing and mathematics and inclusive of student wellbeing strategies.
Teachers are well supported to build capacity through an evidenced-based professional learning programme that clearly aligns with strategic goals for learner achievement.
The school has high quality practices in place to increase student engagement and provide meaningful learning linked to mātauranga Māori, including local iwi history and context.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Every six months:
Annually:
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.
The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.
No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review. In a school year, short stay visits occur in February and July for students from China and Korea. The school wishes to extend the international programme to include fulltime, long-term students. One of the deputy principals has responsibility for the international student programme. The school undertakes an annual self-review schedule and the school’s NZQA Code Self-Review Attestation is current.
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 has identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
The board has since addressed the area of non-compliance identified.
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
27 May 2025
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
A New School Assurance Review is a review of particular areas of school performance and is undertaken to specific terms of reference.
New School Assurance Reviews are generally undertaken within the first year of the school’s opening.
This review is based on an evaluation of the performance of Te Ao Mārama. The terms of reference for the review are to provide assurance to the community:
Te Ao Mārama opened in February 2019 and is situated on a new site in the rapidly growing Hamilton suburb of Flagstaff, Rototuna. A respectful, reciprocal relationship with mana whenua, Ngāti Wairere, has been an integral part of the school’s establishment and subsequent development.
The school caters for 360 children in Years 1 to 6 from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Rapid growth of student numbers has occurred at all year levels since the school opened. The very diverse roll includes 17% who identify as Māori, 23% NZ European, 18% Chinese and 15% Indian.
The school whakataukī, Whiria te tāngata (Weave the people together) is highly visible in school documentation and throughout the environment. Establishing meaningful relationships, as expressed in the whakataukī, is prioritised. The relationship-based approach to learning is focused on individual learners. The defined vision to ‘inspire, challenge and empower learners to create tomorrow today’ underlies school systems and practices.
The establishment board (appointed in 2017) and elected board of trustees (elected in July 2019) have provided the necessary framework and scrutiny for effective governance that promotes student wellbeing and success. The boards have overseen the development of an environment that cater for up to 560 children. The next building development is in the design phase and will provide capacity for 850 learners.
A positive student-centred learning environment is well established, based on the collaboratively developed school vision, values and learning principles. A strong focus is on developing, sustaining and further promoting a school culture that is highly supportive of wellbeing and learning.
Literacy and mathematics data collected by the school indicates that in 2020 most learners achieved at or above expectation for their year level. Children needing to accelerate their learning are well supported and their progress is closely monitored. School-wide achievement information is collated, analysed and shared with the board of trustees and parents.
The central driver for successful outcomes is a culture based on reciprocal relationships within the school and with external stakeholders. A range of inclusive practices effectively support children’s belonging and wellbeing. Very high levels of overall attendance and regularly collected student feedback affirm the positive culture that is in place.
The board is operating effectively with suitable interface between governance and management, appropriate structures and suitable delegations. An online portfolio of policies and procedures reflecting the school context is in place. The board’s capability is built by ongoing review of its own practices. Whole board training in 2020, linked to the governance role, further clarified and strengthened practices. To support greater scrutiny of teaching and learning support programmes, progress of target learners should be shared more frequently with trustees by senior leaders.
Strategic planning, reporting and processes for self review are well established. Strategic goals are clearly identified and align with the vision, values and government learning priorities. Future school direction is focused on:
Measurable outcomes for children should be integrated more into annual planning to strengthen evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of curriculum and interventions.
School-wide value placed on tikanga and te reo Māori positively contributes to Māori success and the overall school culture. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is evident through strategic documents, curriculum and everyday practices. Whānau knowledge and expertise is actively sought and respected. Strong connections to and collaboration with Ngāti Wairere, including through Hukanui Marae have been sustained.
A range of needs-based interventions support learners with additional needs. English second language learners are a significant part of this group. The board provides resourcing to ensure additional programmes are available to those who require these. Learning support staff work closely with teachers to assist learners to accelerate their progress, particularly in literacy.
Purposeful teacher inquiry and knowledge building successfully contribute to teacher improvement and building of leadership capability. Regular revisiting of expectations for learning contribute to consistently high quality teaching and shared responsibility for student progress. Strong, educationally focused relationships have been established with other education and community groups to increase opportunities for student learning.
The school’s curriculum and teaching effectively support student wellbeing, engagement and learning. Flexible, collaborative and well-resourced learning spaces support authentic and purposeful learning. Children’s exploration and creativity is actively encouraged. Te reo, tikanga and diverse cultural experiences are successfully integrated within programmes. Children work collaboratively with each other and make informed choices about their own learning priorities. Daily Whānau Time promotes belonging, relationships (including with whānau), wellbeing, social and interpersonal skills.
Systems and expectations for assessing student achievement and reporting to parents continue to be developed. Assessment practices across the school are regularly reviewed to ensure they contribute effectively to consistent and dependable teacher judgements about achievement and progress.
Parents receive regular information about children’s learning. Reporting includes learning stories that link to school values and children’s progress and achievement in a range of learning areas. Well attended Hui-a-Whānau are student led. The school should seek parent feedback on how well they believe progress is shared and the extent to which they are enabled to contribute to their children’s learning.
During the period when COVID-19 has affected the wider community, the school has benefitted from well-established communication systems and relationships established with the parent community. Purposeful home-based learning opportunities made available to students have successfully maintained engagement in learning during periods when on-site schooling has been unavailable.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on students' achievement:
The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self review of its implementation of the Code.
At the time of this review there was one international student attending the school.
The school has effective systems in place to review and continue to improve the quality of education for international students and their participation in the school community.
Te Ao Mārama has established a school culture highly supportive of students’ wellbeing and learning. The collaborative and supportive environment established promotes children’s belonging, learning and progress. Processes in place effectively enable sustainability and improvement.
The school will now move into the ERO’s School Evaluation for Improvement approach alongside an evaluation partner.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui