Cargill Open Plan School

Cargill Open Plan School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Cargill Open Plan 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 

Cargill Open Plan School is located in the rural Waikato township of Tokoroa, within the iwi boundaries of Ngāti Raukawa. It caters for students in Years 1 to 6. An established principal and board chair continue in their roles.

Cargill Open Plan School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners include:

  • provide quality learning programmes in all curriculum areas to meet the needs of all learners, focusing on equity and excellence and Māori achieving success as Māori

  • support families to access learning opportunities for their children by removing barriers

  • ensure the school has a knowledgeable board who can undertake their duties effectively.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which the local curriculum reflects parent and whānau aspirations for their children, including those of the local iwi Ngāti Raukawa, and supports accelerated progress for students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • to ensure the school curriculum reflects local priorities, thereby promoting increased student belonging, engagement and achievement

  • to ensure that the school curriculum effectively promotes Māori students succeeding as Māori.

The school expects to see:

  • programme content that is relevant and meaningful to all stakeholders in the school

  • greater levels of student engagement and focused teaching to support students to achieve to their potential.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the extent to which the local curriculum reflects parent and whānau aspirations for their children, including those of the local iwi, Ngāti Raukawa.

  • teachers’ use of learning progressions frameworks to accurately identify students learning needs in literacy and mathematics

  • clear systems and processes promote a positive culture for learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • strengthening school-wide expectations for effective teaching including the use of achievement information by teachers.  Priority should also be given to the collation and use of achievement information by leaders and board members to inform decision making

  • continuing to strengthen the relationship with Ngāti Raukawa.

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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

4 August 2023 

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

Cargill Open Plan School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of August 2022, the Cargill Open Plan School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Ye

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Actions for Compliance

ERO and the board have identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process: 

  • to have a robust, fully documented Child Protection Policy.

[NAG 5, Sections 18 and 19 Children’s Act 2014]

The board has since not yet addressed the area of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Cargill Open Plan School, School Board.

The next School Board 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

4 August 2023 

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

Cargill Open Plan School - 02/08/2019

School Context

Cargill Open Plan is a small contributing Year 1 to 6 school located in the southern area of Tokoroa. The current roll of 69 includes 52 students who identify as Māori and a smaller number of students of Pacific origin. The school mission statement is to work in partnership with parents and community to provide a safe environment where social skills and values are developed and children achieve to their potential. This mission is supported by the values of care (manaaki), courtesy (atawhai), consideration (whakaaro) and courage (maia, kiakaha).

Since the last ERO in 2016 the long-standing principal continues in her role and a new deputy principal was appointed in Term 3 2018. The board of trustees, including the chairperson, are also long serving in their governance roles. There has been a recent significant decline in the school roll. In 2018, the school experienced ongoing changes to staff, especially in the senior area of the school due to difficulties with recruitment. The local curriculum was reviewed in 2018 following community consultation. Professional development for teachers during 2018 and 2019 focused on information and communications technologies, play-based learning and te reo and tikanga Māori. All teachers are trained in the Incredible Years Programme (IY).

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

  • reading

  • writing

  • mathematics

  • spelling

  • behaviour

  • outcomes for students with identified needs

  • swimming.

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 not yet achieving equitable outcomes for all of its students.

School achievement data for 2018 shows that:

  • the majority of students is achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics and most students in writing
  • Māori students are achieving at similar levels to Pākehā in reading and writing, but significantly below in mathematics
  • boys are achieving at similar levels to girls in reading, but outperforming girls in mathematics
  • girls are achieving at significantly higher levels than boys in writing.

School-wide data gathered for 2017 and 2018 shows a significant decrease in achievement in reading and mathematics and consistent results in writing. Multiple unforeseen staff changes during 2018 may have affected the reliability of the school-wide data.

School data also shows that students with additional learning needs make progress with their learning.

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

The school identifies all those students whose learning is at risk and tracks progress for these students throughout the year. These records show accelerated outcomes for some students, including Māori, in reading, writing and mathematics.

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?

Effective systems are in place to identify and address the needs of students achieving well below expected levels. Interventions to support these learners, including those undertaken by external agencies, are well managed, monitored and reported to trustees. Individual education plans indicate a thorough, responsive and well-documented approach to improving outcomes for these learners.

Trustees are providing stable and effective governance. They are experienced and supportive of the principal. They consult widely within the school community to establish school priorities and scrutinise achievement information provided by the principal. Trustees implement thorough systems to monitor the environment and undertake planned review of policies and procedures.

Individual teachers bring a range of effective teaching strategies and knowledge to their roles. They gather an appropriate range of achievement information to group students for instruction and identify target learners in their classrooms. Teachers use achievement information to target those students in their class whose learning is at risk and track their progress. ERO observed focused teaching for groups and individual students that was planned in response to student needs. Teachers’ professional inquiries are appropriately focused on accelerating progress for these learners.

Classrooms are settled and relationships with teachers are supportive of students’ learning and wellbeing. High levels of student engagement with learning are evident across the school. Programmes and relationships in classrooms are supportive and affirming of the language, culture and identity of Māori learners. Teachers model te reo Māori across the curriculum and tikanga is well supported through dedicated teaching time, school-wide kapa haka and reciprocal relationships between students and teachers. Many students are able to talk confidently about their learning, goals and achievements.

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

A more strategically aligned approach to accelerating progress is now needed. This approach should begin with annual targets to improve outcomes for students that are focused on accelerating achievement for all at-risk learners in the school. These targets need to be supported by relevant school-wide professional learning and include consideration of achievement data. This approach should support a school-wide focus on accelerating outcomes that is aligned with:

  • ongoing reports to trustees about the extent to which acceleration targets are being met throughout the year
  • decisions about school-wide professional development priorities
  • the evaluation of the effectiveness of professional development
  • principal’s and teachers’ appraisal goals.

This alignment should contribute to an approach to internal evaluation more focused on accelerating outcomes for those Māori and other students who need this and the building of evaluation capability across the school.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Cargill Open Plan School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • support for students with identified needs that is contributing to equity and improvement
  • governance that is promoting school improvement
  • teaching that supports individual student progress and acceleration.

Next steps

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

  • annual target setting and monitoring that is more aligned with a focus on accelerating progress school-wide
  • externally facilitated professional development to more effectively support acceleration of progress school-wide
  • evaluation processes that focus on equity across the school.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

2 August 2019

About the school

Location

Tokoroa

Ministry of Education profile number

1704

School type

Primary (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

69

Gender composition

Female 42 Male 27

Ethnic composition

Māori 52
NZ European/Pākehā 14
Other 3

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

May 2019

Date of this report

2 August 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review July 2016
Education Review February 2012
Education Review December 2008

Cargill Open Plan School - 07/07/2016

1 Context

Cargill Open Plan School, located in Tokoroa, provides education for children in Years 1 to 6. The school has a relatively high Māori population. The school's roll of 109, includes 62 children of Māori descent and 15 of Pacific Island heritage.

During 2015 a new deputy principal joined the senior leadership team. One of the deputy principal positions has been resourced by the school to allow a greater focus on leadership of learning for teachers. Teachers have undertaken professional development in the areas of literacy and mathematics. The focus on supporting the wellbeing of Māori and other groups of children is continuing.

Whānau value many opportunities to be involved in their children's learning and this includes participation in goal setting meetings.

Cargill Open Plan School has a very positive reporting history with ERO.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school community are for all children to be critical thinkers, socially adept and motivated to take learning further. These, along with the school's well-embedded values of care, courtesy, courage and consideration, contribute to the positive and supportive tone for learning that is evident throughout the school. Safe, nurturing environments are provided and children's language, culture and identity are promoted and sustained. All children have the opportunity to learn and experience education success.

Māori children and others at risk of not achieving are identified and have been responded to well. The school’s achievement information shows that approximately 15 out of 61 Māori children at the end of 2015 were working towards achieving the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Pacific and other groups of learners achieved proportionally similar results. A further achievement challenge for the school is to accelerate the achievement of boys.

Māori children's language, culture and identity are recognised and fostered through a range of learning experiences. Kapa haka and the incorporation of te reo Māori learning in classroom programmes is affirming. These initiatives are being well led by the deputy principal. Leaders and teachers should now consider the key principles of Ministry of Education document, Tātaiako, to support them to further strengthen culturally responsive practices for teaching and engaging with Māori children. Learning programmes could also incorporate more contexts for learning that closely reflect and include the bicultural context of New Zealand/Aotearoa.

Since the previous ERO evaluation the school's focus on professional learning in reading, writing and mathematics is beginning to contribute to lifting student achievement results. Key actions have also been to build school leadership and staff professional capability. The board of trustees has funded extra resourcing for computer technology and a range of intervention programmes. These programmes are supported by experienced teacher aides and monitored by the deputy principal. The intent and impact of these interventions will continue to require close monitoring.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

Māori children's achievement is closely monitored. The school has some useful processes for responding to Māori children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. A range of assessment tools are used to identify and monitor the progress and achievement of Māori children whose learning needs accelerating, particularly in the areas of literacy and mathematics. If required, school leaders access guidance from specialist services to support teachers to accelerate the progress of Māori children.

In 2015, the school's achievement information showed that many Māori students made accelerated progress in literacy and mathematics. Leaders should now consider implementing processes for monitoring the progress and achievement in relation to National Standards of these children across their years at school.

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

The initiatives that support the acceleration of Māori achievement also have had a positive impact on accelerating the achievement of other children.

The strong community connections that the recently appointed deputy principal has with Pacific communities in Tokoroa, is further promoting partnerships for learning with Pacific children and their families. She is also leading an increased focus on acknowledging and celebrating Pacific languages and cultures in the school's curriculum

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 priorities for equity and excellence?

Māori and other children benefit from a curriculum that places priority on their wellbeing and provides equitable opportunities for them to learn and experience success.

Features of the curriculum to support Māori and other children's learning includes:

  • appropriate emphasis on reading, writing and mathematics
  • opportunities for children to experience success in sporting and cultural activities and events
  • learning in real-life contexts such as school camps and trips into the wider community
  • opportunities to develop children's leadership skills.

Cargill Open Plan School's curriculum supports Māori and other children to feel included, cared for, safe and secure.

Māori and other children benefit from the trusting relationships that whānau and parents have with teachers and school leaders. Whānau and parents appreciate the many opportunities that they have to discuss key aspects of their children's learning and life at school. They particularly value regular access to their children's assessment portfolios and opportunities to contribute at goal setting meetings.

School leaders should now consider reviewing the format for reporting children's achievement in relation to National Standards to ensure greater clarity for parents and children.

Teachers gather an appropriate range of assessment information and use this to group children for instruction. Some teachers specifically plan and implement programmes to accelerate achievement for individual students. In these situations, children have a good understanding of their current learning and next steps. School leaders need to continue to refine assessment processes that teachers use to make valid overall judgements about children's achievement in relation to National Standards.

Māori and other children benefit from the experience and complementary skills of the principal and deputy principals. School leaders are well supported by the board of trustees. They are focused on the wellbeing of Māori and other children, and in resourcing initiatives that progress and accelerate their achievements.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

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.

Cargill Open Plan School provides a curriculum that promotes children's social competence and wellbeing. Māori and other children's learning is supported by an appropriate focus on literacy and mathematics.

The key next steps for leaders, teachers and trustees are:

  • refine charter targets to specifically focus on children achieving below National Standards
  • to continue to refine assessment processes that teachers use to make valid overall judgements about children's achievement in relation to National Standards
  • strengthen current teacher appraisal practices, and include reflections about the effectiveness of their practice to accelerate the progress of children achieving below National Standards
  • review the format for reporting children's achievement in relation to National Standards to ensure greater clarity for parent and children
  • build on existing positive relationships with parents and whānau of students at risk of not achieving positive learning outcomes and develop collaborative learning partnerships with parents and whānau.

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

7 Recommendation

ERO recommends that the school consider the next steps identified in this report and access professional learning and development for teachers to support them to more effectively use assessment information to implement specific learning programmes focused on accelerating children's achievement.

In addition, the board should access external support for the recently established leadership team to assist them to effectively undertake their role as leaders of learning in the school. 

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

7 July 2016

About the school

Location

Tokoroa

Ministry of Education profile number

1704

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

109

Gender composition

Boys 50% Girls 50%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Cook Island Maori

Other

Samoan

Tongan

57%

28%

8%

3%

2%

2%

Review team on site

March 2016

Date of this report

7 July 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

February 2012

December 2008

November 2005