Mornington School

Mornington School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Mornington 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 

Mornington School is located in the hill suburbs of Dunedin. The school provides education for students in years 1 - 6. Their mission states: Noho Tahi, Ako Tahi – Together we live and learn.’

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

  • accelerating the progress of all students in Mathematics

  • reducing the number of students achieving below their expected levels in Mathematics

  • enhancing teacher capabilities in behaviour management using schoolwide approaches

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of the ‘Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities’ (DMIC) approach on teacher practice, curriculum and student learning outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • Mornington School has committed significant professional learning time and resourcing to its implementation plan for ‘DMIC’. The school wishes to evaluate the impact of this approach on teacher practice and student outcomes in order to inform future planning for sustainability and improvement.

The school expects to see increasingly consistent and effective teacher practice, leading to improved learning outcomes for all students in Mathematics, and particularly for priority students.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the impact of the ‘Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities’ (DMIC) approach on teacher practice, curriculum and student learning outcomes:

  • a strategic approach to professional learning and development which supports continuous improvement in teaching and learning

  • high expectations for excellent and equitable learning outcomes for all students.

Where to next?

Moving forward, in order to accelerate the progress of all students in Mathematics and particularly for priority students, the school will prioritise:

  • strengthening teacher confidence and capability in delivering Mathematics education

  • analysing high-quality progress and achievement information.

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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

15 November 2022 

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

Mornington School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of March 2022, the Mornington School Board of Trustees 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 Mornington School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees 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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

15 November 2022 

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

Mornington 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

The school is a signatory 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. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the code.

No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

Going forward, the school should make use of current tools provided by NZQA. 

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

15 November 2022 

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

Mornington School - 21/09/2017

Summary

At the time of this review Mornington school had a roll of 263 children in Years 1 to 6. Of these, 43 identify as Māori. Another 31 children come from ethnicities other than New Zealand European. There are a number of children for whom English is a second language.

Since the last ERO review (2014) the school has participated in a Ministry of Education professional development programme focused on accelerating learning in mathematics (ALiM).

The board of trustees includes many new members and has undertaken relevant training to build its capability.

The school has maintained good achievement levels in mathematics and reading over time. Lifting achievement levels in writing is the school’s current priority. At the time of this review the school had started a programme of professional learning in the teaching of writing.

The school has responded well to most of the areas for development identified in the last review. How well school programmes incorporate bicultural perspectives remains an area for review and development.

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

The school responds well to most children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Further development is needed to lift achievement levels in writing, particularly for boys.

The school has many processes that are effective in enabling the achievement of equity and excellence. These include evaluative processes for identifying areas needing development to improve.

There is a strong focus on student well-being and equity of outcomes for learners. The school’s curriculum and the provision of learning support respond well to children’s interests and diverse needs. Leaders promote and support effective teaching in a range of ways. The school needs to make better use of school-wide assessment information to identify key learning needs. It also needs to ensure it is monitoring children’s rate of progress against the National Standards in order to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and teaching.

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

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?

This school responds well to most children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school’s achievement information shows that for the last three years:

  • a high proportion of children achieve well in relation to the National Standards in mathematics (84%) and reading (86%)
  • around 75% of children achieve at expected levels in writing.

Māori children achieve equitable outcomes in mathematics, writing and reading. The school’s planned actions have reduced disparity in outcomes for Māori children in reading in recent years.

Over time the proportion of boys achieving at or above the National Standards in writing has decreased. The school needs to develop targeted planning and effective approaches to lifting boys’ achievement in writing.

School information shows that planned actions to accelerate the progress of some children in reading and mathematics in recent years have been successful.

Children for whom English is a second language make good progress in English language learning over time and are effectively supported to access the curriculum at appropriate levels alongside their peers.

Children with additional learning needs make meaningful progress against their individual goals.

The school has appropriate processes for moderating teachers’ judgements about children’s achievement. These include some moderation with other schools and regular review of assessment practices.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

The school has many good quality processes that are effective in enabling the achievement of equity and excellence.

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

The school’s vision and strategic goals provide clear direction and prioritise student achievement and well-being and teacher effectiveness. These priorities are clearly evident through leadership, curriculum and teaching plans.

The school’s curriculum effectively supports children to develop the skills and attitudes valued by the school community – to be confident, resilient, healthy, thinkers. Teachers plan programmes that make good use of rich, authentic contexts for learning and respond well to children’s interests, strengths and needs. Teachers encourage children to be active participants in their learning and support them to know what they need to do to make progress. 

There are effective processes for identifying children needing additional learning support and a wide range of specialist programmes and services to meet the diverse needs of children.

The school has a strength in the provision of English language learning for children for whom English is a second language.

Teachers build purposeful relationships with whānau and parents to support children’s well-being and learning. This includes working closely with parents to support successful transitions into, through, and on from school.

Leaders have high expectations for effective teaching. Leaders support teachers to meet these expectations by:

  • ongoing development and improvement of performance appraisal processes
  • supporting teachers to reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching
  • planning and providing relevant and evidence-based professional learning
  • building and embedding shared understandings of effective teaching
  • ongoing review and evaluation of teaching programmes and interventions.

Leaders promote a strong sense of collective ownership for positive learning outcomes for children.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

Overall the school has good processes for identifying areas needing development to better address and overcome barriers to achieving equity and excellence. Addressing the areas identified below will further strengthen these processes.

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

Trustees and leaders need to:

  • ensure school achievement targets are focused on all children who are at risk of not achieving at expected levels
  • ensure monitoring and reporting systems clearly focus on the rate of progress all children are making against the National Standards – particularly those at risk of poor educational outcomes
  • improve the use of school-wide assessment information to identify specific and common learning needs to inform planning
  • strengthen systems for supporting and monitoring the quality of teacher’s planning to accelerate the progress of children not yet achieving at expected levels
  • continue to build the depth of teachers’ evaluation of the impact of their teaching on outcomes for learners.

ERO agrees with the school’s current priority of building the capability of teachers to accelerate the progress of children yet to achieve at expected levels in writing, particularly boys. 

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. 

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

Going forward

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

The school has the 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 build teacher capability to accelerate children’s learning and achievement in writing.

The school agrees to:

  • develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
  • monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress. 

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

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

21 September 2017

About the school 

Location

Dunedin

Ministry of Education profile number

3776

School type

Contributing Primary

School roll

263

Gender composition

Female: 45% Male: 55%

Ethnic composition

Māori 16%
Pākehā 76%
Asian 6%
Pacific 3%
Other 3%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

June 2017

Date of this report

21 September 2017

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review June 2014
Education Review March 2011
Education Review May 2007