South Westland Area School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 11 March 2025 — “School Evaluation Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

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

South Westland Area School is a small rural school for learners from Years 1 to 13, situated in the remote township of Hari Hari. Many learners travel significant distances from across the South Westland district to attend. The school’s vision is to prepare learners to meet the demands of life confidently.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

Part B: 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 C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals

Since the previous report in May 2023, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively achievement information and culturally responsive practices support learners to transition successfully into, within and beyond school.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Development of a seamless and effective transitions programme to support both incoming learners as well as learners as they move through the school from Years 0 to 13.

The school forms responsive partnerships with its feeder schools and use learners’ wellbeing and learning information to foster learners’ progress and engagement in learning in their new school setting.

Learners new to the school indicate that the experiences gained through the transition programme have assisted them to confidently and successfully move into their new school and create positive connections.

The school tracks mathematics and literacy achievement information for Year 3 to10 learners to monitor a long-term view of their progress and initiate appropriate steps to accelerate gains.

Increasing confidence within the school community in cultural competencies.

The school is developing increasingly effective programmes that improve learners’ understandings of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and local tāhuhu kōrero and whenua [history and place], in consultation with local iwi and the school community.

Learners access a range of cultural leadership roles that contribute to their learning and growth and to achieving the school’s goal to develop cultural competencies.

Learners are increasingly confident to discuss their te reo Māori learning in student-led learning conferences with teachers and whānau.

Learning programmes and aspects of the school’s redevelopment are beginning to include elements drawn from the school’s local histories and stories.

Strengthening the school’s internal capacity to support learner, staff and community wellbeing due to isolation and remoteness.

Student led learning conferences establish connections between the school and families, particularly those new to the community, that support learner engagement and progress.

Teachers focus on creating positive experiences of school and learning by acknowledging and building on existing learning strengths and potential for improvement, resulting in increased engagement and attendance.

An increasing range of student led wellbeing, cultural and recreational activities support and enhance learners’ sense of connection to school.

Education and health agencies regularly share and respond to wellbeing and attendance information to increase priority learners’ engagement with school.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is a commitment to build a long term and comprehensive profile of each student’s learning and wellbeing as they move through the school, in order to fully support their progress and achievement.

Part B: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes for learners are becoming increasingly equitable.

Year 4 to 10 learners’ achievement in literacy and mathematics is improving; less than half are achieving at expected or above curriculum levels.

The majority of Year 11, 12 and 13 learners, including Māori learners, are achieving well in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1, 2 and 3, including in in literacy and mathematics.

Most learners progress through the senior school and leave with qualifications needed for further study, training or employment.

Learner attendance is improving but is not yet at the Government’s target, less than half attend regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders set and monitor goals and develop effective partnerships with staff to drive school improvement.

Leaders use a collaborative process with staff to action the school’s annual improvement plan aligned with its strategic focuses, so that they address the learning and wellbeing needs of its learners.

Leaders initiate improvements to academic data collection and tracking processes throughout the school to check how well all learners are making progress and to accelerate those learners at risk of underachievement.

Leaders build educationally focused relationships with a range of tertiary education, vocational and employment providers that increase learners’ pathways beyond school.

Teachers offer meaningful learning opportunities, increasingly use achievement information and responsive teaching practices that improve student progress.

Teachers differentiate learning programmes flexibly and responsively to meet the needs of learners individually and as groups.

Teachers and leaders are initiating steps to ensure that key learning and wellbeing information is effectively gathered and applied to benefit learner progress and achievement as learners move through the school.

Teachers provide a broad and relevant localised learning programme that is responsive to learners’ interests and improves engagement.

The school promotes effective conditions across its community that benefit student engagement and learning.

The school forms useful partnerships with its local community that improve student learning and wellbeing outcomes.

The school facilitates parent, whānau and community participation in the life of the school to enhance learning opportunities through its localised learning programmes .

The school continues to strengthen its partnership with Ngāti Waewae and Arahura Marae to achieve its strategic goal to develop cultural competencies across the school .

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

to build bicultural partnerships and the school’s local histories and stories to ensure they are both reflected in the school’s local learning programmes, promote te ao Māori, te reo Māori and tikanga Māori

to continue to develop transition plans and processes to effectively support learners’ wellbeing and learning as they move into, within and beyond school

to continue to improve attendance and raise academic achievement across the school.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

leaders further develop induction processes for new learners and their families to welcome and integrate them more effectively into the school community

leaders monitor and respond to attendance data and achievement in literacy, mathematics and NCEA to improve learner engagement and progress.

Every six months:

teachers and learners collaborate with iwi, hapori and whānau to gather information and resources to support the development of the local histories and stories

professional learning to develop teachers’ confidence and growth in te reo Māori and to integrate mātauranga Māori within the curriculum.

Annually:

leaders and teachers verify the increased across-school integration of mātauranga Māori within the school’s localised curriculum

leaders evaluate learner attendance and achievement information, report to this the board and use findings to inform strategic and annual planning

leaders report to the board about the impact of transition processes on learner engagement and progress and use this information for planning.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

improved transitions to enhance learner engagement and progress

teaching practices and contexts that respond to learners’ languages, cultures and identities, to improve learner engagement and progress

continued improvements in attendance, NCEA, literacy and numeracy outcomes at all year levels.

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

11 March 2025

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 →