St Mary's School (Carterton)

Summary

St Mary’s School, Carterton, caters for 135 students in Years 1 to 8. Five students identify as Māori. Over the past three years there has been a 95% roll increase. In June this year the school celebrated its 100 year jubilee.

The present principal is moving to another position in term three. A new principal is due to take up the position at that time. The present board of trustees is made up of experienced and new members. There is continuity of proprietors’ representatives on the board.

The principal has led the school in responding to the areas for improvement identified in the June 2014 ERO report. Leaders and teachers continue to implement and refine improvements. An appropriate focus on accelerating learning in writing over the past two years continues to reduce the disparity in achievement between girls and boys.

How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?

School processes contribute to the promotion of equity and excellence. However, these processes are not consistently applied.

At the time of this review the school reports that most students are achieving at or above in relation to the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers are supported to build their capability to accelerate learning for identified students in writing, with some positive results. They agree that extending their new learning to promote achievement for all students in reading and mathematics, as well as writing, is a next step.

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for some children remains.

The school agrees to:

• develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
• monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress
• discuss the school’s progress with ERO.

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

Equity and excellence

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

The school continues to develop its response to students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Data from 2016, shows that most students achieve at and above National Standards expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Schoolwide, a greater percentage of boys achieve below the standard in literacy and a greater percentage of girls achieve below the standard in mathematics. Data gathered over time indicates a growing percentage of students achieving at and above National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

At the end of 2014, school leaders and teachers appropriately identified that disparity in achievement between boys and girls in writing was an area that needed to be addressed. A literacy intervention was introduced to promote acceleration of learning in writing. Results show that disparity is reducing and that fewer students are below the National Standard in writing. This continuing programme is now being implemented schoolwide.

Teachers work collaboratively to moderate their judgements about student progress and achievement in writing, particularly for target students. A range of assessment tools is used to support their judgements about reading, writing and mathematics. Staff have identified that dependability of decisions would be enhanced through more considered use of data. The current implementation of Progress and Achievement Consistent Tool (PACT) should support this.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?

The school continues to develop processes that promote equity and excellence.

The school’s special character and values, ‘aroha, integrity, respect and excellence’, underpin expectations for students about how they learn and act at this school. The valued outcomes are for students to be familiar with what it means to be Catholic, engaged and focused in what they are doing, leading them to be successful learners.

Trustees are proactive in their governance role in supporting the school’s vision and priorities. The board gives priority to resourcing that supports the focus on accelerating progress and learning for students identified in the writing target group.

Positive, reciprocal relationships are highly evident across all levels of the school community. School leaders assist teachers to build their capability and practice. Teachers and leaders continue to develop learning focused relationships with parents.

Across the school there are examples of teachers using effective strategies to engage and extend students in purposeful learning. School appraisal systems and processes are compliant and improvement focused. There is clear alignment to the school’s priority of accelerating writing progress for identified students. 

Staff are collegial and support each other. They have a collective responsibility for all children across the school. There is appropriate priority given in the curriculum to literacy and mathematics and the school’s Catholic special character.

The use of purposeful reflection, inquiry and internal evaluation is becoming part of school practice, as evident in the literacy intervention report.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?

The school has processes in place to guide development of practice for equity and excellence. However, these processes are not consistently applied across school operation.

To improve the effectiveness of current processes for equity and excellence for learners, school leaders, teachers and trustees should evaluate and strengthen their implementation of:

• expectations and models of teaching practice, to build consistency and quality across the school
• systems for recording, accessing and retrieval of information
• processes for gathering, tracking and reporting student progress and achievement
• strategies learnt through the writing focus and how they can be extended to reading and mathematics.

Collaborative curriculum review should include defining how the local curriculum reflects the school’s context and community.

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

• 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.

Going forward

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

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement between boys and girls remains.

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• need to improve the school conditions that support the acceleration of children’s learning and achievement
• need to build teacher capability to accelerate children’s learning and achievement.

The school agrees to:

• develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
• monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress
• discuss the school’s progress with ERO.

The school has requested that ERO provide them with an internal evaluation workshop.

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

Alan Wynyard

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

8 August 2017

About the school