ERO

Context

Fairhaven School in Napier delivers a holistic education for ākonga aged between five to twenty-one years who have a range of special educational learning needs, intellectual and physical disabilities. The students are mainly from Napier city, Taradale and surrounding areas.

All students have high or very high needs and are funded through the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS). A team of specialists and therapists provide transdisciplinary support for students in consultation with whānau and staff. Each student has a personalised learning programme (PLP). A specialist teacher outreach service provides support to ORS funded students enrolled in local schools.

The school continues to navigate and manage roll growth pressures along with the employment and property demands associated with this.

Beyond the base school there are eight satellite classes hosted by four local schools, Tamatea Primary School, Nelson Park School, Tamatea Intermediate School, and Tamatea High School. Located at Bridge Pa is a young adult transition centre, Te Rangimarie, that focuses on preparing students for post-school life.

The school’s vision is Whānau Ako – Learning Together. This is supported by and enacted through the school values: Hiranga – Excellence ‘I will be the best I can be’, Whakanui -celebration, Mahi ngātahi – teamwork, Whakawhitiwhiti kōrero -communication and Manaaki – respect.

Fairhaven School (Napier)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• student’s learning: every student learns, achieves, and succeeds as evidenced by progress in their individual goals
• engagement for Learning: Fairhaven School curriculum supports the development of a sensory learning approach that fully engages and accommodates the learning differences of all students
• staff learning and development: student outcomes are enhanced through all staff continuing to develop their skills and knowledge through ongoing professional learning and development, collaboration, and reflective practice.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the schoolwide approach to the teaching of literacy is responding to the unique skills of each learner.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: school leaders have identified the need for continued development in specialist literacy practices that sustain a cohesive schoolwide approach to enable each ākonga to maximise their potential in all areas of the curriculum.

The school expects to see:

• an embedded cohesive schoolwide approach to the teaching of literacy
• positive learner outcomes across the curriculum
• a shared understanding of effective literacy teaching that is individualised for each unique ākonga.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively the schoolwide approach to the teaching of literacy is responding to the unique skills of each learner

• Clear systems that support students to make measurable progress towards their learning goals in a transdisciplinary approach.
• Responsive Te Tiriti o Waitangi practices that are evidenced through powerful education connections in the wider community, supporting sustainable whānau and ākonga success.
• Student centric, and strengths-based culture fostering a strong sense of belonging for ākonga and their whānau.
• Collaborative, reflective, and supportive team focused on ongoing improvements for students.
• Distributed leadership that is highly responsive to create and sustain conditions for improving outcomes for learners.
• Transdisciplinary, evidence-based, innovative, and inclusive teaching, learning and therapy practices.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• schoolwide professional development to establish a shared understanding of pedagogical knowledge of the specialist literacy approach – comprehensive literacy for all students
• alignment of teachers and leaders’ professional growth cycles and the therapy team inquiry to support the implementation of the literacy priority
• alignment of students’ personalised learning pathway goals to reflect the literacy focus
• staff consolidating new learning to ensure that incremental changes are embedded and sustained.