Kedgley Intermediate

School Context

Kedgley Intermediate caters for around 700 students in Years 7 and 8. Māori students make up 20 percent of the roll and 53 percent are Pacific. Students are proud of their cultural identity and languages.

After a history of sustained leadership by the previous board chair and principal, this year has brought change with the appointment of a new, experienced principal and a new board chair. The school has many long-serving staff, including the deputy principal, and three of the four assistant principals.

The principal is leading a re-visioning for the school. This has included a review of the school’s mantra, ‘respectful, safe, responsible’ and mission, ‘to challenge and support our students to be the best they can be,’ to nurture students as future leaders in the community and beyond. The school values student achievement in literacy and mathematics.

Over the past three years staff have participated in professional development in mathematics, leadership and assessment. Recently they have begun professional development in curriculum pedagogy.

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

• reading, writing and mathematics achievement

• schoolwide improvements.

The school is a member of the Papatoetoe West Kāhui Ako |Community of Learning (CoL).

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – valued outcomes for students

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

School achievement information over the last three years indicates that achievement levels have improved and the majority of students achieve at expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics.

The school identifies that boys, both Māori and Pacific, achieve less well than their female counterparts in writing, but are achieving better in mathematics.

1.2 How effectively does this school respond to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school responds well to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Where needed, learners are given extra support from specialist teachers and teacher aides. Teachers and leaders monitor and track the progress that these students make. School data indicates that about half of these children make accelerated progress during their two years at the school.

Teachers use achievement information to identify students who need additional support and access to the numerous withdrawal programmes. It is now necessary for leaders to evaluate the impact of these initiatives.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence

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

The school’s processes and practices that are most effective in supporting the achievement of excellence and equity include:

• the principal’s internal evaluation to identify the school’s strengths and next steps for improvement
• the recent strengthening of learning partnerships with whānau
• increased and broader learning opportunities to improve outcomes for all learners.

Equity and excellence is promoted by the principal’s leadership. Since joining the school this year he has begun to:

• restructure the senior leadership team
• create a broader, integrated and more responsive curriculum
• identify teachers who are able to lead key initiatives in school improvement
• appoint a change team to lead curriculum development.

Many teachers are committed to providing an environment that supports children’s wellbeing. Their inclusive and caring practices ensure that students are confident and capable, and are keen to share their talents and strengths. Students are responding positively to increased leadership opportunities and the different learning experiences they have outside of the classroom. Improved collaborative approaches to building partnerships with parents and whānau are beginning to support whānau wellbeing and students’ future learning pathways.

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

The board and principal acknowledge that school processes and practices for the achievement of equity and excellence need further development.

Using assessment information more effectively across the school is a necessary next step. This should support the continuity and coherence of systems and processes. In-school and cross-school moderation should strengthen the dependability of data. There are increased opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles within the school to help build collective responsibility for, and capacity to, more regularly monitor and report progress towards school targets.

The board is becoming more effective in its stewardship role. Trustees agree that they require training to increase their effectiveness and to build their governance and strategic planning capability. They are keen to recruit trustees who are actively committed to supporting ongoing school improvement. The board should also develop a work plan to guide its operations and ensure that reports to the board focus on progress towards agreed school goals and targets. Leaders should ensure that the board has the information that it needs to make strategic resourcing decisions.

Senior leaders are beginning to work together as a more collaborative, cohesive team to realise the school’s goals. More focused schoolwide curriculum leadership should support teaching syndicates to prioritise these goals.

A change team has been established to implement a more culturally responsive curriculum that provides students with more challenging learning, critical thinking and problem solving skills. An in-depth evaluation of the school’s curriculum, and the impact of initiatives and professional development, would help to identify the professional learning required to improve teachers’ practices and outcomes for children.

The board, school leaders and teachers would benefit from external support to:

• clarify leadership roles and develop a shared understanding about effective leadership
• appraise the performance of the senior leadership team and promote efficient team practices
• develop a better understanding of internal evaluation that informs ongoing school development.

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.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to health and safety, and teacher appraisal. In order to address these areas, the board of trustees must:

1. implement policies and procedures that meet legal requirements relating to seclusion and the use of security cameras

2. ensure that staff are appraised annually.

Education Act 1989, 139AB; Privacy Act 1993;State Sector Act 1988, s77A.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

A change team has been established to draw on existing strengths within the school to support sustained improvement and future learner success. Strengths include:

• the principal’s vision-driven leadership and professional knowledge

• board commitment to supporting a shared school vision for improvement.

Next steps

The school has established a change management team and a plan that is focused on sustained improvement and future learner success. The school has prioritised and begun work in:

• curriculum design that broadens students’ learning opportunities, challenges their thinking and promotes innovation and creativity

• professional development and robust appraisal processes that support all teachers and leaders to implement evidence-based teaching and leadership practices

• board training that results in increased governance capacity

• internal evaluation that identifies next steps for school development.

Recommendation

ERO recommends that senior leaders continue to develop their capability and capacity to lead, develop and evaluate more targeted planning.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years. ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders. ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

16 January 2018

About the school

Location	Papatoetoe, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	1329
School type	Intermediate (Years 7 to 8)
School roll	694
Gender composition	Boys 51% Girls 49%
Ethnic composition	Māori Pākehā  Samoan Indian  Tongan  Cook Islands Māori Niuean  Fijian Cambodian other ethnicities	20% 3% 25% 20% 14% 8% 3% 2% 2% 3%
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	November 2017
Date of this report	16 January 2018
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	2014 2011 2008

Findings

Students at Kedgley Intermediate are increasingly achieving at and above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. They benefit from a varied curriculum that promotes student well being, and literacy and numeracy. Students have positive relationships with teachers. Recent restructuring of teaching and learning approaches is improving student achievement and stronger learning partnerships with parents and whānau are developing.

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

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Kedgley Intermediate caters for years 7 and 8 students. Of the 765 students, nineteen percent identify as Māori, and fifty-eight percent have a Pacific heritage. Samoan students make up the large majority of the Pacific group.

Senior managers and staff continue to focus on improving student engagement and achievement. Since ERO’s 2011 review, the board, principal and senior leaders have worked collaboratively to make significant changes to teaching and learning approaches. These changes are founded on current research.

In response to ERO’s 2011 recommendations, the school accessed Ministry of Education support to further develop senior leaders’ and teachers’ understandings and use of student achievement information. Additional professional development for teachers has been focused on improving teaching practice. Significant progress has been made in these areas.

The school continues to strengthen its links with children’s families. Teachers have initiated hui and fono as a deliberate strategy to involve parents more deeply in their children’s learning. Students speak confidently of the inclusive school tone, and enjoy working together to be successful, independent learners.

2 Learning

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

The school is making very good progress in using student achievement information effectively. It is used well to identify relevant professional learning for teachers, and they are becoming more skilled in their use of student achievement information to plan teaching and learning programmes.

Students are well engaged in their learning and are benefiting from improved teaching practices. They are becoming more confident talking about their achievement and learning goals. Students who need additional support with their learning are well provided for.

Teachers use a variety of information to make good judgements about students’ progress and achievement. This information shows that approximately half of the students achieve at and above national standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Students are making particularly good progress in writing and mathematics. This outcome is attributed to targeted teacher professional learning to improve both their subject knowledge and their use of effective and specific teaching strategies for supporting students’ writing and mathematical skills. The school has identified that students now need further support to accelerate their progress and achievement in reading.

The challenge for the school is to continue to improve students’ progress and achievement in order to reach the government’s goal of eighty-five percent of students being at or above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics by 2017.

Leaders identify, and ERO agrees, that next steps include:

• increasing student knowledge and ownership of their learning
• further building teachers’ capability to use student achievement information to guide teaching and learning programmes
• deepening the analysis of student achievement data to better show the progress made by students during their two years at the school
• increasing the clarity of written reports to parents about their children’s achievement in relation to the National Standards.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes student learning. It is well aligned to the principles and key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum. The school focuses on promoting student wellbeing, and literacy and numeracy. These aspects help build a sound foundation for students’ future success. Students participate in a wide variety of sports, music, dance and cultural activities and have good opportunities for leadership.

Strong senior leadership is driving school-wide improvements. Teachers are committed to promoting and improving outcomes for students. The newly appointed academic facilitators lead learning and provide support for teachers through regular mentoring and modelling of effective teaching practice. Teachers participate enthusiastically in targeted professional learning. These good practices are helping to build school-wide consistency of practice, expectations and agreed school values. They also promote positive, inclusive learning relationships between teachers and students, and enable teachers to respond effectively to the needs of students and their families.

The next step for ongoing curriculum improvement is for teachers to implement strategies that increasingly promote the languages, cultures and identities of Māori and Pacific students throughout the curriculum.

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

The school has a strategic focus on promoting Māori success and is responding well to Ka Hikitia, the Māori Education Strategy for accelerating the success of Māori learners.

The board and school leaders seek continued guidance from local iwi, including Kaumatua, and positive responses to Ka Hikitia include:

• board investment in staff professional development to increase teacher knowledge and use of effective strategies that engage Māori whānau
• the formation of a dedicated team of Māori teachers led by a Raising Māori Achievement (RMA) coordinator to promote te reo and te Ao Māori within school programme
• a deliberate school-wide focus to promote tikanga Māori that includes activities such as noho marae, regular hui and powhiri
• development of a Māori Education Plan by teachers and whānau to promote and monitor school initiatives for increasing success for Māori as Māori.

School achievement information shows good improvement in Māori student achievement, with particularly good shifts in the progress of Māori boys’ over the past two years in literacy and numeracy. However, the information also shows that overall success rates for Māori are below those of their peers. The school has identified that further work is needed to increase Māori student achievement to school-wide levels.

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

Students of Pacific heritage make up over half of the school roll. The largest Pacific ethnic group is Samoan. Other Pacific groups include students from Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and Fiji. Pacific students are well engaged in their learning and enjoy school. They benefit from the respectful relationships that underpin the school culture, and enjoy the opportunities they have to succeed as Pacific. There is clear alignment of the school’s priorities for Pacific student success to the Ministry of Education’s Pasifika Education Plan.

In 2014, the school has a dedicated team of Pacific teachers who are promoting and strengthening partnerships with parents and aiga. Community engagement is a growing feature of the school. Aiga are made welcome, are regularly consulted, and are involved in their children’s learning. Significant and positive shifts have occurred in Pacific students' reading, writing and mathematics as a result of students’ growing ownership of their learning.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

Kedgley Intermediate is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. School leadership is committed to promoting positive outcomes for students. Self review is purposeful, ongoing and based on consultation with staff, students and community.

The board provides effective governance. Trustees work collaboratively to provide support for the principal and leadership team to manage and lead change in the school. They are well informed about the day-to-day running of the school and are regularly updated about students’ progress in relation to the National Standards. Trustees use this information well to guide decision making about future priorities and directions for the school.

The principal provides purposeful leadership and drives and sustains school-wide improvements. He has encouraged a more culturally responsive approach to teaching and learning. There has been an increased emphasis on teachers inquiring into the impact that their practices have had on increasing student achievement. There is a growing culture of high expectations for all students, and teachers are involving parents and whānau more in their children’s learning. The principal is well supported by a competent senior leadership team with complementary leadership skills.

There is a focus on growing leadership and recognising people’s capabilities to complement and enhance school development. Capable middle leaders and team managers are pivotal to ongoing improvement of classroom programmes, pastoral care and sustaining school initiatives. Staff have positive working relationships and experience a culture of trust and care.

To support ongoing school development ERO recommends and the board agrees to:

• review the school’s current performance appraisal process with a view to implementing a more robust process that provides growth and challenge for all staff, especially support staff
• formalise the strategic leadership and monitoring of Māori and Pacific student success and progress.
• Senior leaders also recognise the need to embed and monitor the impact of new initiatives and teaching and learning approaches.

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.

To improve current practice, the board should:

• ensure that all support staff are appraised annually
• develop policy and procedures to ensure that the school meets its privacy and confidentiality obligation in relation to security cameras in the school offices.

Conclusion

Students at Kedgley Intermediate are increasingly achieving at and above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. They benefit from a varied curriculum that promotes student well being, and literacy and numeracy. Students have positive relationships with teachers. Recent restructuring of teaching and learning approaches is improving student achievement and stronger learning partnerships with parents and whānau are developing.

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

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services Northern Region

1 August 2014

About the School

Location	Papatoetoe, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	1329
School type	Intermediate (Years 7 to 8)
School roll	765
Gender composition	Boys 50% Girls 50%
Ethnic composition	Māori NZ European/ Pākehā Samoan Tongan Indian Cook Island Māori Niue Fijian Vietnamese other Asian other European other Pacific Island other	19% 5% 26% 15% 13% 10% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 3%
Review team on site	June 2014
Date of this report	1 August 2014
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	June 2011 May 2008 May 2005