Houghton Valley School is situated on Wellington’s south coast. It caters for children in Years 1 to 6. At the time of the review there were 227students on the roll.
The recently developed schools vision is ‘Ka Manaaki, Ka Rapu, Ka Whakamanawa tahi ai tatou. Caring, Exploring and Inspiring together’, and is underpinned by values of sustainability, courage, adventure, kindness, inclusion and diversity. The school is a silver Enviroschool.
Annual targets for 2019 focus on accelerating the progress of all Māori learners in writing and establishing positive behaviour expectations for learning for all students.
Since the 2016 ERO review, a new principal has been appointed and a distributed leadership model established. A new board chair has been elected and there have been personnel changes in both the board and staff.
Teachers have participated in professional learning and development (PLD) in writing, cultural responsiveness and social competencies.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
The school continues to work towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students.
2019 end of year achievement data shows that most Year 1 to 6 students achieve at or above school expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Māori students achieve as well or better than their peers.
Girls achieve better than boys in reading and writing. The 2018 disparity between boys and girls, most evident in writing, has been successfully addressed in 2019.
The school is successful in accelerating the learning for Māori and other students whose achievement requires acceleration, including a number of students with additional learning needs.
Useful processes are in place to monitor and track the progress and acceleration of students. There is evidence showing that many students make accelerated progress from targeted teaching.
Students engage positively in learning experiences within settled classroom environments. Their strengths, interests, friendships and learning needs are well known and valued by teachers. A deliberate focus on growing positive relationships in an inclusive, caring and respectful learning culture has successfully promoted a strong sense of belonging for students.
Students identified with specific learning needs are well supported. Additional learning support programmes contribute to improved student outcomes. External agencies are accessed as appropriate in consultation with whānau.
Trustees, leadership and staff are committed to the learning and holistic wellbeing of each child. They care about and promote students’ success. Deliberate evidence-based strategies promote the engagement, participation and achievement of all children.
The newly developed local curriculum alongside the New Zealand Curriculum appropriately underpins and guides teaching and learning across the school. The outdoor classroom, bush and extensive gardens provide authentic, rich learning about sustainability, the environment and being kaitiaki, guardians of the land.
There is a well-considered, strategic focus on improving educational outcomes for Māori learners. Whānau Māori knowledge and expertise is valued and informs culturally responsive practices. Tikanga me te reo Māori is integrated throughout the curriculum in meaningful ways.
The board represents and serves the school community well. Trustees value and actively engage with families, whānau and the wider community. Trustees are well informed about student achievement, wellbeing and school operations. Their resourcing decisions enhance teaching and learning and enable students to experience individual success as learners.
The leadership team, effectively led by the principal, is strongly improvement focused. It collaboratively develops and pursues the school’s vision. There is growing alignment between the vision, values, future planning and current initiatives. Strategic goals are informed by reflection, review and consultation with the school community.
There has been a deliberate approach to developing consistency of teaching practice and establishing a culture of professional engagement and collaboration.
Next steps for Leaders and teachers are to:
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Houghton Valley School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini
Southern Region
21 January 2020
|
Location |
Wellington |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
2861 |
|
School type |
Contributing |
|
School roll |
227 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 53%, Girls 47% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 16% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
No |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
October 2019 |
|
Date of this report |
21 January 2020 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review November 2016 |