Te Ao Mārama School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 27 May 2025 — “School Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School 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.

About the School

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 placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?

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.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

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.

Attendance

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.

Assessment

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.

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.

An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office Part B: Findings for the school

This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Areas of Strength

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.

Key priorities and actions for improvement

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

sustain gains in attendance through more specific actions within annual planning and monitoring the impact of these

further develop inclusive teaching practices, particularly for learners who have English as a second language

strengthen teacher capability and collective effectiveness in implementing the new mathematics curriculum.

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

Every six months:

review and report to the board on the impact of actions to improve students' regular attendance

review data collection to gain insights into targeted teaching strategies to accelerate those learners at risk of not achieving at their expected curriculum level

Annually:

report to the board on progress towards achieving the Government’s attendance targets

evaluate and report on the rates of progress made in accelerating learners who have English as a second language

monitor and report on progress made in implementing the new mathematics curriculum and the impact of teacher practice on learner outcomes.

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

students regularly attending school

second language learners meeting or exceeding their expected curriculum level

the mathematics curriculum is embedded and leads to increasingly successful outcomes for all learners.

Background

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.

Findings

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.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

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:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Actions for Compliance

ERO has identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

obtain a Police vet every three years for employees who still work at the school [S 104 Education and Training Act 2020].

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

Education Counts

This 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 →