Tui Glen School

School Context

Tui Glen School in Stokes Valley is for students in Years 1 to 8. Of the 128 children enrolled approximately 61% are Māori, 16% are of Pacific heritage and 19% are Pākehā. A small number are English language learners. Since the May 2015 ERO report, the roll has steadily increased.

The school’s charter gives priority to strategic goals for raising student achievement. The values of manaakitanga, ngaiotanga, whakaute, whanaungatanga and kotahitanga support the focus on students’ learning and wellbeing, and their culture, language and identity.

The school’s target for improvement is: accelerated progress for those students whose current literacy levels are insufficient to be able to access the curriculum, to the standard appropriate for their year level.

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

• achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

• progress and achievement in relation to the school target and supporting interventions

• attendance, engagement and wellbeing.

The school has an experienced and stable leadership team. Longstanding trustees and a newly elected staff representative make up the board of trustees.

The school continues to be involved in a Ministry of Education (MoE) programme, Accelerated Learning in Literacy (ALL). It is member of the Taita/Stokes Valley 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?

Raising student achievement is a clear priority of all staff. Recent in-school disparity for groups at risk is well known by trustees, leaders and teachers. This is appropriately addressed with a sense of urgency.

The school recognises that a significant number of children across the school, are not yet achieving at curriculum expectations. Data for 2017, indicated a small majority of children achieved well in reading and mathematics and less than half of all learners achieved in writing.

The most significant disparity is that for Māori and Pacific learners, who as a group, achieve well below Pākehā students in writing and mathematics. The achievement of boys is below girls in literacy.

Well considered interventions and external agencies are accessed appropriately to support these children.There are a number of students with complex and additional needs.

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

There is clear evidence that the majority of target and priority students accelerate their learning. Well-considered individualised teaching responses and in-class intervention programmes successfully promote accelerated progress for many learners at risk.

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?

Well-considered provision for all students to access the curriculum and accelerate learning supports improvement in the equity of outcomes. Targets to raise the achievement of those students who are not succeeding at expected levels are appropriately set by trustees, leadership and teachers. A wide range of appropriate teacher strategies and staff practices effectively respond to most students’ needs. Good systems are in place for gathering, analysing, tracking and reporting achievement information of students.

Leaders and teachers quickly identify the needs of students, including those new to the school. High expectations for student success are highly evident through a strong focus on promoting wellbeing, valuing culture, language and identity, and accelerating learning. Trustees, leaders and staff work strategically and collaboratively to embed schoolwide systems, processes and practices to promote equity and excellence for all students. They are improvement-focused and committed to responding effectively to learners’ needs.

The school provides a caring and inclusive community of learning for all children. Positive, respectful and productive relationships, including tuakana teina, are highly evident. Senior students are provided with purposeful opportunities to grow their leadership capability and contribute meaningfully to the school’s vision.

The culturally responsive curriculum provides a wide range of opportunities for all students to learn and succeed. The principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangiunderpin the implementation of the school’s bicultural curriculum. Authentic contexts for learning about te ao Māori are highly evident within the school culture. Leaders, staff and students learn te reo me ngātikanga Māori in partnership with the neighbouring marae and their early learning service. The learning and teaching of te reo Māori is an identified ongoing focus. Numeracy, literacy and promotion of effective practices to accelerate learning are appropriately prioritised.

Māori learners confidently participate in all aspects of school life. Valued outcomes for Māori students are nurtured through rich partnerships with whānau Māori, local marae and community. Well-considered initiatives promote manaakitanga, whānaungatanga, ako and mahi tahi which positively affirm Māori children’s’ identity, language and culture.

Leaders promote coherent systems and processes. These are purposefully aligned to school priorities to build teachers’ capability and the school’s capacity to sustain and improve outcomes. Regular, collaborative opportunities for robust professional conversations effectively support learner success. Differentiated responses are provided through deliberate acts of teaching.

The board actively represents and serves the school and education community in its stewardship role. There is a shared understanding of responsibilities. Trustees receive informative reports which guide strategic resourcing for improved student outcomes.

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

Leaders are systematically enhancing existing processes that support learner acceleration and promote equity, to further strengthen school effectiveness and outcomes for learners.

Continuing to enhance educationally powerful connections and relationships is an ongoing focus for the school. Developing and nurturing meaningful partnerships with families and local early learning services to support effective transition into school has been prioritised. There is a deliberate focus on continuing to build productive partnerships with the local colleges to support students’ continuity of learning. The school actively seeks the perspectives and aspirations of parents and families of Pacific heritage to inform decision-making and strategic direction. Trustees and leaders have recognised the need to further improve their response to Pacific students through the curriculum.

Trustees, leaders and staff are highly reflective and self review is well-established. Leaders gather and analyse a wide range of information to inform decisions for change and examine what needs improvement. They know the impact of their teaching practices and learning interventions. Further exploring the use of internal evaluation to determine how well and to what extent these promote success for all groups of students is a next step.

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 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• clear direction-setting that establishes challenging goals for student achievement and allows for close monitoring of progress

• a culture of collaboration among trustees, leaders, staff, parents and whānau, that maintains high expectations for teaching and learning throughout the school

• a culturally responsive curriculum, that responds to students’ needs, promotes their wellbeing and supports their learning and progress.

Next steps

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

• internal evaluation processes and practices to better understand the impacts of programmes and initiatives on acceleration and achievement for learners at risk of not achieving

• knowing the valued outcomes for children of Pacific heritage, as determined by their families, to better respond to this group of learners.

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

5 June 2018

About the school