Choosing a School/Kura
What matters in a school?
Choosing a school, or understanding how your child’s school is performing, can be difficult. There is a lot of information available, and it is not always clear what matters most.
ERO looks at the things that have the greatest impact on students’ learning, progress, attendance and achievement. This includes the quality of teaching, how well the curriculum is planned and taught, how the school uses assessment information, and how quickly students get support when they need it.
No single piece of information tells the whole story about a school. Achievement results matter, but they need to be understood alongside student progress, attendance, teaching quality, and how well the school supports different groups of students.
This page explains the main areas ERO looks at when reviewing schools, and why they matter for your child’s education.
You can also read more about how these areas appear in ERO reports on our Understanding school reports page.
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Understanding what ERO looks for can help parents and caregivers ask clearer questions, understand their child’s progress, and have informed conversations with the school.
Student outcomes
Student outcomes are about how students are doing. ERO looks at whether students are achieving, making progress, attending regularly, and getting the support they need to succeed. ERO also considers whether students are safe, included and able to take part in learning.
Student achievement
Student achievement means how well students are doing in their learning. This might include whether students are working at the level expected for their age or year group, or how well they are doing in national qualifications.
Achievement information helps parents and caregivers understand whether students are learning what they need for their age, year level, or qualification pathway.
Strong achievement information is useful, but it does not tell the whole story. ERO also looks at whether students are making enough progress over time, and whether all groups of students are being supported to achieve.
Some students may still need extra help, and some may be learning at a different level from others. What matters is that the school knows this, supports students well, and helps them keep moving forward.
Student progress - how much students are learning over time.
Progress shows whether students are learning enough over time. This matters because achievement results on their own can be misleading. A student may already be achieving well but not making enough progress. Another student may still be below expected levels but making strong progress because they are receiving effective teaching and support.
An effective school monitors student progress closely, identifies students who need extra help, and acts early so students do not fall further behind.
Reading and writing
Reading and writing are foundation skills. They help students learn across all subjects and take part in everyday life. Students need to read to understand information and write to communicate their ideas clearly.
In a effective school, students are supported to become confident readers and writers. This looks different depending on their age and stage. Younger students may be learning to read fluently and write simple ideas clearly. Older students may be using reading and writing to explain, analyse, and communicate more complex ideas.
In schools with reo rua or rumaki, this also includes pānui and tuhituhi.
Parents and caregivers should be able to see that the school treats reading and writing as core learning, and that students who need extra help are identified and supported.
Mathematics
Mathematics is a foundation skill. It supports problem solving, understanding patterns, using information, and making decisions.
Students build their maths knowledge and confidence over time. Younger students might be learning about numbers, shapes, measurement, or fractions. Older students might be solving more complex maths problems and using maths in different subjects.
An effective school monitors students’ progress in mathematics and acts quickly when students need more support or extension.
Attendance
Attendance matters because students need to be at school regularly to keep up with their learning. Missing school, even for a few days each term, can make it harder for students to stay connected and keep progressing.
An effective school monitors attendance closely, identifies patterns of absence, and takes action when students are missing too much school.
Regular attendance means a student is at school at least 90 percent of the time over a school term.
Attendance rates are useful, but they also need context. A school with improving attendance may be taking effective action to re-engage students and support regular attendance. What matters is that the school understands attendance issues, identifies patterns of absence, and takes action to help students attend regularly.
Engagement, safety and belonging
Students are more likely to attend, take part in learning and make progress when they feel safe, included and connected at school.
An effective school builds a positive culture where students want to attend, participate in learning, and build positive relationships with teachers and other students.
The school should also act quickly when issues affect students’ safety, attendance, learning or participation. This includes bullying, exclusion, or other concerns that may stop students from taking part fully in school.
Parents and caregivers should be able to see that the school takes these concerns seriously and communicates clearly about how they are being addressed.
Equity
Equity means every student gets a fair chance to achieve and make progress. It does not mean every student gets exactly the same support. It means the school knows which students need extra help and takes action to remove barriers to learning.
Equity information helps show whether some groups of students are doing better or worse than others. For example, a school’s overall results might look strong, but some groups of students may not be making the same progress, attending as regularly, or feeling the same sense of belonging.
School leaders and the board need to look at progress, achievement, and attendance across different groups of students. They should use this information to see where support is needed and to make changes.
ERO looks at whether the school has high expectations for all students, monitors differences in achievement, progress and attendance, and acts when some groups of students are not doing as well as others.
What the school does
Student outcomes are shaped by what the school does each day. This includes the quality of leadership and teaching, what students are taught, how learning is assessed, how students with additional needs are supported, how the school improves, and how the board governs the school.
Leadership
Effective leadership keeps the school focused on student achievement, progress and attendance. Leaders set clear priorities, support effective teaching, use evidence to make decisions, and check whether improvement actions are making a difference for students.
Parents and caregivers should be able to see that school leaders know what needs to improve, are taking action, and can explain how this will support better outcomes for students.
Teaching
Teaching is one of the biggest in-school influences on student achievement and progress. Effective teachers know what students need to learn, check whether students understand, give useful feedback, and adjust their teaching when students need more support or challenge.
Students should be able to talk about what they are learning and understand what they need to do next.
Parents and caregivers should expect clear information about how their child is progressing and what the school is doing if their child needs more help.
Curriculum
The curriculum sets out what students are expected to learn, and how their knowledge and skills should build over time.In New Zealand, the Ministry of Education sets the national curriculum. This sets the direction for teaching, learning, and assessment in state and state-integrated schools.
You can read more about this on the Ministry’s New Zealand Curriculum site. For Māori-medium education, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa sets out learning through te reo Māori. You can read more on the Ministry’s Te Marautanga o Aotearoa site.
Schools develop their own plan as to how they will teach The New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga o Aotearoa so students build knowledge and skills over time. The schools plan will be clear, purposeful and well sequenced. Learning should build from year to year so students understand more, can do more, and are ready for the next stage.
For older students, this should also support future pathways, including further study, training, work, or other options.
Parents and caregivers should be able to understand what their child is learning, how they are progressing, and how this supports their next steps.
Assessment
Assessment helps teachers know what students have learned, what they need to learn next, and whether teaching is working.
Assessment is not just about tests. It can include regular check-ins, classroom tasks, teacher observations and standardised assessments. Standardised assessments can be useful because they give consistent information about student learning across schools and the wider system.
An effective school uses assessment information to plan teaching, identify students who need extra help, monitor progress, and report clearly to parents and caregivers about their child’s learning, progress, strengths and next steps.
Support for students with additional needs
Some students need extra support to learn, take part and make progress. This may include support with learning, behaviour, communication, health, disability, attendance or other needs.
An effective school identifies these needs early, provides the right support, and checks whether that support is helping students make progress.
Parents and caregivers should understand what support their child is receiving, why it is needed, and how the school will know whether it is working.
ERO looks at how well the school identifies students who need additional support, responds to their needs, and checks whether the support is helping them make progress.
More information: The Ministry of Education has information for parents and caregivers about supporting your child if they need extra help with their learning, including how learning support teams work with schools and how parents can access support.
School improvement
Every school needs to keep improving. What matters is that the school knows what needs to improve, takes action, and checks whether those actions are improving student achievement, progress and attendance.
An effective school uses evidence to identify its priorities. This may include information about achievement, progress, attendance, assessment, teaching practice and student experience.
Parents and caregivers should be able to understand what the school is trying to improve, what action it is taking, and how progress will be measured.
ERO looks at whether the school has clear improvement priorities, whether these priorities are based on evidence, and whether the school is taking action to improve outcomes for students.
Governance and the school board
Every state and state-integrated school has a board. The board governs the school and leads its strategic direction. The principal is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of the school.
The board’s role is to keep the school focused on improving student achievement, increasing progress and supporting regular attendance. It does this by setting priorities, using evidence, monitoring school performance and making decisions about resourcing.
An effective board understands how students are achieving, whether they are making enough progress, and where improvement is needed.
ERO looks at how well the board governs the school, meets its responsibilities, uses evidence, monitors progress and holds school leadership to account for improving outcomes for students.
More information: The Ministry of Education has information about the role of the school board, including what boards do, who is on them, and how families can be involved.