Kerepehi School

School Context

Kerepehi School is a small school located in the rural village of Kerepehi on the Hauraki Plains. It caters for students from Years 1 to 8. The current roll of 67 includes 57 students who identify as Māori. Most students whakapapa to the local hapū, Ngāti Hako.

The school vision is “kia tu te rangatira ai ki nga ao e rua, to stand tall in both worlds.”

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

• reading, writing and mathematics.

The school has recently had staff changes resulting in two of the three classroom teachers being new to the school. The board of trustees includes a mixture of new and experienced trustees who are representative of the community.

The school is part of the Hauraki Plains Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako. The principal of Kerepehi School is the lead principal of the Kāhui Ako.

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?

In 2018 the majority of students were achieving at or above expectations in reading and mathematics. Less than half were at or above expectations in writing. There is significant disparity for boys in comparison to girls in all areas.

The school is not yet achieving equitable outcomes for all its students in reading, writing and mathematics.

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

The school is not yet achieving equitable outcomes for those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

While the school has information to show that some students have made accelerated progress, they are yet to collect this evidence formally for the whole school.

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 ensures an orderly and supportive environment that fosters whanaungatanga and is conducive to student learning and wellbeing. There is a clear vision and direction for the school that was developed collaboratively with the community. The charter is being used well to set priorities and goals. There is an alignment between board targets and teacher appraisal. Leadership is supportive of, and models, high levels of care and support to staff, parents and whānau. School leaders have built strong relationships within and beyond the community that promote success and wellbeing for all learners.

Students participate and learn in a caring, supportive and inclusive environment. Staff take a positive, strengths-based approach to all students. Teacher’s positive interactions with students and their whānau fosters kind, fair and respectful relationships. Students appreciate the pastoral and support for learning that teachers provide. The wellbeing of students with special needs is well catered for in an inclusive environment in the majority of cases. The school values of tall and proud, excellence, attitude, mana/manaakitanga are well promoted in classroom programmes and across the school. Students are enthusiastic, settled and focused on learning.

Parent and community engagement supports local curriculum priorities and emphases. School and community are engaged in reciprocal relationships which promote learning and wellbeing. Parents feel supported through high levels of mutual trust and respect. Student and whānau holistic wellbeing is effectively nurtured.

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

The wellbeing and pastoral needs of students are well addressed. It is now time to focus more fully on student learning. Further development is required in order to better promote progress and achievement.

While the curriculum has many positive aspects, ongoing strengthening is needed. In particular, literacy and mathematics implementation plans should provide clearer expectations for teachers about planning, assessment and programme design. There are plans in place to sharpen the focus on a local, place-based curriculum by improving the quality of Māori language teaching and integrating the stories and histories of Ngāti Hako. This focus could be usefully enhanced by developing and implementing a school-wide approach to inquiry learning.

Teacher practice needs to be more targeted to individual student learning needs, including those students who require additional support. This could be enhanced by:

• more consistent use of strategies such as making learning intentions and success criteria highly visible for students

• strengthening the use of the local Kāhui Ako literacy and mathematics learning progressions in teacher planning and in individual education plans (IEPs).

• ensuring progress against learning intentions in IEPs and evaluation of the programme is regularly documented.

The collation, analysis and use of assessment data needs to be strengthened. This should begin with a review of board targets to ensure they include all students whose progress needs acceleration. In addition leaders and teachers need to develop ways to measure acceleration and to more regularly track, monitor and evaluate the progress and acceleration of target 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.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• leadership that is collaborative and focused on student and whānau wellbeing
• an environment that is caring and inclusive
• a community that is supportive and involved.

Next steps

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

• strengthening teacher practice to more clearly target individual students’ next steps in learning

• strengthening the curriculum to enable a greater focus on local priorities and emphases

• strengthening assessment to more effectively respond to those students whose progress needs to be accelerated

• targeted planning to accelerate learning.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to careers education and the physical restraint of students.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

1. develop and implement a careers education programme for Years 7 and 8 students
   [Section 77 Education Act 1989, National Administration Guidelines 1f]

2. ensure school practices align with current regulations in relation to physical restraint.
   [Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2017]

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

• strengthen the school complaints policy to include the complaints process and ensure these are readily available to the school community
• develop and implement bullying prevention programmes that focus on all types of bullying and teach students the skills and strategies for resolving conflict
• ensure that teacher appraisal is robust.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central Region

3 May 2019

About the school

Findings

Kerepehi School has made significant progress since the 2014 ERO review. Under the leadership of the new principal, strong and meaningful partnerships have been developed between the school, its whānau and the wider community. Students' learning has benefitted from teachers’ extensive professional learning and development in reading and writing.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Kerepehi School, located in the village of Kerepehi near Ngatea on the Hauraki Plains, provides education for students from Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll of 54, includes 45 students of Māori descent. Most of these students whakapapa to local iwi Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Maru or Ngāti Tamatera. The school continues to operate three classrooms.

The previous ERO report in June 2014 identified the need for the school to significantly improve the following key aspects of school operations:

• the establishment of meaningful partnerships with the school community
• strengthening the use of student achievement information by teachers, school leaders and the board of trustees
• improving teachers’ professional practice
• developing clear expectations for curriculum delivery, especially in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics and te reo Māori.

Since the 2014 review a new principal has been appointed and there has been one change in the teaching team. Trustees have continued to benefit from the support and guidance of a Ministry of Education (MoE) appointed Limited Statutory Manager (LSM). The LSM has worked closely with trustees to establish comprehensive systems and processes to guide school governance and general operations. Teachers have participated in extensive in depth professional development in the areas of reading and writing. 

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Kerepehi School has made significant progress in addressing the areas for development identified in the 2014 ERO report. 

Priorities identified for review and development

Key priorities from the 2014 ERO were to:

• establish meaningful partnerships with the school community
• strengthen the use of student achievement information by teachers, school leaders and the board of trustees
• strengthen teachers’ professional practice
• develop clear expectations for curriculum delivery, especially in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics and te reo Māori.

Progress

The board of trustees, LSM, new principal and teachers have worked well together to address the areas for development identified in the previous report. There is now a clear focus on working together with whānau to promote positive outcomes for students.

The principal has a collaborative approach to school improvement and has extensive and long established links with the Kerepehi community. She has initiated wide ranging and meaningful consultation with whānau and actively seeks to include them in all aspects of school life. Whānau indicated to ERO that they now feel a strong partnership between themselves and the school.

Positive relationships with the neighbouring Te Kohanga Reo have supported the transition of new students who start school at the age of five. The school has recently committed to working with other schools in the area as part of the Hauraki Community of Learners initiative. This MoE funded programme is likely to support the school to further develop the effectiveness of its curriculum.

Teachers have benefited from their involvement in extensive and ongoing professional learning in the areas of reading and writing. This has resulted in the implementation of effective teaching strategies that engage students in meaningful learning experiences, which support their progress and achievement. The principal is giving priority to ensuring that these strategies are well embedded across the school. The LSM and principal have also supported teachers to develop useful partnerships with staff in other schools to support their professional learning. A robust teacher appraisal process has been introduced and implemented and includes teachers receiving valuable feedback about the effectiveness of their teaching practice.

The principal and teachers have developed comprehensive and clear expectations for the teaching of literacy and mathematics in the school. In addition, a comprehensive sequential programme has been developed to support the teaching of te reo Māori throughout the school. The principal has accessed professional learning for teachers to support them to implement this programme. To further develop the school’s curriculum teachers should now develop and document learning expectations for the other subject areas that reflect the principles of The New Zealand Curriculum.

The school is now making good use of student achievement information to promote positive outcomes for students. School leaders have established useful guidelines for the collection of achievement information, especially in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics. They are continuing to develop rigorous processes that support teachers to make reliable judgements in relation to the National Standards.

School-wide achievement information is regularly reported to the board of trustees and community. The board make good use of this data to develop meaningful targets in the school’s charter.

Teachers are making increasingly good use of achievement information to plan and implement appropriate programmes for students. They are continuing to develop and refine systems that enable students to more easily identify their achievement and next learning steps.

Throughout this longitudinal review process ERO observed high levels of student engagement and a positive school tone.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

Kerepehi School is now well placed to sustain and improve its performance because:

• there are high levels of community support for the school
• the principal and teachers are focussed on school development and continuing to enhance their professional practice
• the board of trustees has established useful processes that support effective governance
• the principal and staff are committed to implementing regular and meaningful self review.

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. 

Conclusion

Kerepehi School has made significant progress since the 2014 ERO review. Under the leadership of the new principal, strong and meaningful partnerships have been developed between the school, its whānau and the wider community. Students' learning has benefitted from teachers’ extensive professional learning and development in reading and writing.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

30 November 2015

About the School