Southcity Christian School

Southcity Christian School - 11/02/2020

School Context

Southcity Christian School is an integrated full primary located on the southwestern boundary of Hamilton City. The growing roll of 148 includes 14% Māori, 28% Pākehā, 26% Indian and 7% of students with Pacific backgrounds.

The school is governed by a board of trustees and owned by the proprietors’ trust. The trust oversees the maintenance of the special Christian character and is responsible for the buildings and grounds.

Since the 2016 ERO review there have been some changes to teaching staff. The chairperson continues in the role while most other trustees are new to the board.

The school mission statement is to ‘provide high quality, biblically based education, in partnership with parents to develop children to their full potential’. The school vision is overarched by ‘Love’ and underpinned by the concept of ‘God’s Word’ providing the foundation for relationships with God, self, others and learning. Strategic goals are focused on improving students’ learning and engagement. The school sets annual targets to raise the achievement of all students who are achieving below expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. The school is part of the Ngā Whānau o Karaiti Kāhui Ako.

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

  • reading, writing and mathematics for targeted learners.

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?

School leaders have not reported schoolwide information about achievement in reading, writing and mathematics to the board of trustees. During the onsite stage of this review leaders collated school-wide achievement data. This information shows in reading almost all students achieved at expected curriculum levels and most in mathematics and writing. This data also shows consistency in reading and writing over the previous two years.

Schoolwide data for 2018 shows that Māori and Pacific students proportionately achieved at slightly lower levels than their Pākehā peers at the school in reading, writing, and mathematics.

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

Information gathered by the school as part of annual target setting and reporting processes shows acceleration for some students in reading, writing and mathematics. However, information is not disaggregated schoolwide about rates of acceleration specifically for at-risk Māori and other groups of learners.

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?

Responsive, respectful relationships are evident between the school, parents and community. There are many opportunities for whānau engagement in school, activities and events. Community voice is regularly gathered through formal surveys and ongoing informal contact. Communications with parents and whānau are proactive, responsive and timely. Difference and diversity are valued and celebrated in the school. An inclusive school environment enables students from a wide range of backgrounds to contribute and be successful with their learning.

Useful teaching strategies are used to plan and deliver programmes for learning. Target students are clearly identified by teachers. Collegial and supportive relationships are evident among teachers and between staff and students. The purpose of learning and achievement expectations are made clear to students and there are high levels of student engagement. Teachers’ ongoing reflections support targeted planning for at-risk students and learners for whom English is a second language.

A focus on acceleration for learners not achieving at expected levels is evident across the school. Trustees set targets to improve outcomes for all these learners in reading, writing and mathematics. Trustees are well informed about target learners progress and achievement. Teacher aides provide targeted in-class support to accelerate learning and include these students in class programmes.

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

The school needs to further develop and implement a local, place-based contextual curriculum that shows learning pathways across the New Zealand Curriculum. This should incorporate effective teaching criteria, including culturally responsive pedagogy.

The management and use of assessment information needs to be reviewed to strengthen the reliability of teacher judgements in relation to student achievement. An assessment schedule needs to be developed to include an appropriate range of tools to build consistency of assessment practice across the school. Extending the use of learning progressions to monitor student development and enable students to be more aware of their learning progress and next steps is needed.

Strengthening the effective use of schoolwide achievement information is an area for development. Leaders need to systematically gather and report to trustee’s schoolwide information about achievement trends and patterns for all groups of learners. This is necessary to establish an overall schoolwide picture of achievement, disparity and acceleration for groups of learners over time. This is likely to support the board to scrutinise the data to make more responsive resourcing decisions to improving equity and excellence for all students.

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 Southcity Christian 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:

  • relationships and communication that contribute to equity and learners’ sense of belonging
  • teaching strategies that support students’ learning and wellbeing
  • a focus on systems and practices that support equity.

Next steps

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

  • local curriculum development to promote consistency of teaching and learning across the school
  • assessment practices to support teacher planning and student knowledge of their learning journey
  • strengthening the use of schoolwide achievement information to support internal evaluation.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to consultation with the Māori community

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

  • in consultation with the school’s Māori community, developed and make known to the school’s community policies, plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students

[NAG1(e)]

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice the board needs to ensure:

  • all requirements are met in regard to keeping documentation in the school about safety checking for new appointments to the school
  • procedures and programmes for anti-bullying are sufficient.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

11 February 2020

About the school

Location

Hamilton

Ministry of Education profile number

4125

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

148

Gender composition

Female 53% Male 47%

Ethnic composition

Māori 14%

NZ European/Pākehā 28%

Indian 26%

Filipino 8%

Pacific 7%

African 6%

Other ethnic groups 11%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

No

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

October 2019

Date of this report

11 February 2020

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review August 2016

Education Review May 2013

Education Review July 2010

 

South City Christian School - 23/08/2016

1 Context

South City Christian School is an integrated full primary school located on the south-western boundary of Hamilton City. The school is governed by a board of trustees and owned by the proprietor's trust, which oversees the maintenance of the special Christian character. The experienced principal has led the school for many years. The school has an increasing roll, which includes a group of students for whom English is a second language.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are to have the capabilities for living and life-long learning. Vital to our development and our education is our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with others (connected, actively involved), and our relationship with our learning (lifelong learners). Children will develop the competencies of managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing, and thinking language, symbols and text.

This vision is underpinned by God's word (the Holy Bible), which forms the foundation of the school and the relationship with God.

The school’s achievement information shows that between 2013 and 2015, nearly all of the small number of Māori children in the school were achieving above National Standards in mathematics and reading. Their achievement in writing fell over that period, with just over half the Māori children achieving the National Standard in 2015.

In 2015 Asian children, of Indian and Filipino ethnicity, achieved similarly to Māori children in reading and writing, but considerably less well in mathematics.

The school’s data shows that the achievement of all children reflects similar trends to the achievement of Māori children. In mathematics, nearly one-third of all children were achieving below the National Standard in 2013. There was a substantial improvement to mathematics achievement in 2014 that was sustained in 2015. Achievement in reading fell slightly in 2014 and 2015, however a high proportion of children continued to achieve above the National Standard. There was a substantial fall in writing achievement in 2014 followed by a smaller decrease in the 2015. As a result just over one-third of the children achieved below the National Standard for writing.

The principal maintains oversight of the moderation processes within the school. She ensures that teachers work collaboratively using a range of evidence and their professional knowledge to make sound overall teacher judgements about children's achievement levels in relation to the National Standards. 

Since the last ERO evaluation the school has focused on writing and mathematics, and on building partnerships with parents to support their child's learning and wellbeing. Initiatives facilitated within the school have included:

  • building partnerships with parents
  • Reading Recovery programmes, for children most needing support
  • Reading Together, recently introduced for parents of Year 1 and Year 2 students
  • teacher aides working with children in the junior school, and providing support for children who are English language learners
  • professional leadership opportunities for teachers
  • participation by a teacher in Accelerated Learning in Mathematics (ALiM)
  • referrals to specialist services, particularly for support with oral language.

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

School leaders and teachers make good use of evidence from standardised testing and samples of assessed work to identify children whose learning needs acceleration. To guide teacher decisions, the school has developed and shared a reference chart that clearly indicates expected levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics for all year levels in the school.

Teachers establish and maintain a record of the achievement and progress of the children in their class identified as being at risk of not achieving. This record includes six-monthly updates of achievement levels. Within classroom programmes, teachers plan for the needs of groups and individuals and make extensive use of board-funded teacher aides in the junior years to support their teaching. Information is shared formally and informally with parents, together with guidance about how they can help at home. School leaders gather, collate and report to the board on the progress of identified target children twice a year.

The school recognises from its school-wide data that children are lacking in basic facts knowledge, which has received less attention than teaching strategies. A teacher's participation in professional development in 2015, brought benefits for that class. For 2016, it has identified a need to provide in-house professional development on mathematics, and to provide information for parents about how they can help their child with instant recall of mathematical knowledge.

The school places priority on providing a reading recovery programme for those children in most need of acceleration. A Reading Together programme involving parents was recently introduced, and may be continued if the outcomes confirm its value for children.

The number of children not yet reaching National Standards in literacy reflects the increase in enrolled students for whom English is a second language, and the enrolment of a number of children with severe learning needs. Teachers and leaders refer children to specialist agencies when their learning is impaired by a variety of factors. 

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The special Christian character is reflected in all aspects of the school's curriculum and practices. Trustees work closely with the principal to oversee the employment of staff and the allocation of resources to support the best spiritual, academic, social and cultural outcomes for children. They are well-informed by the principal's reports on student achievement and progress, which guide the setting of strategic priorities and improvement-focused charter targets.

The highly-respected principal continues to provide strong professional leadership for the school community. She is pivotal in leading and sustaining the school's welcoming and inclusive culture that aims for equity and excellence for all. The principal sets and models consistently high standards for teaching and learning.

Parents share the school's commitment to special character education and the associated values. They appreciate the open and informative partnership with the school that enables them to support their children's education at home.

Classroom environments are highly conducive to learning and teaching. Respectful, affirming and caring relationships are evident between children and staff. Children are engaged and motivated to learn. Teachers gather an appropriate range of information to reflect on their practice, as part of teaching as inquiry and the school's appraisal process. Leaders and teaching staff assist children who need additional support or extension for their learning.

The special character of the school promotes the valuing of the language, culture and identity of all students. The school has developed an implementation plan for the greater inclusion of te reo and tikanga Māori. Leaders and teachers recognise the ongoing challenge and positive potential for children whose first language is not English.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

Leaders and teachers:  

  • know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
  • respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
  • regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
  • act on what they know works well for each child
  • build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
  • are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

The school has an experienced principal and a number of experienced and capable teachers. The current focus of professional development is on increasing the effectiveness of teaching strategies and literacy, particularly for children who do not have English as their first language, or who have recently enrolled in the school. The next step for the school is to give priority to accelerating the achievement of Māori children in writing. While the number of Māori children who are not succeeding to expectations is small, they represent nearly half of the Māori children attending the school. School data shows that most of these children are successful in other areas of the curriculum, and could be expected with close monitoring to improve their achievement in writing.

It is also important for the school to make greater use of teaching as inquiry to evaluate the outcomes of teaching for all children whose literacy achievement needs to be accelerated. As part of this recommendation, the board should ensure the principal has sufficient time and support to effectively oversee the consistent success of literacy teaching and learning.

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

6 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 the following:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • 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
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance
  • compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

7 Recommendations

ERO recommends that the school:

  • makes greater use of teaching as inquiry to evaluate and continue to improve the responsiveness of literacy teaching for all children
  • ensures that the principal has sufficient time and support to oversee the consistent success of literacy teaching and learning
  • planning for achievement and acceleration in all areas should clearly state how well it is contributing to equity and excellence for those students who most need it. 

Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer

23 August 2016 

About the school 

Location

Hamilton

Ministry of Education profile number

4125

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

123

Gender composition

Boys    65
Girls    58

Ethnic composition

Maori
Pākehā
Indian
South East Asian
Niue
Other Asian
Samoan
Other European
Other

  9
55
24
  9
  1
  1
  2
18
  4

Review team on site

May 2016

Date of this report

23 August 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

May 2013
July 2010
October 2007