Tiro Maroro - Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi & Education Review Office Pilot Report

Executive Summary

The Tiro Maroro pilot program was a collaborative initiative between the Education Review Office (ERO) and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc. The primary intention was to co‑design a bespoke evaluation approach that aligns with the aspirations of the iwi for their whānau, encapsulated in the vision of "Ngāti Kahungunu enjoying and achieving education success as Ngāti Kahungunu". This involved working with a cluster of English medium schools and one early childhood service with high proportions of Māori learners, to evaluate their educational quality and performance through a kaupapa Māori lens. The intention was to foster a more responsive understanding of the unique needs of educational providers in maximising learner outcomes and success, with a strong focus on collaborative improvement.

The pilot was postponed in February 2023 due to Cyclone Gabrielle. This natural disaster caused widespread damage and flooding and resulted in a period of extreme isolation and vulnerability for the Hawke’s Bay area. Over 70,000 residents were left without lifelines including health services, power, road connectivity (in every direction) wastewater, drinking water, internet, and cell phone networks.

Hawke’s Bay took 6 months to formally move from response to recovery. This was a significant period of displacement for many and was widely felt by learners, whānau, and staff involved in the pilot project. This had a substantial impact on many of the learners’ wellbeing, attendance, and subsequently on their achievement during 2023.

When the pilot resumed, the approach was characterised by partnership and collaboration. The evaluation process emphasised whanaungatanga, whakamana, and whakamahi, establishing expectations for collaboration, transparency, and integrity. The lines of inquiry for the evaluation and methodology employed were developed in partnership between ERO and Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi. On‑site reviews involved wānanga, observations, and synthesis, with Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi actively involved in all stages of the evaluation approach.

The findings revealed that all six participating kura and kindergarten were strongly committed to realising the Ngāti Kahungunu vision, “Ki te whaiao, ki te ao marama”. This vision encourages the ongoing pursuit of excellence and aspires Ngāti Kahungunu whānau to thrive and succeed educationally, both as members of the Ngāti Kahungunu community and as global citizens. For the providers reviewed, learner agency was evident through learning design, centered around tamaiti preferences, in class‑ systems for determining learning pathways, shared decision making, and learners demonstrating confidence in their tangata whenua role.

Whānau agency equally was supported through regular engagement, shared decision making in governance, strengthened ways of gathering whānau voice, and providing relevant support and resources. Leaders and kaimahi in these kura and kindergarten were committed to strengthening their knowledge, integrating te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori through their programmes and everyday engagements. Other positive findings related to the reflection of local contexts in the delivery of the curriculum, and the fostering of a strong sense of belonging for tamaiti and whānau within these educational settings.

While there are generally high expectations for the achievement, progress, and wellbeing of ākonga, and some real success in terms of achievement, there are areas that need to be addressed to further enhance learner outcomes. These include improving attendance and ensuring that attendance data is regularly analysed, reported, and acted upon. Initiatives involving partnering in addressing attendance concerns are seen as a significant opportunity for the collective to continue to work together in collaboration.

While there are generally high expectations for achievement, progress, and wellbeing of ākonga, a key next step is to further develop and implement learning progressions to support learners and their whānau in understanding their progress, and from this identifying and defining their learning needs.

Strengthening teacher capabilities in data and assessment is a key priority within the Tiro Maroro programme, with a focus on enhancing learner outcomes in reading, writing, mathematics, reo matatini, and pāngarau. Strengthening the use of assessment data should improve the identification of learner needs and strengths, provide feedback to inform teaching practices, and clearly identify ākonga needing acceleration or extension.

The use of data for resourcing and setting targets with more precision for raising student achievement is also recommended. This includes refining targets to identify and monitor individual student progress throughout the year and across years. These should be aligned and shared to strengthen collaboration around student achievement and accountability across providers, their communities and with the iwi. 

The evaluation also proposes the development of a joint te reo Māori improvement plan and progressive programme of instruction, so all learners are well supported to progress their skill and knowledge of te reo Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu. Again, the evaluation suggests there could be huge gains in this area through providers working as a collective aimed at strengthening outcomes for learners across the rohe.