2 Tawera Lane, Springfield
View on mapThis Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Springfield 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
Springfield School is a contributing primary school, nestled at the foothills of the Southern Alps, and catering for students in Years 1 to 6.
Springfield Schools strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
support children to make meaningful and positive choices about their actions, learning and behaviour
create a learning environment that promotes a sense of belonging for learners, staff and community
develop a curriculum which promotes student-centred learning, in a future focused, culturally inclusive manner.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Springfield School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the local curriculum and teaching practices support equity and excellence in students’ engagement, wellbeing and achievement.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
The school has a strategic goal to review the local curriculum and is in the process of curriculum change.
The school has introduced structured literacy, and new developments in the national curriculum refresh programme need to be incorporated in the school curriculum, including digital technology and NZ history.
The school expects to see programmes which have a clear focus on meeting the abilities, needs, skills and interests of students and supports excellent and equitable achievement, wellbeing and engagement outcomes for all students.
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to achieve excellent and equitable achievement outcomes for all students:
A commitment to grow the capability of the principal and staff to support and promote student achievement and engagement.
Developing internal evaluation practices which support the progress and achievement of all children.
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
implementing classroom and curriculum programmes that respond to students’ identified strengths, needs and prior learning so they can go on and be confident and connected lifelong learners
reviewing assessment, moderation and reporting processes to meet the needs of students, staff, and parents to provide meaningful evidence of achievement and progress and a basis for determining next steps
integrating Te Tiriti o Waitangi into classroom learning.
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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
26 July 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of May 2022, the Springfield School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
For further information please contact Springfield 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
26 July 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Springfield School is a rural school that caters for students in Years 1-6.
The school’s vision is: ‘To challenge ourselves to reach new heights’.
The school has a number of outcomes which are valued for students. These include, ‘confident actively involved learners, risk takers and team players, creative and critical thinkers in all curriculum areas, and productive effective relationships.’ The school also promotes the values of ‘Diversity, Respect, Honesty, Initiative and Perseverance’.
The school’s current targets for improving student outcomes are to continue to increase the number of students achieving ‘at or above’ expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
The school is a member of the Malvern Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL). The principal of Springfield School is the lead principal for the CoL.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following area:
student achievement in relation to school targets for reading, writing and mathematics.
Most students achieve at or above expectations for reading, writing and mathematics. Mathematics is an area of strength and a significant number of students achieve above expectations in this area of the curriculum.
The school’s 2016-2017 achievement information shows that some students whose learning was targeted for additional support made accelerated progress in their learning.
A small group of high achieving learners, who were identified for additional challenge in mathematics, reading and writing, made accelerated progress in 2017.
The board, leadership and teachers have created a caring, collaborative and inclusive learning environment that reflects the school’s valued outcomes. Students are offered positions of responsibility to help maintain a positive and respectful learning environment. Students are taking leadership in supporting and encouraging each other with learning and self-managing behaviour.
The board and principal are committed to the continuous improvement of students’ learning and wellbeing. They make resourcing decisions to ensure that each child has an equitable opportunity to learn. Trustees give thoughtful consideration to succession planning and the composition of the board, to ensure continuity of support for the principal, teachers and students.
Students have a range of opportunities to develop their understanding and engagement in te ao Māori (the Māori world).
School leaders, teachers and the board need to continue to improve their knowledge and understanding about internal evaluation processes and practices. An evaluation framework that includes a range of analysed learning information should be used to clearly identify the impact of innovations and teaching practices on student outcomes.
The principal has identified, and ERO agrees, that it is timely to evaluate the school’s curriculum, including how well the curriculum engages and responds to learners in multi-level classrooms. Clear statements about curriculum expectations for teaching and learning are an important element in sustaining equity and excellence for learners. ERO recommends that leaders and teachers include in this evaluation how well bicultural perspectives are incorporated across learning areas.
The board needs to refine its strategic planning in order to ensure the school’s vision and valued outcomes for learners are enacted. Long-term goals should link to a strategic vision. The annual plan needs to clearly identify outcomes and goals to be evaluated and reported.
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.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
the wide range of learning experiences for students
a positive learning environment which supports the wellbeing of learners
a school community that is actively encouraged to be involved in learning-focused relationships with students and staff
a thoughtful board whose decisions are focused on providing continuity of support for teaching and learning.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, development priorities are in:
developing clear guidelines for the use of assessment information, particularly to identify which teaching practices are most effective in accelerating students’ progress
ensuring there is a shared understanding across the school about the sufficiency of students’ progress over time
developing strategic and annual planning so that it supports the school to achieve its goals
building effective internal evaluation at all levels of the school so that the board, leaders and teachers understand the impact of processes and strategies on learning outcomes
reviewing the school’s curriculum to ensure it responds effectively to the needs and interests of all learners.
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
20 June 2018
|
Location |
Springfield |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
3515 |
|
School type |
Year 1-6 |
|
School roll |
37 |
|
Gender composition |
Female 14 Male 23 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori: 2 Pākehā: 34 Asian: 1 |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
March 2018 |
|
Date of this report |
20 June 2018 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review November 2013 Education Review November 2010 |