Whangaehu School

Education institution number:

2482

School type:

Full Primary

School gender:

Co-Educational

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

Telephone:

06 342 6703

Address:

71 Ruatangata Road, Whangaehu-Whanganui

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Whangaehu School - 23/05/2019

23 May 2019

School Context

Whangaehu School is a Year 1 to 8 full primary school situated south of Whanganui. At the time of this ERO evaluation the roll was 37 students, including 12 who identify as Māori.

The school promotes the values of respect, responsibility and resilience for learners, teachers and community.

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

progress and achievement in mathematics, reading and writing
those learners with targets
wellbeing and attendance.

Since the August 2016 ERO report, there have been changes to the board and leadership. A new principal was appointed in 2017. There has been roll growth and an increase to staffing since 2018.

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?

Student achievement information for 2018 shows that the school increased equitable and excellent outcomes for students, including Māori, with the large majority achieving at curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Outcomes for most students in writing and mathematics improved significantly in 2018. There was a slight improvement in reading.

Māori student achievement is suitably tracked and monitored and shows positive achievement outcomes.

School reported information indicates students identified positive wellbeing.

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

The school responds well to Māori and other students whose learning and achievement needs acceleration. Most students identified below expected levels in 2018 made progress by the end of the year, with many showing accelerated 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?

Students engage in an environment that purposefully prioritises their learning, progress and achievement. The inclusive learning spaces are responsive to, and supportive of, student needs and wellbeing. Interactions among students and teachers are positive and respectful.

The school is well resourced for learning. The breadth of experiences includes cultural, academic, sporting, leadership and community activities. School events and activities are positively supported by the community.

Students with additional learning needs are identified and well supported through individual planning and monitoring, consultation with families and referral to external agencies when appropriate. Responsive staff practices appropriately assist students with additional and complex learning needs.

School leaders, trustees and teachers work together purposefully to pursue their shared vision. There is a clear strategic focus on student achievement and improving outcomes for all learners. Trustees resourcing decisions reflect appropriate priorities promoting equitable and excellent outcomes for students.

The school’s appraisal system has undergone change since the previous ERO evaluation. A useful well-documented process is implemented. Teachers are collaborative and share strategies to enhance good practice.

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

Further review and documenting of the curriculum to guide practice aligned to the school’s educational philosophy and guidelines is required. This should provide a sound foundation for teaching as inquiry and curriculum evaluation to support and sustain school systems and practices.

Teachers and the leaders commitment to valuing and promoting Māori language, culture and identity is evident. They recognise this is as an area for ongoing development. ERO’s evaluation confirms this. A next step is to develop expectations of what te ao Māori inclusion looks like across the curriculum.

Trustees are engaging in relevant professional development to grow their collective knowledge of their governance roles. This should support new trustees to extend understanding of their responsibilities and provide a basis for them to review and evaluate the effectiveness of their practice.

Leaders and teachers are reflective and improvement focused. Further developing a shared understanding and use of robust internal evaluation should better determine what works and what is needed to sustain ongoing improvement for learners.

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 Whangaehu School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance 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:

environments that purposefully promote student learning, progress and achievement
a responsive curriculum that is supportive of student needs, wellbeing and learning
a culture of collaboration among leaders, teachers, parents and whānau that contributes to high expectations for teaching, learning and wellbeing across the school.

Next steps

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

understanding of robust evaluation to better understand the impact of practices, processes and curriculum change for teaching and learning
defining and documenting the school’s curriculum to guide practice against its educational philosophy and guidelines
practices that support trustees’ knowledge and understanding of their role and responsibilities.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

23 May 2019

About the school

Location	Whangaehu
Ministry of Education profile number	2482
School type	Full primary (Years 1 - 8)
School roll	37
Gender composition	Male 23, Female 14
Ethnic composition	Māori 12 NZ European/Pākehā 22 Other ethnic groups 3
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	No
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	April 2019
Date of this report	23 May 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review August 2016 Education Review September 2015 Education Review November 2013

Whangaehu School - 09/08/2016

09 Aug 2016

1 Context

Whangaehu School is a rural school located south of Whanganui. It caters for students in
Years 1 to 8. At the time of this review, the school had 12 students enrolled and three identify as Māori. Of these 12 students, eight are new to the school this year.

The September 2015 ERO report noted evidence of progress in areas of concern that were identified in the 2013 ERO review. This progress included: better use of assessment information in literacy and mathematics to inform teaching, learning and reporting; and strengthened moderation of assessment decisions. As a result, teachers were making increasingly consistent and accurate judgements about students' achievement in relation to National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

Since the 2015 ERO report, the fixed-term principal has been appointed as principal.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are that they are engaged as self-motivated, thriving learners. The school aspires for students to feel secure, experience success, feel valued as individuals and be motivated to achieve their potential. 'Pikihia te Maunga - Let us climb to the summit'.

There is commitment to fostering learning anchored in the local and wider environment, history and culture, with a focus on sustainability. Literacy and mathematics learning experiences are encouraged, with students actively participating.

The school’s achievement information shows that in 2015 the majority of students achieved in relation to National Standards. There was equity of outcomes for Māori students.

Continuing to strengthen personalised learning processes for students, and closely monitoring and evaluating the needs of those students requiring accelerated progress, should assist the school to further improve its response to learners.

An extended range of assessment tools is used by teachers to make overall judgements about each students' achievement. There is more rigour in the process to track, monitor and report results. Internal and external moderation of assessment decisions with other schools in the Whanganui East schools' cluster is in place.

Since the previous ERO review the school has focused on:

community consultation for charter development
refining a localised curriculum
teacher professional learning and development (PLD) about the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT) for National Standards assessment
improving assessment processes to track, monitor and report individual student results
teachers' participation in professional learning and development related to accelerating the achievement of students in reading and writing.

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school has responded well to meeting the learning needs of students and accelerating their achievement. Annual targets have been set for improved student achievement across the school in reading, writing and mathematics. There is a specific focus on students requiring their learning and progress to be accelerated.

Teachers use data well to identify student learning needs. Teachers' planning and implementation is responsive to student needs and learning. Teacher judgements in relation to National Standards are strengthened through use of the PaCT.

Teachers share purposeful information with parents. Written reports make clear reference to the student's progress and achievement, exploring next learning steps and sharing ways in which parents can assist at home. Students' achievement in relation to National Standards is clearly reported. Parents take part in conferencing during the year with teachers and students to support understanding of their child's progress and achievement.

The school, through its charter, is seeking to further promote students' independence in their learning. Matrices have been developed as part of the school's draft curriculum to support this. It will be important when introducing the curriculum to give priority to this initiative. The school values are enacted.

The board receives regular assessment information that shows student progress over time. This data informs trustees' resourcing decisions. The board is guided effectively by the principal in its decision making.

Teachers' professional capability in understanding early language acquisition is being further developed. New learning has been used well to support students who are new to the school. Achievement data has been gathered, analysed and used to support planning for learning.

The school has developed a useful partnership with parents and whānau of students whose achievement needs acceleration. Ongoing dialogue linking learning between the school and home is supporting student progress.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The school has documented a curriculum outlining clear expectations and a focused vision for priorities and experiences to support learning.

Students have a broad of curriculum including cultural, sporting, academic pursuits and creative arts. Further developing students' ownership of their learning should assist in improving learning outcomes. There are good opportunities for student leadership, tuakana teina and ako. Higher levels of cooperative skills are being developed. Developing a graduate profile Year 8 students reflective of the school philosophy, vision and values is a next step.

The school is developing partnerships with whānau Māori through consultation, development of links with iwi and hapū and alignment with Māori parents and whānau in supporting their aspirations. Te ao Māori has strengthened in the curriculum.

Useful processes have been developed to support teacher appraisal and inquiry into their practice. Teachers gather evidence to show how they demonstrate each of the Practising Teacher Criteria. To strengthen the process, teachers should develop a shared understanding of sufficient evidence and include use of Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners.

Many trustees are new to governance after recent elections and plan to undertake professional development to support their understanding of roles and responsibilities. All health and safety policies have been reviewed. Ongoing policy review for finance and property is identified by the principal as a next step.

The recently appointed principal has strengthened the areas identified for improvement in the previous ERO report in relation to school operation, student engagement and curriculum. Sustaining momentum to strengthen links with the community and whānau, hapū and iwi Māori is important to school leaders and trustees.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

Leaders and teachers:

know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
act on what they know works well for each child
build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

The school's improved curriculum practices to support student learning are focused on using achievement data to meet the needs of individuals. Teaching is matched to learning needs and parents are seen as integral to the learning process. The majority of students achieve well.

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

6 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 the following:

board administration
curriculum
management of health, safety and welfare
personnel management
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
processes for appointing staff
stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
attendance
compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014

7 Recommendation

ERO recommends that trustees and the principal continue to strengthen:

governance through relevant professional development
teacher appraisal and inquiry into the effectiveness of practice
tracking, monitoring and evaluation of students' learning
students' ownership of their learning.

Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

9 August 2016

About the school

Location	Whangaehu
Ministry of Education profile number	2482
School type	Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)
School roll	12
Gender composition	Boys 7, Girls 5
Ethnic composition	Māori Pākehā Filipino	3 8 1
Review team on site	June 2016
Date of this report	9 August 2016
Most recent ERO report(s)	Supplementary Review Education Review Education Review	September 2015 November 2013 September 2010