Papakura Intermediate

Summary

Papakura Intermediate has 105 children enrolled in Years 7 and 8. Seventy-four percent of learners are of Māori descent and 22 percent identify as Pacific. Since the2014 ERO review the school has a new principal and senior leadership team and new teachers and members of the board of trustees. The current principal was appointed late in 2014.

The school has low overall levels of achievement. Accelerating students’ progress and lifting achievement is a key priority for the board, leaders and teachers. For this reason, between 2014 and 2016 teachers have undertaken professional learning and development designed to help them accelerate students’ progress and lift achievement. This has included support through a Ministry of Education Student Achievement Function Practitioner.

Staff turnover through 2016 had adversely affected the sustainability of some of the teacher professional learning and development. However, recent appointments, greater stability in staffing and an enhanced leadership structure are likely to enable leaders and teachers to re-embed this professional learning. This will assist leaders and teachers to continue building the quality and consistency of teachers’ approaches to lifting achievement.

Over the past two years the board and leaders have had a focus on improving school culture, student attendance and student wellbeing. They have also worked together to create better and well-resourced learning environments. This is helping students to develop a sense of ownership and pride in their learning. The theme of ‘pride’ is also reflected in the school’s values which have had a beneficial effect on students’ engagement with learning and helped to nurture a positive, responsive school culture.

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

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

The majority of the school’s roll is Maori. The school’s challenge is low overall levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. While there is no significant disparity in achievement across the school’s different cultural groups, there is some minor disparity in achievement for boys in reading and writing.

Despite the low levels of achievement, it is notable that during 2015 and 2016 students made some significant acceleration gains particularly in reading and mathematics. Some targeted students made good progress towards reaching expected levels of attainment and a small proportion reached the expected level.

School leaders selected mathematics as a key focus of recent staff professional learning. Teachers’ positive response to this is evident in the school’s mathematics achievement data which shows an improvement over the last two years. This saw an increased proportion of Year 8 students achieving at the expected level in mathematics.

Processes and systems have been developed to ensure that teachers’ assessment judgements are robust and reliable. The school’s moderation processes are sound.

Equity and excellence

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

The school is developing the capacity and capability to be increasingly effective in responding to Māoriand other children whose progress and achievement need acceleration.

Leaders and teachers have identified the students whose progress and achievement need to be accelerated. They are building teacher capability to implement approaches to effectively meet the needs of each learner.

A number of important developments underpin the school’s response to learners who require acceleration. These include strengthening connections to the Papakura community and involving parents and more in the school whānau. For example, the school charter has been reviewed and adaptedin consultation with the school community. Parents are also being given better information about their children’s classroom learning.

Te reo me ōna tikanga programmes are promoting a greater sense of belonging, identity and increased engagement on the part of Māori children and their whānau in particular. Forging stronger connections with whānau, parents and the community will support children’s learning and help teachers to build an increasingly responsive curriculum.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

Because students are only in the school for two years, school leaders are focussed on responding rapidly to lift individual and overall achievement levels and to achieve equity and excellence.

The board’s strategic priority is for leaders and teachers to promote learners’ well-being, accelerate their progress and lift achievement. For this reason, the board plans for, and actively scrutinises developments to build the collective teaching and leadership capability and capacity of staff. Recruiting teachers with relevant experience and high potential to implement a responsive curriculum for young Papakura learners, has been a key and successful component of the board and principal’s planning.

The new teaching team demonstrates the commitment and capacity to address the school’s achievement challenges. Staff professional development, has a learning community structure and strong student centred focus. It is appropriately geared for the school’s new, and more experienced teachers to share and build on key understandings for effective teaching and learning.

Teachers are continuing to learn about approaches and strategies to accelerate student progress and lift achievement. Ensuring that these deliberate approaches and strategies are used consistently well by teachers will be an important responsibility for the newly formed leadership team. Their work to achieve consistency will add to, and benefit from, the good appraisal processes that the school has in place for the issue and renewal of teacher practising certificates.

Students are experiencing a more responsive, engaging and effective curriculum. The principal has used her broad knowledge and experience across the educational sector to lead the development and implementation of an inquiry focused curriculum that is student lead. This curriculum incorporates an innovative and integrated approach to the area of technology learning. The approach engages and is interesting to learners. It is also attracting the attention of local primary schools which send their children to Papakura Intermediate for technology programmes.

The school is providing learners with settled and positive environments in which to learn. Teachers and students are establishing productive working relationships. They are also building trust through mutual respect and good communication. Students have good opportunities to collaborate and support each other’s learning and to learn valuable social skills.

The school demonstrates some good practices in relation to sexual diversity within the school community. Leaders are using the information from community consultation to strengthen the responsiveness of the school’s sexuality and health programmes. There are good systems in place for making referrals to social agencies and community resources to promote and support the physical and emotional wellbeing of children, families and whānau.

Sustainable developments for equity and excellence

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

Many useful systems, processes and practices introduced into the school since the previous ERO report have not been in place long enough to result in significantly improved student achievement. It will be necessary to continue to embed and refine these systems and practices. Using a systematic evaluation and inquiry cycle should help the school’s new and established teachers to sustain and build on the improvements that they have made to their practice.

The school’s strategic plan has successfully prioritised school culture and pastoral care as critical objectives for stabilising the school through 2015 and 2016. It is now timely to further prioritise accelerating students’ progress and lifting achievement in the strategic and annual plans. This would help trustees, school leaders and teachers to more accurately map and gauge their progress towards addressing the challenge of low levels of achievement.

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.

Going forward

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

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all learners. However, low achievement for Māori and/or other learners remains.

Leaders and teachers:

• know the learners whose progress and achievement need to be accelerated
• need to develop and implement approaches that effectively meet the needs of each learner
• need to continue building teacher capability to accelerate learners’ progress and achievement

The school agrees to:

• develop more targeted planning to accelerate progress for learners
• monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and learners’ progress
• discuss the school’s progress with ERO

ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop in response to a request by the school.

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

Julie Foley

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

9 March 2018

About the school