Bayview School

1 Context

Bayview School provides education for children in Years 1 to 6. Children learn in a caring, respectful and inclusive environment. The school promotes strong partnerships with families, whānau and the wider community.

The school’s 2013 ERO report noted very good processes for using student achievement information, a strong focus on Māori and Pacific students' success, a relevant curriculum based on the school's vision and values, and good processes to transition children into the school. These features continue to be strengths of the school. Professional development has continued to enrich teaching and learning practices and the school has established a strongly child-led curriculum.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are captured in the school's vision. This states that children will become confident, connected learners who think critically, creatively and caringly; who are able to set and assess their own learning and challenge themselves; who care for themselves, others and the environment; and who are active members of the class, school and community.

This vision is underpinned by the school's values of Citizenship (Iwi Whenuatanga), Attitude (Waiaro), Responsibility (Takotanga) and Empathy (Aroha). The values are incorporated by teachers in daily interactions and through curriculum programmes to help children, staff, whānau and families develop a shared understanding of them.

Valued outcomes for all learners in this school community are fostered through learning experiences which explore concepts of self, others and the environment. They focus on learners developing capabilities for lifelong learning so that they can feel in control of their learning and know that they can make a difference to their world.

The school’s achievement information shows that most learners achieve at or above National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Overall Māori student achievement in reading and writing is at slightly lower levels than the school-wide profile. School leaders continue to implement deliberate actions to reduce this disparity. Achievement in mathematics is consistent across all groups of students. School achievement data also shows some gender-based differences and leaders and teachers are aware of the need to further improve achievement in reading and writing for boys. Effective internal moderation ensures that processes for making judgements about student achievement are rigorous and consistent, and that data is reliable.

Since the last ERO evaluation the school has continued to embed its strong focus on student achievement, with an increased emphasis on target and priority learners, teacher inquiry into practice, and student-led learning. The school has made very good use of external professional development, including: 

• development of the Understanding by Design philosophy that underpins inquiry-based teaching and learning in the school
• introduction of the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) programme that is now interwoven into the school's I-CARE values system
• implementing Visible Learning, which helps teachers to see learning through the eyes of the child and helps children to see themselves as their own teacher. 

3 Accelerating achievement

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

Bayview School responds very well to Māori children whose learning and achievement needs acceleration.

The school has robust systems for monitoring the progress and achievement of all children, and for identifying those whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Leaders and teachers gather information about Māori children as a group and individually. All children not yet achieving at the National Standard in reading, writing or mathematics are identified as target students, and Māori children are identified separately within these groups.

Teachers prepare action plans which identify needs and strategies to be implemented to accelerate progress for all target and priority learners. They evaluate and revise these action plans every term. Each child's short and long-term progress is closely monitored.

Strong bicultural practices within the school are an intentional strategy to further support Māori student success. Trustees, leaders and staff continue to extend learning partnerships with whānau so that their goals and aspirations contribute to school-wide goals and strategies for promoting success for Māori learners.

Individually, whānau meet with their child's teacher at the beginning of the year to collaboratively develop their learning action plan, and termly during the year to discuss progress and achievement and to modify the plan. Strategies developed for learning conference meetings have resulted in nearly 100% whānau attendance rates at these meetings.

Whānau hui are held at the end of term one to discuss Māori student achievement and to gather assistance from whānau about how to best support Maori learners. The school is responsive to suggestions and information gathered. Examples of responsiveness include timetabling kapa haka during school time to enable students to participate in this and other additional curriculum activities, and introducing te reo Māori lessons for all children.

Staff receive internal and external professional development in catering for the needs of Māori learners, and understanding the concepts of Te Ao Māori. Teachers, leaders and trustees have used the Ministry of Education resource Ka Hikitia: Accelerating Success 2013 – 2017, and are about to useHautū: Māori Cultural Responsiveness Self Review tool for Board of Trustees, to further inform decisions about and directions for progressing Māori education success.

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

Bayview School responds very well to other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

School leaders and teachers use the same robust systems to identify and monitor the progress and achievement of all learners. Staff collaborate to analyse overall school data and to set school-wide and class targets. Teachers inquire into the effectiveness of practices and collaborate to support all learners. In recent years there has been significant professional development to build teachers' knowledge and skills, and they have become increasingly effective at accelerating children's progress and achievement.

Parents receive good information and are included in their children's learning in many ways. Children have high levels of understanding and ownership of their learning.

The school has effective processes for evaluating the impact of strategies on individuals and groups of learners. Children whose learning and achievement need acceleration are making very good progress, with many examples of rapid acceleration. The school's next step is to extend the analysis of achievement information to identify school-wide trends and patterns in acceleration rates.

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?

Bayview School's curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school's vision, values, goals and priorities for equity and excellence very effectively.

The curriculum is highly responsive to children's strengths, interests and needs. Children demonstrate a sense of personal agency and confidence that their voice is valued. This results in high levels of student engagement and ownership of learning.

The curriculum places emphasis on students contributing to the 'greater good' (through school and community projects) and to developing children who are critical, informed, active and responsible citizens. Digital learning technologies are integrated in teaching programmes and enrich children's learning opportunities. High quality teaching and learning practices are well embedded across the school. The renovation of classroom spaces to better support these effective practices is being phased in across the school.

Documented action plans at all levels of the school indicate a well considered commitment to accelerating learning. Thorough monitoring systems are in place for all children, with particularly comprehensive tracking of target and priority learners. This includes tracking the ongoing progress and achievement in relation to National Standards for every student during their time at the school.

School leaders and staff have high expectations for all children to experience and celebrate success. Teachers support children well to develop learning-to-learn capabilities and to discuss their current learning, progress and achievement. Children view themselves as capable, competent learners. They understand the levels required, can set goals and next steps, and are able to reflect on and evaluate their learning.

School trustees, leaders and staff have a deep understanding of bicultural practices and perspectives, and these are evident in daily interactions and the school's curriculum. The high value placed on te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and strengthening of te Ao Māori in recent years has established strong foundations for culturally responsive practices.

Trustees, leaders and staff use a wide range of strategies to foster strong partnerships with families, whānau and the wider school community. Effective two-way communication and consultation includes strategies to gather many perspectives, including those of students, to inform decisions. The school liaises with local early childhood services and other schools to support transition into the school and on to intermediate schools.

School leaders are part of local and national education networks. Schools in these networks have worked together with a focus on accelerating learning, building home-school partnerships, and catering effectively for Māori students.

School leadership is highly effective. Leaders have established clarity around school philosophy and embedded cohesive systems that guide practice. They make good use of internal and external expertise to build consistently high quality teaching and learning practices and to enhance capacity for improvement and innovation. Leaders have embedded a culture where teachers, students, parents and whānau take shared responsibility for students' wellbeing and achievement.

A sound foundation of effective governance systems, policies and practices enables the board to focus on strategic, future-focused decision-making and on student achievement. Trustees have a good understanding of their community and bring community connections to their roles.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

Bayview School is well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

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. 

School trustees, leaders and staff work collaboratively, with a deliberate focus on student engagement, progress and achievement. The school has well documented improvement plans that aim to enable more students to achieve well.

ERO and school leaders agree that the school is now well positioned to further extend teaching practices that support acceleration, student-led learning, visible learning practices and its innovative teaching and learning (ILP) approaches.

School trustees, leaders and staff work collaboratively to promote a culture of evaluative inquiry for improvement. Reflection, review and inquiry are embedded in systems at all levels of the school. To support sustainability of current good practices, leaders and trustees agree that they could now improve the documentation of some aspects of their self-review processes, and could consider ways to more formally evaluate board performance.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five 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 Recommendation

ERO recommends that the school continue its focus on promoting equity and excellence through further extending its internal evaluation processes. 

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

27 June 2016

About the school

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Bayview School is situated in Glenfield and caters for students in Years 1 to 6. Adjacent to the school is a kindergarten and a community learning centre. The three services work together to create an environment in which everyone is a learner, irrespective of their age. The seamless transition for students from the kindergarten to school is a result of this positive relationship between the three services. A settled and respectful school environment further contributes to students and their parents being enthusiastic learners.

The board has recently appointed a new deputy principal who will join the staff in term two. The new deputy principal will provide support to the principal in managing the curriculum.

The school has restructured teaching teams to align with its philosophy in which everyone works cooperatively and learns from each other. Students are in classes with their age group peers, but share learning group leaders and participate in assemblies and a range of activities and events with students of all ages.

The school has a positive reporting history. The 2010 ERO report suggested that the school build on existing good practices through a focus on further improving teaching and learning to achieve greater consistency in quality. The report also recommended strengthening practices that increase students' understanding of how well they are achieving and their next learning steps. The school has made very good progress in sharing achievement information with students.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

The school has thorough processes to guide the collation and analysis of student achievement data. Data is collected from several sources and is used well to identify trends and patterns over time for groups of students. Trustees receive clear information about these trends and patterns. They use the information purposefully to set annual school targets and support new curriculum initiatives.

Many teachers use data effectively to group students based on their identified strengths and knowledge gaps. They identify students whose progress needs closer monitoring and work collegially to accelerate the learning of under-achieving students. They are accountable for the progress of these students through the teacher appraisal process.

School achievement information indicates that Māori students are achieving well. Senior leaders and trustees have now placed priority on improving the school’s provision for Pacific learners and could use well researched approaches to review and plan for improvement. These approaches should link well to the school’s identified priorities of more strongly acknowledging and valuing students’ cultures and integrating these more consistently throughout the school. This will provide more coherence between what is documented and practice.

A school-wide review of student achievement and teaching practice identified learning areas where the school targets were not being met. The reason for any slippage in student achievement was identified and measures put in place to improve student outcomes.

Students communicate effectively as learners. They know how well they are achieving and set appropriate goals to achieve their next step. Students actively monitor their own progress and seek confirmation from teachers about their learning successes.

English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students receive good support to increase their confidence and use of English language in classrooms and in specialist programmes. The specialist teacher and classroom teachers work together well to progress student language learning. Teachers show respect for the first language of students and their parents by using interpreters to discuss students' learning and achievement. Trustees receive an annual report about the effectiveness of the ESOL programme in relation to student progress.

Parents receive clear information in written reports at the end of the year about how well students achieve in relation to National Standards.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

The school has effective processes for implementing and reviewing the curriculum. The curriculum aligns well with the school’s vision, values, key competencies and its philosophy of including and giving to the wider community. The use of vertical teaching and learning groups and a new approach to delivering the curriculum are enabling teachers and students to appreciate how others are learning. It is too early, however, to determine how well this newly developed curriculum is promoting and supporting students learning.

Inquiry-based learning concepts are used to motivate students to make connections and explore their learning more deeply. Contexts for learning are relevant and students transfer learning and skills across different learning areas. Students support each other well in class. They show enthusiasm for learning and are caring in their attitudes towards their peers, helping one another to become successful learners.

ERO and senior leaders agree that future priorities for developing teaching programmes include:

• building the capacity of teachers in developing a more comprehensive student-led curriculum in which students have a greater voice
• reviewing the use of class time to ensure that learning for students is maximised
• setting clear expectations for teachers' delivery of the curriculum and introducing closer monitoring of teaching practice against these expectations.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

The school caters effectively for Māori to succeed as Māori.

Information about the achievement of Māori as a group has been shared with parents and whānau at the school’s second hui. Parents/whānau have provided useful feedback to help the school initiate and strengthen activities and practices related to promoting their children’s success as Māori. The school’s enviro philosophy aligns well with the wider cultural and educational perspectives and values of its Māori community.

Achievement information indicates that Māori students overall are achieving well. Māori students are also well represented in the leadership opportunities available to students. The school has also responded well to the needs of a group of Māori students who were not well engaged in learning. Strategies put in place to raise the self belief and self management skills of these students have been successful.

Senior leaders and trustees agree that it is now timely to review how effectively and visibly The New Zealand Curriculum principles related to the Treaty of Waitangi are reflected in the school. They should also review how well documented goals, programmes and practices aimed at supporting success for Māori are evident in school practices.

4 Sustainable Performance

How well placed is the school to sustain and improve its performance?

Self review is used effectively to sustain and improve the school’s performance. Teachers and students regularly reflect on their performance to identify goals to work towards.

Good foundations are in place for introducing new approaches to planning and delivering the school’s curriculum and to bring about desired changes to the school’s organisational structure. High expectations for student achievement underpin the school’s vision for students to become independent lifelong learners.

ERO and trustees identified priorities for further strengthening governance processes. These include the board:

• reviewing its performance against Ministry of Education effective governance guidelines
• ensuring that school policy and practice are well aligned.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. At the time of this review there were no international students attending the school.

The school has attested that it complies with the Code.

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.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services

Northern Region

31 May 2013

About the School