Manurewa East School

Education institution number:
1352
School type:
Contributing
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Bilingual Year 7 and Year 8 School
Total roll:
307
Telephone:
Address:

Scotts Road, Manurewa, Auckland

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Manurewa East School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and Manurewa East 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

Context

Manurewa East School provides education for tamariki in Years 0 to 8. The school is situated on the eastern side of Manurewa in South Auckland. RTLB Cluster 12 and a Rosehill Satellite unit are situated at the school. The school’s kaupapa is based on the values of Kaitiaki, Ako, Whanaungatanga and Hauora.

Manurewa East School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • Attendance

  • Indigenising our local curriculum

  • Hauora.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Manurewa East School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well culturally sustaining practices impact on valued outcomes for all ākonga.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to ensure equitable access to education for all and the need to prioritise ākonga hauora.

The school expects to see:

  • improved ākonga progress in attendance, hauora, engagement and achievement

  • strengthened reciprocal learning partnerships with whānau

  • culturally responsive practices embedded

  • equitable and excellent outcomes for all tamariki, with a focus on Māori and Pasifika ākonga.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate culturally responsive practices:

  • leaders are focused on evaluation for equity and excellence for all ākonga

  • embedded school values promote hauora and culturally responsive practices

  • partnerships with whānau and iwi support the developing localised curriculum.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise continuing:

  • with professional learning and development related to culturally responsive practices

  • to enhance hauora for Manurewa East School as a hub of the community.

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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of School

29 June 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Manurewa East School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of February 2023, the Manurewa East School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Manurewa East School, School Board.

The next School Board 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

29 June 2023 

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Manurewa East School - 07/06/2019

Findings

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO ‘s overall evaluation judgement of Manurewa East School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Manurewa East School caters for students in Years 1 to 6. Māori students comprise 37 percent of the school’s roll and 32 percent have Pacific heritage. A significant number of children speak more than one language and many are new learners of English. A new principal was employed at the end of 2017 and a new senior leadership team was established at the end of 2018.

The 2017 ERO report noted the school’s well developed systems and processes for supporting children with additional learning needs. However, it also highlighted concerns about student achievement and progress, leadership and school governance, including employment and community partnership. ERO decided it was necessary to work with the school as it addressed these concerns, and to monitor its progress through a longitudinal review process.

Over the last two years the Ministry of Education (MoE) has provided support to build more effective teaching and assessment strategies and to enhance the school’s Te Reo Whiria bilingual programme.

Evidence collected through ERO’s ongoing monitoring and evaluation visits, begun in November 2017, has been used to evaluate the school’s progress over the past two years.

The board hosts the Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB cluster 12) on site.

The school is a member of the Alfriston Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako (CoL).

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

Priorities for review and development included:

  • strengthening governance and stewardship systems to promote ongoing sustainable practices and financial management
  • embedding sustainable teaching practices to improve student learning and accelerate their progress
  • delivering an effective bilingual programme.
Progress
Strengthening governance and leadership systems to promote ongoing sustainable practices and financial management.

The board and principal have made significant improvements to the school’s curriculum and organisational systems. They have built shared understandings and established sustainable and good practices. The board chair has been working closely with the New Zealand School Trustees’ Association. This has helped to support all trustees to increase their understanding of effective school stewardship. The board is now governing the school more confidently.

The school’s financial situation is now more stable. A representative from the school’s finance company attends board meetings to keep trustees well informed about the school’s financial position.

Trustees are better informed. The principal regularly reports progress towards the school’s strategic goals. These reports include a focus on how well students’ learning is being accelerated. Senior leaders report on the progress of students who are new learners of English and this helps them to make decisions about the use of resources and the effectiveness of programmes.

Trustees have increased their scrutiny of student achievement information. They are now asking pertinent questions and using achievement information to help them make appropriate resourcing and strategic decisions.

The school’s systematic internal evaluation framework is embedded in school policies, systems and practices. This is providing school leaders with a sound basis for identifying and prioritising goals and actions to realise and promote the school’s vision, values, goals and targets. Further work to engage more deeply with evaluation is likely to support ongoing improvement and innovation.

Embedding sustainable teaching practices to improve student learning and accelerate their progress

Students are engaged and growing in terms of their confidence. They demonstrate a sense of belonging and pride in both their cultural identity and the school. They respect and appreciate difference and connect well with teachers and each other. The positive school culture and tone, together with a schoolwide focus on student attendance, has resulted in greater student engagement.

Senior leaders and teachers share responsibility for improving outcomes for students. They have good sustainable strategies, including partnerships with parents and whānau, to enhance and accelerate students’ learning.

Teacher professional learning and development is focused and well tailored to address the needs of teachers and students. Senior leaders have systems for guiding teaching and promoting high expectations. These include an inquiry process that teachers use individually and collaboratively to evaluate the effectiveness of current teaching practices. The inquiry process has enabled teachers to identify how critical it is for students to have good attendance to improve their learning outcomes. They are now focusing on strategies to increase both student engagement and attendance.

Teachers are making good progress building their data analysis and interpretation capability. They are using robust tools and strategies to formatively assess students and accelerate their progress.

Student achievement has lifted since ERO’s 2017 report. The majority of students are achieving at or above the expectations the school has set for them in reading, writing and mathematics. There are good examples across the school, of students making accelerated progress in writing.

The principal and deputy principal are beginning work to develop a more culturally responsive curriculum. Teachers have created classrooms where student participation is supported and their success is celebrated. This means students benefit from an environment where they can safely take risks and where making errors is regarded as an opportunity for learning.

The school’s appraisal system is robust and supports teachers to continually strengthen their practice.

Delivering an effective bilingual programme.

The board and leadership team are committed to strengthening bicultural practices throughout the school. Staffing in the Māori medium unit is stable and consistent. Trustees and staff have consulted with whānau and this has resulted in improved decision-making and responsiveness to community and whānau aspirations.

Teachers in the bilingual unit are confident in te reo and tikanga Māori. Students’ success as Māori is promoted through a focus on strengthening their understanding, knowledge and use of te reo and tikanga Māori. Students in the unit are being positively affirmed in their identity. Bicultural practices, te reo and tikanga Māori, are also being promoted schoolwide.

Key next steps

The board and senior leaders agree that for ongoing improvement the key next steps are to continue to:

  1. implement strategies to address disparities in the achievement of groups of students

  2. build deeper evaluative thinking and processes that focus on gauging how effectively initiatives and systems are improving outcomes for students.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

Manurewa East School is developing effective systems and processes to sustain and continue to improve its performance.

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.

Conclusion

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO ‘s overall evaluation judgement of Manurewa East School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

7 June 2019

About the School

Location

Manurewa, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1352

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

339

Gender composition

Boys 51% Girls 49%

Ethnic composition

Māori
NZ European/Pākehā
Samoan
Tongan
Cook Island Māori
Indian
other ethnic groups

37%
8%
16%
16%
11%
4%
8%

Special Features

Bilingual Māori immersion class

Host for RTLB cluster

Host for Rosehill School satellite class

Review team on site

March 2019

Date of this report

7 June 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

June 2017
March 2014
December 2010

Manurewa East School - 22/06/2017

Summary

Manurewa East School’s roll of 385 children includes 40 percent Māori, 20 percent Samoan, 12 percent Tongan and 11 percent Cook Islands Māori. The long-serving principal has taken up another position and senior leaders are leading the school until the appointment of a new principal. There is a new board chair and several new trustees, some with governance experience. Many staff are new to the school, including those who are new to the bilingual unit and a number of beginning teachers.

The school has made some progress addressing areas for improvement noted in the 2014 ERO report. Leaders and teachers have:

  • restructured leadership roles and responsibilities
  • increased professional learning and promoted a collaborative culture among staff
  • redesigned the curriculum and introduced tools to help prioritise literacy and mathematics
  • increased students’ knowledge about the level of their achievement and their next goal
  • implemented clearer expectations for managing student behaviour
  • begun to accelerate student learning in writing, improved processes for analysing and monitoring progress and in 2017, reported more clearly to the board about student achievement.

The school has well developed and effective systems and processes to support children with additional learning requirements.

The school has been working to improve school conditions that promote children’s learning. The impact of recent changes and initiatives is not yet evident in achievement results, especially for children in Years 4, 5 and 6. There is an urgent need to develop effective plans with specific goals and targets to accelerate student learning and to significantly raise student achievement.

The school’s 2014-2016 data show that student achievement in reading and mathematics is declining. There has been a slight improvement in writing, but in all three areas, the school remains significantly below national levels. Of concern are the declining levels of achievement for Pacific children and persistent disparities for Māori children and boys in their achievement of the National Standards.

In the past the school has assessed children against Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori. However, the school has not clearly analysed achievement information to show how well Māori children in the bilingual unit progress and achieve. The school must consistently use externally reliable assessment tools to assess student achievement levels. 

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

Manurewa East School is not responding effectively to Māori and other children whose learning needs acceleration to reach National Standards by the end of Year 6.

Leaders and teachers know which children are at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes. However, they are yet to develop effective strategic planning, reporting and evaluation cycles to inform school plans and resourcing. Trustees require significant external professional support to understand their role, improve board processes and scrutinise student achievement information.

School leaders must take a greater collective responsibility for evaluating and regularly reporting on student progress and achievement to the board. Trustees require more evaluative and useful information to make decisions in the best interests of accelerating student outcomes.

At the time of this review, this school was not well placed to accelerate student learning to achieve educational excellence and to address in-school disparities.

ERO intends to carry out a process of ongoing evaluation to support the school’s development over the course of one-to-two years.

Equity and excellence

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

Manurewa East School is not yet effective in responding to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Approximately half of the Māori children in the school are achieving at the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Significant targeted teaching is required to lift the achievement of Māori children. Pacific student achievement is declining, with just over half of Pacific children achieving the Standards.

Leaders and teachers know which children are at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes. They have introduced new systems to help them track and monitor student progress and achievement to inform teachers’ planning.

Teachers have been involved in useful professional learning and development, led and monitored by external advisers, to help them improve their teaching of writing. While there was a slight increase in overall writing achievement in 2016, significant improvement is still required to ensure children reach the National Standard. School information shows that children’s rates of progress are beginning to increase.

The school is yet to develop a strategic approach that will enable teachers to rapidly improve outcomes in mathematics and reading. The school should identify teaching strategies that result in accelerated learning, targeting children currently in Years 4, 5 and 6, to ensure they are well placed to transition to Year 7.

Currently provisions for Māori medium learning in the school require significant improvement. Changes in staffing and the teaching of te reo and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, have led to children being assessed against the National Standards instead of Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori. The school has contacted the Ministry of Education to review the appropriate funding level for its Māori medium education. Strategic achievement goals for bilingual children should be set. These goals will require effective resourcing to help children achieve excellent outcomes.

The school has maintained a settled, inclusive environment with a strong focus on opportunities for children to engage in learning experiences that affirm their culture and leadership potential. Children are proud of their school and develop resilience through the caring support of staff. Leaders successfully promote whanaungatanga and manaakitanga.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

The school has some new systems, processes and practices in place to support equity and excellence for learners.

School leaders have significantly increased expectations for teaching to be more effective. They expect and support teachers to develop a more collegial and collaborative way of working. Using external expertise, the school now has a model of how to support teacher development and increase the focus on improving student learning. Leaders should focus on developing a shared, school-wide understanding of teaching strategies that result in accelerated student learning.

The school has improved performance management processes to promote teacher reflection about the quality of their teaching, and how they can better engage children and improve their learning.

The school’s curriculum and teaching programmes are being aligned to the learning needs and interests of children. An evaluation of how well recent changes have impacted on student progress and achievement is required. This will inform ongoing curriculum changes and connect with children’s cultures, home languages and learning strengths. Increasing learning focused conversations and partnerships with whānau is essential to strengthen the link between homes and the school and to support children’s learning.

Teachers are beginning to make learning strategies more explicit to children. Children value the way their teachers are beginning to share learning information with them. Teachers should now increase support for children to make decisions about their learning, more deeply understand their next learning steps, and increase their self-efficacy as learners.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

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

External support from NZSTA (New Zealand School Trustees’ Association) and the Ministry of Education Student Achievement Function Practitioners (SAF) is required to improve governance and school systems and processes to achieve equity and excellence.

Governance decision-making is not well linked to strategies for accelerating children’s progress and raising their achievement. Reporting is not sufficient or well used as evidence to support decision making. While individual trustees have the capability and capacity to contribute to improving school performance, they require a thorough induction and ongoing mentoring to enact their roles and responsibilities in the current educational context. 

To improve governance and stewardship of the school, it is necessary that the board:

  • develops a charter and strategic plan with annual goals and targets that are focused on accelerating student learning and raising achievement
  • increases its scrutiny of data in relation to valued student outcomes, achievement information and the school’s progress towards meeting strategic goals
  • receives reports on outcomes for children receiving ESOL funding, to inform decisions about the use of resources and programmes
  • aligns financial decision making and resourcing more closely to goals for raising student achievement and promoting positive outcomes for children
  • receives reports on student wellbeing and engagement to inform school plans and policies that will result in higher levels of attendance and success in education
  • receives regular reports on staff wellbeing to help the school manage the pace of change
  • develops a framework to regularly review the board’s performance and implements a work plan to ensure an ongoing cycle of internal evaluation to meet the National Administration Guidelines.

To address in-school disparity, school leaders, should work with teachers to improve school systems for noticing, recognising and responding to patterns and trends in children’s behaviour, engagement and learning.

Teachers require access to professional learning and development to help them include a greater focus on supporting children to be digitally confident learners. Increasing student access to tools and learning processes that prepare them for future learning is essential.

Teachers should incorporate data and other evidence to continue improving the quality of their evaluation and as a result, the quality of outcomes for children. Teacher portfolios should include opportunities for whānau to contribute. School leaders should develop a whānau engagement strategy to promote learning partnerships that help accelerate children’s learning.

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

To improve current practice, the board of trustees and school leaders should:

  • improve the evaluation and quality of reporting on student attendance
  • conduct regular staff and student wellbeing surveys
  • provide teachers with professional development and formal opportunities for critical reflection and inquiry, to improve their evaluation of the effectiveness of their teaching practices
  • demonstrate more clearly how supporting evidence shows significant shifts in teachers’ practice.

Going forward

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

At the time of this review, this school was not well placed to provide conditions for children to achieve educational excellence, or to address in-school disparities.

The main areas of concern are:

  • children’s attendance, progress and achievement in reading, mathematics and writing

  • equitable outcomes for boys and Pacific children

  • governance processes including student achievement targets and reporting to the board

  • school leadership

  • bilingual education

  • internal school evaluation systems and processes.

Leaders and teachers:

  • have not yet adequately built their knowledge of the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated

  • have not yet adequately established necessary conditions to effectively accelerate learning and achievement

  • are not well placed to achieve and sustain accelerated achievement for all children who need it.

ERO intends to carry out a process of ongoing evaluation to support development over the course of one-to-two years.

Recommendations

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education considers intervention under Part 7A of the Education Act 1989 in order to bring about the following improvements in:

  • student achievement and systems and processes to accelerate student learning

  • leadership that improves the quality of teaching

  • governance including employment and community partnerships in learning. 

ERO also recommends that the school seeks support from the New Zealand School Trustees Association in order to improve governance.

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

22 June 2017

About the school 

Location

Manurewa, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1352

School type

Contributing

School roll

385

Gender composition

Boys 52% Girls 48%

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Samoan
Tongan
Cook Islands Māori
Fijian
other

40%
6%
20%
12%
11%
2%
9%

Provision of Māori medium education

Yes

Number of Māori medium classes

2

Total number of students in Māori medium (MME)

38

Total number of students in Māori language in English medium (MLE)

0

Number of students in Level 1 MME

0

Number of students in Level 2 MME

38

Review team on site

April, 2017

Date of this report

22 June 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

March 2014
December 2010
October 2007