South New Brighton School

Education institution number:

3508

School type:

Full Primary

School gender:

Co-Educational

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

404

Website:

http://www.snbs.school.nz

Telephone:

03 388 9426

Address:

160 Estuary Road, South New Brighton, Christchurch

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South New Brighton School - 30/08/2017

30 Aug 2017

Summary

South New Brighton School is a full primary school located in Christchurch. It has a roll of 462 children, 75 of whom identify as Māori.

Leaders and teachers actively contribute to the local cluster of schools.

The school has made good progress in addressing the recommendations identified in the 2012 ERO report. This includes the analysis of achievement data and increased teacher reflections on the effectiveness of teaching and learning programmes. Hui with Māori have enabled whānau to identify positive ways the school is meeting the holistic needs of their tamariki.

Student achievement against the National Standards for reading and mathematics show a slight increase from 2016 results. Most class levels are achieving very well in reading and mathematics. The school is currently focused on raising children’s achievement in writing. Notable is the lower level of achievement in writing for boys. Several interventions are in place to address this disparity.

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

The school is achieving equitable outcomes for the majority of children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. There is no disparity between Māori and non-Māori learners.

The processes that are effective in enabling equity and excellence include:

the CARE values that promote respectful relationships and a positive learning environment
leaders who strongly focus on building professional capability
a distributive leadership model that uses the combined strengths of the staff
digital technologies that support children’s independence as learners
a broad-based curriculum that enables children to work towards achieving their full potential.

The next steps for the school are to:

continue to focus on addressing disparity and raising achievement in writing
continue to strengthen the tracking and reporting of accelerated progress
implement and embed internal evaluation across the school.

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 successfully responding to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Many Māori children are achieving very well. The school aligns their CARE values closely with Māori values such as manaakitanga.

In 2016 the achievement data showed that most children achieved at or above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. There is a significant disparity for boys in writing. The school has included this group in the general target for all children who are not achieving at expectations.

A collaborative approach to moderation within the school and across schools in the cluster is increasing the accuracy of teachers’ overall judgments about learning. Leaders state that some inconsistencies still need addressing.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

The school has appropriate systems and processes in place that effectively enable the achievement of equity and excellence.

Leaders and teachers are highly learner-focused. They effectively promote positive relationships with and among children and actively support their wellbeing. They encourage children to use digital technologies to independently enhance their learning opportunities.

Teachers are strongly focused on raising children’s achievement. They know children and their learning needs well. They make specific and purposeful use of this information to provide targeted learning support. Children whose learning needs acceleration, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics have targeted programmes and interventions.

Children with additional learning needs have access to well-managed learning support programmes. Ongoing relationships between the school and external agencies provide appropriate levels of assistance for those children who require it.

Leaders and teachers use the curriculum to provide considerable opportunities for children to achieve and succeed through a broad range of experiences. The curriculum effectively incorporates the school’s values and the range of priorities identified by families/whānau for their children’s learning, progress and achievement.

Other key aspects that are promoting equity and excellence include:

the development of stronger collaborative teaching approaches to build collective capability
an effective appraisal process that promotes a range of teaching strategies and teacher reflection about teaching practice.

The school is well led and governed. Leaders model collaborative practice and actively encourage school improvement and team development. They effectively use the skills and knowledge of the staff to achieve the school’s priorities. Trustees are highly skilled. They have focused board initiatives aimed at raising achievement. The board and leaders make good use of parent, whānau and child perspectives to ensure school systems and practices are responsive to the school community.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

The school has a range of processes to achieve equity and excellence.

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

While the school has processes for achieving equity and excellence, some of these processes could be extended to become more robust or be more consistently applied across the school.

Further developments that are needed in the following areas include:

writing programmes that enable equity for boys
the school annual achievement targets and planning identifying the groups of children the school needs to focus on to address disparity
leaders and teachers tracking and reporting accelerated progress
continuing to develop how internal evaluation will occur across the school.

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, disparity in achievement for some children remains.

Leaders and teachers:

know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
need to further develop and implement approaches that effectively meet the needs of each child.

The school agrees to:

develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress
discuss the school’s progress with ERO.

ERO will provide feedback and resources to support the development of more targeted planning.

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

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer - Southern(Te Waipounamu)

30 August 2017

About the school

Location	Christchurch.
Ministry of Education profile number	3508
School type	Full Primary (Years 1 to 8).
School roll	462
Gender composition	Boys 52% Girls 48%
Ethnic composition	Pākehā 74% Māori 16% Pacific 3% Asian 2% Other 5%
Review team on site	June 2017
Date of this report	30 August 2017
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review September 2012 Education Review March 2008

South New Brighton School - 11/09/2012

11 Sep 2012

1 Context

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

The school’s shared vision, values and expectations are well understood by students and staff, and communicated to the school community. The positive relationships across the school were an important factor in the successful response of the school to the Canterbury earthquakes.

The 2010-2011 earthquakes affected the school in variety of ways. The school was closed for approximately four weeks, with substantial damage to amenities, especially waste water and sewerage systems, and some building damage. The hall is still not able to be used. The roll has declined by around 10%. Many staff members and school families are still dealing with damaged homes and other effects on their lives.

The board and staff made good use of a variety of effective systems to support children and their families, including effective communication and pastoral care.

The school has built strong networks in the community and actively involves parents in the life of the school. Teachers make regular use of the local environment and facilities in their programmes.

2 Learning

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

Students are actively involved in learning activities and lessons, and show good levels of interest in their learning. Those spoken with by ERO:

feel well supported in their learning
are aware of the progress they are making and how they can build on this progress
feel their ideas and opinions are listened to and valued.

Reports to the board in 2011 show that over three quarters of students achieve at or above the National Standards in reading, mathematics and writing. In response to this information, the board has set targets to raise student achievement. This includes targeting specific groups of students who were not achieving at expectations.

Each class teacher makes good use of their assessment information to identify students at risk of not achieving and the areas in which they need the most support.

The school has high expectations about the progress students will make within a year. Reports to the board about the progress students are making in their first year of school shows most students make significant progress in literacy. School-wide achievement information could be further analysed to show the rate of progress across years for groups of students.

Students at risk of not achieving benefit from a good range of programmes and interventions that support them in their learning. These include specific reading programmes, cross-class groupings and the well-planned use of teaching and support staff.

Area for review and development

Class teachers and leaders are making increasing use of assessment information to guide their decisions about teaching, resourcing and planning.

Senior leaders acknowledge that the ongoing analysis of achievement information could be more significantly linked to school-wide targets. This data could be used by teaching teams to further evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching and learning programmes.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum is well developed and is promoting and supporting students’ learning.

Clear guidelines and expectations are provided for teachers in the school's kete.

Students are provided with a broad range of learning experiences and contexts, including sporting, cultural, academic and performing arts opportunities. At the beginning of every year, students are purposefully involved in setting their class expectations for learning and behaviour. Senior students have many leadership roles and responsibilities.

Teachers use an inquiry approach to deliver aspects of the curriculum, such as science and social studies. The school continues to emphasise good environmental attitudes and understandings, with students having school-wide responsibilities in this area.

School leaders have taken a well-considered approach to the design of the school’s curriculum, including the vision for learners and school values. The school’s CARE values are well integrated by teachers into classroom programmes and whole-school activities.

There are useful guidelines for teachers about good teaching practice to be used across the school. This is resulting in consistent approaches to planning and assessment. Teachers demonstrate a variety of purposeful practices. These include:

well planned programmes and lessons
good feedback to students about their learning and what they need to do next
useful integration of ICT into learning and teaching
providing appropriate challenge for students’ learning
developing students’ responsibility for their learning, for example, goal setting and students leading their interviews with parents and teachers.

School leaders and teachers work well together to achieve school-wide developments. Teachers told ERO that they feel well supported in their work.

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

There has been an increased focus on bicultural practices since the 2008 ERO review. This includes greater staff awareness of tikanga Māori and raising the profile of te ao Māori across the school. For instance, teachers are making links between Māori values and those in the school’s curriculum, and beginning to explore teaching practices that are more likely to engage Māori learners.

School leaders and teachers are providing additional support for those Māori students who are not yet achieving at their expected level.

Area for review and development

School leaders and trustees need to continue to explore ways to engage with the whānau of Māori students to discuss their wishes and aspirations for their children.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school has good systems in place to sustain and improve its performance. The school’s charter and strategic planning effectively guide school-wide developments and operations. Trustees have recently modified their roles and responsibilities and are considering ways to ensure a smooth change of trustees at the 2013 board elections.

Features that help to sustain and improve school performance include:

supportive and innovative leadership
a good range of leadership opportunities for teachers
a belief in maintaining a whole-school approach to programmes and developments
targeted professional learning for teachers, especially in literacy
a reflective professional culture.

Areas for review and development

Trustees and school leaders need to:

use their self-review processes to evaluate progress towards their goals and targets, including making further use of the information already reported to the board
set targets that focus on those students most at risk in their learning and develop action plans that show more specifically how they will meet these targets.

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
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

11 September 2012

About the School

Location	Christchurch
Ministry of Education profile number	3508
School type	Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)
Decile	5
School roll	453
Gender composition	Girls 53%; Boys 47%
Ethnic composition	NZ European/Pākehā Māori Samoan Other ethnicities	85% 11% 1% 3%
Review team on site	July 2012
Date of this report	11 September 2012
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Accountability Review	March 2008 November 2004 October 2001