Southern Health School (2026)

Project lead: Tony O’Connor

Te Kura Whaiora ki te Tonga / Southern Health School is one of three specialist state schools in Aotearoa New Zealand, providing education for ākonga in Years 1 to 13 whose health prevents them from attending their regular school. Operating across 16 sites throughout the South Island, Stewart Island, and the Chatham Islands, SHS supports around 700 learners each year, with the majority experiencing high mental health needs.

At its heart, SHS is guided by a simple and powerful vision: every child has the right to learn and flourish through education.

In 2026, Point & Associates is working alongside Te Kura Whaiora ki te Tonga / Southern Health School (SHS) on a values-led evaluation of the school's practice and outcomes for ākonga and whānau.

Our evaluation is designed to support the school during a period of purposeful change. It's a learning-focused piece of work, not an audit or inspection. We're working with SHS to clearly describe its practice, understand the difference it makes for ākonga and whānau, and identify the conditions that support or interrupt that work. [SHS_Evalua...March 2026 | Word] The evaluation follows the journey ākonga take with SHS through three phases: Connect, Engage, and Transition. We're building a theory of change with the school community, gathering evidence of outcomes, and developing an evaluation framework that SHS can use well into the future.

Whānau voice is central to this work. In the first phase, we're speaking with whānau and former students to understand their experiences, what outcomes matter most to them, and what has worked well.

Our approach is relational, trauma-informed, and grounded in children's rights. We know that outcomes for ākonga emerge from the combined influence of whānau, health services, schools, and the wider system, and our evaluation is designed to make SHS's contribution within that complexity visible.

We look forward to sharing more as the evaluation progresses.