Hunterville Consolidated School

Education institution number:

2366

School type:

Full Primary

School gender:

Co-Educational

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

109

Website:

http://www.hunterville.school.nz

Telephone:

06 322 8210

Address:

33 Bruce Street, Hunterville

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Hunterville Consolidated School - 18/06/2019

18 Jun 2019

School Context

Hunterville Consolidated School is a full primary. Of the 167 students attending, 20% are Māori. Since the February 2015 report, there have been several changes to staffing, including a complete change to senior leadership.

The vision of the school is to promote “Education that grows with your child’.

The schools’ four strategic goals seek to:

deliver quality learning by maintaining a broad curriculum
encourage quality partnerships with whānau and community engagement
ensure an attractive physical environment
develop quality life capabilities.

The school has established targets in 2019, to accelerate the achievement of students working toward curriculum expectations in writing and mathematics.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
achievement and progress in reading, writing, and mathematics in relation to curriculum expectation
progress and achievement of targeted learners
wellbeing and attendance.

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 achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for all its learners. Since the 2015 ERO review, the school has maintained high levels of achievement for students. Most students, including Māori learners achieve very well in reading, writing, and mathematics, with close to half above curriculum expectation in reading at the end of 2018. Nearly all students achieved expectations in all three curriculum areas by the end of Year 8, with an identified disparity in writing for boys being addressed.

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

A range of well-considered strategies are used effectively to identify and inform a purposeful response to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

All students targeted in mathematics and writing in 2018 made progress with approximately half of learners showing significant acceleration in their achievement.

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?

Responsive practice promotes equitable and excellent outcomes for students with additional or complex learning needs. Data is used well to identify, track and monitor students requiring their achievement accelerated. Individual education plans document relevant goals, reflective of students’ individual needs. Transition in, through and out of school is well managed. Reported information ensures the board is well informed when making resourcing decisions that benefit outcomes for learners. Additional personnel are used strategically to revisit and build on the specific goals of students.

Well-developed educational partnerships between the school, parents, whānau and local kaumātua actively support delivery of the curriculum. Appropriate access to digital technologies supports learning for individuals. Te Ao Māori is suitably reflected through delivery of relevant contexts for learning.

Students learn in a positive and inclusive school environment. Values and expectations are visible and form part of classroom teaching and regular reflection. Interactions between individuals, their peers and staff are affirming. Classroom environments, the wide range of opportunities and the strategies used by teachers promote the purposeful engagement of individuals in learning. Leaders gather relevant information in relation to student wellbeing to acknowledge practices working well and inform further developments.

Senior leaders are highly reflective identifying practices and the processes that support successful student outcomes and those requiring development. They work collaboratively with teachers, select relevant professional learning and development and are actively involved in their Kāhui Ako to share and systematically build practice. Purposeful engagement of the community, by leaders, teachers and trustees, contributes to the school direction and informs their strategic direction.

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

Senior leaders have identified and introduced a range of developments focused on building teacher and curriculum practice. ERO’s evaluation confirms these established priorities are well informed and should further enhance the school’s collective response in achieving successful outcomes for all its learners.

Leaders and teachers seek to further promote students self-regulated learning as part of their ongoing revision of the curriculum. Documenting shared understandings that underpin agreed changes to the practice, delivery and design of the curriculum that emphasise the key priorities is a next step. This should provide a foundation to evaluate the impact of changes in achieving the valued outcomes for learners.

Further opportunities exist to develop systematic evaluation of achievement, strategic and curriculum outcomes. Continuing to increase the school’s collective knowledge and use of effective evaluation and inquiry should provide a systematic process of determining how well current strategies and future changes impact on learner outcomes.

Trustees appropriately consider succession of governance practice. They have planned to review and update their roles and responsibilities to support the transition of new trustees. As a next step they should also review and update their policies and align relevant procedures to reflect current legislative requirements.

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 Hunterville Consolidated School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

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:

responsive systems, processes and practice, that promote acceleration of students identified with additional and complex learning needs
cohesive professional capability, that supports sustainable practice and suitably recognise and guide ongoing development
inclusive school and classroom environments, that promote the purposeful engagement of students in learning.

Next steps

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

continuing to build and document evolving curriculum and teacher practice, to support shared understanding of practice
revisiting trustees’ roles and responsibilities and reviewing current policies and procedures, to sustain governance practice
strengthening the collective understanding of systematic evaluation and inquiry, to fully determine the value of current and future practice.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

18 June 2019

About the school

Location	Hunterville
Ministry of Education profile number	2366
School type	Full Primary Years 1 to 8
School roll	167
Gender composition	Male 50%, Female 50%
Ethnic composition	Māori 20% NZ European/Pākehā 76% Other ethnic groups 4%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	No
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	May 2019
Date of this report	18 June 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review February 2015 Education Review November 2010 Education Review June 2007

Hunterville Consolidated School - 04/02/2015

04 Feb 2015

Findings

School culture is characterised by inclusive relationships and respect for individuals. Students are highly capable and confident. Educational success for Māori, as Māori is promoted. Senior staff and teachers are improvement-focused. The board of trustees is well informed. Trustees maintain traditions that are important to the community. Parents are active participants in their children’s learning. The school is very well placed to sustain and improve its performance.

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?

Hunterville Consolidated School is situated in the rural community of Hunterville. Many of the 160 students travel to school by bus. ‘Quality Behaviour, Quality Environment, Quality Learning’ is the philosophy that underpins the curriculum.

School culture is characterised by warm, inclusive relationships and respect for individuals. Students take an active role in managing their learning. Senior students are very capable and confident.

Staffing is stable. Most teachers are very experienced practitioners. All work collaboratively to achieve sound levels of student progress and achievement across the school.

An active Home and School group assists the board to resource a broad curriculum that fosters students' engagement and success. Parents and whānau work in partnership with teachers to ensure students have a wide range of opportunities in which to participate and excel. Trustees represent the values and aspirations of parents.

The school has a very positive ERO reporting history and has made significant gains since the 2010 review.

2 Learning

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

Assessment information is well used to plan programmes that impact positively on student progress and achievement. The school’s assessment information indicates that the majority of students achieve at or above in relation to the National Standard in literacy and mathematics. There is also evidence of steady gains across the year with many students making accelerated progress.

Guidelines for teachers to collect, collate and use data are clearly stated and efficient. Teachers work together to analyse results and to identify strategies that have the greatest impact on students’ progress. As a result, teaching to close gaps in students’ learning is deliberate. Senior leaders monitor progress at regular intervals. The focus is on individuals and groups of students who require additional help or different learning approaches.

Students make a positive start to schooling from aged five years. Teachers focus on success in the early years as a foundation for future learning. By Year 8, students capably self-assess their work and identify aspects to improve. Students understand the learning tasks and what success looks like.

Close working relationships between parents and teachers impact significantly on the achievement of students requiring additional assistance. Making a difference is a shared responsibility, assisted by supportive partnerships. Increased rates of progress are evident and sustained.

Trustees and parents receive regular reports about student progress and achievement. Information shared is clearly stated, including how parents may assist at home and the impact of board resourcing.

3 Curriculum

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

The curriculum is highly responsive to students’ experiences, interests and learning needs. Authentic, local contexts underpin a broad curriculum that begins with the rural locality and extends into the world beyond.

The school’s expectations for effective teaching are explicit and evident in the deliberate strategies observed in classrooms. Teachers refer to best educational practice and research as part of their professional learning. Students and teachers share an enthusiasm for learning. Quality is valued and teachers create an environment that is challenging and invites students to take risks. Students demonstrate belief in their ability to learn.

Skilled teacher aides work with students, parents and teachers in a highly inclusive way. Outcomes for students’ academic, social and emotional progress are considerable.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly integrated as learning tools. Trustees and teachers are very clear about the direction for ICT and parents’ views about their children keeping fit and playing a wide range of sports. Use of ICT is well considered.

Science learning is a curriculum priority. A community and school partnership continues to grow. The focus on agriculture, horticulture and biology is relevant to students and their families.

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

The school actively promotes educational success for Māori as Māori. Sixteen per cent of the roll identify as Māori and a number whakapapa to Ngāti Hāuiti iwi. Formal reports to iwi show that most students achieve at or above in relation to the National Standard and at levels comparable or exceeding those of the total roll. Reports also indicate that Māori students experience success across the breadth of the curriculum.

Teachers are progressing te reo and te āo Māori in classrooms. There has been notable growth since the 2010 ERO review. Whole staff professional learning and weekly, external leadership continues to build teacher and student confidence. The progressive review of the school’s curriculum includes the integration of new learning.

Partnership with Rata Marae is supporting the school’s commitment to a marae-based model for developing student and teacher capability. Parents are helping, through sharing knowledge, to add complexity to the curriculum.

As a result, students lead confidently, demonstrate pride in their achievements and have good knowledge of their language, culture and identity.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is very well placed to sustain and improve its performance. The board of trustees governs capably and is well informed. Decisions are considered and students’ wellbeing is given priority. Trustees maintain traditions that are important to the community and resource new and forward thinking initiatives.

The charter is an effective planning document that supports developing ‘Quality Life Capabilities’ considered essential for students’ holistic progress. A methodical, efficient approach to self review includes processes to respond to issues as they arise. Curriculum review is collaborative and purposeful. The school’s focus on improvement has resulted in high quality outcomes for students.

Teachers actively lead curriculum development in their areas of interest and expertise. They are highly thoughtful practitioners. Senior students are role models and ambassadors for their school. They assume a variety of leadership responsibilities across the curriculum and influence decisions that affect their learning. Year 8 students are well prepared for secondary education.

Senior leaders are drivers of improvement and informed change. They model good practice and are open and inclusive, while ensuring that expectations for student progress are met across the school.

Trustees enjoy respectful relationships with parents and whānau. There is a strong sense of community, collaboration and shared decision-making. Parents and community members have opportunities to lead in the curriculum and actively do so.

Students’ transition pathways to school and to secondary school are designed to maintain a confident and positive attitude to lifelong learning. The school has evidence to show that students continue to succeed beyond primary education.

Trustees, senior leaders and teachers should continue to use effective self review to sustain and improve the school’s curriculum.

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

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

Joyce Gebbie

National Manager Review Services

Central Region

4 February 2015

About the School

Location	Hunterville
Ministry of Education profile number	2366
School type	Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)
School roll	168
Gender composition	Male 55% Female 45%
Ethnic composition	Pākehā Māori Other ethnic groups	80% 16% 4%
Review team on site	November 2014
Date of this report	4 February 2015
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	November 2010 June 2007 June 2004