Matakana School

Summary

Matakana School has a roll of 367 students, mainly Pākehā, with 60 of these learners identifying as Māori. Small numbers of Pacific children and other ethnic groups also attend the school. Significant roll growth has occurred since the ERO review in 2014.

School leaders have continued to focus on and develop quality teaching and learning practice that makes a positive difference for children who are at risk of not achieving National Standards. Learning outcomes have been fostered by initiatives such as targeted strategic planning, effective professional development for teachers and inclusion of parents and whānau in children’s learning.

In 2014 the ERO report identified that children’s ownership and responsibility for their learning required further development. Subsequently, school leaders have continued to focus on embedding and sustaining strategies that give children a meaningful sense of ownership of their learning. This has seen the development of effective collaborative approaches to learning, where children have more than one teacher and other peers to learn with.

National Standards outcomes have been sustained at high levels over the past three years. Approximately 85 percent of students, including Māori, achieve at or above the standard in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has a deliberate focus on raising mathematics achievement for Māori children.

Matakana School is a member of the Mahurangi Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako (CoL), one of eight schools in the Warkworth area. The CoL is at the early stage of setting its achievement targets and focuses.

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

The school is effectively achieving equitable outcomes for Māori, Pacific and other children. The board of trustees, principal and staff prioritise and resource individual learners who may be at risk of not achieving and view them as priority learners.

Teachers place value on knowing their learners, and families and whānau. This has led to responsive and positive learning relationships to support children and their engagement with learning. Staff are increasingly skilful in sharing and refining acceleration strategies and approaches that make a difference for children’s individual learning success. Teachers share the success of these strategies and approaches with each other to improve and develop teaching practice across the school. Processes are in place to ensure that overall teacher judgements for National Standards are valid.

At the time of this review collaborative approaches to teaching and learning are being embedded through professional learning in mathematics for school staff. The approaches learned in this context are applicable to other learning areas.

Children are achieving excellent educational outcomes. School performance has been sustained over time through well-focused, embedded processes and practices. This school has successfully addressed in-school disparity in educational outcomes.

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

Equity and excellence

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

Matakana School is highly effective in responding to children whose learning progress needs acceleration. The board of trustees, leadership team and staff place equity and excellence at the forefront of strategic direction.

School achievement information shows that approximately 88 percent of children, including Māori, have achieved the National Standards for reading since 2013. Writing and mathematics data show similar overall results for all learners by the end of Year 6. Intensive support for Year 5 students, in mathematics, is helping to sustain these results. Sustaining achievement levels has also been a focus for Year 2 learners in reading and Year 3 learners in writing.

School achievement information shows that approximately 89 percent of children leave the school having achieved the standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Data for Year 6 learners over the past three years show increasing numbers of students achieve the National Standards.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

The school’s processes are highly effective in supporting equity and excellence.

The board of trustees and the senior leadership team are deeply committed to the provision of equitable educational opportunities for children. Teachers value professional learning and opportunities to inquire further into best practice. The school uses very good internal evaluation processes to monitor and extend equity and excellence for children. Consultation with the school community continues to be effective in setting the school’s strategic direction.

Learners have a strong sense of belonging to their school, as evident in children’s creative artwork that adds to the school community’s heritage. Children are highly connected to their school and to their learning. Strength in whānaungatanga ensures all learners and whānau feel welcomed and valued.

Children, parents and whānau who spoke with ERO feel supported through affirming learning relationships where families are included in learning processes that lead to improvement. The school has an innovative approach to homework, re-conceptualised as Home Learning Challenges.

Māori children have opportunities to learn and use te reo Māori. Their identity is affirmed and given an authentic place within the curriculum and school ethos. Māori culture, concepts and world view are explicitly taught in classroom programmes. This has been a significant area of development since the 2014 ERO review.

The development of collaborative learning approaches has seen children working in more differentiated and mixed-ability situations. This has promoted children’s motivation to learn, and has extended the development of their learning dispositions in a positive way.

The school’s localised curriculum is highly effective in supporting children to achieve the educational outcomes identified in The New Zealand Curriculum. Digital technologies are integrated into everyday programmes. Classrooms have been refurbished and updated to reflect progressive educational ideas. The curriculum values are embedded in all aspects of school life. These values contribute to the school’s positive social culture that is inclusive of all children and their learning preferences.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

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

To sustain the school’s positive strategic direction, trustees and school leaders should continue to embed and enhance effective processes for internal evaluation, consultation with the school community, and acceleration of children’s learning progress.

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?

Children are achieving excellent educational outcomes. School performance has been sustained over time through well-focused, embedded processes and practices. This school has successfully addressed in-school disparity in educational outcomes.

Agreed next steps are to:

• further develop the bicultural environment in the school
• be influential in building a strong collaborative culture across the Community of Learning.

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

Steffan Brough

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

14 June 2017

About the school 

1 Context

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

Matakana School is a long-established, semi-rural school, located near Warkworth. It has recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. The school caters for students from year 1 to 6. The majority of staff have a long association with the school. Students and staff benefit from high levels of parent involvement and commitment to the school.

The community is growing and consequently the student population is also increasing. The school also has a well-equipped classroom that caters for students with high needs and has recently opened a second class in its Montessori unit

A new board of trustees chairperson and new trustees were appointed after the 2013 board elections. There have been property improvements made and an upgrade to the information and communication infrastructure since the 2011 ERO review. The school’s high quality resources and large grounds are enjoyed by students.

The school has responded positively to areas identified for review and development in the 2011 ERO report.

2 Learning

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

Matakana School uses student achievement information very well to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement. Most students are achieving at or above National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

Students are highly engaged in their learning. They are friendly, articulate and confident. Relationships between adults and students are positive and the school has an inclusive culture. Staff implement strategies that continue to strengthen the engagement of learners who require additional support. Students’ wellbeing is well supported through inclusion of the school values programme. There is a settled tone within the school and ongoing improvement in students’ progress and achievement.

There is a culture of collective responsibility for students’ progress. Managers have implemented strategies for teachers to closely monitor school-wide and Ministry of Education priorities for learning. Students are increasingly taking ownership of their learning and in reporting progress to their parents and families.

Students with high needs are well catered for in the purposefully renovated classroom. The school’s special educational needs coordinator and outside agencies support and oversee the appropriate individual learning programmes implemented by teacher aides for each student.

Team leaders report regularly to the board and parents on student progress and achievement in relation to National Standards. Teachers use student achievement information well to plan programmes for various ability groups and for whole-class learning, and to identify students needing additional support or extension. The principal should now ensure that National Standard information is gathered on the anniversary of those students who have been at school for one, two and three years.

The achievement and progress of Pacific students is carefully monitored throughout the year. They are achieving at similar levels as all students in the school. The board has recently consulted with Pacific families and sought their aspirations for their children. The board’s decision-making would be further informed by the principal and senior leaders reporting on the achievement of Maori and Pacific students separately.

The board and principal agree that key next steps for the school include continuing to:

• build approaches for students to take greater ownership of their learning
• review the effectiveness of initiatives to increase student engagement.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes and supports student learning and is linked to The New Zealand Curriculum. A focus of the curriculum is on developing students’ physical, social and emotional wellbeing. It emphasises the school’s identified values programme, where teachers role model these qualities. Criteria to promote understanding of these values have been completed.

The Montessori unit’s philosophy and programme is effectively blended with the rest of the school’s learning programmes. Students in the unit are well integrated into the school culture. Students’ achievement and progress is reported to the board as part of the whole school information.

The principal has implemented a variety of initiatives to empower students to monitor their own progress, and these initiatives are being embedded into the curriculum.

The board sets clear expectations for teaching and learning. Teachers are familiar with these expectations and work collaboratively in teams to plan for students’ ongoing learning. They regularly participate in professional development that aligns well with school strategic goals. They participate in rich discussions with colleagues about student learning. Teachers’ commitment to ongoing improvement in teaching and learning is evident.

The board and principal agree that key next steps for strengthening the school curriculum include:

• evaluating and reporting to the board on the effectiveness of all initiatives used to enhance student progress and achievement
• strengthening the performance management system for teachers to include a greater emphasis on evidence-based reflection and the effectiveness of teaching practices.

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

The school has a strong commitment to supporting the educational success of Māori learners, and teachers are increasing their capacity to promote the language, culture and identity of these students. Twelve percent of students identify as being of Māori descent.

The school is part of the Mahurangi Learning and Change Network whose focus is raising the achievement of Māori and Pacific students across all of the four member schools. As a result of the school’s membership on the network the board has recently reported on Māori student’s achievement and consulted with their Māori whānau on their aspirations for their children. There has been an increased integration of te reo Māori in classes as a response to whānau aspirations.

There continues to be an enthusiastic kapa haka group that provides opportunities for Māori students to develop leadership skills, and to learn through approaches based on ako and tuakana teina relationships. All students and teachers continue to participate in marae visits as part of the curriculum. A separate visit was held for teachers to help them further increase their understandings of tikanga Māori.

The principal agrees it would now be useful to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes implemented to promote educational success for Māori.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

Matakana School is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. The board has effective strategies to maintain its governance role. Trustees show strong commitment to their role and could benefit from undertaking board training to further increase their understanding of the board’s governance role in a school setting.

The board is well informed on the day-to-day running of the school and is regularly updated about students’ progress in relation to National Standards. Trustees scrutinise and use this information well to guide decision making about future priorities and directions for the school.

The board and teachers are focussed on school improvement. Changes to school practices have been implemented as a result of genuine consultation and communication with the community

The principal leads the management team well. He is highly reflective and skilfully distributes responsibilities within the management team. He is implementing a variety of systems that should streamline many school operations. He has supported the school through a well considered change management process, in which changes have been based on current research into good teaching and learning practices.

The board and senior managers participate in many discussions around resourcing decisions to improve student achievement, based on the principal’s and team leader's descriptive reports. Formalising a clear cyclical process and self-review expectations should help other school leaders and teachers to provide evidence-based reports to inform the board of the effectiveness of initiatives. These reports would further support the board in their decision-making and strengthen sustainable practices within the school.

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

2 May 2014

About the School