Oaklands Te Kura o Ōwaka

Education institution number:
3450
School type:
Full Primary
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
580
Telephone:
Address:

Cunningham Place, Halswell, Christchurch

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Oaklands School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Oaklands 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 

Oaklands School is located in Halswell, southwest Christchurch. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8 from a diverse and multicultural community. The CARE values of community, active thinkers, respect and excellence, are an integral part of the school culture.

Oaklands School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • Learning that makes a difference

  • Enhancing wellbeing

  • Building community partnership

  • A strong identity and culture for all.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s learner-centered curriculum supports students to understand their learning.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is ensuring students:

  • understand what, how and why they are learning

  • are prepared for the future by having the necessary skills to be competent and capable learners  

  • enjoy learning in ways that best meet their individual needs.

The school expects to see students who are interested and engaged in their learning and be able to articulate what success looks like.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to know how effectively the school’s learner-centred curriculum supports students to understand their learning:

  • robust programmes and initiatives that support students’ wellbeing and sense of belonging

  • well-established protocols and use of data information across teams to ensure that individual students are well known, and their needs are identified and monitored overtime

  • an effective transition programme for new entrants that provides a solid foundation for learning and enables teachers to develop positive and meaningful relationships with children and the families

  • strong leadership and a clear strategic direction to support and develop quality teaching and learning across the school.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • developing the school’s approach to teaching and learning through the inquiry curriculum, embedding the refreshed NZ Curriculum

  • building a stronger understanding, capacity and implementation of evaluative practice across the teaching teams.

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.

Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

14 February 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

Oaklands School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of July 2022, the Oaklands 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 Oaklands 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.

Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

14 February 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

Oaklands School

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

Oaklands School has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self review of its implementation of the Code. At the time of this review there were no international students attending the school, and no exchange students.  

The school has well-established processes to effectively meet its provision for international students and compliance with the Code. Detailed policies, procedures and documentation provide very clear guidelines and practices to support international student wellbeing and learning. Parents and caregivers are provided with comprehensive information to guide the enrolment process, and inform them about what to expect regarding the provision of care and learning for their children.  

Kathy Lye
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

14 February 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

Oaklands School - 11/05/2018

School Context

Oaklands School is a full primary with a roll of 619 children.

The school’s vision is to develop lifelong learners who aspire to excellence. Its valued outcomes are reflected in its values of community, active thinking, respect and excellence (CARE).

The school’s overarching goals are to:

  • develop passionate, adaptable and connected learners
  • grow and strengthen relationships
  • design a better tomorrow.

The school’s 2018 targets are to increase the number of children achieving to expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. There is also a focus on improving outcomes for Māori children.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • achievement and progress in reading, writing and mathematics
  • learning initiatives in other curriculum areas
  • behaviour and wellbeing interventions
  • learning information about children with additional needs.

Since the 2013 ERO review, changes have been made to the school’s organisational structure to increase leadership opportunities for teachers and develop collaborative practices.

In 2017 the Ministry of Education (MoE) carried out a Specialist Audit in response to some concerns about student welfare and school operations. Since that time, school leaders have circulated the MoE audit findings on their website. They have also provided ERO with evidence about their responses to these findings. 

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’s achievement information shows that there is some variation in how well the school is achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

For 2015 to 2017, this information shows that:

  • the majority of students met school expectations in reading and mathematics
  • achievement in writing significantly declined for most groups of students.

In response to this trend in writing, school leaders have introduced specific programmes to address this in the junior school.

Māori children achieve at similar levels in reading and writing. Achievement in mathematics is lower for these children.

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

The school generally has effective processes to identify and monitor the progress of those children whose learning and achievement needs acceleration.

High numbers of children for whom English is a second language receive additional support. Ongoing improvement of the analysis of their achievement information would better show how well these children are progressing over time.

While there are some cases of acceleration for individuals and groups of children, improved use of summary information would better show the effectiveness of interventions for targeted groups to make consistent accelerated progress.

A major focus of the school has been on improving student wellbeing. Data shows that an increasingly higher number of children are aware of their own emotions and the impact this has on their own and others’ wellbeing and 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 curriculum is clearly documented and is responsive to children’s interests and abilities. It provides a broad range of authentic learning opportunities and makes effective use of local contexts. Children benefit from the thoughtful approach to developing bicultural understandings. Māori children are well supported to learn about their culture and language and experience success as Māori.

Leaders and teachers have improved the ways they collect achievement information and use it to inform their planning to better target the needs of individual and groups of children.

Children are supported to have a greater understanding and ownership of their own learning. In particular, a number of targeted programmes have been introduced to provide children in their first two years at school with the skills necessary for future success.

The school’s values are well integrated into programmes and practices across all aspects of the school. The wellbeing of children and staff is actively promoted. Teachers use deliberate methods to develop purposeful relationships with children and their families. Parent and child feedback to inform decision making is actively responded to. Leaders and teachers have a considered approach to managing smooth year level transitions.

Teachers work collaboratively to ensure a cohesive school-wide teaching and learning programme. They are provided with explicit expectations to support positive learning outcomes for all children and consistent approaches to teaching.

A strong senior leadership team works closely together to build teacher capability through targeted professional development and distributed leadership. A comprehensive programme supports teachers new to the profession.

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

Leaders and teachers need to continue to prioritise key strategies that will make the most difference to children’s achievement and progress. This should include:

  • identification of effective interventions for individuals
  • clarifying assessment practices
  • shared understandings of best practice
  • strengthening the school’s approach to evaluating the quality and effectiveness of programmes and practices.

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. 

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of practice established under Section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. There were no students enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • responsive curriculum to provide a range of opportunities for learning
  • strong leadership team that is focused on raising the quality of learning and teaching,
  • culture of collaboration that supports sharing of best practice and building the consistent capacity of staff. 

Next steps

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

  • targeted planning to accelerate learning
    [ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school.]
  • internal evaluation processes and practices
    [ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders.] 

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

11 May 2018

About the school 

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

3450

School type

Full Primary

School roll

619

Gender composition

Girls 52%: Boys 48%

Ethnic compositions

Māori        9%

Pākehā    58%

Pacific       1%

Asian       17%

Other ethnicities   15%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

February 2018

Date of this report

11 May 2018

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review            October 2013

Education Review            February 2010

Supplementary Review   June 2008