Gilberthorpe School

Gilberthorpe School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 10 months of the Education Review Office and Gilberthorpe 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 

Gilberthorpe School, Ara Tū Whakatā, is located in Christchurch. The school provides education for students in years 1 to 6. Their vision is ‘Pathways for Success’. 

Gilberthorpe School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners prioritise:

  • ensuring a collaborative culture of learning and growing

  • valuing our place, our people, our community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate leadership of responsive teaching and learning practices, impacting on learner wellbeing and academic success for students from Years 1 to 6.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • the school’s strategic planning objectives prioritise wellbeing and success

  • analysed school data shows scope for further enhancing student achievement across the school

  • targeted professional development supports enhanced teaching and learning practices, now ready to be embedded and sustained.

The school expects to see accelerated progress in core literacy and mathematics learning areas. Culturally responsive and relational practices will foster wellbeing, and be deliberately woven through localised curriculum, planning and teaching practices. Student voice and choice will be heightened. Leaders will review and document the school’s expectations for quality teaching and learning, and staff will consistently demonstrate these shared understandings in practice. Purposefully engaging with whānau and families in the evaluation for improvement journey will further support positive outcomes for all.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to further develop responsive teaching and learning practices:

  • a strong foundation of supportive relationships, embedded values and an ethic of care that foster an inclusive culture

  • dedicated, collaborative and reflective staff who embrace improvement-focused professional learning in order to enhance outcomes for learners

  • robust systems for identifying, prioritising, and monitoring students’ needs, underpinned by coherent support structures that scaffold learners impacted by behavioural, pastoral or academic challenges.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • investigating key evaluation questions to identify teaching and learning strengths and needs, informing annual planning and creating the basis of an evaluation for improvement plan

  • refining the school’s localised curriculum and quality practice guidelines, and using this to review and refine ways that hub leaders purposefully embed, sustain and monitor desired practices

  • continuing to strengthen data analysis by stating clear actions that align with strategic objectives, goals and plans.

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

27 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

Gilberthorpe School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of May 2023, the Gilberthorpe 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 Gilberthorpe 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

27 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

Gilberthorpe School - 22/06/2017

Summary

Gilberthorpe School has a roll of 158 children. This includes 16 Māori, 9 Pacific and 11 Asian children. The roll has grown recently resulting in increasing diversity across the school.

Since the 2013 ERO review, there have been significant changes including a new principal, staff and board chairperson.

Across 2015 and 2016 senior leaders introduced improved processes and practices to identify and meet the learning needs of children whose achievement needed acceleration. Early indicators show that these children are making significant progress. ERO has requested a plan from the school about how they will sustain the improvements to children’s achievement.

The school has made good progress since the last review in meeting the recommendations outlined in ERO’s 2013 report. Teachers provide in-depth achievement information about the priority learners. Senior leaders have begun reporting on the effectiveness of interventions. Strategic planning is more comprehensive.

How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?

The school is making good progress to effectively achieve equitable outcomes for all children.

There are many school practices and processes contributing towards equitable outcomes for children. These include the caring, collaborative and respectful school environment, valuing children’s cultures and languages, and the way children experience a wide range of meaningful experiences beyond the classroom.

The school is responding well to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.A number of students are making accelerated progress.

Leaders and teachers are using processes and procedures to promote accelerated progress for those learners who are not achieving at the National Standards. The next step is to evaluate the impact of learning support programmes to raise children’s achievement levels.

Some of the school’s systems and practices need strengthening to ensure equity and excellence in learning for all children. These include:

  • building on good practices, processes and procedures for internal evaluation

  • regular reporting to the board on target groups and the progress and impact of interventions

  • aligning appraisal goals to the school achievement targets.

At the time of this review there were a number of children whose achievement needed accelerating. The board, senior leaders and teachers were actively focused on improving conditions so that children whose achievement is well below or below the National Standards can achieve educational excellence.

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

Equity and excellence

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

The school is responding well to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school’s achievement data show that a number of students are achieving below the national standards. Many of these children entered the school in 2016. Well-analysed 2017 data show many of these children are making accelerated progress.

Leaders and teachers are providing the conditions for Māori children and other children to achieve through targeted wellbeing and learning support programmes. These new programmes are in the early stages and it is too early for ERO to evaluate the impact.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?

Many programmes and practices have been effective in supporting the progress and achievement of some children to achieve equity and excellence.

Trustees, leaders and teachers have a focus on raising the achievement and progress of all learners, particularly those who are at risk. The school’s curriculum clearly identifies expectations and strategies that will effectively support children’s learning and wellbeing. These include:

  • activities and challenges that promote the interests and strengths of able students
  • learning support programmes specifically for children with additional learning needs
  • children setting goals that effectively focus on their learning
  • use of a good model for internal evaluation in numeracy.

School leaders and teachers have a collaborative focus on promoting equity and excellence for all children. The school’s values are well embedded and successfully support positive relationships and behaviour. Leaders, teachers and children are learning their pepeha/mihi in meaningful ways to help them make closer ties with iwi, their culture and the local environment.

Children benefit from parents, whānau and the community being welcomed and involved in school activities as respected and valued partners in their children’s learning. 

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?

The school is progressing well towards achieving equitable outcomes for all children. There are processes, closely linked to supporting equity and excellence, which need to be further developed. The principal, supported by the board is focused on making the necessary improvements to raise achievement levels.

The key next steps include:

  • aligning teachers’ appraisal goals to student learning needs and the school achievement targets

  • systematic and ongoing internal evaluation of the school’s curriculum and learning support programmes

  • strengthening teaching inquiry.

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
  • 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.

Going forward

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

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, low achievement for some children remains.

Leaders and teachers: 

  • know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated

  • need to continue to develop the school conditions that support the acceleration of children’s learning and achievement.

  • need to further build teacher capability to accelerate children’s learning and achievement.

The school agrees to:

  • monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress

  • discuss the school’s progress with ERO. 

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

Recommendations

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education consider providing support for the school in order to bring about the following improvements:

  • raising student achievement  

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern/Te Waipounamu

22 June 2017

About the school 

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

3346

School type

Contributing

School roll

158

Gender composition

Male 54% Female 46%

Ethnic composition

Māori – 13%
Pākehā – 62%
Pacifica – 8%
Asian – 8%
Other ethnicities – 9%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2017

Date of this report

22 June 2017

Most recent ERO reports

September 2013
August 2010

 

Gilberthorpe School - 05/09/2013

1 Context

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

Since the last ERO review in August 2010, the school has been through a period of challenge, change and uncertainty.

A variety of factors including staff illness, the Canterbury earthquakes and proposed changes to schooling in Christchurch have impacted on the school. These situations have resulted in:

  • changes in staffing and leadership, with the school having an acting principal and deputy principal since the end of 2011
  • ongoing changes in the makeup of the school’s roll and community
  • increased attention being paid to the welfare of students and their families
  • much time and energy being spent on responding to a proposal regarding a school merger which is not now proceeding.

The school’s board, leaders and teachers have continued to promote improvements to the quality of education for their students during this time. Strengths noted in the last ERO report have been maintained and the school’s curriculum and assessment practices enhanced. The school’s roll is now the highest it has been since 2009.

2 Learning

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

School leaders and trustees continue to use achievement information well to inform their decisions. Improvements to their practices have resulted in leaders and teachers making more effective use of achievement information to foster student engagement and success.

These improvements include more deliberate use of achievement information to better:

  • identify, discuss and report achievement patterns and trends
  • develop useful targets and plans for raising student achievement
  • respond to the specific learning needs of groups and individuals.

School achievement information shows that students achieve best in reading, with over 70% achieving at or above the national standard. The board, school leaders and teachers are giving appropriate priority to addressing concerns about overall achievement in mathematics and the progress being made by some Pacific students.

Teachers are improving the quality of the student achievement information they are gathering. There is now greater clarity around the assessment tools teachers use. Teachers are also using these tools more effectively to collaborate with other staff about assessment results. These developments are supporting the school’s efforts to improve the quality of the overall judgements teachers make about student achievement.

The school provides well-coordinated additional learning support in literacy and numeracy for those students with the greatest learning needs. There is good liaison between teachers and the school’s experienced support staff, as well as a willingness to explore different approaches to fostering student progress and achievement.

Areas for review and development

School leaders should now consider how:

  • classroom planning and review documents can better identify and track the progress of priority learners
  • to better evaluate and report on the effectiveness of learning support in accelerating the progress of students, particularly those achieving well below the national standards.

3 Curriculum

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

Overall, the school’s curriculum promotes and supports students’ learning well. The school’s curriculum, teaching practices and learning environment help motivate students and engage them in learning. The efforts being made to improve teaching programmes and practices are likely to further promote student learning.

The school’s curriculum provides students with a broad and balanced range of opportunities to learn and achieve success. The revised school curriculum guidelines effectively integrate the community’s priorities around developing positive habits for students' learning. Class programmes give suitable emphasis to literacy, mathematics and fostering biculturalism.

Curriculum guidelines include clear expectations for teaching and student learning. There is now scope to use these more widely when assessing student learning and evaluating class programmes and teaching practices.

Teachers are making ongoing improvements to their good quality teaching practices. For instance they:

  • are receiving more feedback about aspects of their teaching and are being expected to reflect more critically on their practices
  • are more aware, and make increased use, of strategies that are known to foster student progress and achievement
  • regularly modify programmes and groupings in response to emerging students’ strengths, needs and interests.

A strong feature of the school is the positive learning environment created for students and the degree to which this fosters their wellbeing and enables them to focus on and enjoy learning. This environment is created through the:

  • successful promotion of the school’s values and good standards of student behaviour
  • very supportive relationships between adults and students, and among students
  • inclusive school culture, the strong focus on supporting students and their families and accessing a variety of appropriate community services.

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

The school is successfully promoting educational success for Māori. Māori students as a group appear to achieve at least as well as, and in some instances better than, their peers.

A number of factors are helping to promote success for Māori, as Māori. These include:

  • students’ cultural backgrounds being valued and acknowledged in a variety of ways, both within the local environment and class programmes
  • opportunities for these students, and others, to learn te reo and tikanga Māori
  • increasing consultation with the parents of Māori students around the targets and plans developed to improve student progress and achievement.

Discussions with students confirmed that they felt the school was inclusive and valued their cultures.

Areas for review and development

School leaders agree that they should now:

  • make sure sufficient time is given to implementing and reviewing the impact of initiatives introduced to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and in literacy
  • build on developments related to teacher reflection and programme evaluation.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

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

The acting school leaders have successfully led and managed the school through a period of significant challenge and change. They have, with the support of the board and staff:

  • maintained a strong focus on improving teaching and learning
  • given appropriate priority to improving the quality of some existing management practices
  • extended shared decision making and increased leadership ability within the school.

These developments have helped to build a positive, improvement-focused school culture.

Well-focused and managed ongoing school-wide professional development has helped to enhance the quality of teaching programmes and practices. This development has helped to establish a number of processes and practices, that if built on, should help to improve the quality of education for students.

The board, leaders and teachers have successfully improved the quality of relationships between the school and its community. Increased communication, an open door policy and efforts to promote learning partnerships with parents have all helped to increase the presence of parents within the school and their support for the students.

The board continues to actively support students and teachers in a variety of ways. The chairperson in particular played a key role in positively managing issues arising from a proposed school merger. The good working relationships and communication between trustees, leaders and staff are resulting in suitable emphasis and support being given to raising student achievement.

Areas for review and development

To support the trustees’ and leaders’ commitment to raising student achievement, and to help capitalise on recent school initiatives, priority now needs to be given to:

  • improving the quality of strategic planning, and aspects of annual planning, so that these can better support school improvement
  • establishing better policy, plans and guidelines for conducting board self review
  • better following guidelines for curriculum self review, and within reviews focus more on identifying factors that may be helping or hindering student learning.

The new school board intends to undertake training. It would be helpful if this training included support related to the above areas for review and development.

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.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services Southern Region

5 September 2013

About the School

Location

Hei Hei, Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

3346

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

117

Gender composition

Boys 53% Girls 47%

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā

Māori

Samoan

Other Pacific

Asian

Other Ethnicities

60%

23%

9%

3%

2%

3%

Review team on site

August 2013

Date of this report

5 September 2013

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

August 2010

June 2007

February 2004