Mangatawhiri School

School Context

Mangatawhiri School, located 16 km south of Bombay, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll of 177, includes 35 Māori students.

Since the previous ERO review in 2015 the school has experienced a significant roll increase. This has resulted in extra classrooms and additions to the teaching team. The principal continues in her role and a new assistant principal was appointed at the beginning of 2018 to join an experienced and long-serving leadership team.

Teachers have participated in professional learning and development in the areas of literacy, mathematics and the Ministry of Education funded programmes, Positive Behaviour for Learning and Incredible Years. The ‘Mangatawhiri Way’ identifies the school’s commitment to providing a strong, family-like atmosphere.

Valued outcomes for students are to be literate, numerate and effective self managers.

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

• reading, writing and mathematics.

Mangatawhiri School is part of the Hauraki Plains Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

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?

The school is achieving excellent outcomes for the majority of its students. Its achievement information from 2015 to 2017 shows that approximately three quarters of students achieved at or above national expectations in reading and writing. Significantly higher results were evident in mathematics. These results also indicate that Pākehā students achieved significantly higher than their Māori peers in reading, writing and mathematics. The achievement of boys was below that of girls in reading and writing, and at similar levels in mathematics.

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

The school is effectively accelerating the achievement of many at-risk Māori and other students. School leaders have tracked the progress and achievement of at-risk students from 2015. This data indicates that two thirds of Māori and other at-risk students made accelerated progress in mathematics, approximately half in reading and a third in writing.

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 provide effective stewardship for the school. They set appropriate charter targets focused on accelerating the achievement of at-risk students. Trustees make good use of school-wide achievement information to inform decision making including the employment of additional teaching and support staff to support the achievement of at-risk students. They are supportive of leaders and teachers and are committed to maintaining a culture that reflects the school’s rural context.

School leaders are knowledgeable and well informed. They have a complementary range of skills and expertise and maximise strengths and capabilities from within the teaching team. Leaders are strongly focused on school improvement and accelerating the progress of at-risk students. They have developed and implemented useful systems to identify, track and monitor the achievement and progress of targeted students. Leaders access external support and guidance including active participation in the Hauraki Plains Kāhui Ako. This includes the development of comprehensive community wide student learning progressions and frameworks for implementing the key competencies from The New Zealand Curriculum.

The school provides a broad curriculum. A feature of the curriculum is the tuakana/teina relationships among students that reflect the Mangatawhiri Way and the school’s commitment to providing a family-like atmosphere. The school values of respect, resilience and responsibility are well known and contribute to the school’s positive atmosphere for learning.

Other strengths of the curriculum include:

• an appropriate focus on literacy and numeracy
• regular school camps including visits and stays at marae
• opportunities for students to experience success in a wide range of sporting, cultural and academic competitions and events
• the implementation of a house captain and deputy house captain system that provides leadership opportunities for senior students.

Teachers know students well. They provide welcoming class environments. Teachers make good use of achievement data to group students for instruction and to provide meaningful learning programmes.

Well-established partnerships with parents and the wider community support student learning. Teachers share important information with parents of at-risk students to support their home learning. Parents are well informed about their children’s learning through comprehensive written reports, three-way conferences and opportunities for informal contact with teachers and leaders. Student learning is enhanced by high levels of community involvement in school activities and events.

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

Reducing the disparity of achievement for Māori and boys is a priority for the board of trustees, leaders and teachers.

Development is required to further strengthen teacher capability in implementing:

• strategies that improve learning outcomes for boys
• culturally responsive practices
• the recently established student learning progressions in reading, writing and mathematics.

Internal evaluation requires strengthening. School leaders should give priority to analysing school-wide achievement data to identify effectiveness of programmes and initiatives. This is necessary to support ongoing school development and sustainability of effective practices.

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.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• professional leadership that is strongly focused on a collaborative approach to school improvement
• stewardship that is supportive and committed to the school’s rural context
• an holistic curriculum that provides many opportunities for students to experience success
• well-established partnerships with parents and the local community that underpin students’ opportunities to learn and sense of belonging.

Next steps

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

• building teacher capability to respond effectively to the learning needs of at-risk students, in particular Māori and boys
• internal evaluation to support a focused and aligned approach to school development. Trustees and leaders have requested that they attend an ERO internal evaluation workshop.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

29 June 2018

About the school