Findings
Tahunanui School has made sufficient progress in relation to the key next steps identified in ERO’s February 2020 report. The school will transition into ERO’s Evaluation for Improvement approach.
1 Background and Context
What is the background and context for this school’s review?
Tahunanui School, located in Nelson, is a contributing primary school catering for students in Years 1 to 6. The roll of 280 learners includes about 25% who identify as Māori. The school is an active member of Te Kāhui Ako o Omaio ki Tahunanui. The school has participated in the Ministry of Education (MOE) funded Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) programme since 2016.
Leadership has remained stable since the February 2020 ERO review, and there have been several changes in staff.
The school’s vision for students is “With an I can, I will attitude, our school empowers children to become resilient, connected and successful citizens.” The underpinning values are:
- Kia tū te mana – Show Respect
- Kia tū te Kaha – Aspire to be
- Kia tū tahi tātou – Involved
- Ngā ākona mō ake tonu – Life-long Learners (SAIL).
The board of trustees has set strategic priorities focused on improving culture (tūrangawaewae), connection (whakawhanaungatanga), curriculum (kaupapa), and growth and wellbeing (rangatiratanga).
2 Review and Development
How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?
Priorities identified for review and development
The February 2020 ERO report identified that improvements were required in raising achievement, developing a localised school curriculum, teacher practices, use of data to show achievement, evidence-based evaluation, and learning-centred relationships.
Progress
Schoolwide progress and achievement information shows that most students are achieving at or above curriculum level expectations. There have been positive shifts in the progress of priority students in reading, writing, and especially mathematics. Disparities in Māori student achievement in core learning areas have been significantly reduced over the past two years. Leaders and teachers know their students well and take shared ownership of student progress goals across the school. More robust systems and practices are providing useful evidence of student learning to inform professional conversations.
The local, integrated curriculum framework that supports learners’ needs and interests is being progressively embedded and monitored by middle and senior leaders. Culturally responsive and relational teaching and learning programmes have been prioritised and agreed, supported by increasingly reciprocal relationships with local iwi. Students are supported to take responsibility and make decisions about their own learning and behaviour.
A coherent approach to student engagement, schoolwide, is building professional capability. Leaders and teachers continue to engage in open-to-learning conversations as they investigate and reflect on aspects of their practice to develop evidence-based solutions for professional improvement. Relationship-based teaching and learning approaches are improving student engagement. Targeted resourcing is increasing access to the curriculum and promoting student progress, particularly for those at risk of underachievement.
Appropriate tools and methods have been developed to gather, store and make sense of a range of valid data to promote student learning outcomes. Assessment activities are increasingly authentic. They provide meaningful evidence of achievement and progress and inform next steps for teaching and learning. Collaborative teacher meetings use evidence of student learning for collective inquiry into teaching programmes and strategies for accelerating progress and achievement.
Leaders and teachers participate in, and lead, knowledge building within the school and the wider education community. The board increasingly scrutinises the effectiveness of the school in achieving valued student outcomes. Leaders and trustees have prioritised strategic resourcing of programmes directed at improving schoolwide achievement.
Trustees and leaders have continued to strengthen community consultation practices and learning-centred relationships with families/whānau. Improved student outcomes have benefitted from these collaborations.
Key next steps
Trustees, leaders and teachers should continue to:
- further develop culturally responsive practices and a progressive te reo Māori curriculum to meet the needs of Maōri and other students
- align assessment practices, targets for priority students, and progress indicators to confirm the impact of school interventions towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all students
- promote conditions that value the use of internal evaluation to better know the impact of building and sustaining improvement and innovation.
3 Sustainable performance and self review
How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?
The school is well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.
Improved schoolwide progress and achievement information over the last two years, and reductions in the disparity of achievement for some groups of students, are the result of improved systems and practices to meet the learning progress and other needs of students. Strengthened teacher planning and delivery of the local curriculum focuses on relationship-based learning to engage students. Targeted professional learning has supported teachers and leaders to improve their capability to make sense of information about student progress and to inform planning and next steps. Families/whānau continue to be consulted and communicated with regularly to ensure that their aspirations for their children are prioritised.
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
- school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014.
Conclusion
Tahunanui School has made sufficient progress in relation to the key next steps identified in ERO’s February 2020 report. The school will transition into ERO’s Evaluation for Improvement approach.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region - Te Tai Tini
14 December 2021
About the school
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.