Reporoa School

Education institution number:
1923
School type:
Contributing
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
102
Telephone:
Address:

34 Massey Road, Reporoa

View on map

Reporoa School

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Reporoa 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 

Reporoa School is located in Reporoa Village, a rural community between Rotorua and Taupō and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. Reporoa School prioritises a positive and inclusive culture for all that is supported by REPS – the school values of Respectful, Engaged, Positive, Striving.

Reporoa School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • focus on high expectations for outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners

  • refine collaborative teaching and learning strategies to empower learner agency

  • foster a positive and inclusive school environment

  • promote active partnership and collaboration with whānau, community and iwi.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well school-wide structures, programmes and expectations for teaching and learning empower learner agency, collaboration, and inclusion resulting in outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • the need to improve outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners

  • the opportunity it provides to evaluate and strengthen the effectiveness of collaborative and inclusive teaching and learning practices school-wide

  • to strengthen effective use of assessment to respond to learner needs and support learner goal setting and agency.

The school expects to see enhanced and sustainable teaching and learning processes and practices that empower learner agency, inclusion, collaboration and high expectations of equity and excellence for all, particularly in the learning area of literacy.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal of enhancing sustainable teaching and learning practices that empower learner agency, inclusion, collaboration and high expectations of equity and excellence for all:

  • clear planning for improvement that details actions and outcomes

  • externally facilitated professional learning that is supported by internal expertise in the focus area of literacy

  • collaborative and committed staff and leaders focused on improving outcomes for all learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners through:

  • focused staff professional learning in literacy to support identified areas of need for learners

  • professional learning to strengthen the use of valid assessment to effectively inform teaching and learning, and to support learner goal setting for improvement

  • high expectations for consistent and transitional teaching and learning practices across the school

  • continuing to prioritise whānau, community and iwi partnerships to support valued outcomes for all learners.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

14 September 2022

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

Reporoa School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of September 2021, the Reporoa School Board of Trustees 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 Reporoa School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees 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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

14 September 2022 

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

Reporoa School - 14/08/2018

School Context

Reporoa School is located in the township of Reporoa. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 6 who come from the local and surrounding rural area. The school roll of 100 consists of approximately equal Māori and numbers of Pākehā students, and very few students from other nationalities.

The school’s mission is to provide an education that is learner focused, inclusive and supported by productive partnerships. The school’s strategic aims focus on:

  • celebrating continuous learning through growth in learner agency

  • fostering a positive and inclusive school culture through collaboration

  • promoting active community engagement to embrace cultural heritage and connectedness to the world.

The school prioritises the values of ‘REPS’ that encourages students to be Respectful, Engaged, Positive and Striving.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • reading, writing and mathematics

  • attendance.

Attendance data shows transience, with up to one third of the roll changing from 2016 to 2017.

Since the previous review in 2015 there have been significant changes to the leadership and the teaching team. A new principal was appointed in Term 2 of 2016. The majority of trustees are experienced and long serving in their roles. Teachers have undertaken professional learning in a number of areas including, assessment and moderation, accelerating literacy learning (ALL), positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) and curriculum development.

The school is part of the Reporoa Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The school is not achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

The school’s achievement data from 2015 to 2017 shows the majority of students achieved at or above expected levels in mathematics and approximately half in reading and writing. The school’s data indicates that overall levels of achievement have declined over the past three years.

There is significant disparity in achievement for Māori students in all areas. Less than half of Māori students achieved at expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Girls are achieving at significantly higher levels than boys in all areas. This pattern of disparity for Māori students and boys has remained consistent over time.

School data shows that students with special needs make appropriate progress in relation to their individual goals.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

The school can show accelerated progress for some Māori and other students whose learning is at risk. The school has successfully accelerated the overall progress of at-risk students in reading. However, the data also indicates that fewer Māori students made accelerated progress.

The school’s data for targeted interventions in 2017 shows accelerated progress in reading and writing for Year 2 students and for Māori and other students in writing.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

There is a supportive and inclusive culture for learning. The school’s vision and values are well embedded. A school-wide focus on positive behaviour strategies has improved wellbeing and engagement for students. There are warm and affirming relationships between teachers and students. Students at risk and those with additional needs are clearly identified.

Parents feel well informed and communication with teachers supports them with students’ learning at home. Māori students language and identity are affirmed through participation in te reo and tikanga Māori cultural practices.

Professional leadership is development focused. New frameworks have been established to guide many aspects of teacher practice. The appraisal and teaching as inquiry processes are promoting a stronger focus on accelerating outcomes for students in reading and writing. Leadership is strongly focused on using assessment data to monitor and track progress over time. Professional learning and development has been prioritised to support teachers’ assessment capability and improve the overall reliability of the data.

The board is working closely with the principal to improve outcomes for students. Consultation with parents, families, whānau and the community about the school’s charter, has strengthened a shared vision and purpose for the school. The principal keeps trustees well informed about the progress and achievement of all students. Trustees are increasingly scrutinising achievement data and using this information to improve equitable opportunities for students needing additional learning support.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

There is a need to refocus annual targets on students whose learning requires acceleration. In addition, the principal and board now need to extend the targeted achievement process to include reading and mathematics as well as writing.

Aspects of teaching practice need to be strengthened. Leaders and teachers need to implement and embed systems and practices to:

  • accelerate learning especially in writing and mathematics, particularly for Māori students and boys

  • improve their understanding and use of learning progressions

  • develop students’ knowledge of their learning, assessment and next steps, especially for at-risk students

  • strengthen culturally responsive practices, guided by the principles of Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners, within classroom programmes to raise Māori student achievement.

3 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

  • finance

  • 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.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • a curriculum that enables a culture for learning, sense of belonging and wellbeing for students

  • governance that recognises the importance of raising student achievement across the school, and the achievement of equitable outcomes for Māori and all learners.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • targeted planning to accelerate learning

  • building teacher capability to achieve equity for Māori students and boys and raise overall levels of achievement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

14 August 2018

About the school

Location

Reporoa

Ministry of Education profile number

1923

School type

Contributing (Years 1-6)

School roll

100

Gender composition

Girls 41% Boys 59%

Ethnic composition

Māori 47%
Pākehā 46%
Other 7%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

June 2018

Date of this report

14 August 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review May 2015
Education Review May 2012