Waitoriki School

School Context

Waitoriki School is a small, rural school with a sole charge principal on the outskirts of Inglewood. The school caters for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll has fluctuated over time. At the time of this ERO review 19 students are enrolled and seven are Māori.

The school’s vision is to develop the whole child. This is underpinned by the PURIRI values that have been recently developed through community consultation: Perseverance, Uniqueness, Responsible, Initiative, Respectful, and Integrity.

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

• achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics, in relation to the levels of The New Zealand Curriculum
• progress of those at risk of not achieving
• student attendance and engagement.

The first time principal was appointed mid-2016. The school’s natural environment and surrounding area promotes strong connections and opportunities to learn with the local community.

The school is part of the Inglewood 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?

The school’s achievement information shows that since the February 2015 ERO report, there has been improvement in achievement for all students. End-of-year 2017 school reported data shows that almost all students achieve at and above curriculum expectation in reading and most achieve at and above expectation in writing and mathematics.

Rates of achievement for Māori are below that of their non-Māori peers in writing and mathematics, and similar in reading.

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

A small number of target students were identified in the 2017 annual plans. School data shows most of these students accelerated their achievement. Boys and Māori achievement are both identified as targets in the school’s 2018 annual goals.

Students with other identified learning needs are provided with targeted learning and behaviour support, that has had a positive impact on their achievement.

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?

The collaboratively developed school vision and values, and associated goals and targets, are strongly focused on student equity and excellence. A supportive environment, with participation and collaboration at many levels of the school community, has been established. Leaders and trustees value, and are actively involved in the opportunities provided by the Kāhui Ako.

Leadership has given priority to building robust systems and expectations for teaching and learning, and behaviour. The curriculum is engaging and enables all students to learn and achieve in an inclusive, collaborative environment. Specific plans are developed for children with more complex needs that makes provision for learning opportunities that are supportive and challenging.

The learning environment is effectively designed and managed to promote student engagement and agency. Students are actively involved in setting goals for their learning and working with teachers to develop criteria to measure their progress and achievement. Social and co-operative learning is encouraged across all levels.

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

Leaders have identified that further development of the curriculum guidelines is necessary for: more relevancy to the school’s context and philosophy; and to include alignment to the school’s vision, values, and aspirations for Māori and other learners. ERO’s evaluation confirms this direction.

The school’s appraisal process has undergone a number of changes over the past two years and explicit documentation developed to support the process. A key next step is to continue to embed and strengthen the process to ensure teaching and leadership goals promote capability and are linked to measureable outcomes for students.

Coherent, aligned organisational processes and practices are in place that with further embedding, should strengthen evaluation, inquiry, and knowledge building and lead to sustained improvement in learning and teaching.

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.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

• ensure policy guidelines are well understood at all levels and consistently reflected in practice and operation.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• curriculum provision, that provides an inclusive, engaging learning environment, responsive to students’ needs

• effective practice, use of data and regular tracking of student achievement that informs teaching practice

identifying individual student’s learning needs and providing support to achieve equitable outcomes.

Next steps

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

• building capability and capacity, that promotes understanding of te ao Māori and affirms the language, culture and identity of Māori learners at the school

• internal evaluation processes and practices, that supports trustees, and teachers to know the impact of actions on outcomes for learners.

[ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders]

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

7 May 2018

About the school