Coroglen School

Coroglen School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 15 months of the Education Review Office and Coroglen School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

Coroglen School is a small rural school located south of Whitianga near State Highway 27. The school provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school motto ‘from the land our strength’ continues to underpin the school curriculum together with the ‘5 C’ values of ‘curiosity, creativity, confidence, consideration and capability’.

Coroglen School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • Student Achievement – to continually improve literacy and numeracy achievement, specifically for those students at risk of not achieving.

  • Wellbeing - to provide a safe, encouraging learning environment to enhance student achievement.

  • Local Curriculum – to foster co-operative learning within the school, community and local iwi while developing a greater cultural awareness in our students.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the local curriculum is engaging and improving outcomes for learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • most students are achieving at appropriate levels, and results are equitable

  • the evaluation process will gather evidence to inform further refinement of the local curriculum.

The school expects to see:

  • a curriculum that interacts regularly with local places and resources

  • student voice indicating increased levels of engagement, connection and a stronger sense of identity

  • excellent levels of achievement.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goals:

  • a culture where learner wellbeing is promoted and diversity is valued through whānau-like relationships

  • teaching practice that employs a range of strategies and interventions to support student progress

  • a strong sense of community, whānau connection and learning focused networks that support and respond to the individual needs of learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • planning and implementing a localised curriculum that responds to community aspirations and connects students to their environment

  • growing teaching approaches that foster opportunities to implement contextual learning opportunities within the local environment and across a range of learning areas.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

23 November 2022

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Coroglen School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of August 2022, the Coroglen School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

No

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Actions for Compliance

ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • Safety checking of employees has not been completed to meet the expectations of the Children’s Act 2014.

The board has since addressed the area of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Coroglen School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

23 November 2022

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Coroglen School - 12/09/2017

Findings

Coroglen School has made good progress towards addressing areas for development identified in the 2015 ERO report. Trustees and teachers have successfully engaged in professional development to improve practice and raise achievement. Children participate and learn in a caring and collaborative environment.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Coroglen School is a rural, three teacher school located near Whitianga which caters for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll of 36 children includes 11 who identify as Māori.

The previous ERO report in 2015 found that there was a welcoming, family-like learning environment, where students felt well supported and confident to express their ideas and talents. The 2015 ERO report also identified a number of areas for review and development requiring Ministry of Education (MoE) support, which ended in November 2016. A knowledgeable chairperson continues to lead a mix of new and experienced trustees. A new principal and teacher were appointed at the start of 2017. ERO has remained in contact with the school to monitor progress during the last two years.

Since the 2015 ERO report, the principal, trustees and staff have continued to be assisted by external education advisors in the areas of governance, staff professional development, performance management, curriculum development, assessment practices, literacy teaching and aspects of tikanga Māori. New systems and processes have been introduced to strengthen these identified areas.

In 2016 a significant majority of children were achieving at or above National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development
  • Governance, including board training and self-review.
  • Leadership, including performance management systems.
  • Teaching, including assessment for learning.
Progress
Governance

The board has made good progress in strengthening the stewardship of the school. Members of the board undertake their responsibilities and operate effectively as a team. Regular monitoring and review cycles inform strategic planning and decision making. Trustees have accessed relevant training through courses that enhance their understanding of their governance roles and responsibilities. Charter targets are more focused on learners who are at risk of underachieving. The board employs an external education consultant to appraise the principal. The school uses a variety of communication strategies to consult and inform parents and the community on relevant matters.

Leadership

The new principal has benefited from support and guidance provided by the MoE. She has significantly strengthened school policies and appraisal processes that now meet requirements. An inquiry process is being developed that enables teachers to reflect on their practices. The principal and staff continue to develop school-wide expectations for assessment, including children’s use of assessment information to monitor their own progress. Processes and formats have been developed for reporting student achievement to the board of trustees. Consultation and development of a local curriculum is under way.

Teaching

Class programmes are responsive to the interests of children. Teachers actively include children with diverse needs in discussions and learning activities. They have made good use of understandings gained from professional development providers. Formative assessment has been strengthened and children have a clearer understanding of their progress and achievement. Teachers have gained confidence in integrating te reo and tikanga Māori in classroom protocols and learning programmes. Parents are provided with information about progress, achievement and school activities through digital technology, informal discussions and formal reporting processes. Children participate and learn in a caring and collaborative environment.

Key next steps

The board needs to:

  • more regularly monitor progress towards achieving strategic goals
  • continue to develop and implement a responsive local curriculum
  • monitor the accelerated progress of targeted children.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?

The school is well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.

Trustees and teachers have:

  • developed their capacity to reflect, plan, act and report to the community using evidence which includes student achievement information from self review
  • developed a sustainable cycle of planning, improvement and self review
  • built the capability to sustain and continue to improve student achievement
  • developed the capacity to respond effectively to current or emerging issues
  • established a foundation of values, leadership, tone, climate and relationships likely to sustain and improve student learning, engagement, progress and achievement.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of the school completed the ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

Conclusion

Coroglen School has made good progress towards addressing areas for development identified in the 2015 ERO report. Trustees and teachers have successfully engaged in professional development to improve practice and raise achievement. Children participate and learn in a caring and collaborative environment.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years. 

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato/Bay of Plenty

12 September 2017

About the School 

Location

Coromandel Peninsula

Ministry of Education profile number

1707

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

36

Gender composition

Girls 20 Boys 16

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā

11
25

Review team on site

August 2017

Date of this report

12 September 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

September 2015
September 2012
September 2009