School Context
Kirkwood Intermediate provides education for students in Years 7 and 8. The school roll is 328, including 42 students who identify as Māori and 44 as Asian.
Students come from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Many travel from a wide geographical area and come from a large number of contributing schools. The school provides technology education for nine client schools. The school has very close links with Korea and offers education for international fee paying students.
Staff is mostly long-serving, with an experienced principal and deputy principal. A new assistant principal and team leaders were appointed in 2017.
The school’s overarching vision is for all students to achieve personal excellence now and for the future. The valued outcomes for students are based on supporting:
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individual wellbeing
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personal growth, both academically and socially
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inclusiveness and having a sense of belonging
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preparation for secondary school as life-long learners.
Current strategic goals and targets focus on improving student learning and engagement, and increasing the ways in which the school engages with its community.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
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progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
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learning and achievement in other areas of the curriculum
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student wellbeing and engagement.
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?
The school is successfully developing and implementing systems and processes to promote the achievement of equitable and excellent outcomes for students. By the end of Year 8, significantly more students achieve positive outcomes in core learning areas, however there is some disparity for some groups of students.
School information shows that:
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most students achieve well in reading and mathematics by the end of Year 8
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achievement in writing is slightly lower, particularly for boys
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some Māori students’ performance in writing and mathematics is lower than school expectations
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girls achieve at a higher level than boys in reading and writing, and at similar levels in mathematics.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
Māori students and others whose learning needs to be accelerated are very well supported. Leaders and teachers have effective systems for identifying, monitoring and supporting students who need additional help. Achievement information reported to the board shows positive gains for most students in the identified target groups. During their time at the school, most of these students make accelerated progress in their learning.
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?
The school’s inclusive culture supports a strong sense of belonging for students and provides a positive environment where individual successes and cultures are valued and celebrated. Students’ wellbeing is closely monitored. A board-funded counsellor provides timely and constructive support for students and their whānau, as needed.
Teachers know their students well and value partnerships with their families. Leaders and teachers have thorough systems for identifying and monitoring students’ achievement and progress. There is a wide range of effective support programmes and approaches in place to enhance learning and enable equitable achievement of outcomes for all students. Students with additional learning needs are very well supported to achieve success in a variety of ways.
The school’s broad curriculum provides students with many varied opportunities to experience learning and success through rich and balanced programmes of learning, including good connections with local and wider communities. Students benefit from the well-managed, engaging technology programme, that reflects and values te ao Māori particularly well.
Teachers work collaboratively in teaching teams to support consistent practices in core learning. They regularly share best ways to assist students’ learning, progress and wellbeing. Leaders have clear expectations for teaching and learning, and provide many opportunities to build best practice and collective capacity across the teaching teams.
The board and leaders are improvement focused and highly supportive of staff, students and the community. Trustees are very responsive to identified needs. They seek and use the detailed reported information to inform well-considered decision making to focus on equitable outcomes and opportunities for all students.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
School leaders and teachers need to continue to improve the focus on target students, including having appropriate expectations for accelerated achievement for these students. There is also a need to have clear definitions for the different levels of intervention, and defined learning team processes, that show how effectively ongoing teaching is helping these students to accelerate in their learning. Increasing the frequency and timeliness of reporting to the board will enable trustees to more closely monitor the progress groups of students are making towards meeting expected levels of achievement.
Internal evaluation practices need to be strengthened. This will enable the board and leaders to know about the effectiveness of strategies in raising achievement and to help inform their decision making. Teachers also need to clearly show how well they are evaluating the effectiveness of their teaching practices in promoting accelerated learning for targeted students.
School leaders and teachers have also identified that they need to continue to embed and integrate te reo and tikanga Māori across all school programmes and practices. They have also acknowledged the need to strengthen the school’s engagement with its Pacific community.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
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emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
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physical safety of students
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teacher registration and certification
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processes for appointing staff
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stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
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attendance
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school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
Provision for international students
The school is a signatory to theEducation (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016(the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.
At the time of this review there were eight international students attending the school, and no exchange students.
International students’ learning and wellbeing are closely monitored and supported. They achieve well and make good progress. International students benefit from the inclusive culture and are well integrated into the school.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
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the inclusive and supportive culture that builds on individual strengths and successes
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collaborative teaching practices that support individual and groups of students’ accelerated progress
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the targeted programmes that are focused on wellbeing and positive learning outcomes for students.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
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continuing the development of internal evaluation in order to inform future school direction and decision making
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improving the focus on target groups of students and the way their achievement and progress are reported to enable timely decisions about further support.
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
For Chief Review Officer
5 September 2018
About the school
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Location
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Christchurch
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Ministry of Education profile number
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3396
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School type
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Intermediate (Years 7 to 8)
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School roll
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328
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Gender composition
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Boys: 51%
Girls: 49%
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Ethnic composition
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Māori 13%
Pākehā 56%
Pacific 3%
Other ethnicities 28%
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Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)
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Yes
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Provision of Māori medium education
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No
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Review team on site
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July 2018
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Date of this report
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5 September 2018
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Most recent ERO reports
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Education Review: June 2014
Education Review: April 2011
Education Review: November 2007
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