Summary
Rangiuru School is a rural school located in the district of Te Puke. It provides education for children in Years 1 to 8, most of whom travel by bus from out of town. The school roll of 40 includes 16 Māori children. The school is committed to maintaining rural values and traditions, and has strong community support and involvement. The school is part of the newly established Te Puke Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.
Since the previous ERO review in 2014, the school has undertaken a review of its charter and developed a new shared vision and values. Local curriculum development is supporting expectations for teaching and learning. Promoting te reo and tikanga Māori is central to the school’s priorities. The school has introduced one-to-one digital devices to support and engage children’s learning in the use of technology. Since 2016 professional learning and development for teachers has focused on accelerating literacy learning in writing. The school has developed a curriculum and achievement plan to identify children at-risk of not achieving and prioritise learning support. Data over the past three years shows children have consistently achieved well in reading, writing and mathematics.
How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?
The school is responding well to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement needs acceleration.
Some school processes are effectively enabling the achievement of equity and excellence including:
Further developments are needed in the strategic alignment of school-wide targets, internal evaluation systems and processes, and curriculum implementation guidelines.
The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for Māori and boys remains in writing. At the time of this review the 2016 achievement data shows that most children are achieving at high levels in reading and mathematics and slightly lower levels in writing.
Leaders and teachers:
The school agrees to:
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develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
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monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress
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discuss the school’s progress with ERO.
The school has requested that ERO provide them with an internal evaluation workshop.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Equity and excellence
How effectively does this school respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?
The school is responding well to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. The school’s data for 2014 to 2016 shows that most children are achieving at high levels in reading and mathematics and slightly lower levels in writing. There is no disparity between cohorts of students in reading and mathematics. However, achievement trends over the last three years show that, in writing Māori boys are achieving slightly below other children in the school.
Raising the achievement of Māori and other children is an important and valued outcome for leaders and teachers. A strategic approach to empowering Māori learners to be successful is promoting improved outcomes for children. Māori children are engaged in their learning through culturally relevant experiences. Leaders and teachers know the children very well and support them to be successful, as part of an inclusive school whānau.
The newly developed assessment schedule includes clear expectations for the collection of data and a range of appropriate assessment tools. There is a collaborative approach to making overall teacher judgements (OTJs) about children’s achievement in relation to National Standards. Some moderation of these judgements have been undertaken alongside another local school as part of professional learning in writing. Moderation is an ongoing focus for development to maximise the dependability of OTJs.
School conditions supporting equity and excellence
What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?
Some school processes are effectively enabling the achievement of equity and excellence.
School leadership has been effective in promoting culturally responsive practices. These practices and expectations are clearly documented in the Raising Māori Achievement Plan. Māori concepts are integrated into the curriculum and include a school-wide focus each term. The school has close relationships with the local kaumātua who is supportive of school initiatives and activities. A strategic approach to promoting cultural competence is contributing to success and wellbeing for Māori students.
Teachers are using many effective strategies to engage children in meaningful learning. There are strong and positive relationships between teachers and children. Children are well supported in their learning, are confident to take risks and well engaged in problem-solving and group-based activities. Detailed teacher planning, deliberate teaching activities, targeted resourcing, and strong home support further promote children’s learning and achievement. Children participate in a caring, supportive and inclusive environment, and have equitable opportunities to learn and achieve.
Good progress has been made in developing the school’s local curriculum. There is now clarity in the school’s vision and values, which was developed through consultation with children, parents, whānau and community. The school’s values are strongly evident in all aspects of school life, and children enjoy a safe and nurturing learning environment. There are high levels of professional trust and collaboration among leaders and teachers in implementing the curriculum. The revised school curriculum is contributing to an improved focus on equity and continual improvement in learning outcomes for children.
There are strong partnerships for learning with parents and whānau. Parents are welcomed, involved and respected as valued partners in their children’s learning. They feel well informed about progress and achievement. They are listened to, affirmed, and there are many opportunities for ongoing formal and informal communication. Teachers are proactive in involving parents when a learning need is identified. Positive learning partnerships are contributing to a strong sense of belonging, inclusion, and a shared focus on accelerating children’s achievement.
Sustainable development for equity and excellence
What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?
Further developments are needed in the strategic alignment of school-wide targets, internal evaluation systems and processes, and curriculum implementation guidelines.
The school’s approach to setting and monitoring targets needs to be more closely focused on children whose learning is at-risk. A more focused approach needs to include:
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school-wide targets that clearly focus on children whose learning needs acceleration
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leadership regularly reporting rates of progress for target children to the board
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trustees scrutinising achievement data to establish how effective programmes are in accelerating the progress of target students to inform resourcing decisions.
There are some aspects of internal evaluation process that need to be strengthened:
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processes that support teachers to inquire into and improve their practice are not consistently implemented across the school
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professional learning priorities, appraisal and performance management goals for teachers and leaders need to be more sharply focused and aligned with children whose learning requires acceleration.
The school is redeveloping aspects of its curriculum. At the time of this review documented guidelines to inform teaching and learning in some areas were incomplete. Further work is needed in developing shared understandings about effective pedagogy, formative assessment and teachers’ and students’ use of the learning progressions framework (LPF).
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
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emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
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physical safety of students
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teacher registration and certification
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processes for appointing staff
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stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
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attendance
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school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
Actions required
ERO identified non-compliance in relation to consultation with the community about the school’s treatment of the health and physical education curriculum.
In order to address this the board must:
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comply with the requirement to adopt a statement on the delivery of the health curriculum, at least once in every two years, after consultation with the school community [Section 60B Education Act 1989]
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comply with the relevant employment agreement by ensuring the principal has a signed performance management agreement with the board of trustees. [s77C State Sector Act 1988; Primary Principals’ Collective Agreement]
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:
Going forward
How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?
The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for Māori and boys remains.
Leaders and teachers:
The school agrees to:
-
develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
-
monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress
-
discuss the school’s progress with ERO.
The school has requested that ERO provide them with an internal evaluation workshop.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Waikato / Bay of Plenty
27 June 2017
About the school
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Location
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Te Puke
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Ministry of Education profile number
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1921
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School type
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Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)
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School roll
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40
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Gender composition
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Boys 27 Girls 13
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Ethnic composition
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Māori 16
Pākeha 24
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Provision of Māori medium education
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No
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Review team on site
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May 2017
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Date of this report
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27 June 2017
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Most recent ERO report(s)
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Education Review May 2014
Education Review June 2011
Education Review May 2008
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