Tuturau Primary School

Tuturau Primary School - 23/06/2015

Findings

Most students at Tuturau School are achieving well in reading and mathematics. The school is ably led by skilled staff. The well-informed board provides highly effective governance and is focused on supporting positive outcomes for students’ learning and wellbeing. Students are strongly focused on learning and caring for one another. Parents and community view the school positively and are highly supportive.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

1. Context

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

Tuturau School is a small, rural school. Most students travel to the school by bus. Staff welcome parents visiting at any time. The environment is warm, friendly and inclusive of students with diverse needs and their families.

A number of staff changes have occurred since the 2010 ERO review including the principal, teachers and some changes to board of trustees’ membership. The board has managed these changes carefully. An acting principal is leading the school while the principal is on leave.

The school is well supported by the community through the provision of resources, shared expertise and fundraising. The principal and teachers are part of the Mataura Valley cluster of schools. This involvement enables staff to share professional knowledge and ideas about effective teaching that support student learning.

Trustees and staff have addressed the area for review and development outlined in ERO’s 2010 report. Self-review processes are now robust and comprehensive.

2. Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

Teachers make very good use of assessment information to monitor students’ progress and make changes to programmes to achieve better outcomes for students. Students achieve very well in reading and mathematics in relation to the National Standards. Although some students were achieving at the National Standard for writing, teachers identified this as an area that required specific consolidation.

Targets and actions are developed with the aim of accelerating the progress of students at risk of poor learning outcomes. The students’ learning is monitored closely and the intensive, individualised learning experiences provided for them in most cases, lead to improvement in progress. The principal and staff critically evaluate school performance in promoting students’ learning. They regularly reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching, carefully monitor students’ progress and report on the impact of changes as part of their curriculum reviews.

New entrant students are well supported in their learning and benefit by the close one-on-one attention they receive. The acting principal is collating information provided by the class teacher to identify any trends and patterns that may inform the transition to school programme. The sharing of this information with early childhood services would be useful in the preparation students receive prior to beginning school.

The school provides parents with very detailed information about their child’s learning, including how they can support this at home. Families are actively involved in the life of the school and in supporting students’ learning. Teachers help parents to develop skills to support their children’s learning at home. Parents’ views are sought on aspects of the students’ learning programmes. Their views are valued and used by teachers.

Area for review and development

The annual achievement target could be made more specific by identifying the numbers and year levels of those students in the target group.

3. Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum responds to parents’ and community views and priorities for developing life-long learners. Teaching programmes support students’ learning, interests and community involvement and strengthen their knowledge of the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The school’s vision and values are given prominence in classrooms. The focus on values is effective in fostering caring and respectful relationships at all levels in the school.

Teaching practices are effective. Students are positive about their teachers and eager to learn. They are clear about what they are learning and what success looks like. Classrooms are well managed and effective use is made of learning time, by both students and teachers. Students are skilled and confident in the use of technologies to help them with their learning.

Teachers work collaboratively. They share ideas and strategies that effectively support students at risk of poor outcomes. Teachers have undertaken professional development particularly in the teaching of mathematics. Their enhanced teaching skills have resulted in improved student achievement in this curriculum area.

Teachers readily use external help to respond to students’ identified needs. This includes using the relevant education services as well as through professional connections with other local schools. Staff and trustees acknowledge the benefits of being part of the local cluster of schools.

Professional development decisions for teachers are based on the outcomes of reviews of students’ learning and teacher needs. This has been effective in building capacity to bring about improvement in mathematics achievement. Teachers have now identified a need for professional development in the teaching of writing to improve student achievement in this area.

Parents and the school community are kept well informed about school programmes and activities through a range of communication strategies.

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

The acting principal and staff effectively provide opportunities for Māori students to experience educational success as Māori. All students have good opportunities to regularly hear and use te reo Māori. Students have been able to meaningfully learn tikanga Māori by visiting a marae on more than one occasion. They are aware of the rich Māori history associated with their district.

Māori students are achieving well in reading and mathematics. They are fully engaged with their learning and enjoy the family-like relationships that exist in the school.

4. Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance.

Trustees have a strong commitment to continuous improvement that leads to better outcomes for students. They have made effective use of a number of training opportunities that have given them a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Annual goals are linked to well-considered strategic aims that give high priority to supporting student learning and wellbeing. Progress with these annual objectives is regularly monitored and reported to the board. Self-review processes are well developed and used in the evaluation of all aspects of school operations.

Trustees and staff take deliberate actions to maintain the strong relationships with the community, to promote the positive profile of the school and continue building the inclusive environment. They have a determination to strengthen the school’s financial position and maintain and further enhance the effective practices in the school.

Closer evaluation of the impact of actions taken to address the annual student outcome objectives, would improve the quality of reporting to the board.

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
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

Conclusion

Most students at Tuturau School are achieving well in reading and mathematics. The school is ably led by skilled staff. The well-informed board provides highly effective governance and is focused on supporting positive outcomes for students’ learning and wellbeing. Students are strongly focused on learning and caring for one another. Parents and community view the school positively and are highly supportive.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

23 June 2015

About the School

Location

Southland

Ministry of Education profile number

4032

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

28

Gender composition

Girls 14;

Boys 14

Ethnic composition

NZ European Pākehā

Māori

21

7

Review team on site

May 2015

Date of this report

23 June 2015

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

December 2010

November 2007

August 2004

Tuturau Primary School - 20/12/2010

1. The Education Review Office (ERO) Evaluation

Tuturau School is a small rural school catering for students in Years 1 to 6 in Eastern Southland. At the time of the review it had a roll of 37 students, 11 of whom identified as Māori. Most students travel to school by bus from the surrounding area. Since the last 2007 ERO review, the board has built a new library facility and purchased a range of resources to support students’ literacy learning.

Students learn and play in a supportive and family-like atmosphere. Relationships are based on mutual respect and trust. Students told ERO that teachers care a lot about them and their learning. Staff work well as a team to ensure that the focus is always on students. The board, principal and teachers maintain positive relationships with their school community.

The principal and teachers have made very good progress in implementing the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and National Standards. The curriculum reflects the school’s desire to nurture the holistic growth of each student. Teachers actively promote the school’s vision of ‘happy and successful children learning to learn’. They skilfully foster student wellbeing so that students can strive to be the best they can be.

Teachers know their students well. Assessment information indicates that most students, including Māori students are achieving at or above national standards in mathematics and reading. Students who require extra help with their learning and behaviour are well supported by skilful teacher aides.

Students benefit from effective teaching. Teachers are highly responsive to students’ individual learning needs. They have created a positive learning environment where students are made to feel safe and actively encouraged to become independent learners. Teachers purposely use the local environment, events and community to make learning relevant to students’ interests and experiences. Classroom spaces show that students’ work is highly valued. Students told ERO that learning at this school is fun and believe that their learning is at the right level of challenge.

The board and principal have a strong commitment to improving outcomes for students through effective self review. They reflect on current issues and trends in education and any changes to school operations are well considered. The principal has high expectations of her staff and leads by example.

Future Action

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

2. Tuturau School’s Curriculum

How effectively does the curriculum of Tuturau School promote student learning - engagement, progress and achievement?

School context and self review

The school community has adopted the vision of “happy and successful children learning to learn”. This vision is supported through its curriculum priorities of literacy and numeracy.

For 2010, the school has set a target to lift students’ achievement in reading. Trustees told ERO that this target was set as a result of low levels of achievement in reading in relation to other curriculum areas. Recent reading assessments shows almost all students have made significant progress throughout the year and are reading at or above the national standard. Although the majority of students are achieving at or above the national standards in mathematics, their rates of progress have been slower than expected in 2010. The school’s current and future focus is to raise student achievement in writing, with a view to similar improvements, as seen in reading. Māori students are progressing well, with most achieving at or above the national standards in reading and mathematics.

The board has continued to retain a Māori board member to foster and maintain relationships between the board and Māori community. The principal analyses Māori student achievement and reports appropriately to the board.

The school has a long-serving principal. There have been several changes to staffing since the last review.

Areas of strength

Curriculum. The school is giving good effect to implementing the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). This has included aligning the vision, values, principles and key competencies to reflect the school’s expectations. The curriculum document has been written in plain language to ensure a shared understanding for teachers, students and parents. Curriculum statements have been developed for all learning areas. These describe the school’s aims, how these will be achieved and how the local environment will be used for students’ learning.

Curriculum priorities. The school’s curriculum priorities strongly reflect the aspirations the community has for children. These priorities are based on the holistic development of the child. They include:

  • raising students’ achievement in numeracy and literacy, especially reading, so that students can access all areas of the curriculum;
  • building students’ capability to become independent learners;
  • ensuring students learn in a safe environment; and
  • improving outcomes for students at risk of not achieving.

ERO found that there is strong alignment between these priorities and what is happening for students in classrooms.

Use of student achievement information. Student achievement information is well used to plan for future learning for individuals and groups of students. Teachers are using a wide range of nationally recognised assessment tools. They are collating and analysing this information to determine students’ progress. From the collated and well-analysed data, trends and patterns are identified. This information is then regularly reported to parents and the board. It is clear what steps will be taken as a result of this information. Consequently, teachers are well placed and confident in implementing National Standards.

Progress in reading. Most students have made significant progress in reading in 2010. This is likely to have been a result of:

  • the board’s commitment to additional resourcing to support building students’ literacy skills;
  • a specific target raise students’ achievement in reading;
  • an intervention programme of high interest to students; and
  • ongoing monitoring and review of students’ progress in reading, including the impact of teachers’ learning strategies.

The principal has carefully considered and planned for the ways in which these reading gains will be sustained.

Learning environment. Students continue to learn and play in an environment that supports and nurtures their learning and development. There are very positive relationships between students and staff. Teachers:

  • know students and their families well;
  • care about students’ wellbeing and value what each student brings to their learning; and
  • value students as individuals.

Students told ERO that teachers make their learning fun and could clearly identify what teachers did to help them learn.

Professional leadership. The principal effectively leads the school. She has a strong belief in what the school should provide for students. She does this through:

  • modelling and articulating high expectations for students’ learning and achievement;
  • supporting the staff to work actively towards the school’s vision and goals; and
  • carefully considering new developments in education before planning how they will be implemented in this school.

Her leadership is helping build a shared understanding of how the curriculum should be enacted.

Culture of self review. Trustees, the principal, teachers and other staff continually reflect on how well the school is meeting the needs of their students. They effectively communicate with each other about what is best for students and relevant aspects of school operations. Teachers constantly reflect on how they can improve the quality of their teaching. Trustees receive good quality information which helps to inform their decision making.

Area for development and review

Extending self review. Self-review practices could be extended to provide more information about the effectiveness of some teaching and learning programmes. This could include further analysis of student achievement and progress at class and whole school level for all students and identified groups of students. It could also include more identification and documentation of trends and patterns over time and recommendations for future action.

3. Board Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of Tuturau School completed an ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legal obligations related to:

  • board administration;
  • curriculum;
  • management of health, safety and welfare;
  • personnel management;
  • financial management; and
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO looked at the school’s documentation, including policies, procedures and records. ERO sampled recent use of procedures and ERO also checked elements of the following five areas that have a potentially high impact on students’ achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment);
  • physical safety of students;
  • teacher registration;
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions; and
  • attendance.

4. Future Action

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years. 

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region

20 December 2010

About The School

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

37

Gender composition

Boys 21

Girls 16

Ethnic composition

NZ European/Pākehā 26

Māori 11

Review team on site

November 2010

Date of this report

20 December 2010

Previous three ERO reports

Education Reviews November 2007 August 2004

Accountability Review December 2001

To the Parents and Community of Tuturau School

These are the findings of the Education Review Office’s latest report on Tuturau School.

Tuturau School is a small rural school catering for students in Years 1 to 6 in Eastern Southland. At the time of the review it had a roll of 37 students, 11 of whom identified as Māori. Most students travel to school by bus from the surrounding area. Since the last 2007 ERO review, the board has built a new library facility and purchased a range of resources to support students’ literacy learning.

Students learn and play in a supportive and family-like atmosphere. Relationships are based on mutual respect and trust. Students told ERO that teachers care a lot about them and their learning. Staff work well as a team to ensure that the focus is always on students. The board, principal and teachers maintain positive relationships with their school community.

The principal and teachers have made very good progress in implementing the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and National Standards. The curriculum reflects the school’s desire to nurture the holistic growth of each student. Teachers actively promote the school’s vision of ‘happy and successful children learning to learn’. They skilfully foster student wellbeing so that students can strive to be the best they can be.

Teachers know their students well. Assessment information indicates that most students, including Māori students are achieving at or above national standards in mathematics and reading. Students who require extra help with their learning and behaviour are well supported by skilful teacher aides.

Students benefit from effective teaching. Teachers are highly responsive to students’ individual learning needs. They have created a positive learning environment where students are made to feel safe and actively encouraged to become independent learners. Teachers purposely use the local environment, events and community to make learning relevant to students’ interests and experiences. Classroom spaces show that students’ work is highly valued. Students told ERO that learning at this school is fun and believe that their learning is at the right level of challenge.

The board and principal have a strong commitment to improving outcomes for students through effective self review. They reflect on current issues and trends in education and any changes to school operations are well considered. The principal has high expectations of her staff and leads by example.

Future Action

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

Review Coverage

This report provides an evaluation of how effectively the school’s curriculum promotes student learning - engagement, progress and achievement. ERO’s evaluation takes account of the school’s previous reporting history and is based on:

  • what is known about student achievement information, including the achievement of Māori and Pacific students;
  • decisions made to improve student achievement using assessment and selfreview information; and
  • teaching strategies and programmes implemented to give effect to the school’s curriculum.

ERO also gathers information during the review to contribute to its national reports. The national reports are published on ERO’s website.

 

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services

Southern Region