School Context
Wainui School, located in the rural community of Wainui, north of Auckland, has nearly 300 students, of whom 48 identify as Māori. The Years 1 to 8 school currently has no enrolment zone and has experienced steady roll growth since ERO’s last review in 2016.
The school occupies an extensive site. Some classrooms have been recently modernised, and a block of three new classrooms is planned for completion later this year. The school’s grounds and resources provide opportunities for children to be outdoors and physically active.
School leaders work collaboratively to implement the school’s vision that “Wainui students will be confident, creative, successful lifelong learners”. Valued outcomes for learners are encompassed in the Mission statement “to equip our students with the skills and attitudes to respond to life’s challenges in a connected world”.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- annual achievement in literacy and mathematics
- analysed patterns of achievement over time
- students with additional learning needs
- goals and targets for raising student achievement
- attendance and engagement.
ERO’s 2016 report acknowledged students’ learning success and achievement. Recommendations to school leaders that students should develop a stronger sense of agency and ownership of the learning process have been progressed.
The school is a member of the Orewa 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 achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for most of its students.
The school has sustained high levels of student achievement over the past four years. The data indicates that most students achieve at or above expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. School leaders have identified a pattern of disparity for boys in writing. This is a challenge shared by schools in the kāhui ako and is a focus for cross-school collaboration.
2019 data indicates that most students achieve at national curriculum expectations in literacy and mathematics. Māori students achieve at expectation in reading and maths. Disparity in writing is evident for Māori students and boys. The school’s 2020 targets for raising student achievement are focused on writing for boys in identified year groups.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
The school is effective in accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this.
The school identifies all students who are not reaching expected curriculum levels, some of whom are Māori. Programmes are based on a three-tier model to accelerate the learning progress of these identified priority students.
Effective systems and processes are in place to monitor the progress of priority learners. The school can demonstrate accelerated progress resulting from some specific programmes and is looking at ways to sustain these approaches.
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?
Students are supported to be enthusiastic, capable and confident learners. They enjoy positive relationships with classroom teachers and adults who support their learning. The school has high expectations of their academic achievement and for their social and emotional wellbeing. Explicit school values complement shared expectations of positive behaviour for learning.
The school’s curriculum provides broad and meaningful learning opportunities for students, while ensuring that literacy and mathematics are central to teaching and learning. Students develop inquiry-based learning skills, using relevant and local contexts. An increasing focus on local Māori history, te reo me tikanga Māori is adding connections that enhance children’s sense of place and identity.
Support for teachers has resulted in a collegial culture across the school. A growth coaching initiative is aligned to the appraisal system. This cohesive approach is enabling teachers to better inquire into the impact of their teaching and share effective practices. Expectations for teaching and learning are consistent and student agency is increasing. Teachers new to the school are well supported to understand the “Wainui Way”.
Parents, whānau and community members are very supportive of the school’s learning programmes. Many parents assist with the Bee project, and the Garden to Table programme, both of which have a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability. They also support the Learning through Play approach that has been successfully implemented in junior classes, and with annual camps for older students.
The experienced school principal is closely involved in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. A distributed leadership approach enables senior managers to use their individual expertise to build leadership capability across the school. Whole-school professional learning is carefully selected and evaluated in relation to outcomes for learners.
The school leadership team operates in a deliberate and transparent manner. The team works collaboratively to progress action plans based on the board’s strategic goals and targets. There is coherence between school operations and the valued outcomes for learners. Internal evaluation is integral to planning and prioritising, and results in ongoing school improvement.
Leadership of the board has transitioned effectively due to well documented strategic planning, reporting and systematic decision making. Trustees are supportive of the school’s role in the kāhui ako. Agreed challenges between the local schools are supporting the intentional focus on strengthening culturally responsive practices and lifting writing achievement.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
ERO and senior leaders agree that further school development could include:
- strengthening the alignment between valued learner outcomes and internal evaluation by evidence gathering such as student surveys, observations, team reflections, and professional inquiry
- continuing meaningful consultation with whānau Māori, as the curriculum responds to the need for developing a stronger understanding of local history and sense of place
- sustaining a shared teacher understanding of accelerated learning progress.
3 Other Matters
Provision for international students
The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.
4 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 Children’s Act 2014.
5 ERO’s Overall Judgement
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Wainui School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.
6 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
- distributed leadership and expertise that supports an intentional focus on positive outcomes for all learners
- strong parent, whānau, community and kāhui ako partnerships that support shared goals and improvement strategies
- authentic and local curriculum learning contexts that engage students in meaningful learning programmes
- coherent and evidence-based planning that supports the identification of strategic priorities, integrated internal evaluation, and ongoing school improvement.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in continuing to:
- strengthen the focus on students gaining ownership and agency of their learning progress
- enrich the curriculum by strengthening the bicultural context through ongoing consultation with whānau Māori.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region - Te Tai Raki
4 June 2020
About the school
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.