- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
New Lynn School caters for children in Years 1 to 6. The school values its history and heritage and significant community links in New Lynn and West Auckland. The school is culturally diverse. Many children and families speak more than one language. The school enrols a high number of children each year who stay for a short period of time. A satellite class of Oaklyn Special School also operates in the school grounds.
The school vision “Whaia te iti Kahurangi” - Reaching for the Sky” is a strong foundation for successful learning. It prepares children for the future by nurturing, developing and valuing every learner. The school values of respect for self, others, and the environment, support all learning. Positive relationships between children, teachers, families and whānau are regarded as essential foundations to learning, underpinning equity and excellence.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in:
Since the 2014 ERO evaluation, the school has:
New Lynn School is a member of the Kotuitui Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (COL).
New Lynn School is making very good progress towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all children through deliberate, targeted approaches. The school maintains a strong focus on 'knowing the learner'.
School achievement information over the last four years show that the majority of children achieve at expected levels in reading and mathematics. Lifting writing achievement remains a key goal for leaders and teachers. School leaders identify in-school achievement disparity for specific groups of children, including boys’ writing. A range of effective initiatives are in place to target cohort and individual learning needs. By the end of Year 6, most of the children are achieving at curriculum expectations in literacy and mathematics.
Leaders and teachers have an unrelenting focus on responding to the learning and wellbeing needs and progress of all children. The school makes a positive difference for those children who enrol at the school for a short period of time.
Children with identified additional learning and wellbeing needs make very good progress in relation to their individual learning goals.
Children achieve very well in relation to other valued outcomes. They:
The school responds very well to those children who need to make accelerated progress.
Robust systems and processes are in place for identifying and responding to children who are at risk of not achieving in literacy and numeracy. Detailed and highly individualised achievement documentation is regularly updated, monitored and used.
The school has numerous programmes and initiatives that successfully accelerate the progress of target learners. School achievement documentation show that many target learners make accelerated progress. Teachers collaborate well and routinely share effective practice for acceleration.
Leaders, teachers and teacher aides are responsive to children with additional learning needs within an inclusive learning environment. A collaborative and holistic approach ensures children are well supported to experience success and make progress in relation to their individual learning goals. Those children who have English as an additional language are very well supported.
Leaders have established a strong school ethos and inclusive culture. Relational trust is highly evident at all levels of the school, and with parents, whānau and the community. Leaders emphasise the importance of relationships and wellbeing as foundations for learning success.
New Lynn School’s foundations for successful learning include:
School leadership is highly effective. The principal has established high expectations for teaching and learning. Leaders ensure an orderly and supportive environment that is conducive to children’s learning and wellbeing. A distributed leadership model supports teachers’ professional practice.
Transparent decision-making assists team leaders to implement shared and consistent expectations for responding to children’s learning. A deliberate decision to access an external appraiser for team leaders contributes significantly to growing and sustaining leadership capacity.
The principal promotes relevant professional learning. Leaders use appropriate expertise to build teachers’ capability for ongoing improvement. Well considered professional learning programmes in oral language and individual teaching inquiries are impacting positively on building teachers’ practice and improving outcomes for children.
The curriculum is inclusive, authentic and relevant. A strong emphasis is placed on literacy and mathematics, and on building children’s oral language and vocabulary. Differentiated learning programmes cater for children’s needs, strengths, and abilities. Teachers are continuing to develop self-directed learners by promoting student agency.
The school develops effective educational partnerships with parents and whānau. Parents receive useful information about their children's progress and achievement. Very good communication is evident between the parents of children with additional needs and outside support agencies. Parents who spoke with ERO value the school App that allows parents to share and contribute to their children’s learning.
School systems and teaching practices are underpinned by effective internal evaluation. School leaders use evaluation information well to inform decision-making that meets the requirements of learners and the changing school population. Teaching as inquiry is a feature of teachers’ professional practice. This is supporting leaders and teachers to respond holistically to the learning and wellbeing of all children.
School leaders agree the school’s development priorities include continuing to:
The school is a signatory to theEducation (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016(the Code) established undersection 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. At the time of this review there was one international student attending the school.
International students benefit from the school’s pastoral care systems and its inclusive, positive environment. English language programmes support the students to participate successfully across the curriculum and help them to integrate into all aspects of school life.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of New Lynn School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Strong.
ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in continuing to:
Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region
26 July 2019
|
Location |
New Lynn Auckland |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1389 |
|
School type |
Contributing (Years 1 – 6) |
|
School roll |
340 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 56% Girls 44% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 11% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
June 2019 |
|
26 July 2019 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review August 2014 |