Randwick Park School

Randwick Park School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Randwick Park 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 

Randwick Park School is in Manurewa, Auckland and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school offers bilingual Māori education through Ngā Manukura.

Randwick Park School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • increase student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

  • strengthen the integrated and localised curriculum

  • grow learner dispositions and agency

  • embed inquiry practice across the school.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the conditions contribute to developing learner dispositions and agency to impact positively on student achievement. This evaluation will inform a refinement of the school’s strategic priorities. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • develop a shared understanding and expectations among teachers, students and whānau about learner dispositions and agency

  • identify the learner dispositions that work best for students at Randwick Park School

  • know how effectively teachers integrate learner dispositions and agency into their practice to support student achievement.

The school expects to see students becoming responsible, self-managing individuals who demonstrate agency in their learning to increase their achievement and experience success. Students will be effectively supported through teachers’ consistent use of teaching strategies and practices that promote equitable and excellent learner outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal of developing learner dispositions and agency to impact positively on student achievement:

  • the school’s well-established learning culture and environment are characterised by respect, inclusion, and collaboration

  • students demonstrate a strong sense of belonging and connection to the school

  • professional relationships among teachers, students and whānau focus on the learning and wellbeing of each student.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • embedding a shared understanding of learner dispositions and agency to empower students to become responsible, self-managing individuals

  • building effective teaching practice to ensure teachers consistently use strategies that promote the development of learner dispositions and agency

  • supporting students’ active participation in their learning to increase their achievement outcomes.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

2 September 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

This school has three Māori bilingual classes and a sports academy class.

Randwick Park School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of May 2022, the Randwick Park 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 Randwick Park 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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

2 September 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

Randwick Park School - 06/07/2020

School Context

Randwick Park School caters for children in Years 1 to 8. The school is culturally diverse with a roll of 662 children, of which 22 percent are of Māori descent, 49 percent have Pacific heritage, and of these 26 percent are Samoan. Increasing numbers of students speak languages other than English when they enrol at school. Ngā Mānukura, the Māori bilingual unit, consists of three classes for students from Years 1 to 8. The school experiences high numbers of students that come to the school or leave during the year.

School documentation states that hauora is the foundation of all learning at Randwick Park School. Four key principles: tana tina, taha hinengaro, taha whānau and taha wairua, promote partnership with the community. The school values are: Respect, Integrity, Excellence, Resilience and Positivity.

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

  • student achievement in reading writing and mathematics
  • initiatives and progress in curriculum areas
  • student wellbeing.

Randwick Park School is part of the Alfriston 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 working towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for its students. Leaders have clear data to show that most children are achieving the school’s valued outcomes.

Leaders and teachers have been exploring ways to lift overall achievement. They acknowledge further work in this area is a priority. The school collects a range of data that shows ongoing trends and patterns of variable outcomes in terms of achievement, progress and acceleration for some children. Longitudinal school data show that some of the learners leave school at the end of Year 8 not achieving to national curriculum expectations. School leaders have identified potential factors as to why student progress has not been accelerated in a sustained or consistent way over recent years.

Māori students are not yet achieving at expected levels. Māori students in Ngā Mānukura bilingual classes are achieving better outcomes than Māori students in mainstream classes.

The school’s other valued outcomes are known as ‘He Kākano, The Seed’. These reflect the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and include relating to others, thinking, managing self, participating and contributing. Students achieve very well in relation to these outcomes. Senior leaders are continuing to refine and build ways of promoting these competencies.

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

The school has evidence of accelerated progress for some Māori, Pacific and other students who need this. School data shows disparity between the achievement of Māori, Pacific and other learners in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders and teachers collect detailed achievement data. The use of this data for improving student learning requires further refinement. Teachers identify target students, inquire into their learning needs and respond with teaching strategies and resources. New initiatives and intervention programmes have been used to ensure acceleration of progress is being sustained over time and the disparity identified is reduced. These interventions will be further evaluated to measure their impact on acceleration of all students’ 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?

The school environment provides accessible and well organised learning areas. The curriculum offers a range of opportunities for children to engage in learning. Teachers make good use of digital tools to support children to access the curriculum and engage in learning. Tuakana/teina practices are promoted in classrooms. Students, including those with additional learning needs, learn alongside their peers and are well supported by teacher aides.

Ngā Mānukura, the three bilingual classes, provide te reo and English teaching programmes working from the New Zealand Curriculum, with Te Reo at Level 3. There is an intention to progress to Level 4 and to work from Te Marautanga, Te Reo Māori Curriculum. The unit is well supported by parents and whānau.

A Year 7 and 8 ‘Sports Academy’ class enables those students with special ability and interest in sport to access the curriculum through the lens of sport. The school is developing this learning pathway at Years 5 and 6 to meet the needs of younger learners. Students in Years 7 and 8 participate in technology learning opportunities from within the school and in specialised facilities.

In 2014 the school started inquiring into a Reggio Emilia approach to learning. School leaders believe this approach influences the design and delivery of a more child-led, localised and responsive curriculum. Leaders and teachers have participated in professional development nationally and internationally and they are committed to delivering an integrated curriculum through the Reggio Emilia approach.

Teachers and senior leaders have strong partnerships with parents/whānau and the wider school community. The special needs coordinator leads a wellbeing team that liaises with whānau/families and external agencies. These relationships increase learning opportunities that promote student wellbeing.

The teacher appraisal system is growing teachers’ capacity to inquire into the effectiveness of their professional practice. The school has recently introduced a new student management system that is supporting improved data analysis to inform teaching practice.

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

Leaders and teachers are developing systematic internal evaluation processes around the sense making of their achievement data. Trends and patterns in student achievement and progress data require further in-depth analysis and evaluation to reduce identified disparity and improve student achievement. The new student management system should support these improvements.

The school experiences high turnover of students during each year. Leaders and teachers are reviewing their monitoring and assessment systems for these students to track their progress and achievement.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Randwick Park School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • strong community relationships with a commitment to the school environment
  • an active and supportive board
  • a range of learning opportunities and experiences available for students
  • support for the student wellbeing
  • culturally inclusive practices
  • Nga Mānukura bilingual classes.

Next steps

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

  • refine analysis of the wide range of data collected with a focus on reducing disparity and accelerating student achievement

  • build the capacity of trustees, leaders and teachers to use internal evaluation to determine the impact of interventions, programmes and practices on outcomes for students.

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education consider working with the school by providing a Student Achievement Function Practitioner (SAF).

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

6 July 2020

About the school

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.