Tahuna School

1 Context

Tahuna School, located 20 kilometres north of Morrinsville, provides education for children in Years 1 to 6. At the start of 2014 a new principal started at the school and at the time of this ERO evaluation two of the four teachers have been at the school for less than two years. While the school's roll has remained relatively consistent, the number of children who are identified as Māori increased from four in 2015 to 13 in 2016. The board of trustees continue to fund extra staffing to ensure smaller class sizes in the junior area of the school for literacy and mathematics learning times.  

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are to:

• develop high levels of skills in literacy and mathematics
• develop and demonstrate positive leadership skills
• be digitally literate
• enthusiastic and joyful learners
• develop and exhibit the dispositions of perseverance, resilience, and innovation.

These valued outcomes are underpinned by the school's values of challenge, achieve, respect, encourage, and support.  

The school’s achievement information shows that from 2013 to 2015 approximately half of the small number of Māori children at the school achieved the appropriate National Standards. This data indicates approximately 80% of all children were at or above the National Standards in mathematics. While the school's data shows that some Māori children make accelerated progress, an ongoing challenge for the school is to raise achievement particularly for boys, in reading and writing.

Under the leadership of the principal, teachers are implementing some useful approaches to make National Standards judgements. In writing they use learning progressions to monitor children's achievement and progress throughout the year as well as working together, and with teachers from other schools, to analyse and assess sample of children's work. In reading and mathematics they use several assessment tasks and some nationally referenced tests to inform their overall judgements.

Since the last ERO evaluation the school have participated in professional learning in the areas of literacy and the effective use of digital technologies to enhance learning. The school continues to implement teacher and teacher aide provided support programmes to accelerate the achievement of identified children in reading. The principal has established a useful process to track and monitor the achievement of children in reading. It is important to refine these processes and to implement similar systems for writing and mathematics. 

3 Accelerating achievement

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

Under the leadership of the principal, teachers are implementing some useful processes to respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Teachers know children well and have useful processes to identify children whose learning requires acceleration. Raising achievement in reading and writing, particularly for boys continues to be a priority and a challenge for the school.

Trustees set targets in the charter focused on raising achievement. They should now review the format of these targets to more specifically focus on those children below the National Standards. Teachers implement a process that supports them to reflect on their teaching practice. This process should now be more closely aligned to teaching strategies most likely to accelerate the achievement of children at risk.

Factors that contribute to accelerating progress of children include:

• an increased focus on acceleration from the teaching team
• positive relationships between teachers and their students
• the introduction of useful processes that support children to be aware of their current achievement and next learning steps, particularly in writing
• implementation of support programmes particularly in reading.

To further promote accelerated progress priority should be given to:

• building teacher capability to support them to implement highly-effective programmes that respond to the needs of those students below the National Standards, in particular boys
• strengthening the use of achievement data by teachers to enable them to respond more specifically to the learning needs of individuals and groups of children. 

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The board, principal and staff are strongly committed to equitable outcomes for all children. A safe and family-like culture that is inclusive of all students is clearly evident in the school.

The principal and staff have established positive relationships with Māori whānau, parents and the wider community that has resulted in increased community involvement in the school. This includes implementing a useful process that assist parents to support their children's reading skills that is likely to result in improved levels of reading. Parents and whānau are well informed about their children's learning. They receive two comprehensive written reports each year and also have opportunities for formal discussions at three-way conferences with their children and teacher. These processes support parents to assist their children's learning at home. 

Trustees are supportive of the principal and teachers. They are well informed about school events and achievement levels. They make good use of this achievement information to inform their decision making especially about allocation of resources for Māori and other children at risk of under achieving, this includes funding support programmes in key areas of literacy.

Teachers work collegially in the best interests of children. While they are using some appropriate assessment tasks to support their National Standards judgements there is a need to strengthen moderation practices, particularly in reading and mathematics. ERO observed teachers using effective strategies that engage children in learning in calm and settled learning environments. They are developing some useful systems that support children to have a good understanding of their achievement and next learning steps. An important next step for teachers is to more deliberately and specifically use achievement information to plan and implement targeted teaching to accelerate progress.

Māori children's language, culture and identity is recognised and supported by increased whānau participation in school activities and events. Children have opportunities to participate and lead in whakatau to welcome guests and in school-wide kapa haka. Implementing the school's recently developed te reo Māori programme is a priority for school leaders and is likely to further support Māori children's sense of identity within the school.

Internal evaluation practices have been strengthened under the leadership of the principal. These practices are more focused on achievement information for those children below the National Standards. This is enabling leaders and trustees to evaluate the effectiveness of learning programmes and initiatives designed to raise achievement and accelerate progress.

There are many opportunities for children to experience success in a wide range of sporting, cultural and academic competitions and events. Children enjoy many learning experiences outside the classroom including camps and trips into the local and wider community. The principal and teachers have started to document the school's curriculum. As part of this process consideration should be given to developing:

• an agreed understanding of high-quality teaching at Tahuna School
• expectations and guidelines for the teaching of literacy and mathematics, including approaches that support accelerating boys achievement
• learning pathways in each of the curriculum areas.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• respond to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
• regularly evaluate how teaching is working for these children
• need to systematically act on what they know works for each child
• need to have a plan in place to build teacher capability to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it. 

Strengths for the school to accelerate the progress for Māori and other children below the National Standards include:

• effective professional leadership of the principal
• a strong commitment from trustees, leaders and teachers to equitable outcomes for all children
• meaningful partnerships among teachers, parents and the wider community that are increasingly focused on learning outcomes for children
• good-quality internal evaluation practices
• the recently introduced system that enables leaders to track and monitor the achievement of individual students.

To accelerate the achievement of at risk learners' priority should be given to:

• continuing to develop and refine processes that support teachers to make reliable National Standards judgements
• setting specific achievement targets in the charter focused on children below the National Standards
• tracking and monitoring the achievement of at risk children in writing and mathematics, as well as reading
• developing an agreed understanding of effective teaching practice of literacy and mathematics, particularly for boys
• teachers more deliberately using achievement data to plan specific learning programmes for targeted children
• implementing consistent school-wide processes that support children to be aware of their achievement and next steps for learning.

Action: The board, principal and teachers should use the findings of this evaluation, the Effective School Evaluation resource, the Internal Evaluation: Good Practice exemplars and the School Evaluation Indicators to develop a Raising Achievement Plan to further develop processes and practices that respond effectively to the strengths and needs of children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated.

As part of this review ERO will continue to monitor the school’s Raising Achievement plan and the progress the school makes. ERO is likely to carry out the next full review in three years. 

6 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 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
• processes for appointing staff
• stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
• attendance
• compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014 

7 Recommendation

The principal and teachers should develop a raising achievement plan to further develop processes and systems to accelerate progress of children achieving below the National Standards. 

Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer

13 July 2016 

About the school