Ranui School

1 Context

Ranui School in West Auckland caters for students in Years 1 to 6. Māori make up almost half of the roll. Children can learn through te reo Māori in Whakatipu Kakano, the bilingual unit. Children of Pacific backgrounds make up 40 percent of the school roll, with the largest groups being Samoan and Tuvaluan. Ranui is home to the largest number of Tuvaluan people living in New Zealand.

The appointment of the new principal at the beginning of the year allowed for the restructure of the senior leadership team. This team is aware of the work required to improve the achievement of children who need to make better progress. The school tone is positive and children are proud of their school.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are evident in the school's logo - valuing and celebrating diversity. The school community and staff want their children to be happy, healthy, harmonious and high achieving. They aim to foster these outcomes by building respect, courage, generosity, caring and persistence.

The school’s achievement information shows that overall achievement is lower than expected with some disparity between the achievement of groups of students. Māori children achieve best in mathematics with 57 percent being at and above the National Standard. In writing and reading slightly less than half of Māori children achieve as expected.

In Whakatipu Kakano 55 percent of children achieve at or above Nga Whanaketanga in Tau me te Taurangi (algebra and number). Thirty-five percent achieve at and above the standard in panui (reading) and 28 percent in tuhituhi (writing). Girls achieve better than boys in both panui and tuhituhi.

Pacific children achieve better than other groups of students with 62 percent in reading, 53 percent in writing and 64 percent in mathematics achieving at or above the National Standard. Pākeha is the lowest achieving group of children in literacy, with 45 percent at or above the National Standard in reading and 36 percent in writing. Sixty-four percent of Pākeha children achieve well in mathematics.

Over time there has been some improvement in Māori and Pākehā achievement in mathematics, in girls' achievement in reading and mathematics, and in boys' achievement in writing.

Since the last ERO evaluation the school has:

• focused on improving the attendance and punctuality of children
• joined the Waitakere Community of Learning
• offered more leadership roles to teachers
• revised the role of learning support staff and strengthened their capability through professional learning and development (PLD)
• continued with PLD around Assessment for Learning (AFL)
• introduced Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) and restorative practices
• improved safety for children and staff
• a new board of trustees.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

While the school has evidence of some children making progress, it has not been effective in accelerating achievement for many children. The school has established processes to respond to Māori children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Leaders identify and monitor the progress of children who need to make accelerated progress. These children are identified through the school's student achievement targets, AFL target groups and priorities within each class.

The school has a useful three tiered approach for responding to these children's learning needs. The first response is for teachers to adapt their practice to better cater for the child within the classroom programme. The second tier involves additional learning opportunities for children, usually in the classroom, with a learning support person. The third tier involves the expertise of external agencies and resources to diagnose learning difficulties and to plan programmes that will meet their needs.

Teachers discuss their responses to the children's learning needs and share ideas about how best to cater for them. Whānau leaders facilitate professional conversations with teachers in monitoring meetings.

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

School leaders and teachers use the same processes and practices for other groups of children, as they do for Māori children. Up to 30 percent of children are participating in learning support programmes, including around 80 children who are learning English as an additional language.

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?

The school’s curriculum, processes and practices are not yet effective in promoting equity and excellence for all children. Trustees, leaders and staff are well aware of the need to improve educational outcomes for children.

Trustees are representative of the wider community. They bring experience, skills and whānau connections to their roles. Some training has been undertaken to further develop their understanding of school governance and this should be extended to new members. Trustees are forward thinking and optimistic about the future. They are very supportive of senior leaders and teachers.

The school is culturally responsive and Māori are valued as tangata whēnua. There is strong whakawhanaungatanga to the school community. Children generally relate well to their teachers and to each other. Teachers provide additional learning opportunities for children to develop their interests in areas such as the performing arts.

The school leaders work well together. They know the community well and are responsive to the needs of the children and their whānau.The AFL professional development and whānau structure of the school provide leadership opportunities for teachers. These opportunities have been extended through the school's involvement in the Community of Learning.

Teachers have participated in professional learning and development that focuses on making the purpose of learning clear for children. While aspects of this approach have been adopted by some teachers, outcomes for children have not improved significantly. The role of learning support staff in the school has been revised and appropriate professional development undertaken. As a result, learning support staff are better able to contribute to children's achievement information.

Senior leaders and teachers have established some useful systems for collating and using information about the progress and achievement of individuals and groups of children. They are finding ways to improve these systems so that they better promote the tracking and monitoring of the numbers, names, needs and strengths of learners who need to make accelerated progress.

5 Going forward

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

The school is not yet well placed to accelerate the achievement of all children who need to make better progress.

Children's achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has not improved adequately over recent years. Children's underachievement is of concern to trustees, leaders and teachers, and there is a commitment to changing outcomes for children.

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• need approaches that effectively meet the needs of each child
• need to ensure the school is well placed to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it.

School leaders and ERO agree that next steps for the school include:

• reviewing all school operations to ensure they are aligned and effective in accelerating progress for children
• establishing and consistently implementing expectations for teachers' practice that are likely to accelerate children's progress
• strengthening partnerships with whānau to better support their children's learning
• further developing the staff performance management process to align with school directions and to support teachers to meet practising certificate requirements
• reviewing and customising policies and procedures to reflect the school's context.

Action: The board, principal and teachers should participate in an internal evaluation workshop. They should use this workshop, ERO exemplars of good practice and the School Evaluation Indicators to address the findings of this evaluation and develop a Raising Achievement Plan that includes a significant focus on building teacher capability to accelerate learning and achievement.

As part of this review ERO will continue to monitor the school’s Raising Achievement plan and the progress the school makes.

ERO is likely to carry out the next full review in three 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

The school should review and align operations at all levels of the school to ensure they are focused on, and effective in accelerating progress for children. 

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

12 October 2016

About the school