Pareawa Banks Avenue School

1 Context

Banks Avenue School is a large multicultural school on the east side of Christchurch. The new leadership team, which has been in place for a little more than a year, has worked hard to provide a positive teaching and learning environment. This is in the midst of uncertainty about relocation of the school which suffered significant damage in the Canterbury earthquakes.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are summed up in its vision statement 'Learning Today to Succeed Tomorrow'. The school states that with community support, it endeavours to provide a happy, secure working environment. It aims to develop healthy attitudes and work habits while giving pupils a sense of pride and success.

The school's values are HEART: Hauora, Excellence, Aroha, Respect and Togetherness. There is a strong focus on the whole child.

The school’s achievement information shows that Māori children are achieving at similar levels to other children in the school. About 80% of all children are achieving the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Children achieve particularly well at reading, with around 40% achieving above the National Standard. School leaders and teachers have identified, and are working on, improving achievement in writing.

Teachers are using a good range of assessments, and are beginning to work more collaboratively within the school and with other schools to look at their assessment practices. This should help to improve the quality of their overall judgements of achievement against the National Standards.

Since the last ERO review, the school has continued to build on the good practices established and noted in the 2015 ERO report.

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school responds very effectively to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school has comprehensive knowledge of children whose learning is at risk. They use a wide range of reliable assessments, together with other information to identify all children achieving below National Standards. They then identify how best to progress their achievement. Teachers, together with team leaders, identify realistic targets for the achievement of these children, and closely monitor their progress. The board receives a detailed report about these children's progress in the middle of, and at the end of the year.

A range of interventions is in place to support the acceleration of learning for targeted children. Teachers are increasingly using more effective strategies to improve acceleration. This should increase the proportion of children at or above the National Standards in this school.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The school's curriculum and other processes and practices are highly effective in enacting the school's vision, values and strategic goals.

Children participate and learn in caring, collaborative, inclusive learning environments. The child is clearly 'at the heart' for all staff. There are positive relationships between children and staff, and among children. Programmes such as the buddy system between Year 1 and 6 children, the tuakana teina initiative, peer mediators and a variety of lunchtime clubs and activities all help to create a positive and settled environment. The recently introduced programme for positive behaviour and learning supports teachers and children to increasingly focus on learning rather than behaviour.

The school effectively promotes Māori children succeeding as Māori, and has a holistic focus on the success of Māori children.

Cultural responsiveness is one of the school's strategic goals. The school celebrates the diverse ethnic mix in the school. Sign language is embraced in support of a hearing-impaired child.

School processes and practices effectively promote and support student wellbeing outcomes and engagement in learning. Hauora is the first and foremost of the school's values. Parents, staff and students have many opportunities to provide their views on aspects of school life. These are analysed and used by school leaders to improve outcomes for children. Leaders and trustees are aware that they need to continue to monitor the wellbeing of staff and students.

School leaders, together with trustees and staff, are effectively implementing the school's strategic priorities. There is good alignment from the vision and values, strategic priorities, and the work of teachers and the learning of children. Teachers work in teams to enact the strategic goals, and to identify and monitor children's progress.

Leaders build collective capacity and capability for sustained improvement and innovation. There is a deliberate focus on devolved leadership, and providing leadership opportunities for staff. Senior leaders model best practice in collaborative leadership. The professional development and appraisal processes provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on and improve their practice. These processes result in some effective collaborative practice and ongoing improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders have identified that it is now time to review and update curriculum documentation to reflect their current and evolving good practice.

Teachers, whānau and community effectively engage in joint activities and interventions to support learning and behaviour. Parent mentors and helpers, and involvement of parents in a cultural day provide meaningful opportunities for parent participation in the life of the school. The board has employed a social worker for one day a week to assist with wellbeing concerns. Senior leaders have, and demonstrate, an open-door policy for parents and children. Parents have many ways to make contact with, and receive information from the school.

Trustees are highly effective in their role as stewards of the school. They have a strong focus on the achievement and wellbeing of the children. They are well informed, reflective and responsive in their decision making. Trustees bring a useful variety of expertise and experiences to the board.

5 Going forward

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

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
• regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
• act on what they know works well for each child
• build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
• are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

The developing approach to shared leadership across the school, and the move towards collaborative teaching and learning, put the school in a strong position to continue to improve outcomes for children.

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

6 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 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

• processes for appointing staff

• stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions

• attendance

• compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014

• provision for international students.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. At the time of the review, there were no international students attending the school.

The school is making good progress in aligning its policies and procedures to meet the requirements of the new (2016) Code of Practice. 

7 Recommendations

ERO recommends that the school continues to embed and consolidate its current strategic direction, including:

• its distributed approach to leadership
• the collaborative and current research-based approach to teaching and learning
• further implementation of a values-based approach to managing behaviour
• appraisal processes.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Te Waipounamu)

15 December 2016

About the school