Lake Tekapo School

The roll ERO recorded, and when

ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 36 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.

1. February 2019

   35

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 24 April 2019

2. June 2015

   31

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 11 August 2015

We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 30 June 2023 — “Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

Background

This Profile Report was written within eight months of the Education Review Office and Lake Tekapo 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

Lake Tekapo School is a small contributing primary school, located in Te Manahuna | the Mackenzie Basin. It provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school emphasises tangata whenuatanga ; drawing together local history, its unique high-country environment, and cultural ties to the land, into the narrative of a “sense of self and sense of place”. It aims for learners to connect with their community and area to create for themselves a sense of belonging, order, curiosity, and form.

Lake Tekapo School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

design a localised curriculum that draws from, and connects learning through, its people, place, and environment

nurture hauora for staff, students, and whānau to help build active learning relationships.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of their localised curriculum on improving student engagement, wellbeing, and achievement across the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to reflect the community’s desire:

for learners to develop senses of identity, manaakitanga , whanaungatanga , place, and self

to involve the history, customs and ecology of its unique locality through a curriculum which strengthens and aligns student achievement, wellbeing, and engagement.

The school expects to see:

a localised, integrated curriculum which clearly defines learning progressions for each student

each student having a ‘sense of self’ as a learner through engagement and participation in their unique learning process

community and school whānau having a strong sense of connection, participation, and engagement in their children’s learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the impact of their localised curriculum on improving student engagement, wellbeing, and achievement across the school:

established links in the community that extend opportunities for students and their learning

commitment to professional learning in localised curriculum which is informing curriculum revision

systematic and comprehensive use of student achievement and engagement data to inform next steps

a developing graduate profile, based on embedded key competencies, which identifies coherent pathways, guides learners’ transitions, and is aligned with reporting to parents

active involvement within the Kāhui Ako which has a focus on developing local curriculum and coherent pathways for learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

targeted professional learning for monitoring, tracking, and reporting achievement and curriculum development

implementing a revised, responsive localised curriculum, using this to guide teaching and learning and fostering collaboration with the community engagement

reviewing and developing a child-centred student progression profile and real-time reporting.

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.

Shelley Booysen Director of School

30 June 2023

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

Read this report on ero.govt.nz →