Summary
Heriot School has a roll of 43 children. This includes five Māori children.
Since the last ERO review in February 2014, the board membership has changed. The board chair was newly appointed in 2017.
The school has made significant progress towards addressing the areas for improvement. There has been very good use made of external facilitators to support leadership and curriculum development. Over the past three years most children have achieved at or above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?
The school is achieving equitable outcomes for all children well. The school is effectively responding to all children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.
There are many useful systems and practices in place that are effective in supporting the progress and achievement of all children. The school is improvement focused and has very good internal evaluation for identifying areas for further development or refinement.
At the time of this review children were experiencing authentic contexts for learning that followed their interests and involved them in taking responsibility for their own learning and identifying their next steps.
Children are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.
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 effectively responding to all children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. All children who are at risk with their learning are very well supported and most make accelerated progress.
Most children have achieved at or above the National Standards in reading and writing over the past three years. Achievement levels are slightly lower in mathematics. Although leaders and teachers can show how children have achieved over time, this data has not been analysed to evaluate if children have made sufficient progress.
The key valued priorities in relation to the vision and values are strongly enacted by the students and adults in the school.
The school has very good processes and practices to enable leaders and teachers to make reliable and consistent judgements across the school in relation to the National Standards.
School conditions supporting equity and excellence
What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?
The school has many systems and practices in place that are effective in enabling achievement progress towards equity and excellence. The children have sufficient and equitable opportunities to learn.
Children experience a broad and integrated curriculum with a strong focus on mathematics and literacy.
The ongoing focus leaders, teachers and trustees have on lifting achievement levels is well supported by the clear alignment between all key plans and systems. Staff and trustees take part in useful and purposeful professional learning.
School priorities and targets link through to classroom programmes and to teachers’ appraisal goals. The principal’s and trustees’ close scrutiny of achievement data provides a solid base for decision making and planning.
The principal has a deep commitment to equity and excellence across the school. Key points of his leadership in action are his:
- focus on improvement
- determination to lift the quality of teaching and learning
- responsiveness to learner needs
- efforts to ensure community and cultural perspectives are integrated into relevant aspects of the school curriculum.
Teachers are well supported through explicit guidelines, a robust appraisal process and useful feedback from the principal regarding their planning and programmes. The principal and teachers work collaboratively to share information and discuss teaching approaches to best meet the needs of individual children.
Teachers use a range of effective communication strategies to work with parents to constructively support their children’s learning at home. Home learning is carefully planned to link with learning in the classroom. Teachers value the feedback from parents on what is and is not working for their children. This helps to inform their ongoing classroom planning.
Sustainable development for equity and excellence
The school is improvement focused and has very good evaluation systems for identifying areas for further development or refinement.
What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?
Leaders and teachers are not analysing data to show the rates of individual progress over time. Improved analysis of progress would better inform teachers, parents, children and trustees about the impact of their work.
The school is not using school-wide achievement and progress data to identify aspects of learning areas that require particular attention. Identification of aspects of learning that need development would better inform teachers where their teaching focus needs to be directed.
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?
Children are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.
The agreed next step is for leaders and teachers to deepen their analysis of achievement data.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)
21 April 2017
About the school
|
Location
|
West Otago
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number
|
3749
|
|
School type
|
Contributing (Years 1 – 6)
|
|
School roll
|
43
|
|
Gender composition
|
Male: 14 Female: 29
|
|
Ethnic composition
|
Māori 5
Pākehā 37
Tongan 1
|
|
Provision of Māori medium education
|
No
|
|
Review team on site
|
February 2017
|
|
Date of this report
|
21 April 2017
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review February 2014
Education Review February 2011
Supplementary Review June 2008
|