Cambridge East School

School Context

Cambridge East School is located in Cambridge and caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The roll of 420, includes 54 Māori students. The school has experienced roll growth and student numbers have grown by approximately 45 since the last ERO review in 2015. Since that time the principal has remained as the school leader. A new deputy principal was appointed in 2016 and the leadership structure has been reviewed to build capacity and promote leadership opportunities. The school has recently been upgraded and students learn in both innovative learning environments (ILE) and traditional teaching spaces.

The school is part of the Te Puna o Kemureti Community of Learning (CoL) | Kāhui Ako. Teachers have undertaken a range of professional learning and development opportunities initiated by the school and the CoL.

The school states its vision is ‘learning together today, empowering citizens of tomorrow’ and aims to have students who are ‘creative and curious, effective communicators, self-motivated learners, innovative thinkers, respectful citizens that have a ‘can do’ attitude through resilience’. In addition the school has recently introduced a character wheel which promotes the values of kindness, honesty, compassion, consideration, obedience, respect and responsibility.

The 2018 charter identifies three key strategic goals that aim to:

• provide quality learning opportunities that enable learners to succeed in a 21^st Century world

• build culture from within

• focus on sustainability.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

• reading, writing and mathematics.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The school is achieving excellent outcomes for some and working towards achieving equity for all students. Achievement data from 2015 to 2017 shows an upward trend for almost all groups within the school in reading and writing, including for Maori, Pacific and boys. School data for 2017 shows most students achieved at or above national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This data also indicates that girls achieved at similar levels to boys in reading and mathematics and at higher levels in writing. There has been a significant increase in rates of achievement for Maori from 2015 to 2017, however disparity remains in writing and mathematics.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

Leaders collated information about accelerated learning during the ERO review. They are able to show accelerated achievement for some Māori and other students. Mid-year achievement data for 2018 indicates that in mathematics and reading slightly over one third of at-risk students made accelerated progress. Leaders now need to further develop systems to report school-wide information that shows the rate and pace of acceleration for all at-risk students.

Students with additional learning needs are making good progress against their individual goals.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Senior leaders provide effective leadership for learning. They have high expectations for teaching and learning which are reflected in the consistency of school-wide practice. Tracking systems that closely monitor progress and achievement of individual at-risk students are well managed by leaders. Professional development and teacher inquiries are aligned to the strategic direction of the school. Leaders encourage innovation. They focus on building teacher capability to respond to priority learners.

The school’s curriculum is broad and responsive to children’s interests. There is a strong emphasis on reading, writing and mathematics in daily programmes. There are many opportunities for students to be extended across curriculum areas including sports, music, science, leadership and art. These opportunities are made accessible through the inquiry approach and the school’s ‘enrich and discover programme’. Parents are welcomed into the school to view the programmes in action and strengthen the partnerships for learning.

Teachers use a range of effective strategies. There are clear links between students identified learning needs and teacher planning. These links are shared with students and parents on a weekly basis. Learner focused relationships are evident in the classrooms. Teachers encourage students to follow their interests and use an inquiry approach to actively engage them in their learning. There is an effectively balanced approach between teacher-directed and student-led learning, and a common language for learning is becoming embedded by teachers, students and parents.

Students effectively lead their learning. Learning environments are managed in ways that support participation, engagement and student ownership of learning. Documented, clear progressions in reading, writing and mathematics are well understood by students and provide the framework for planning next learning steps. There is a wide range of strategies that promote student independence including:

• individualised timetables monitored by the student

• clear guidelines for non-negotiable learning tasks

• peer support for reviewing learning

• targeted workshops and tutorials provided by the teacher

• co-constructed learning goals between student, parent and teachers.

Students are provided with sufficient, related opportunities over time to revisit and consolidate learning in cooperative and flexible learning environments.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

To further strengthen aspects of internal evaluation ERO and the school have agreed there is a need to:

• refine charter targets to more specifically focus on all students whose learning needs acceleration

• continue to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes and initiatives with a particular focus on the progress and acceleration for priority learners.

Progress has been made since the last ERO review with a planned approach to developing the bicultural dimension in the school. This needs to remain a priority in order to more consistently integrate Māori language, culture and identity into teaching and learning programmes.

3 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

• finance

• 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.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

• leadership that sets and monitors high expectations for teaching and learning

• responsive teaching and learning environments that contribute to high levels of student ownership and engagement.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

• specific target setting and reporting that includes all at-risk learners

• continued evaluation of school-wide practices to show the impact of initiatives and programmes on accelerating student achievement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

13 August 2018

About the school