29 Raumati Street, Matawai
View on mapMatawai School caters for Years 1 to 8 students in a rural community, north-west of Gisborne. The roll of 49 includes 14 learners who identify as Māori.
Since the June 2011 ERO report, a new principal has been appointed.
In 2017, the school is part of the Ministry of Education initiatives for Accelerating Literacy Learning (ALL) and the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT).
Reducing the disparity for Māori learners has been identified as a key priority by the school. Further strengthening the response to accelerating the achievement of Māori learners is needed to achieve excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners.
The school uses and analyses a wide range of data to inform programmes of learning. Leaders and teachers know the children well. Success for all learners is the priority of the school.
At the time of this ERO review, the following strengths were highly evident:
the vision and values of the school are strongly embedded and visible throughout the school
a strong sense of identity, pride and belonging
the community is embraced and valued as essential to the life of the school.
The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children.
The school agrees to:
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Most learners achieve at or above expectations in relation to National Standards. Mathematics has been appropriately identified by the school as a learning focus for 2017. The school reports increasing dependability of data from 2015.
The school is yet to successfully accelerate learning for all students. Disparity in achievement for Māori children has widened in reading, writing and mathematics. Reducing this difference in achievement for Māori learners has been identified as a key priority by the school.
The school uses a wide range of assessment tools to identify at-risk learners. Their progress is tracked and monitored well. The collaborative decision making process for forming overall teacher judgements aligned to National Standards is well considered.
The school uses and analyses a wide range of data to inform programmes of learning. Leaders and teachers know their learners well. Success for all is the priority of the school.
The board of trustees have high levels of trust and confidence in the teachers and leader of the school. They are improvement focused and actively seek professional development to support the building of their stewardship knowledge. The board regularly seeks the views and aspirations of the community for the direction of the school. Trustees are well informed about schoolwide achievement and inquire into the trends and patterns of this data.
A strong vision for and commitment to learner success is evident. Leaders are highly reflective and focused of building knowledge and understanding for effective leadership. A supportive and collaborative environment supports teaching and learning.
Parents are well informed about their child’s progress and achievement. The school has identified that extending these positive relationships to learner-centred partnerships is a key area of focus going forward.
The local surrounding environment is well used to provide authentic and meaningful contexts and programmes. Children can confidently discuss their learning. They actively support and seek guidance from their peers. The curriculum framework is currently under review. The intention is to better reflect the current community’s aspirations, te ao Māori, and provide guidance for high quality teaching and learning at Matawai School.
Matawai School needs to further strengthen their response to accelerating the learning and achievement of Māori learners in order to achieve excellent and equitable outcomes for all.
Sharpening the focus, and the consistent implementation of effective targeted teaching for those children whose learning and achievement need acceleration is a next step. This should better support leaders and teachers to:
track and monitor learner progress against expected outcomes over time
inquire into their practice to identify strategies that have the most impact on these learners
ensure an ongoing improvement focused appraisal system that supports improving outcomes for learners
develop more coherent and aligned processes across the school
identify what high quality teaching and learning looks like at Matawai School.
The leaders, teachers and trustees reflect, research and review well. Building understanding and effectively implementing evaluation for schoolwide improvement and innovation is a next step.
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
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.
The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for Māori and/or other children remains.
Leaders and teachers:
The school agrees to:
ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop to support the school to develop effective planning and monitoring processes to support equity and excellence for all children.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
20 June 2017
|
Location |
Matawai |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
2611 |
|
School type |
Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) |
|
School roll |
49 |
|
Gender composition |
Males 26, Females 23 |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 14 |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
May 2017 |
|
Date of this report |
20 June 2017 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review June 2011 |
Matawai School is a rural full primary school, 75 kilometres northwest of Gisborne. It caters for 81 students from Years 1 to 8. A third of students identify as Māori. The school has a consistently positive reporting history with ERO. Students strongly identify with their school and are actively involved in the development of its environment. They participate in a wide range of opportunities through a ‘hands on learning’ curriculum based on the strengths of its rural setting.
Students are highly engaged in learning and most achieve at or above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Students make significant progress each year and over their time at school. Teachers provide highly responsive classroom programmes that effectively cater for learners requiring additional support and extension. Collaborative team work between the principal, teachers and teacher aides directly contributes to positive outcomes for students.
Teachers use an appropriate range of assessment tools to measure student achievement and progress for year levels and target groups. These tools are regularly reviewed to ensure they provide useful measurements of progress.
The board of trustees, teachers, parents and whānau have high expectations for students' learning and success. Trustees are well informed about student achievement and learning. They receive comprehensive reports on progress in relation to National Standards and other assessment information. The board uses a sound evidence base to set appropriate improvement targets and to justify resourcing decisions to lift student achievement.
Students regularly set individual learning goals and increasingly take ownership of their learning as they progress through the school. They take a lead role in sharing their learning and next steps at parent teacher conferences. Parents of students involved in learning support programmes receive very good information about their progress. All parents receive a comprehensive range of information including twice yearly reports about student progress and achievement in relation to National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Where a specific need is identified, these plain language reports also include specific advice for families to further support their child's learning at home. There is a sustained focus on growing constructive learning partnerships with parents through thorough information sharing.
Teachers promote holistic learning experiences for students. Learners are challenged to strive for excellence inside and outside the school. Leadership opportunities encourage genuine decision making in relation to school developments. Strong support from the local community underpins a dynamic school curriculum.
A third of the students (26) identify as Māori. Most Māori students achieve as well as their peers in relation to National Standards. Teachers continue to focus on accelerating the progress of Māori students as a group, through careful monitoring and targeted teaching. School achievement information reports provided to trustees and teachers show a steady increase in the number of Māori students that meet and exceed the National Standards over time.
Student progress in relation to specific improvement targets for literacy and numeracy are shared with whānau at annual hui and with parents during student-led conferences. Positive relationships with whānau are further supported by staff involvement with the local marae. The school regularly celebrates and reflects on Māori students' success. Students value and willingly take on leadership roles. The school curriculum is highly inclusive of contexts that embrace and affirm Māori students’ strengths.
The school and local community contribute to the development of a highly effective curriculum that promotes and supports student learning. It positively embraces resources, expertise and the richness of the local farming and rural district. Conservation, rural activities and local outdoor pursuits, are meaningfully woven into a wide range of student experiences. Specialist programmes in information and communication technologies challenge students and increase their engagement with the learning. Community experts enrich the art, outdoor education and conservation aspects of the teaching programme.
Highly effective and responsive teaching is evident in all classrooms. Opportunities for students to be successful, engaged and independent learners are maximised. Curriculum documents provide clear direction for successful teaching and learning programmes. Teachers know their students well and meet individual needs through focussed and well-paced learning. High quality questioning engages students in meaningful discussions. Affirming and respectful relationships between students and staff support risk taking and a sustained focus on learning.
Teachers work collaboratively as a team to share strengths and knowledge to continue to develop their practice in order to improve learning. Students’ interests are the key priority.
School self-review practices used by the board and teachers are highly developed and based on student achievement information. This informs decision making about programme content, implementation, resourcing and teacher professional learning and development. A robust cycle of review focuses on the successful implementation of the strategic plan, policies and procedures. Students, parents, staff and trustees are regularly consulted as part of the review process.
Trustees effectively use external expertise to improve their understanding and confidence about governance practices. The board monitors progress towards meeting charter targets for student achievement. Trustees bring a diverse range of skills to their governance roles and work cohesively as a team to promote improved learning opportunities for students.
The principal provides reflective and inclusive professional leadership focused on continuous improvement. Curriculum leadership is effectively supported by robust teamwork that builds on each teacher’s interests, experiences and talents. There is a strong focus on providing staff with opportunities to grow their expertise and to be leaders.
Parent involvement in school activities is high. Trustees and staff display a high level of commitment to sustaining local community participation in school activities and events.
EROs external evaluation, trustees and the principal and staff agree that the school’s high quality self review will continue to identify strengths, priorities and areas for development to promote student learning and success.
Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of the school completed an ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklist. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on students' achievement:
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.
Kathleen Atkins
National Manager Review Services Central Region
28 June 2011
|
Location |
Matawai |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
2611 |
|
|
School type |
Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) |
|
|
4 |
||
|
School roll |
81 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Male 45 Female 36 |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
New Zealand European/Pākehā Māori |
55 26 |
|
Review team on site |
May 2011 |
|
|
Date of this report |
28 June 2011 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Accountability Review |
May 2007 June 2004 June 2001 |