Summary
Snells Beach Primary School is on the Mahurangi Peninsula, north of Auckland. Established in 2009, the school caters for children in Years 1 to 6 in a purpose-built, spacious and eco-friendly facility. The school is well planned to sustain and make best use of its local bush and beach environments. A new Principal and Associate Principal have been recently appointed, from within the school.
While the school’s roll is predominantly Pākehā, Māori make 18 percent of the roll and 15 percent are from Pacific backgrounds. Positive relationships with local iwi and hapū, and the wider community, enhance opportunities and outcomes for children and families. The school is a member of the Mahurangi Community of Learning l Kāhui Ako (CoL).
How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?
Achievement data show good progress for most children during their time at the school. They achieve well in the National Standards by the end of Year 6. The school has a focus on increasing equity in achievement for Māori children and for boys.
Effective school leadership, a relevant curriculum, and strengthened partnerships with whānau are supporting the achievement of equity and excellence. Specific action plans and internal evaluation systems are being developed, to set consistent expectations for practices that support children’s understanding and ownership of their achievement and next learning steps. Ongoing development is needed in these areas.
Learners are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Equity and excellence
How effectively does this school respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?
The school fosters a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing for all. The school values are highly evident in practice. Classrooms are settled, purposeful environments. Children with additional learning needs are well supported and fully involved in the programme. Older children have opportunities to support their younger peers and to be of service in the school and local community. Affirming and nurturing relationships are modelled at all levels of the school.
Reading, writing and mathematics results show that most children make good progress during their time at the school, with over 85 percent successfully reaching National Standards by the end of
Year 6. Across the school, more children tend to achieve ‘above’ than ‘at’ the Standard in reading and mathematics. The school is considering ways to replicate this picture in its writing results.
Analysis of annual achievement data informs targets for improving learning outcomes for children in the key areas of literacy and mathematics. The board receives six-monthly data updates, enabling them to review and refine targets and planning.
Leaders and teachers use data to identify children requiring further support, and initiate various programmes to target their needs. Since the 2014 ERO review, the school’s Pacific improvement plan has contributed to positive outcomes for Pacific children, with examples of accelerated learning progress.
Leaders have identified that the programme has so far served Māori children less well than others in terms of raising achievement. There is also disparity for boys. Trustees and leaders are aware of the limited success of prior initiatives in improving outcomes for these groups, and are exploring ways to enhance the school’s strategic response in the future.
School conditions supporting equity and excellence
What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?
Since the 2014 ERO review, an appropriate and growing emphasis has been placed on supporting Māori children to experience success. A commitment to supporting people, place and environment is more evident in the curriculum and programme in action. The support and involvement of Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Wai iwi representatives is welcomed by trustees and leaders. The school has prioritised further embedding of these partnerships in strategic decision making. A developing Māori strategy respectfully builds on whānau relationships.
The principal has implemented a collaborative leadership structure. Professional development is prioritised and increasingly aligned with school goals. Within the school, and via professional networks, staff are increasingly able to share strategies for supporting individuals and groups of learners. There is a focus on knowing children’s interests, strengths and needs, in order to plan more responsive programmes. Teacher aides and support staff work as an integral part of the teaching team to foster children’s potential.
The school’s curriculum integrates aspects of learning and meaningfully supports children’s developing knowledge and inquiry skills. In particular, there are authentic learning opportunities for children to explore their local area. Education outside the classroom makes best use of the natural surroundings and close proximity to bush and beach. The significance of the Mahurangi River and Kawau Bay in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand, provides a unique opportunity for children to develop bicultural understandings and perspectives. Strong community relationships support this focus. Iwi and hapū connections are increasingly woven through programmes, enhancing learning for all.
Sustainable development for equity and excellence
What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?
Trustees and leaders have a commitment to improving outcomes for all children. A key element of this focus is to further develop existing relationships with whānau and parents, to build stronger learning-focused partnerships.
While strategic goals identify the school’s valued outcomes, associated planning would benefit from clarification ofresponsibilities, actions and expectations. More specific action planning could help the board, leaders and staff to enhance the quality of provision across learning areas for target students.
The school is well placed to strengthen inquiry and internal evaluation practice, including more rigorous and regular scrutiny of achievement data. This would provide more opportunities for more closely monitoring and reviewing the impact of classroom programmes on children’s learning, engagement and achievement, including for Māori and for boys.
Opportunities for children to discuss their learning goals and next steps, when consistently integrated through classroom teaching and learning, serve as a further tool for strengthening engagement and achievement, and accelerating children’s progress. Clarity about expectations for promoting student agency could promote this consistency. It would also be worthwhile to align teachers’ goal setting and inquiry with shared expectations for teaching and learning.
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:
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?
Learners are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.
Agreed next steps are to:
-
establish more specific planning and clear expectations for promoting children’s understanding and ownership of their achievement and next learning steps
-
continue to explore and embed successful strategies that promote equitable outcomes for Māori children and boys
-
use internal evaluation more effectively to support continual improvement.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
6 September 2017
About the school
|
Location
|
Snells Beach
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number
|
6759
|
|
School type
|
Contributing Years 1 to 6
|
|
School roll
|
222
|
|
Gender composition
|
Boys 53% Girls 47%
|
|
Ethnic composition
|
Māori 18%
Pākehā 66%
Pasifika 15%
Asian 1%
|
|
Provision of Māori medium education
|
No
|
|
Review team on site
|
June 2017
|
|
Date of this report
|
6 September 2017
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s)
|
Education Review May 2014
Education Review June 2011
|