Pukerua Bay School

Pukerua Bay School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 26 months of the Education Review Office and Pukerua Bay School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website www.ero.govt.nz

Context

Pukerua Bay School is in the northern end of Porirua and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school follows their KURA values of ‘kindness, unity, responsibility, and achievement’ to encourage students to be the best they can be.

Pukerua Bay School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • design and implement a local curriculum fit for Pukerua Bay School
  • deliver a structured literacy programme fit for Pukerua Bay School
  • ensure Te ao Māori, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori are valued and central to the curriculum.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Pukerua Bay School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively school-wide, culturally responsive teaching and assessment practices, support equitable outcomes in literacy for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • strengthen outcomes in literacy to enable all learners to access the broader curriculum 
  • develop a culturally responsive, cohesive approach to teaching and learning 
  • maintain a focus on equity and excellence for all learners
  • facilitate greater use of achievement information to meet the needs of all learners.

The school expects to see:

  • improved and equitable achievement outcomes for all learners in literacy 
  • a shared, deeper understanding around the implementation of culturally responsive practices across the school
  • consistency of effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide
  • effective use of achievement information to plan and deliver next learning steps.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its evaluation of how effectively culturally responsive teaching and assessment practices support equitable outcomes for learners:

  • a collaborative staff committed to improving the outcomes for learners
  • leadership that promotes and supports teachers to build their capacity, improve their practice and enhance outcomes for learners
  • staff strengths that allow for expertise in a range of curriculum areas
  • a supportive school community that participates and contributes to school activities, consultation and decision making to benefit learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • supporting teachers to develop and implement consistent and effective structured literacy practices that will equip all learners for ongoing success
  • reviewing assessment practices and strengthening data analysis to identify and respond to learner needs
  • strengthening teacher capability in using culturally responsive practices to respond to learner needs and promote equitable outcomes.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

22 January 2024 

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Pukerua Bay School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of December 2023, the Pukerua Bay School, School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Pukerua Bay School, School Board.

The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

22 January 2024 

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Pukerua Bay School - 02/05/2018

School Context

Pukerua Bay School caters for students from Years 1 to 8. It has a roll of 185, with 22% identifying as Māori.

The school’s vision statement, ‘our learning helps our community, our community helps us learn’, is the overarching statement to the recently developed ‘KURA’ values of; Kindness, Unity, Responsibility, Achievement. These underpin the valued outcomes for students across the school curriculum. The 2018-2020 strategic plan prioritises on-going student improvement in wellbeing.

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 in relation to school achievement targets
  • outcomes related to student wellbeing.

The school identifies as an Enviro-school. The current principal took up the position in 2015. Staffing has undergone few changes since 2015. All trustees are new to the Board since 2016.

Pukerua Bay School is part of the Northern Porirua 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?

Achievement data overtime shows an increase in achievement against The New Zealand Curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics. School reported data shows most students achieve at or above school expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Increasing equity for boys in reading and mathematics is evident. However, there is a growing disparity between girls and boys in writing.

Almost all Year 8 leavers achieve at or above school expectation 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 continues to develop its effectiveness in responding to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Students at risk of underachieving are identified. A range of appropriate strategies, programmes and interventions are implemented in response. Students are monitored throughout the year. Data shows progress for the majority of these students with accelerated progress for some.

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 strongly focused on promoting student’s wellbeing, engagement in learning, and confidence in their identity, language and culture.

The school’s values are an explicit part of the teaching and learning programmes. Teachers focus on supporting students to develop mutual respect for each other, and create an environment to promote wellbeing. Problem solving, risk taking and the development of agency in learning are encouraged. The newly implemented play-based approach contributes to continuity of learning experiences between early learning and school.

The local curriculum is child centred. The breadth of authentic learning opportunities provided for children is an area of strength. The focus on building partnerships with the wider community, including in the Kāhui Ako, provides opportunities to extend and enrich student learning. 

Those requiring additional learning assistance are effectively supported through individual planning and monitoring, consultation with whānau, well‑considered interventions and teaching staff provision. This also supports transitions in, through and out of school.

The board of trustees works collaboratively. They bring expertise and experience to the role and seek appropriate support, guidance and training to build on their knowledge. With school leaders and staff, they gather useful perspectives to set school direction. Whānau and community are actively encouraged and involved in the life and work of the school.

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

The school should more strategically and relentlessly pursue a small number of well-considered goals. Priority should be given to aligning strategic goals that focus on improved outcomes for learners, with teacher inquiries, appraisal and professional development.

Continuing to strengthen processes to ensure a systematic approach to gathering and analysing data to identify progress and acceleration for all children across the school is needed. This should assist in more clearly knowing the impact of teaching on learner outcomes.

The school’s appraisal process has undergone a number of changes over the last two years. A key next step is to embed and strengthen appraisal processes and practices to ensure that goals promote teacher capability and are linked to measureable outcomes for 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. 

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • ensure policy guidelines are well understood schoolwide and effectively 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:

  • high levels of engagement and collaborative partnerships with families, that positively impact on children’s learning
  • an inclusive learning environment, that responds to students’ needs, and provides support to promote achievement of equitable outcomes
  • provision of a broad curriculum, that reflects student’s identity, culture and language needs.

Next steps

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

  • school planning, that more specifically focuses on goals and targets for promoting accelerated progress for all those students that need it
  • strengthening internal evaluation, to support leaders, trustees and teachers to know what is working well and what needs to change to improve outcomes for all children.

[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

2 May 2018

About the school 

Location

Porirua

Ministry of Education profile number

2967

School type

Full Primary

School roll

185

Gender composition

Male 52%, Female 48%

Ethnic composition

Māori                                  22%
Pākehā                                72%
Other ethnic groups           6%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2018

Date of this report

2 May 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review             February 2015
Education Review             April 2012
Education Review             November 2008

Pukerua Bay School - 24/02/2015

Findings

A welcoming environment develops students’ sense of belonging. Students achieve well across a rich curriculum. An inquiry-based and locally responsive approach supports and personalises their learning. The new senior leadership and board teams are now established and working together to guide improvement and lead new development.

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

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Pukerua Bay School is located on the coast 35 kilometres north of Wellington and caters for students in Years 1 to 8. The school identifies as an Enviroschool and students participate in a wide range of learning experiences that focus on education for sustainability. A close relationship with the local kindergarten and an extra teacher at the new entrant level promote smooth transitions for new entrant children.

The school has continued to upgrade classrooms and recently celebrated the refurbished junior rooms with a dawn blessing ceremony. Substantial investment has been made in information and communication technologies (ICT) tools for student use. Recent introduction of the school’s ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) policy has resulted from consultation with the community and understanding about learning in the 21st century.

Since the April 2012 ERO report, the school has appointed new deputy and assistant principals and several new trustees have been elected. Some progress has been made in addressing the areas identified for development in the 2012 report. There has been a strengthening of student ownership of learning. Teachers are now making judgements about student achievement in relation to the National Standards and moderating these internally. They have yet to report this achievement to parents in the required manner.

The school has a positive reporting history with ERO.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

Student achievement information is used very effectively to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement.

School reported information indicates that students, including Māori and Pacific students, achieve highly in relation to the National Standards. Most achieve at or above these expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Those in need of additional support are targeted and their progress is monitored, analysed and reported to the board three times a year. Trustees receive a range of useful data on which to base decisions.

Teachers use an appropriate range of assessment tools to build an understanding of students’ achievement. All key learning areas of the curriculum are assessed. In addition, students assess themselves against the key competencies. Information gained from these assessments is used to inform teachers’ planning for classroom programmes.

School leaders use student achievement information well to determine individual and group progress, to make decisions about learning needs and additional support for identified students, to address programme gaps and areas needing improvement. It is used to inform strategic and annual goals, decisions regarding teacher performance and provision of suitable professional development.

Students are developing ownership of their learning. They are able to talk about their achievement and have taken part in three-way conferencing with parents and teachers in 2014.

Parents receive detailed achievement information from their children's work sample books and discuss this during parent-teacher interviews. However, this is not sufficient to meet the requirement of providing written reports, twice a year in plain English, on progress and achievement in relation to the National Standards. The school agrees it is necessary to urgently revisit the way in which it reports progress and achievement to parents.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

The school’s curriculum is effective in promoting and supporting student learning.

The charter provides suitable direction for the school and been reviewed recently in consultation with parents and the community.

Curriculum documentation provides clear expectations for programmes, teaching and assessment. A useful framework includes the vision, assessment and strategies for delivery of each of the essential learning areas.

Classroom programme content is well considered. There are opportunities for students to develop their strengths and follow their interests. The curriculum emphasises sustainability, the environment and a growing use of e-learning.

The culture and wellbeing of all students is valued. For those with behavioural difficulties, programmes and supports are in place. The school has identified a need to revisit the ‘cool choices’ programme and its impact on behaviour. ERO agrees this is a priority for development in 2015.

Teachers differentiate learning for individuals and groups of students and employ useful strategies to engage and support students. Programmes are planned for integration of learning areas, with an appropriate focus on literacy and mathematics.

Teacher aides deliver support to students identified with special learning or behavioural needs. They have clear guidelines for their roles and responsibilities.

Learning is purposeful and students engage well. Those spoken with value the opportunities they have to extend their learning outside of school. Senior students are encouraged to self-manage their learning through choice of study topics and modes of presentation.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

The school demonstrates a commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. Tikanga Māori is practised in curriculum and celebrations. The concept of ‘kaitiaki’, guardianship of the land, is evident in environmental programmes. Māori students are valued for their cultural contributions within the school and they experience academic success.

The school has initiated a kapa haka group. There is regular consultation with the local Māori community. As part of this consultation with Ngāti Toa, te reo Māori progressions have been developed. A necessary next step is to grow staff capacity in order to fully implement these progressions.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is suitably placed to sustain and improve its performance.

Trustees are well informed about student achievement and school operations. They use reported information to make decisions about resourcing and strategic direction. With external support, they have developed an all-encompassing manual to guide school operation. Trustees have complementary skills which support their growing understanding of the governance role.

Review is planned, regular and implemented at multiple levels of school operation.

The new senior leadership team is now established and work together to guide improvements and lead new developments. A distributed leadership model is evolving to support teachers to develop their leadership skills.

Teachers are reflective and have begun to inquire into the impact of their practice on the achievement of identified students. Professional learning is focused on key areas linked to schoolwide goals. A comprehensive appraisal process is in place. The next step is to refine and streamline this process to ensure better alignment with school priorities and identified needs.

The community is well informed and consulted regularly on school policy and initiatives.

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.

During the review it was identified that reporting to parents did not explicitly show a student's progress and achievement in relation to the National Standards.

In order to meet legislative requirements the board of trustees, through the principal and staff, must:

  • report in writing, to students enrolled in Years 1 to 8 and their parents, on the student's progress and achievement in relation to National Standards. [National Administration Guidelines 2A(a)]

Conclusion

A welcoming environment develops students’ sense of belonging. Students achieve well across a rich curriculum. An inquiry-based and locally responsive approach supports and personalises their learning. The new senior leadership and board teams are now established and working together to guide improvement and lead new development.

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

Joyce Gebbie

National Manager Review Services

Central Region

24 February 2015

About the School

Location

Porirua

Ministry of Education profile number

2967

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

180

Gender composition

Male 52%

Female 48%

Ethnic composition

Pākehā

Māori

Samoan

83%

16%

1%

Review team on site

November 2014

Date of this report

24 February 2015

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

April 2012

November 2008

August 2005