Mornington School - 21/09/2017

Summary

At the time of this review Mornington school had a roll of 263 children in Years 1 to 6. Of these, 43 identify as Māori. Another 31 children come from ethnicities other than New Zealand European. There are a number of children for whom English is a second language.

Since the last ERO review (2014) the school has participated in a Ministry of Education professional development programme focused on accelerating learning in mathematics (ALiM).

The board of trustees includes many new members and has undertaken relevant training to build its capability.

The school has maintained good achievement levels in mathematics and reading over time. Lifting achievement levels in writing is the school’s current priority. At the time of this review the school had started a programme of professional learning in the teaching of writing.

The school has responded well to most of the areas for development identified in the last review. How well school programmes incorporate bicultural perspectives remains an area for review and development.

How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?

The school responds well to most children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Further development is needed to lift achievement levels in writing, particularly for boys.

The school has many processes that are effective in enabling the achievement of equity and excellence. These include evaluative processes for identifying areas needing development to improve.

There is a strong focus on student well-being and equity of outcomes for learners. The school’s curriculum and the provision of learning support respond well to children’s interests and diverse needs. Leaders promote and support effective teaching in a range of ways. The school needs to make better use of school-wide assessment information to identify key learning needs. It also needs to ensure it is monitoring children’s rate of progress against the National Standards in order to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and teaching.

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for some children remains.

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

Equity and excellence

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

This school responds well to most children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school’s achievement information shows that for the last three years:

a high proportion of children achieve well in relation to the National Standards in mathematics (84%) and reading (86%)
around 75% of children achieve at expected levels in writing.

Māori children achieve equitable outcomes in mathematics, writing and reading. The school’s planned actions have reduced disparity in outcomes for Māori children in reading in recent years.

Over time the proportion of boys achieving at or above the National Standards in writing has decreased. The school needs to develop targeted planning and effective approaches to lifting boys’ achievement in writing.

School information shows that planned actions to accelerate the progress of some children in reading and mathematics in recent years have been successful.

Children for whom English is a second language make good progress in English language learning over time and are effectively supported to access the curriculum at appropriate levels alongside their peers.

Children with additional learning needs make meaningful progress against their individual goals.

The school has appropriate processes for moderating teachers’ judgements about children’s achievement. These include some moderation with other schools and regular review of assessment practices.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

The school has many good quality processes that are effective in enabling the achievement of equity and excellence.

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

The school’s vision and strategic goals provide clear direction and prioritise student achievement and well-being and teacher effectiveness. These priorities are clearly evident through leadership, curriculum and teaching plans.

The school’s curriculum effectively supports children to develop the skills and attitudes valued by the school community – to be confident, resilient, healthy, thinkers. Teachers plan programmes that make good use of rich, authentic contexts for learning and respond well to children’s interests, strengths and needs. Teachers encourage children to be active participants in their learning and support them to know what they need to do to make progress.

There are effective processes for identifying children needing additional learning support and a wide range of specialist programmes and services to meet the diverse needs of children.

The school has a strength in the provision of English language learning for children for whom English is a second language.

Teachers build purposeful relationships with whānau and parents to support children’s well-being and learning. This includes working closely with parents to support successful transitions into, through, and on from school.

Leaders have high expectations for effective teaching. Leaders support teachers to meet these expectations by:

ongoing development and improvement of performance appraisal processes
supporting teachers to reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching
planning and providing relevant and evidence-based professional learning
building and embedding shared understandings of effective teaching
ongoing review and evaluation of teaching programmes and interventions.

Leaders promote a strong sense of collective ownership for positive learning outcomes for children.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

Overall the school has good processes for identifying areas needing development to better address and overcome barriers to achieving equity and excellence. Addressing the areas identified below will further strengthen these processes.

What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?

Trustees and leaders need to:

ensure school achievement targets are focused on all children who are at risk of not achieving at expected levels
ensure monitoring and reporting systems clearly focus on the rate of progress all children are making against the National Standards – particularly those at risk of poor educational outcomes
improve the use of school-wide assessment information to identify specific and common learning needs to inform planning
strengthen systems for supporting and monitoring the quality of teacher’s planning to accelerate the progress of children not yet achieving at expected levels
continue to build the depth of teachers’ evaluation of the impact of their teaching on outcomes for learners.

ERO agrees with the school’s current priority of building the capability of teachers to accelerate the progress of children yet to achieve at expected levels in writing, particularly boys.

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
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.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

The school has the capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all children. However, disparity in achievement for some children remains.

Leaders and teachers:

know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
need to build teacher capability to accelerate children’s learning and achievement in writing.

The school agrees to:

develop more targeted planning to accelerate learning for children
monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and children’s progress.