Strathmore School

Strathmore School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 20 months of the Education Review Office and Strathmore 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

Strathmore School is located in Tokoroa and caters for learners in Years 1 to 6. Since the last ERO review in 2020 a new principal has been appointed and there have some staffing changes. The school ‘REAL’ values of Respect, Excellence, Attitude and Leadership are well-established and highly visible in the school.

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

  • uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, inclusively value and embrace Māori, including everyday tikanga and Te Reo Māori, identity all cultures, recognising our Pacific cultures, and create a supportive whānau / community environment

  • ensure our ākonga, with their whānau & community, will reach their educational potential with high aspirations, by reducing barriers, maximising learning opportunities, to become self-managers and life-long learners

  • ensure ākonga, kaimahi, whānau and community are provided a culturally, physically, emotionally and spiritually safe environment where everyone can build resilience, confidence and cultural identity

  • provide engaging learning opportunities so that our ākonga, with the support of whānau / aiga, koputangata, will attend school regularly.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well student achievement is being accelerated to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • accelerate levels of engagement and achievement levels for at risk learners

  • strengthen teacher efficacy in accelerating learner progress

  • strengthen student efficacy and ownership of their learning journey

  • build internal evaluation practice across the school.

The school expects to see:

  • improved achievement outcomes for all learners across the school

  • accelerated progress for priority learners and progressively addressing any disparity in achievement for groups of learners

  • a continuation of the school’s culturally responsive teaching and learning journey.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to accelerate student achievement to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners:

  • an inclusive, culturally responsive learning climate, reflective of the school community and values

  • systems to promote student wellbeing, participation, and outcomes for students with additional needs

  • partnerships with parents and whānau that are focused on learning and school direction

  • leaders and teachers are focused on developing engaging learning programmes.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • professional learning to further promote culturally responsive teaching and learning

  • revisiting the approach to setting targets, planning and reporting to focus on accelerated progress for all learners

  • professional learning to continue strengthening teacher and student efficacy.

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 April 2023 

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

Strathmore School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of May 2022, the Strathmore School Board 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 Strathmore School, School Board.

The next School Board 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 April 2023 

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

Strathmore School

Findings

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

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Strathmore School is in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa. A significant majority of the school roll is Māori and Pacific. The last ERO report identified several aspects of school operations requiring improvement to more effectively provide excellent and equitable outcomes for students. This report summarises the progress made during the past two years. It also provides some useful next steps for the school to continue to promote positive outcomes for all learners.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development
  • The use of assessment data to inform teaching.
  • Student ownership and agency of learning.
  • Student engagement in class programmes.

Significant progress has been made in addressing these areas for review and development.

Progress

Using assessment data to inform teaching: Leaders have introduced systems that enable consistency of practice across assessment, planning and teacher appraisal. Consistency in these areas is providing a sound platform to further build teacher capability to provide more targeted programmes for students. An assessment schedule has been developed to guide teachers, including a summary of school-wide expectations for practice. Leaders monitor these expectations which has led to improved accountability and rigour. School-wide processes to moderate teacher judgements about individual student achievement support these judgements to be increasingly dependable.

Students are grouped for instruction and target learners are clearly identified in teacher planning. Good use is made of assessment information to identify, track and monitor progress for these learners.

Student ownership and agency of learning: Leaders have introduced a variety of learning progression frameworks and expectations to support teachers to make the purpose of learning clear to students. Teachers frequently provide feedback to students about their learning and next steps. Strategies that enable students to set and revisit learning goals are developing. The school continues to explore practices that enable students to be well informed about their learning journey.

Student engagement in class programmes: Teachers and leaders have been involved in sustained, school-wide, externally facilitated professional learning to improve their practice and enhance levels of student engagement in learning. This has provided teachers with shared understandings about current best practice. It has also provided a shared context for teachers to discuss their professional learning journey and share their ideas about ongoing improvement. Teachers work collaboratively, sharing assessments, reflections, successes and challenges.

Teachers set and maintain high expectations for levels of student engagement. Well-developed classroom management strategies contribute to settled and productive learning environments. Routines are well established and communicated to students, who benefit from respectful relationships with their teachers, which are consistent with school values.

Students’ learning is enhanced through a curriculum that strongly reflects the language, culture and identity of Māori students. Te reo and tikanga Māori are highly visible and well-integrated into classroom teaching programmes. Teachers model te reo Māori, which is strongly present in classroom environments. Frequent scheduled and spontaneous events and hui provide opportunities for students to practise te reo, learn about Māori role models and hear te reo used in everyday contexts.

Key next steps

A focus on the acceleration of progress for all at-risk learners needs to be strengthened across the following aspects of school operations:

Strategic and annual planning: Strategic and annual planning and reporting processes need to be strengthened beginning with annual targets that include all students whose learning is at risk. This will enable the school to focus more explicitly on accelerating learning for all students who need it. This will also enable leaders to report the story of accelerated outcomes to trustees across the year and trustees to scrutinise the data more fully.

Internal evaluation: A more thorough focus on evaluation of the effectiveness of school-wide teaching programmes, initiatives and interventions is needed to enable leaders and trustees to be more aware of how well the school is making a difference for the most learners. This focus should enable decisions about teacher professional learning, support programmes and resourcing to be increasingly responsive to students’ need for accelerated outcomes.

Targeted planning and teaching: There is an opportunity for the school to build on current practice in mathematics to inform more targeted teacher planning across other curriculum areas. This will involve teachers considering which strategy was most effective in accelerating student progress and why.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?

The school is developing the capability to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.

Since the last ERO review in 2018 the school has provided targeted professional learning for teachers which is building their capability to reflect on and improve their practice. Trustees receive useful reports about student achievement and there is a continual cycle of planning and improvement. Leaders and teachers have increased their capability to improve student achievement. The school values continue to be highly present and provide a shared language for students, teachers and whānau.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees 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:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance
  • school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014.

In order to improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  1. ensure a system is established that enables them to be assured that all staff members in non-teaching positions have a current Police vet.
Conclusion

Good progress has been made in addressing the areas for improvement identified in the 2018 ERO report. Trustees actively represent the school community and the school is well engaged with parents and whānau. Relationships between students and teachers are respectful and reciprocal. The teaching team is collegial and the school (REAL) values are highly visible.

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

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.

Phil Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)

Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

9 March 2021

About the school

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.