Keith Street School

Keith Street School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Keith Street 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 

Keith Street School provides education for learners in Years 1-6 in Whanganui. The school prioritises the hauora of all school community members and recognises this as being integral to a thriving school culture. The school vision of Kia kotahi ai te akoranga, ‘Bringing everybody together to learn’, is enacted through the school values of manaakitanga; haumarutanga and akonga.

Keith Street School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • have high expectations of all learners, focused on accelerative learning ensuring equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners

  • develop student capability to have agency over their learning

  • strengthen the home-school partnership

  • implement student inquiry learning programmes that reflect Whanganui and the mātauranga of local hapū and iwi

  • continue to develop staff to strengthen teaching, leadership and learner support capability.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well school leaders and teachers are providing the conditions for successful teacher, student and whānau partnerships in learning, to progress and accelerate student achievement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • ensure improved and accelerated outcomes, in literacy, particularly for learners in Years 3-6

  • strengthen learning partnerships with whānau Māori and their tamaiti, and with all whānau and their children to support improved learner outcomes

  • strengthen internal evaluation systems and processes within the school.

The school expects to see:

  • target learners in Years 3-6 making accelerated progress in literacy

  • every learner is a confident capable reader, writer and speaker

  • teachers have the skills and classroom pedagogy to facilitate learning programmes that meet the literacy needs of all learners

  • whānau and tamariki know they are significant members of the Keith Street School community and are partners in decision making about teaching and learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to provide the conditions for successful teacher, student and whānau partnerships in learning to progress and accelerate student achievement:

  • organisational structures, processes and practices that enable and sustain collaborative learning and decision making

  • leadership has established the expectation that teachers will learn to improve their teaching by engaging in inquiry into the effectiveness of current practice

  • students learn in caring, collaborative and inclusive learning environments.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise continuing to:

  • build staff knowledge of the mātauranga and dialect of local hapū and iwi

  • develop the localised curriculum with a te ao Māori and hauora lens.

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

3 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

Keith Street School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of September 2021, the Keith Street 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

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Keith Street 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

3 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

Keith Street School - 05/09/2018

School Context

Keith Street School in Whanganui, caters for 193 students in Years 1 to 6. Of the learners enrolled, over half identify as Māori.

The school’s mission statement, ‘Growing resilient, self-confident, able learners who can participate and contribute positively in our world’ is underpinned by the vision of ‘Kia Kotahi ai te Akoranga – Bringing everybody together to learn’. Manaakitanga - Be Respectful, Ākonga - Be a Learner and Haumarutanga - Be Responsible are the school’s values.

The school’s 2018 annual plan has goals in literacy and mathematics that relate to developing students’ capability to use oral language effectively, in order to learn and to apply this across all curriculum areas.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

  • attendance and engagement

  • wellbeing.

Since the August 2015 ERO report, there has been continuity of the board membership and senior leadership. There have been a number of changes to the staff. The roll remains stable, with a number of students attending from outside the local community.

The school continues to be involved in the Ministry of Education (MoE) programmes, Accelerated Learning in Literacy (ALL) and Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L).

The school is involved with a cluster of local schools for professional development and learning.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

Achievement data indicates that the majority of students, including Māori, achieve at or above the school’s expectations in reading and mathematics. Less than half achieve at expectations in writing. Rates of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics have fluctuated since the 2015 ERO review with the most progress shown in reading for all students.

In 2017, Māori students achieved at or above their peers in all areas, particularly in writing. There continues to be a disparity for boys in writing.

Children show positive gains in their wellbeing, confidence and engagement in school programmes.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

Achievement information from 2016 and 2017 shows that some groups of targeted students make accelerated progress through focused programmes and small group initiatives. The longer-term impact of these learner outcomes over time is, as yet, unclear.

The school has significant numbers of students with identified additional learning needs. Targeted interventions and programmes are supporting some of these students to accelerate their learning.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Trustees, leaders and teachers strongly advocate for and support children to be confident, connected and actively involved in their learning. Well-developed systems and processes are responsive to individuals, promote their holistic wellbeing and a sense of belonging. Students with additional learning needs are well known and supported with a range of appropriate strategies and resources. A continued focus on strengthening relationships and communication with students and their whānau is contributing to the development of more robust learning partnerships.

Children’s language, culture and identity is highly valued and visible in the environment and enacted curriculum. Māori learners have increased opportunities and are supported in their leadership roles. Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and deliberate use of local context and environment upholds children’s sense of pride, engagement and links to their community.

There is a strong focus on systems and programmes to build teacher capability schoolwide. This is underpinned by a robust appraisal system that is well aligned to the school’s strategic priorities and expectations for effective practice. Internal professional learning communities, and the recently introduced coaching programme, are designed to develop teachers’ knowledge and understanding.

The senior leadership team work collaboratively and effectively. They use their skills and expertise to promote positive outcomes for students. They demonstrate strong advocacy for the diverse needs of their community.

The board actively represents and serves the school and community in its stewardship role. Trustees have a focus on sustainability and access training to further support them in their roles and responsibilities. They demonstrate a strong commitment to the ongoing promotion of the school and the long term success of learners.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

School leaders should continue to ensure that achievement information is further developed so that it is reliable, consistent and well analysed to clearly show the progress and achievement of target students. Establishing a coherent picture, from classroom level through to the board level of those students who need acceleration, is a priority. Annual target setting and tracking needs to be improved so that those who need acceleration across the school are more easily monitored and reported on during the year. This should ensure a deliberate and responsive approach to achieve equity and excellence.

Trustees and senior leaders are continuing to support and develop the effectiveness of leaders of learning across the school. The school should continue its focus on improving strategies and monitoring the impact of teaching on learner outcomes.

Leaders are beginning to improve evaluation to support teachers’ inquiry into the impact of their practice. They identify the need to further develop a shared understanding and use of internal evaluation and inquiry. This should better determine the effectiveness of teaching programmes and learning interventions on improving learner outcomes, especially acceleration of learning in literacy and mathematics.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board 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 the following:

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

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

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration and certification
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
  • attendance
  • school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • ensure systems and processes for discussing and recording matters of a sensitive and confidential nature are implemented

  • ensure the process for the renewal of police vetting non-teaching staff is strengthened.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • a strong, positive commitment to building reciprocal relationships between adults, children and their whānau, that support students’ learning and wellbeing

  • an environment where culture, language and identity are highly valued and celebrated, that promotes a curriculum that is responsive to learners

  • a capable, committed senior leadership team, that advocates strongly for the diverse needs of their community

  • a sustained emphasis on ongoing improvement, that is focused on the long term success of learners.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • establishing a clear focus, through targeted planning on those who need acceleration, and closely monitoring, tracking and reporting during the year to ensure that there is a deliberate and responsive approach to achieve equity and excellence for learners
    [ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school]

  • continue to develop leaders of learning across the school to support teachers to know the impact of teaching on improving learner outcomes

  • strengthening internal evaluation processes and practices to better determine the effectiveness of teaching programmes and learning interventions on improving learner outcomes.
    [ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders]

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Alan Wynyard

Director Review & Improvement Services Central

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

5 September 2018

About the school

Location

Whanganui

Ministry of Education profile number

2378

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

193

Gender composition

Male 50%, Female 50%

Ethnic composition

Māori 53%
Pākehā 35%
Pacific 8%
Other ethnic groups 4%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

July 2018

Date of this report

5 September 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review August 2015
Education Review August 2011
Education Review September 2008