Manaia View School

Manaia View School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Manaia View 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 

Manaia View School is located in Raumanga, Whangarei. It provides education for students in years 1 to 8. Manaia View School believes strongly in its mission statement “Whakatinana te Moemoea – Give body to the dream”. As a kura, it is known for its inclusive whānau atmosphere, in which akonga are challenged to live their dream and be the best they can, in an environment where they feel supported in doing so. With the majority of students being Māori, the kura focuses on Māori succeeding as Māori through the localised Mana Whenua Marau.

Manaia View School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • to raise student engagement and outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics through relevant learning contexts that are based on our Mana Whenua Marau and reflect our rich cultural identity as Māori

  • ensure Te Whare Tapa Wha is integrated into all aspects of teaching and learning programmes with an emphasis on developing trauma informed practices to meet individual needs and support learners.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Manaia View School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the implementation of the kura`s localised curriculum is impacting student engagement and outcomes. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the kura has been on a journey over the last two years, understanding and developing a localised Marau with support from mana whenua and its school community. From this, Manaia View School has developed their own “Localised - Place Based Marau”, enabling akonga to access Te Ao Māori, the Māori world, language, culture and tikanga. The school has high expectations for graduating students, while being fully supported by whanau, iwi and wider community ensuring Tūwhai Ngākau Tangata Māori (the graduate profile), represents the areas of focus, aligned to the marau, giving akonga benchmarks for attainment at different year levels.

Manaia View School is focused on equity and excellence. Central to this has been a deliberate move from

acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi to enacting Te Tiriti O Waitangi. The school expects to see the kura’s continued commitment to engaging learners and raising achievement in reading, writing and mathematics whilst ensuring that learning contexts reflect our culture, language and heritage.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal of how effectively the implementation of the kura`s localised curriculum is impacting student engagement and outcomes:

  • commitment to “Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, enabling the opportunities for Māori to achieve as Māori while developing language and cultural practices

  • genuine partnership with Mana Whenua, ensuring the writing and implementation of the kura`s marau is inclusive of Te Parawhau stories, tikanga, language, understandings and aspirations for its peoples

  • strong leadership that promotes, continuous development of and implementation of innovative solutions to engage all learners whilst also prioritising student needs and staff wellbeing

  • embedded self -review and internal evaluation processes that include timely milestone reporting, data analysis, whānau surveys and programme reviews timetabled throughout the year to know the impact of innovations on student outcomes.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • continuing to implement current evidence-based practices in all curriculum areas

  • further development of kaiako pedagogy, understanding and implementation of Te Ao Māori, through the localised Marau including opportunities to learn Te Reo Māori

  • continued focus on trauma informed practices to provide staff with the specialist practices required to support individual akonga.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

13 March 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

Manaia View School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of November 2022, the Manaia View School, School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Manaia View School Board.

The next 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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

13 March 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

Manaia View School - 30/06/2016

1 Context

Manaia View School continues to serve the predominantly Māori community within Raumanga, Whangarei. Most children and their whānau affiliate to Ngā Puhi. The new kindergarten on site is making it easier for families to transition into school effectively. An ongoing challenge for the school is managing the impact of the high rate of transience in the school community.

In recent times there have been changes to the leadership and teaching team. School staff have been involved in professional learning initiatives with a cluster of Whangarei schools. These initiatives have helped teachers improve the teaching of reading, te reo Māori and digital learning programmes.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are expressed in the school charter as 'Whakatinana te moemoea. Give body to the dream.' School values are linked to manaakitanga, tumanako, whakapono, aroha and tautoko.

The school’s achievement information shows that most children who attend Manaia View school for three or more years achieve well. This group is about 20 percent of the current roll. Children in Years 1 to 4 achieve very well overall in relation to the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Data also shows achievement levels are not as strong at Years 5 and 8. In response, the board has set targets specifically at Years 5 and 8 to help accelerate progress in reading, writing and mathematics for these learners.

Teachers value the collaborative processes in place that support them to make valid and reliable decisions and overall teacher judgements about children's progress and achievement.

Since the last ERO evaluation the school has continued to promote improvement in learner outcomes through:

  • accessing external professional development for teachers in reading, writing and mathematics aimed at improving teaching practice
  • developing and using the expertise of existing staff who are knowledgeable in literacy, mathematics and digital learning to further improve the quality of teaching and learning across the school
  • designing an innovative reading programme, known as Te Puawai, that focuses on teaching specific reading strategies for students who need extra support in Years 5 to 8
  • recently establishing digital learning classrooms for children in Years 5 to 8
  • reviewing school processes for identifying, tracking and monitoring student achievement, particularly those whose learning and achievement needs accelerating.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school is becoming increasingly effective in responding to children whose learning and achievement need accelerating. The board, school leaders and staff demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting positive educational outcomes for these priority learners and for all children.

The leadership team has high expectations that all teachers will promote student progress and achievement. They know about the progress of individual children and closely examine data at each year level to determine appropriate support provisions.

The school sets relevant targets for accelerating the progress of children yet to achieve the National Standards. There are clear links between these targets and actions taken by school leaders and teachers to accelerate children's progress. The board receives comprehensive information about student achievement and uses it to good effect to guide decisions about the resourcing of programmes, particularly those designed to accelerate learning for children at risk of not achieving well.

School processes for tracking and monitoring children's achievement continue to strengthen. Data analysis systems are used well to provide current and long-term information about individual, group and whole-school levels of achievement. This information also provides useful evidence about the effectiveness of learner support programmes in accelerating the progress of priority children. It gives good insights about learning over time for children who stay at the school for a succession of years.

Teachers are reflective practitioners. They set personal goals linked to priority learners and increasingly examine the impact of their teaching practice on student progress. They participate in professional discussions with colleagues and share strategies to better support priority learners.

Leaders organise school staffing so that students who require additional help receive in-class or withdrawal support to boost their learning. All teachers are Reading Recovery trained and some are trained in strategies that accelerate learning in mathematics. The school-designed reading programme, Te Puawai, is having a positive impact on accelerating the progress of those students who need extra support at Years 5 to 8. This innovative approach is now being used by other schools in the Whangarei district.

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 targets for equity and excellence?

The school's curriculum, practices and processes link well to its charter vision, values, goals and targets.

The school's recently reviewed curriculum is closely aligned to The New Zealand Curriculum and prioritises Ngapuhitanga. A feature of the curriculum is the importance placed on whakapapa. These interconnected relationships are shared at enrolment as each new whānau participates in a student led induction into the school. The board, the staff and students themselves are proud of the importance placed on language, culture and identity.

The board is committed to fostering te reo Māori o Ngā Puhi. The have co-opted a kaumatua onto the board from the local hapu of Parawhau to ensure tikanga within the school is appropriate. More than half of the staff are Māori and many are connected to the local area. 'Nga Taonga o Manaia View' provides an opportunity for whānau to enrol their tamaiti/mokopuna in to an immersion Māori setting. The board maintains low numbers in this class and resources personnel, including a kuia, who are fluent speakers. Children are immersed in high levels of spoken te reo Māori. The staff acknowledge the importance of strengthening transition processes into the school from local kōhanga reo.

A holistic curriculum is fostered. The school works with many health providers and community-based organisations in the area to support children and their whānau. Inclusive and responsive approaches support children with special or additional learning needs. As a result, children's social and emotional competence is well promoted.

The school engages with parents and whānau in a range of ways, and families value the approachability of staff. The board strategically plan Mahi Tahi events to strengthen learning partnerships with whānau. Student-led conferences provide an opportunity for children to share their learning with parents and whānau. Individual plans and goals for priority learners are developed with whānau.

The school's digital platform enables collaboration and transparency about school processes. Leaders have easy access to achievement data and teachers consistently monitor and collect this information. The school currently documents multiple forms of information. Leaders acknowledge that it would be useful to refine and streamline the amount of information that is collected.

The board, leaders and staff, have a strong commitment to developing individual and collective capability and sharing this with others. The principal is highly involved in promoting positive outcomes for children, especially Māori learners, at a national level.

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.

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

Manaia View School is well placed to sustain the current good practices that promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

Senior leaders have identified relevant priorities for future development that include:

  • further promoting student-centred learning approaches, including work that enables students to gain a greater understanding of their own achievement and next learning steps
  • progressing the digital immersion programme that operates in Years 5 to 8 to include children in Years 1 to 4 to enhance and build on student achievement outcomes through the appropriate use of digital technologies to support teaching, learning and digital citizenship
  • strengthening the evaluation of achievement information to further enable leaders to scrutinise data and identify the difference programmes are making in accelerating children's learning and achievement.

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
  • the school’s policy and procedures in relation to the application of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

7 Recommendation

ERO recommends that the school continues to develop a curriculum that is student centred, allows children to have greater ownership of their learning, and that promotes equity and excellence in outcomes for all learners.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

30 June 2016

About the school

Location

Whangarei

Ministry of Education profile number

1648

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

217

Gender composition

Boys 54% Girls 46%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Pacific

93%

5%

2%

Special Features

1 Māori immersion class (level1) 2 Blomfield Special School satellite classes

Review team on site

May 2016

Date of this report

30 June 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

April 2013

February 2010

December 2006

 

Manaia View School - 29/04/2013

Findings

1 Context

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

Manaia View School is a full primary located in the Raumanga Valley in Whangarei. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8, in both English and Māori mediums. The school has a roll of 211 students, 90% being of Ngā Puhi descent. The board reports that a significant proportion of families are transient causing high turnover in the school. An ongoing challenge for senior leaders is effectively managing and leading learning and teaching in this context, where many students are enrolled for short time frames.

Since the last ERO review in 2010 the school board and leadership has been stable. Beginning in 2012 and continuing into 2013 teachers are undertaking professional development in literacy. The central focus of this professional learning is to strengthen teaching practice to raise student achievement in reading and writing. The school has a stable reporting history with ERO.

The school’s whakataukī , ‘Whakatinana i te moemoeā,’ ‘Give body to the dream’ is evident in the strong relationships amongst staff, students, whānau and the community. Together with the board, staff are successfully providing a safe and inclusive culture. Teachers know and value the whakapapa of students and whānau.

2 Learning

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

The board and senior leaders have recognised that the overall level of student achievement in literacy and mathematics is lower than expected levels. Focused professional learning in the teaching of reading has resulted in improved levels in this area and the board reports that most students achieved the National Standard in reading at the end of 2012. Teachers will be supported to strengthen their practice in the teaching of writing through planned professional learning and development in 2013. Senior leaders have also recognised the need to develop a more comprehensive and systematic mathematics curriculum. Focussed professional development is now necessary to enable teachers to consistently implement this.

Teachers are increasingly reflecting on their teaching practice and sharing assessment information and teaching strategies. This model, where teachers are enquiring into their own practice, has been used successfully in 2012 to raise student achievement in reading.

Senior leaders are working with teachers to review and develop their assessment practice. The principal, deputy and assistant principal acknowledge that further consideration of the management and use of school-wide achievement information is necessary, giving particular attention to:

  • the use and purpose of assessment tools
  • tracking achievement over time to show progress
  • annual targets focused on students at risk of not achieving
  • ensuring annual achievement targets are closely aligned to strategic planning, and school leaders and teachers performance appraisal systems.

The board receives well-presented achievement information which is generally well analysed and provides a sound basis for making resourcing decisions. Parents and whānau receive written reports twice a year about their children’s progress. Teachers also utilise texts, phone calls, meetings and interviews to communicate regularly with parents about student progress.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum is well documented and clearly defines expectations. Staff, in consultation with board and community, continue to review the curriculum annually in order to be responsive to their ever changing student population. It places particular priority on the all round social, emotional, physical and educational needs of the student. The school’s special education needs coordinators have formed strong networks with outside agencies and specialist services to coordinate additional support for the many students with identified needs. The new curriculum recognises the central place of the students’ identity as Māori and as Ngā Puhi in its content and coverage. A unique feature of the school is the priority it places on the use of information and communication technologies, in particular media technologies, to enrich student learning.

An ongoing priority area for development is to establish a shared, school wide understanding of effective teaching practice, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics and to implement this consistently across the school.

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

Students feel comfortable and confident at school because of the way their identity as Māori is valued. Whakapapa is celebrated and students’ knowledge of their own whakapapa is enhanced at school. Tikanga Māori such as karakia and pōwhiri are practiced in the school and Māori values are promoted. Māori content and perspectives are highly visible in the new curriculum. Elements of Māori culture such as kapa haka and waka ama are used as a vehicle for learning. The school could continue to strengthen its curriculum by:

  • increasing the use of te reo Māori both inside and outside classrooms
  • continue to strengthen students’ identity as Ngā Puhi through a deeper and more systematic coverage of Ngā Puhi tribal history and tradition.

The school operates a rūmaki unit for parents who desire immersion education for their children. The unit, called Te Taonga o Manaia View, has a low teacher-pupil ratio and is well supported by both the board of trustees and senior leaders. Most students in the unit are performing at or above national expectations in pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau. The unit could be further strengthened by:

  • aligning the analysis of achievement data more closely to Ngā Whanaketanga Rūmaki Māori
  • reviewing the enrolment policy in order to clarify the school’s position on students wanting to enter the unit with no prior knowledge of te reo Māori.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance because:

  • the well-informed board is committed to providing effective governance
  • the principal is experienced and knowledgeable, and together with the board and the senior leadership team, has effectively engaged with parents, whānau and community
  • sound self-review processes are in place
  • there is planned provision for professional development
  • classrooms are well resourced to support the curriculum
  • teachers are committed to building strong relationships with their students and value what students bring to their learning.

Performance management is an agreed priority area for development. Further consideration to the following aspects is likely to enhance teacher performance and raise student achievement:

  • ensuring teachers’ and school leaders’ individual development objectives are closely linked to student achievement information and current research about best practice
  • documenting feedback to teachers, which is rich, descriptive and includes next steps for improving teacher performance.

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.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services Northern Region

29 April 2013

About the School

Location

Whangarei

Ministry of Education profile number

1648

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

211

Gender composition

Girls 54% Boys 46%

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Cook Island Māori

Other

91%

6%

2%

1%

Special Features

1 Māori immersion class (level 1) 2 Blomfield Special School satellite classes

Review team on site

February 2013

Date of this report

29 April 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

February 2010

December 2006

July 2003