COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

At Gorge Road School, we engage with our community to support the operation of the school and to improve student outcomes. This includes seeking to understand the identities, needs, and aspirations of our school community, any barriers to engagement, as well as building strong relationships with the Māori community associated with our kura. We see consultation as a major step in developing a collaborative relationship with the community and using feedback/data to make informed decisions.  Effective consultation will ensure parents, pupils and families/whanau feel valued, respected and listened to.

Consultation  Procedures

• The school community is informed regularly on school and Board matters through school and community newsletters.

•  Responsibility for consultation and reporting falls to the Board Presiding Member and the principal.

• The Board is responsible for reporting to parents, the community and other agencies on the success of programmes and achievements throughout the year. 

• Consultation will include: Health programme review and Strategic planning.

GUIDELINES

Consultation with the Māori community will:- 

• Acknowledge and recognise the tangata whenua of Aotearoa

• Embrace and promote Te Reo and Tikanga Māori

•  Develop strategies to enhance learning opportunities for all students including Maori 

Consultation with the wider community will:-

• Provide a welcoming, warm atmosphere, acknowledging the value of parents’ support and partnership.

• Encourage parents to visit and communicate with the school.

• Be an on-going part of school life rather than unrelated additional tasks.

• Allow for gathering, collating, analysing and reporting information, opinions are a prerequisite of effective consultation.

• Be responsive to changing methods of communication.

• Draw on people’s strengths and interests.

• Give people prompt feedback, and well publicised and constructive action.

CONCLUSION

Consultation is a continuous, long-term process which aims to establish a genuine level of communication between the school and the community, and a mutual sharing of view points. Through this collaborative consultation, a model of  positive interaction between the child, their whanau, their school and their community should develop. 

Reviewed Term 3 , 2026