Oranga School

Education institution number:
1403
School type:
Contributing
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
260
Telephone:
Address:

21 Rangipawa Road, One Tree Hill, Auckland

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Oranga School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 7 months of the Education Review Office and Oranga 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 

Oranga School, in One Tree Hill, Auckland caters for a diverse group of students from years 1 to 6. The school values of Hiringa, Aroha and Manaakitanga are depicted in the life of the school and underpin the school’s vision of ’Growing our Future Together’.

Oranga School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners to:

  • increase learning for all

  • provide a future focused curriculum

  • strengthen relationships and partnerships.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively culturally responsive practices are positively changing the culture of the school and promoting student success.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • the school’s recognition of the inclusive nature of the students and whānau in the school

  • the commitment to improving and enhancing te Tiriti o Waitangi principles.

The school expects to see the impact of culturally responsive practices on students holistically, and the impact on staff as they further refine culturally responsive practice.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how effectively culturally responsive practices are positively changing the culture of the school and promoting student success.

  • positive learning environments are consistently characterised by high expectations, collaboration, empathy, where all ākonga are engaged in their learning

  • learner wellbeing that is consistently prioritised and fostered 

  • learners have increased opportunities to learn and experience a broad curriculum connected to their culture

  • the school has strong inclusive practices including a specific focus on raising achievement for Māori and Pacific ākonga.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise continuing to: 

  • strengthen localised curriculum 

  • embed te reo Māori and tikanga Māori into the curriculum

  • build leader capability to drive continuous improvement.

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 Schools

18 July 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

Oranga School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of May 2023, the Oranga 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 Oranga 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

18 July 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

Oranga School - 17/05/2018

School Context

Oranga School is a contributing primary school located in the suburb of One Tree Hill, Auckland. The school’s diverse roll of 354 students comprises mainly Pākehā and Tongan students, and smaller groups of students who are Māori, Samoan and Cook Island Māori.

Its vision statement of “achieving excellence as a community of life-long learners,” forms the foundation of the school’s strategic direction. This aspirational goal is for all learners at Oranga School, both children and adults. The school’s motto of “E=4C”, captures the school’s value of excellence and is supported by creative, connected, critical and caring practices.

Key school targets are focused on increasing the number of students achieving at or above the school’s expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, and wellbeing

  • curriculum development and learning experiences that acknowledge student identity, language and culture

  • learning experiences in a variety of areas, including school events.

Since the 2015 ERO review, the board has several new trustees, including a new chairperson. The increasing diversity in the school community is reflected in the new families from overseas moving into the area. The roll has increased over time and is likely to continue to grow due to new housing development in the area.

Oranga Primary School is part of the Te Iti Kahurangi Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (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?

Achievement information for 2015 to 2018 indicates that the majority of students achieve at curriculum expectation for reading, writing and mathematics. Data also indicate that girls achieve at higher levels in literacy and mathematics than boys.

The 2017 achievement data show that all groups of students have made good progress in writing. Despite this, leaders have identified the teaching of writing continues to be an area for further development. This work aligns well with the CoL focus on improving achievement in this learning area.

School achievement data indicate that Māori students achieve well in comparison with other students in reading and writing.

Pacific student data for 2015 to 2018 indicate an upward trend of improvement in mathematics and writing achievement. However, data indicate that, while there has been some reduction of disparity for Pacific boys, a pattern of disparity remains.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

Good processes and practices exist for monitoring and tracking student progress and achievement. Leaders and teachers know students who need to make accelerated progress and identify their learning needs.

Good provision is made for children with additional learning needs. Teachers quickly identify and plan appropriate teaching and learning programmes. Positive, learning-focused partnerships with families of children with additional needs support children to progress well in their learning. These partnerships contribute to addressing in-school disparity.

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’s broad and responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunities to learn are mostly effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence. Students use inquiry approaches that increasingly require them to manage their own learning. They actively participate in curriculum activities, such as the arts, sciences, technology and digital learning. Students benefit from an inclusive environment that celebrates difference and supports their confidence in learning.

Teachers are increasingly adaptive in their teaching practices. Good progress has been made in building teachers’ capabilities to be reflective practitioners. The school’s appraisal process supports teachers to use achievement information and adapt their practice in response to learner needs. As a result, most students have good opportunities to learn and develop their social, physical, and emotional wellbeing.

The school uses a variety of ways to engage whānau and the community. These include regular student-led conferences, opportunities for parents to contribute their talents and interests in curriculum activities, and sharing achievement information for literacy and mathematics. These approaches are designed to enhance student achievement and wellbeing.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Further developments are needed in aspects of stewardship and leadership to support equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning.

Trustees bring appropriate professional expertise and skills to their stewardship roles. They recognise the need to access external training to increase their understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This could support the board to determine how well the school achieves valued student outcomes. Enhancing meeting procedures will also support the school’s focus on improving outcomes for all learners.

Trustees should now develop annual school-wide achievement targets that include all at-risk learners to show how effectively their progress is being accelerated. Increasing access to analysed student progress and achievement information would help trustees scrutinise the success of school initiatives.

Strong respectful relationships amongst staff are a strength. School leaders could now build on the good leadership capability in the school to further develop professional leadership roles. Such roles would contribute to developing more coherence across the curriculum, learning programmes and support sustainability of practices.

Trustees and leaders are committed to improving outcomes for students. They have adopted some good internal evaluation processes and practices. Strengthening reporting to the board and greater use of internal evaluation practices could help with achieving school goals in relation to equitable and excellent outcomes for students.

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:

  • board administration

  • curriculum

  • management of health, safety and welfare

  • personnel management

  • finance

  • 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.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (The Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of The Code.

At the time of this review there was one international student attending the school.

The student is provided with a very good standard of education that includes formal English language learning and good opportunities to participate fully in school activities. The international student benefits from the good pastoral care systems and has settled well into the school community.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in the:

  • professional capability and capacity of trustees, leaders and teachers to replicate and build on examples of very good school practice

  • broad curriculum that caters for students’ diverse interests and capabilities

  • reciprocal and positive learning partnerships with parents and whānau that form a foundation of success for their children’s learning and wellbeing.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in strengthening:

  • stewardship capability to achieve the school community’s vision, values, goals and priorities

  • leadership capability of school wide initiatives to enable and sustain coherent approaches that promote equity and excellence

  • internal evaluation of programmes and systems with a focus on improving outcomes for 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

17 May 2018

About the school

Location

One Tree Hill, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1403

School type

Contributing (Years 1 – 6)

School roll

354

Gender composition

Boys 53% Girls 47%

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Tongan
Samoan
Cook Island Māori
Indian
Japanese
Chinese
other Asian
other

7%
34%
26%
9%
4%
3%
3%
2%
5%
7%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2018

Date of this report

17 May 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

May 2015
April 2012
January 2009