Rere School

School Context

Rere School, catering for children in Years 1 to 8, is a rural school located fifty-three kilometres west of Gisborne. Of the 24 learners enrolled, 8 identify as Māori.

The school’s motto ‘Flying High’ underpins the vision to develop the whole child enabling personal excellence. This is supported by the values of: manaakitanga, respect, confidence, self-management and resilience/determination.

The school’s strategic aims are focused on enabling all students to successfully access The New Zealand Curriculum as evidenced by progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics. To have high performing personnel, and effective engagement and communication with parents and whānau to support children’s success are also school priorities.

The school’s annual student achievement aims for 2018 focused on improving the progress of all learners deemed at risk of not achieving in reading, writing and mathematics.

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

• achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

• attendance

• engagement and progress in other curriculum areas

• wellbeing.

The principal is long serving. Since the 2016 ERO review, there has been some turnover of staff and board members.

The school is involved a number of clusters of local schools for professional development and learning.

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 strongly focuses on promoting and achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

School data for 2018 indicates that the majority of students, including Māori, achieved at or above the school’s expectations in reading and writing. Most children achieve at or above expectations in mathematics, although there is a small disparity for Māori.

Children at risk of not achieving are well known by staff, and strategies are in place to address this.

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

Information for 2018 shows that a small number of students identified in the school’s achievement targets made accelerated progress and are now on track to achieve at expected levels.

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?

Trustees and staff strongly advocate for and support children to be confident, connected and actively involved in their learning. A broad curriculum provides students with a wide range of learning experiences. Opportunities to connect with the local environment and sites of significance promote children’s sense of place and belonging. Positive relationships among staff promote useful collaboration and information sharing. Parents, whānau and the community are actively involved in a range of school activities.

They know children and their strengths, interests and home contexts well.Students are respected as competent leaders of their learning. Children’s voice is regularly and purposefully gathered to inform classroom programmes and processes. The principal and teachers are attentive and respectful to the needs and preferences of learners.

Bicultural practices are valued and evident. Children have purposeful opportunities to explore and experience tikanga Māori in authentic and meaningful contexts.

Children are socially competent and confident. This is deliberately supported by a wide range of opportunities to liaise with local rural and larger schools.

The principal has a clear focus on accelerating the achievement of all learners. Teachers use a range of nationally-referenced and school-developed assessment tools to gather achievement data. Students at risk of not achieving are well known. Sound moderation practice supports teachers to make dependable judgements about students’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

Teachers are highly reflective and improvement focused. Appraisal processes are closely linked to the Standards for the Teaching Profession and make good use of current resources. Newer teachers are supported through appropriate encouragement and challenge to look closely at their practice. Further development of measureable outcomes for children’s success would support teachers to better understand the impact of their teaching practices.

The board actively represents and serves the school and community in its stewardship role. Ongoing professional learning and development is planned to support board growth and development.

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

The school’s documented curriculum needs further review and development so it better reflects and guides current priorities, initiatives and practice. This should capture the experienced curriculum with its focus on the local community and bicultural nature of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Expectations for effectively responding to Māori learners should be clearly articulated based on a shared vision of success, informed by whānau and iwi aspirations.

The principal is reflective and gathers a good range of information to inform decision making for improvement. Further developing a shared understanding and use of internal evaluation is a key next step. This should better support trustees and staff to know what has the most significant impact on raising achievement, and what is needed to sustain ongoing improvement of equity and excellence.

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 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO‘s overall evaluation judgement of Rere School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• responsive teaching and learning environments that contribute to high levels of student engagement in and ownership of learning

• positive staff relationships that promote collaboration to enhance learning opportunities for children

• reflective and improvement-focused teachers who are committed to learner success.

Next steps

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

• reviewing the school’s documented curriculum to ensure it is current, localised and reflects the bicultural aspect of Aotearoa New Zealand

• strengthening internal evaluation processes and practices to better determine the effectiveness of teaching programmes and learning initiatives on improving learner outcomes.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

24 April 2019

About the school