School Context
Coatesville School on Auckland’s North Shore caters for 261 children in Years 1 to 6. Māori children make up five percent of the roll.The changing demographic of the local area is reflected in the increased roll number of children from China and Europe.
The school’s mission is for everyone at Coatesville School to ‘Aim, Strive, Achieve.’ Key to achieving this for all children are the values of respect, responsibility and reflection. The vision aims to nurture children to be successful, well rounded learners who are confident, passionate, creative and self directed. The school’s vision and values are well understood and supported by parents, teachers and students. Current targets in reading, writing and mathematics are focused on accelerating children who are below expectations, and extending those who are already achieving at expected levels.
Leaders regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
- wellbeing for success
- whole-school improvement particularly in the school’s culture.
Over the past year there have been significant changes to staffing. The principal leads a committed team of senior leaders, teachers and support staff.
The school is part of the Whānau ki Te Ako: Albany/Greenhithe Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako (CoL).
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 well towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for most of its students.
The school’s data report consistently high achievement for students in reading, writing and mathematics. All groups of students achieve at similar levels. Overall achievement is slightly higher for reading and mathematics than for writing.
Over time, small disparities have been identified and addressed for different ethnic groups. The school’s focus for Māori students is on increasing the numbers achieving above expectations. The school is taking steps to address the existing disparity between boys and girls in reading and writing.
Leaders gather considerable student voice during the course of their internal evaluations. This information tells them that most children:
- are happy at the school
- understand the school values
- are well engaged in their learning
- feel empowered to resolve conflict.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
The school has good evidence of the accelerated learning of those children who need to make better progress.
The school sets two-fold student achievement targets. These targets aim to accelerate the progress of students who need to make faster progress, and to extend the number of students achieving above expectations. Targets are in line with the aspirations and expectations that leaders and the community have for children’s learning.
Teachers use a combination of standardised assessment tools and assessments the school has developed from the literacy and mathematics learning progressions. Teachers use the information gathered from these tools to identify gaps in students’ learning, and to measure students’ progress. Achievement information is well analysed and informs the school’s decision making and resourcing.
Teachers identify learners in their class who need to make accelerated progress in reading, writing or mathematics. They use an inquiry model to consider the impact of their teaching practice on the learning of each of these students. Teachers use professional forums to discuss, clarify and evaluate their practice related to their inquiries.
Students with additional learning needs receive help through a variety of programmes that are designed to support their learning in literacy and mathematics. School data show that most students who participate in these programmes make accelerated progress. Leaders plan to find further ways to accelerate rates of progress for these students, and to more frequently report their progress to the board.
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 has established a strong vision for teaching and learning. Students’ wellbeing and achievement are key focuses for the school. Self-belief is fostered to support students to become successful, life-long learners.
The school culture is supportive and inclusive. The cultural diversity of the community is increasingly being celebrated through school events and the curriculum. Students feel empowered to use strategies to solve challenges they may encounter.
School leadership is effective. Leaders are strongly committed to the vision for teaching and learning. They have a shared understanding of the practices and processes needed to support that vision. Leaders have high expectations of teachers and for equitable outcomes for students.
School leaders have strengthened communication systems. They are building on the variety of ways that information is communicated and shared with parents and families. As a result, parents feel well informed about their children’s learning as well as school events and developments.
The school has developed a comprehensive learning model known as Whakamana Ākonga. This model promotes students’ agency and self-management of their learning through effective teaching. Following in-depth evaluation, teachers and leaders have worked well together to clarify effective ways to implement Whakamana Ākonga. Professional learning planned with the CoL should help to embed this way of working across the school.
School processes are very well aligned. The learning model, based on ‘Aim, Strive, Achieve’, forms the foundation for many school processes. This comprehensive use of the model has helped to deepen staff understanding of its purpose. Leaders and staff demonstrate a commitment to ongoing improvement.
The school has capable stewardship. Trustees bring complementary skills, knowledge and experience to their board role. Trustees collaborate with leaders, teachers, students and parents to develop the charter. This charter guides the school’s development and focus on supporting equitable and excellent student outcomes. Trustees scrutinise school performance and ensure there is accountability for student outcomes. The board is evaluating its performance using Hautū: Māori Cultural Responsiveness Self Review tool for Board of Trustees.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
The implementation of the school’s learning model has become a priority. The focus on student agency and effective teaching practice should benefit all students.
The school has developed comprehensive guidelines for the teaching of literacy and numeracy. Learning opportunities in science, social studies and technology are integrated through term long concepts. As teaching guidelines are developed for these learning areas, leaders and teachers should ensure the integrity of science, social studies and technology is retained within the termly concept learning programmes.
Lead teachers are providing good guidance for staff to increasingly use te reo and tikanga Māori in their class programmes. The board has resourced these lead roles to ensure that the development of te ao Māori in the school is a sustainable feature of the school.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
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emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
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physical safety of students
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teacher registration and certification
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processes for appointing staff
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stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
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attendance
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school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
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the school vision that promotes success for all learners
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leadership and stewardship that demonstrate a commitment to the school vision
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well aligned systems and processes that provide coherence to school operations.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
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fully implementing the learning model to promote student agency and effective teaching practice
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ensuring the integrity of science, social studies and technology in the school’s curriculum
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promotion of te ao Māori and bicultural practices to benefit Māori and all students.
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
21 May 2018
About the school
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Location
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Albany, Auckland
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Ministry of Education profile number
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1252
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School type
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Contributing (Years 1 to 6)
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School roll
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261
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Gender composition
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Boys 52% Girls 48%
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Ethnic composition
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Māori
Pākehā
Chinese
other European
other
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5%
80%
6%
7%
2%
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Provision of Māori medium education
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No
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Review team on site
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March 2018
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Date of this report
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21 May 2018
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review
Education Review
Education Review
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February 2014
September 2007
December 2010
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