Papatoetoe Intermediate

Findings

Papatoetoe Intermediate has undergone significant school-wide improvement. Strengthened professional leadership has been established. The principal, senior leaders, teachers and support staff have worked together to improve practices that promote student engagement and successful learning. They are developing a school that is learner-centred, and focused on developing successful, high achieving students.

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?

Papatoetoe Intermediate School is a large culturally diverse school and has served its local community for many years. The roll has remained stable over the past 3 years and has a majority of Pacific and Indian students.

Over the past four years significant issues with finance, personnel and governance resulted in the school receiving support from Ministry of Education (MoE) Limited Statutory Managers (LSM) and most recently a commissioner.

In 2014 ERO identified a number of areas of school-wide systems and practices that required improvement. The school has worked with ERO and MoE guidance to address these areas. There have been significant improvements to governance, personnel and the quality of leadership and teaching and learning.

The principal and school leaders have successfully led change management across the school that is resulting in children receiving more responsive and engaging learning programmes. The commissioner has planned a well-considered path to reinstating the board of trustees.

2 Review and Development

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

Priorities identified for review and development

ERO’s 2014 report identified that improvements were necessary to:

• strengthen the analysis and reporting of student achievement
• improve the quality of teaching and learning
• improve curriculum design and implementation
• build leadership and governance capability to sustain and embed changes.

Progress

The principal provides significant educational leadership. In collaboration with senior leaders and teachers, she has implemented strategic, considered and highly effective responses to the recommendations identified in the 2014 ERO review. This has resulted in improved school practices and operations, including better reporting systems. Senior leaders place a strong priority on the analysis and use of student achievement information, and on ensuring that this information is well used to inform planning for teaching and learning.

Developing an inclusive and positive school culture has been a key part of the work to improve students’ educational outcomes. Considerable professional learning and development has supported senior leaders to build professional capability and collective capacity across the school. This approach is generating greater collaboration for school improvement and helping to increase the capability at all levels of the school. Senior leaders are strategically planning to move from reliance on external expertise to a more sustainable approach for improvement.

Significant changes in the school’s teaching culture has contributed to greater student wellbeing and motivation to engage and achieve. The sustained work on teacher improvement has led to a fundamentally different quality of teaching and learning that is being constantly refined. Positive improvements include more personalised learning for individual and groups of students. Classrooms are settled, productive work environments.

Senior leaders and teachers have actively promoted parent and whānau engagement. There has been a significant increase in parents and whānau working together with teachers to enable them to better support their children’s learning and progress.

Senior leaders with teachers have reviewed the school curriculum. Key components of the revised curriculum are: responsive teaching and learning, deliberate acts of teaching, and students taking more ownership for their learning within local and relevant contexts. There is greater consistency in the planning of teaching and learning programmes at all levels of the school.

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 significantly better placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance. Improved educational leadership, effective teaching and coherent systems now support a school culture focused on improving outcomes for students. Decision making is well considered and informed by different sources of evidence. This is resulting in good strategic decision making and efficient resourcing at all levels of the school.

Internal evaluation is developing well and is now used more at leadership, team and teaching levels. Staff inquiry cycles align with school goals and are based on improving student outcomes through targeted actions. Increased student achievement between 2013 and 2015 is evidence of the school’s growing strengths.

Senior leaders model collaboration to promote a greater shared understanding and more collective decision making among staff. They provide time and encouragement for middle leaders and teachers to share best practice and to focus on enhancing teaching through targeted professional development. This is resulting in a more cohesive staff culture.

The commissioner is providing effective school governance. He has implemented a range of strategies to engage with the school community. An advisory group, representative of the community has been established to contribute to school decision making. The commissioner has planned a well-considered path to reinstating a board of trustees.

Senior leaders plan to continue progressing the development priorities noted in this report. In particular, senior leaders have identified the key areas of:

• continuing to raise student achievement
• further developing teacher and leader capability
• continuing to develop a curriculum that is responsive to students’ interests and learning needs
• using internal evaluation to continue lifting school performance.

Recommendations

ERO intends to monitor the implementation of the plans for working towards the reinstatement of the board of trustees. On this basis another ERO review is likely to be undertaken in three years.

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

Papatoetoe Intermediate has undergone significant school-wide improvement. Strengthened professional leadership has been established. The principal, senior leaders, teachers and support staff have worked together to improve practices that promote student engagement and successful learning. They are developing a school that is learner-centred, and focused on developing successful, high achieving students.

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

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

20 September 2017

About the School