School Context
Waioneke School caters for students from Years 1 to 8. The roll of 89 includes eight percent Māori students and some with Pacific Island heritage.
The school has an established principal and a stable teaching staff. A new deputy principal has been appointed from the current staff.
The principal and board have recently reviewed the school’s vision and values. The vision now states the intention of “Developing confident learners with the knowledge, skills and understandings to perceive and achieve their lifelong dreams and aspirations”. The Waioneke’s Learners’ 6Cs – ‘Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking’ express the school’s valued student outcomes.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- achievement and progress in reading, writing, and mathematics
- localised curriculum developments
- wellbeing and pastoral care.
The school’s strategic priorities for improving valued student outcomes and success include developing:
- the school’s six competencies
- assessment practices using the learning progressions framework (LPF)
- Project Based Learning (PBL) as a model for designing the local curriculum.
The 2016 ERO report noted that leaders and teachers had made improvements to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement. They continue to work on the school’s future priorities of building a partnership with local iwi and Haranui Marae.
The school is a member of Te Kāhui Ako o Kaipara | Community of Learning.
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 working towards achieving equity and excellence in student achievement and valued outcomes.
School achievement data for 2018 and 2019 show most students, including most Māori and Pacific students, achieve expected New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) levels in reading, writing and mathematics. However, gender disparity continues in reading, writing and mathematics.
Students achieve well in relation to the school’s valued outcomes. They talk about the deep learning competencies and can explain what these are and what they mean for their learning.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
Schoolwide processes are becoming more effective in identifying and accelerating learning for Māori and other students who need this.
School data indicate that some individual students have made accelerated progress. However, school leaders agree that there is a need for a greater focus on improving outcomes for children at risk of not achieving expected curriculum levels.
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?
Leadership is enabling and improving organisational conditions to achieve equity and excellence. The principal is innovative and builds strong relational trust across the school. A coherent approach to professional learning and the building of staff capacity through collaborative inquiry are resulting in positive outcomes for students’ learning.
Teachers identify children who need targeted support, and leaders and teachers know these students well as individuals. They use this knowledge to provide individualised support. Teachers are implementing new teaching practices and a localised curriculum. These reflect current good educational practice and focus on increasing children’s ownership of their learning.
Teachers’ commitment to the school’s vision is promoting a cohesive teaching team. They are encouraged to reflect together and be innovative. Teachers use their strengths to lead collaborative inquiries. These strategies are supporting consistency of practice across the school.
Partnerships with whānau through effective consultation and communication are strongly promoted and highly evident. These connections have an increasingly positive influence on children’s learning and wellbeing. The perspectives of students, whānau and staff are valued and contribute to evaluation that informs the school’s direction and builds ownership of the school’s strategic goals.
Trustees actively support the school’s vision of developing the whole child. They scrutinise school proposals and make informed resourcing decisions. Trustees are supportive of leaders’ future curriculum focus to improve outcomes for all students.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
The board, leaders and teachers have focused on understanding and reflecting on how to better develop and implement a new local curriculum. A next step is to formally evaluate how effective these curriculum developments are on improving outcomes for all students.
To improve outcomes for students who need to make accelerated progress, leaders and teachers should focus their responsiveness by strengthening systems to make these students a priority.
The bicultural curriculum is at an early stage of development in classrooms. Initiatives are underway to further integrate te ao Māori in the curriculum. Leaders and teachers should prioritise these and continue to strengthen the school’ste reo and tikanga Māori programme.
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 Children’s Act 2014.
4 ERO’s Overall Judgement
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Waioneke 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.
5 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
- the principal’s leadership of the school’s new direction
- teachers’ participation in reflective collaboration
- the development of new teaching practices and curriculum to equip learners for their future
- the board’s support of the school’s direction of developing the whole child through a connected and relevant curriculum.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
- the board, leaders and teachers evaluating how effective the curriculum is on improving learning outcomes for all students
- leaders and teachers increasing their responsiveness to focus on improving outcomes for students who need accelerated learning
- leaders and teachers continuing to strengthen the school’s bicultural curriculum and building the partnership with local iwi.
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region - Te Tai Raki
22 June 2020
About the school
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.