Rolleston Christian School - 21/06/2017

Summary

Rolleston Christian School opened in 2015 and has a roll of 119 children. The roll continues to grow across all levels of the school. 16% of children have English as a second language.

Since the ERO Assurance Audit in 2016 the school has made good progress in addressing areas for development from that review.

There has been an effective transition of governance from the establishment board to the elected board. Continuity has been maintained through the position of the board chairperson and proprietors.

The embedded school values and vision create a culture for achieving equity and excellence for all children.

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

The school responds very effectively to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school, through its vision and values, is achieving equitable outcomes for all children.

The school’s processes, systems and practices support the progress and achievement of all children. The school has made good use of effective internal evaluation practices to identify key areas for development that include:

teachers developing an inquiry process to ensure teaching strategies are effective
fully implementing the newly-introduced integrated curriculum
continuing to embed bicultural perspectives with the support of local rūnanga
developing a process for evaluating school-wide achievement patterns and trends.

At the time of this review the board was in the process of developing a 3 to 5 year plan that includes what a successful student profile or outcomes would look like for this school. Children were experiencing meaningful contexts for learning. Positive whānau, parent and school relationships were evident.

The school is well placed to accelerate the achievement of children as required.

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

Equity and excellence

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

The school responds very effectively to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Most children are at or above the National Standards in reading, mathematics and writing. The learning needs of children are met through flexible groupings for extension opportunities and for acceleration. Most Māori and Pacific children are achieving at or above the National Standards.

School leaders and teachers have strong systems to identify children’s learning needs. They respond quickly to implement a variety of successful strategies and monitoring practices to ensure children’s achievement is accelerated.

The valued outcomes of this school are faith based and are supported by the school values of HELP: Hope, Excellence, Love and Peace. This creates a positive learning culture that contributes to children achieving equity and excellence.

In reading, writing and mathematics there are effective assessment processes in place. Through internal evaluation senior leaders have identified that their next steps are to develop an assessment framework for the newly-introduced integrated curriculum (LIGHTS).

There are clearly identifiable internal systems to support the consistency of assessment and how teachers make decisions about children’s progress and achievement.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

The school has effective faith-based values and practices in place to achieve equity and excellence for all children.

The trustees and senior leaders effectively use their skills and knowledge to prioritise children whose achievement needs acceleration. They focus on successful outcomes for the whole child. They are strongly focused and are committed to ongoing school improvement through the school’s values and special character. Trustees are well informed through accurate and regular reports on student achievement and the school’s strategic goals.

Teachers know their children and whānau well. This creates a positive and inclusive learning culture where children’s language, culture and identity are highly valued. Reflective practices are well developed by teachers to inquire into the effectiveness of their strategies used.

Parents and whānau are valued and respected partners of learning. Leaders use a wide variety of ways to communicate and consult with all stakeholders and are responsive to parents’ opinions and ideas. The school whānau structure has a positive impact on building school culture and equity.

The curriculum is strongly focused on promoting the best ways for children to learn in this school. It is values based, localised and focuses on helping children learn how to learn, develop thinking skills and become self–managing learners.

Strategic planning is effective, targeted and coherent. The key focus is on meeting the learning needs of all children and enhancing and improving teaching strategies. This links clearly to all school documentation such as the school’s vision, appraisal, curriculum and targeted professional development.

The board and principal have an effective ongoing process of internal evaluation that focuses on individual student achievement and school culture. As a result systems and processes are improving and ensure children are more engaged in their learning.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

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

Since opening in 2015 the school has developed strong processes to ensure equity and excellence for its children. Leaders have developed effective internal evaluation practices and have made good use of these to identify areas for further improvement.

The school has identified and ERO agrees, that leaders and teachers should:

develop an inquiry process to ensure teaching strategies are effective
fully implement an assessment structure for the newly-introduced integrated curriculum
continue embedding bicultural perspectives with the support of local rūnanga
develop a process for evaluating school-wide achievement patterns and trends.

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 is well placed to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it.

Children are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, and this is supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.

Agreed next steps are to:

develop an inquiry process to ensure teaching strategies are effective
develop and fully implement an assessment structure for the newly-introduced integrated curriculum
continue embedding bicultural perspectives with the support of local rūnanga
develop a process for evaluating school-wide achievement patterns and trends.