Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū 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 

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū caters for learners from Years 1 to 8. It is located on Christchurch’s Port Hills and is a member of the Kahukura Community of Practice.

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • foster wellbeing

  • enhance the school’s localised curriculum

  • embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on the Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate leadership of an evidence-based, adaptive and culturally responsive approach to teaching writing, to ensure all learners thrive and experience success.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • senior leaders are coaching and empowering leaders of learning to support teaching teams to reflect and inquire into the effectiveness of their practice, to better respond to students’ strengths and needs – including culturally responsive practices

  • in writing, data shows there is scope to further investigate patterns, trends and possible improvements, including for Māori learner success.

The school expects to see:

  • leaders continually engaged in professional knowledge-building with teachers to enhance effectiveness

  • consistently equitable opportunities for learners to progress and achieve

  • Māori learners consistently well supported to achieve, with a strong and secure sense of their cultural identity.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school to evaluate leadership of an evidence-based, adaptive and culturally responsive approach to teaching writing, to ensure all learners thrive and experience success:

  • clear and embedded vision and values that foster an inclusive approach to learning, with a strong focus on progress, achievement and wellbeing for all

  • a dedicated, caring and professional staff culture that utilises evidence-based practices for decision making

  • a cohesive leadership team that has developed and embedded systems and structures for capability-building, promoting purposeful change and improvement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • implementing a co-constructed evaluation plan for improvement, to identify further opportunities for professional development

  • senior leaders continuing to build capacity of leaders of learning and project leaders, to effectively facilitate consistent learning practices

  • building on engagement and consultation practices, including with students, whānau and families, to further enhance the localised curriculum, teaching practices and strategic decision making.

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

12 June 2023 

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

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of February 2023, the Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū 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 Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū,  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

12 June 2023 

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

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū

Provision for International Students Report

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.  The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

12 June 2023 

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

Cashmere Primary School - 21/09/2016

1 Context

Cashmere Primary School is a large primary school that provides education for children from Years 1 to 8. Children attend the school mainly from the local area within the school's zone.

The school was having extensive property development at the time of this review.

A new principal was appointed at the beginning of 2016 after a long-serving principal retired. Senior leaders and most teachers are experienced and long-serving at the school. The board has stable membership.

The school has a very good reporting history with ERO and was last reviewed in 2011.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are based on the vision, 'Together We Learn - Ka Ako Ngātahi Tātou'. The school's community describe themselves as a moving school, based on the values of respect and honesty, opportunities, caring, knowledge and understanding, and success for all (ROCKS).

The school's valued outcomes include community partnership, recognising and celebrating learning achievement, excellence and difference, holistic and child-centred learning, thinking innovatively, and working creatively and collaboratively.

The school reports that most Māori children (7% of the roll), and other children have achieved at or above the National Standards in literacy and mathematics since the 2011 ERO review. Some Māori children's achievement has improved at a greater rate than their peers, and some groups of children have achieved mostly above the National Standards in reading and mathematics.

In 2015, most students achieved at or above the National Standards. Many children across the school achieved well above the National Standards in reading and mathematics. The school has identified and supported groups of children to accelerate their achievement, particularly in writing. Leaders are focused on increasing the percentage of children achieving above the National Standard in literacy and numeracy.

A suitable range of assessment activities and a well-structured moderation process across the school, and with other schools, provide teachers with a good range of meaningful assessment data. Sound decisions are able to be made about students' achievement levels in relation to the National Standards.

Since the 2011 ERO review, the school has successfully addressed the recommendations in the report. This includes a thorough evaluation of the school's systems relating to international students and their progress and achievement.

The school has also refined the systems around measuring and analysing the achievement of students receiving additional learning support. Board reports now include a comprehensive analysis of the factors that may be contributing to students’ progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school is highly effective in responding to children whose learning and achievement would benefit from acceleration. Staff know children well and have a shared responsibility for the learning and wellbeing of every child. Thorough systems and practices are used for identifying and monitoring learning, progress and achievement.

Teachers make very good use of specific programmes and use effective, explicit teaching strategies to meet the individual learning needs of children. Leaders and teachers closely monitor and regularly evaluate the outcomes for these children and the effectiveness of programmes and teaching strategies.

The school's high expectations for teaching and learning, positive whānau relationships and good use of external agencies and local personnel have contributed to improved outcomes in literacy and mathematics for children. A next step for the school is to collect, analyse and report children's achievement in other areas of the curriculum.

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's curriculum and other organisational processes and practices are highly effective and ensure the school's values, goals and targets for equity and excellence are very well met. There is a shared and embedded understanding of the vision, values and learning purpose throughout the school.

The school's governance systems are highly effective and focused on raising children's achievement. The trustees are knowledgeable, skilled and strongly committed to achieving the school's vision for all learners.

Leadership is collaborative at all levels of the school. This collaboration supports children, teachers and leaders to maximise opportunities for excellence and equity.

Children are highly engaged in a range of meaningful learning experiences. They learn in a collaborative, inclusive and rich learning environment.

School-wide systems, practices and protocols are well embedded. This has helped to ensure learning has not been disrupted during a time of significant building redevelopment. This is particularly evident in the way teachers have embraced best teaching and learning practice in the school's modified learning spaces.

Most groups of children know about their learning and can confidently discuss their learning and next steps. Teachers are beginning to give children more choices in their learning as the school moves towards greater learner empowerment in decision making. Parents receive comprehensive information about their child's learning, progress and achievement.

Children have an increasing number of opportunities to learn about te reo and tikanga Māori. Māori children are beginning to have an authentic voice. Parents of Māori children are becoming more involved in the school.

The school's culture of rigorous critical reflection and evaluation effectively sustains ongoing positive performance and continuous improvement.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

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.

Leaders are strongly committed to building teachers' professional capability and collective capacity. This is achieved through sustained, challenging and targeted professional learning opportunities within a collaborative, future-focused environment.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five 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

  • provision for international students.

7 Recommendations

The following next steps have been identified by the school and ERO. These include:

  • continuing to embed Māori language, culture and identity for success as Māori
  • extending analysis and reporting of children's achievement data in other areas of the curriculum beyond literacy and mathematics
  • continuing to increase the number of students achieving above the National Standards. 

Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

21 September 2016 

About the school

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

3310

School type

Full Primary School

School roll

470

Number of international students

3

Gender composition

Girls 53%; Boys 47%

Ethnic composition

Pākehā

Māori

Asian

88%

7%

5%

Review team on site

July 2016

Date of this report

21 September 2016

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

September 2011

September 2009

October 2005

 

Cashmere Primary School - 19/09/2011

1 Context

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

Since the school’s September 2008 ERO report, the principal, other leaders and teachers have continued to enhance the quality of education they provide for students. Improvements to the school’s curriculum have extended learning opportunities across all learning areas.

Considerable professional development and support for leaders and teachers, along with improvements to self review, have helped to build on existing good practices and continue to raise the quality of teaching and learning.

The board and school leaders have made ongoing improvements to the facilities and resources they provide for students to support their learning.

Earthquakes, particularly in 2011, have had a significant effect on children, their families and staff. School leaders and teachers have been proactive in identifying and responding to students’ needs.

2 Learning

How well are students learning – engaging, progressing and achieving?

School leaders and teachers gather a wide range of achievement information so that they can make well-informed judgements about student achievement levels.

Overall students achieve very well in literacy and numeracy. Levels of student engagement in learning are generally high and students display a positive attitude to their learning.

The school’s 2010 and 2011 achievement information shows that students achieve highly in reading and in numeracy. For example, 91% of students achieve at or above the National Standards in reading with 60% being above the standard. In numeracy 86% of students achieve at or above the National Standards with 40% being above the standard.

While achievement in written language is below that in reading and numeracy, significant numbers of students, 82%, still achieve at or above the National Standards.

School leaders have high achievement expectations for students and continue to raise these. They methodically address any concerns related to student achievement.

Some students have achieved notable success in sporting competitions. Five Year 8 students won scholarships to local secondary schools in 2010.

Overall, students display a positive attitude towards learning.

The principal, school leaders and teachers effectively use student achievement information to:

  • set well-defined annual targets to further raise student achievement
  • develop useful annual plans and actively support students to achieve these targets
  • provide a range of well-managed and targeted extra support for students most at risk of underachieving
  • consider how best to meet the needs of gifted and talented students and reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching programmes.

Recent improvements in collecting and recording achievement information have placed the school in a better position to use this information to analyse the progress that groups of students make during their time at the school. For example:

  • assessment practices now in place for students in their first year at school mean their progress can be better tracked
  • significant improvements and adjustments to the school’s data base make it easier to locate and use key achievement information.

ERO agrees with school leaders that their next step is to use this information to provide further evidence of the impact of teaching programmes on student progress and achievement.

How well are Māori students learning – engaging, progressing and achieving?

Maori students achieve at similar levels to their peers in literacy and numeracy. In some instances such as in written language, they made greater progress than their peers in 2010.

The school’s curriculum is giving growing emphasis to including aspects of biculturalism within teaching programmes. This is increasing opportunities for Maori students to have their culture acknowledged and affirmed.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum is well designed and successfully promotes and supports student learning.

Strengths
Curriculum design

The school’s curriculum effectively integrates the key elements of the New Zealand Curriculum. For instance it

  • includes clear expectations for high-quality teaching and student achievement
  • provides good opportunities for students to build on previous learning and achieve success across the curriculum
  • gives suitable emphasis to integrating learning to help make it meaningful for students
  • places an appropriate focus on environmental education and sustainable practices.
Curriculum in action

Teachers use a range of effective teaching practices to engage students and lift their achievement. For example teachers:

  • create positive learning environments for their students
  • focus on responding to students’ identified strengths and needs
  • explain the purpose of learning and give useful feedback to students about their achievement and next steps
  • give priority to helping students understand and manage their own learning and behaviour.

The school has well-developed transition procedures for supporting students when beginning school in Year 1 and when leaving at the end of Year 8.

Area for review and development
Building on curriculum initiatives

School leaders have identified, and ERO agrees, that some aspects of curriculum implementation could be further developed. These include continuing to:

  • explore ways of catering for the range of student strengths, needs and interests within classroom programmes
  • build on the best of current practices in inquiry-based learning to achieve school-wide consistency and continuity for students
  • increase the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support teaching and learning.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is very well placed to sustain and improve school performance for the benefit of students.

Strengths
Professional Leadership

The principal, with the support of other school leaders, provides effective leadership for learning, teaching and managing the school. The principal:

  • has high expectations for students’ learning and achievement and for teachers as professionals
  • maintains a strong focus on teaching and learning
  • appropriately delegates responsibilities, uses staff strengths effectively and supports staff to grow as leaders
  • works actively with the board and staff to achieve the school’s vision and goals.
School culture and self review

The principal, with the support of other leaders, has created a school culture that encourages collaboration, innovation and critical reflection.

The school has a well-developed programme of curriculum self review that incorporates both internal and external evaluations. Review practices help leaders and teachers to evaluate the quality of education they provide for students and make well-informed decisions about school improvement.

Reviewers’ class observations confirmed the school’s self review findings in regard to the quality of teaching practices.

Professional learning and support

Teachers are well supported by wide-ranging opportunities for professional development and growth. Teachers engage in regular and focused professional discussions. They receive useful feedback about their teaching programmes and practices through a range of appraisal and review practices. This feedback is helpful in affirming strengths and identifying areas for personal development.

Where teachers may not be consistently meeting the school’s expectations for high-quality teaching, the principal and other leaders actively provide additional support and guidance for them.

Governance

The board performs its governance role well. This is most evident in:

  • trustees' focus on promoting high-quality learning and teaching
  • the good working relationship between the board and principal
  • the school’s clear strategic vision and well-developed plans
  • the board’s support and resourcing for school initiatives.
Areas for review and development
Enhancing aspects of self review

While the school has many well-developed review practices, the quality and usefulness of some of these could be enhanced through:

  • the board extending the provisions it makes for seeking feedback from parents on key school matters
  • the principal and other leaders extending reports to the board to include progress and achievement information about international students and students receiving additional learning support
  • the principal and other leaders extending their reviews to include more analysis of the factors that may be contributing to students’ progress and achievement.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. At the time of this review, there were seven international students attending the school.

The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

ERO’s investigations confirmed that the school’s self-review process for international students needs to be extended to ensure the board receives regular reports on the outcomes of self review and the progress and achievement of students.

There are good provisions for pastoral care, learning support and student involvement in the school’s community.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of the school completed an ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. 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 students' achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region

19 September 2011

About the School

Location

Cashmere, Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

3310

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

Decile

10

School roll

475

Number of international students

7

Gender composition

Girls 51%

Boys 49%

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā

Māori

Asian

Other

90%

4%

5%

1%

Review team on site

August 2011

Date of this report

19 September 2011

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

September 2008

October 2005

September 2002