Tāmaki School

Tamaki School - 27/02/2019

Findings

Tamaki School has made significant progress to improve teaching, assessment practices and internal evaluation, and to accelerate learning progress for those children most at risk of not experiencing learning success. The school has had sufficient professional development to build on recent developments and to support ongoing improvements in teaching practices and outcomes for children.

1 Background and Context

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

Tamaki School is a Year 1 to 8 primary school in Panmure. It has a roll of 222 children, with high numbers of Māori and Pacific students, and smaller groups from other diverse cultural backgrounds.

The 2016 Education Review Office (ERO) review identified a number of areas where the school needed to make improvements, including governance, curriculum and teaching practices. Because of the concerns in these areas, ERO has continued to monitor the school’s progress through a longitudinal review process.

The school has worked with several external professional development providers over the past two years to improve internal evaluation and teaching practices, including assessment.

2 Review and Development

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

Priorities identified for review and development
  • developing and revising the curriculum

  • professional learning and development focused on effective teaching and internal evaluation

  • accelerating students’ learning progress and achievement

  • developing effective governance practices.

Progress
Curriculum

The principal has ably led the review and development of the school’s curriculum. The curriculum is now more holistic, localised, and responsive to children’s cultures and lived experiences, and to those of the community. It is appropriately focused on the school’s priorities of reading, writing, and mathematics and promotes the development of children’s inquiries in science and the arts. The curriculum reflects the principles, values and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum. It provides guidance for taking a broad approach to giving children learning opportunities that engage and support them to progress and achieve.

The school’s curriculum promotes children’s Māori, Tongan, Samoan and Cook Island cultural identities and languages. Pacific learners have good opportunities to celebrate their cultures and engage in meaningful learning contexts.

The curriculum reflects the school’s involvement in the Manaiakalani Community of Learners (CoL), which aims to build “future-focused learning in connected communities through digital learning”. This involvement has motivated children’s enthusiasm for learning. The Manaiakalani framework for learning promotes children being ‘hooked into learning’ through creativity and sharing their work with authentic audiences. This learning framework supports them to be self-managing, critical thinkers and encourages a collaborative learning culture.

Parents contribute well to the school’s local curriculum. Māori whānau, through Whānau Roopu, support te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, kapa haka and local history learning for children. They support teachers to develop a culturally responsive curriculum. Leaders and teachers are making good progress towards reaching the school’s goals that reflect Ka Hikitia, the Ministry of Education’s strategy for Māori learners to achieve success as Māori.

Professional learning and development

Leaders and teachers have benefited from participation in relevant external and internal professional learning and development. Teaching practices and evaluation capabilities have improved across the school.

Teachers have recently started to build their capability in teaching mathematics in response to children’s learning needs. Leaders and teachers are participating in the Developing Mathematics Inquiry Communities (DMIC) professional development, and will continue this in 2019. They have undertaken literacy professional development in response to children’s identified reading needs. Ongoing support is provided to deliver the Manaiakalani ‘Learn Create Share’ framework for digital technologies. New teachers, and those who are new to the school, receive intensive induction to deliver the ‘Learn Create Share’ framework.

Teachers’ assessment practices are effective. They use reliable assessment tools and carry out robust moderation of writing assessment across the Manaiakalani CoL. The principal reports that leaders and teachers will begin to use the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT) for mathematics moderation in 2019. Teachers use research based evidence to justify and validate their judgements about progress and achievement. They have increased confidence in their assessment practices.

The principal and leaders model ‘teaching as inquiry’. They demonstrate the interpretation and analysis of data. This is supporting teachers to make sense of assessment data and build their evaluation capabilities. Team leaders collaborate with their teams, and individual teachers to analyse their class data. As a result of a collaborative analysis process, teachers are well-supported to inquire into data, critique and share effective practices, and develop shared understandings about children’s progress and achievement. A culture of openness and trust is evident within the school.

Accelerated student learning progress and achievement

Achievement information over the last three years indicates that about half of the school’s learners are working at their expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Reading continues to be the strongest curriculum area with almost 60 percent of children achieving at their expected levels. Leaders and teachers across the CoL are building children’s oral language to contribute further to lifting reading and writing achievement.

Teachers have improved their use of achievement information to inform their teaching programme and practices. Their significant growth in ‘teaching as inquiry’ includes identifying, at an early stage, those children who are at risk of not achieving. They frequently inquire into and adapt teaching strategies to accelerate children’s learning. Close monitoring shows that, in some cases, while children make accelerated progress throughout the year, they do not reach their expected curriculum levels within the year.

Teachers take shared responsibility for children’s learning. A culture of relational trust underpins the high expectations for teaching and learning that exist in the school. Children with additional learning needs are supported to learn and progress, and some make accelerated progress.

Effective governance

The board has developed effective governance practices. The principal provides comprehensive reports to the board, particularly about children’s achievement. Trustees scrutinise achievement information for clarity and understanding about how well children are progressing, and they allocate resources appropriately.

Trustees are meeting their statutory obligations as a board and know their community well. They live locally and have generational connections with the community. The board regularly reports to and consults with the community.

The board, through one of the trustees, participates in the new intensification development strategy for the Tamaki community. This allows the board to be informed about community developments and to consider the future implications for the school. The board is working closely with the Ministry of Education in relation to the modernisation of the school.

Over the past two years, all trustees have participated in governance training through the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA). This engagement has helped them to build their understanding about their governance roles and responsibilities.

Key next steps

Next steps for the school are in:

  • continuing to work with the Whānau Roopu, to explore their aspirations for introducing a bilingual approach to learning

  • developing teachers’ capability to teach te reo Māori, implement the localised curriculum, and integrate bicultural practices.

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 well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.

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.

Conclusion

Tamaki School has made significant progress to improve teaching, assessment practices and internal evaluation, and to accelerate learning progress for those children most at risk of not experiencing learning success. The school has had sufficient professional development to build on recent developments and to support ongoing improvements in teaching practices and outcomes for children.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

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

Steve Tanner
Director Review and Improvement Services Northern
Northern Region

27 February 2019

About the School

Location

Panmure, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1526

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

222

Gender composition

Boys 57% Girls 43%

Ethnic composition

Māori
Tongan
Samoan
Cook Island Māori
other ethnic groups

37%
30%
14%
6%
13%

Review team on site

December 2018

Date of this report

27 February 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

June 2016
March 2012
November 2008

Tamaki School - 30/06/2016

1 Context

Tamaki School educates children in Years 1 to 8 from a multicultural community. Years 7 and 8 children are a new addition to the school since Tamaki Intermediate School closed at the beginning of 2013. Fifty percent of children now at the school are Māori. There a similar number of children with Pacific heritage, and a small group of Asian children. Some staff are able to communicate with children and families in their home languages.

A long-serving deputy principal of the school was appointed to the principal's role in 2014. Most trustees have been on the board for a long time and are planning to stand for re-election in 2016, alongside other potential candidates. A significant number of teachers are new to the school in the past few years. Tamaki School continues to host students from Sommerville Special School in a newly constructed facility.

The school is involved in the Manaiakalani digital learning project. There are also many other initiatives in place to support the high number of learners who are underachieving.

2 Equity and excellence

The school has a vision for all children to learn, experience success and achieve well within a supportive environment. It aims to prepare children to be confident, lifelong learners who contribute successfully in a multicultural, multi-media society. The school's curriculum is based on the values of rangimarie, ako, tukumarie, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga: peace, learning together, tolerance, caring for each other, and building positive relationships.

The school’s achievement information shows that Māori and Pacific children achieve similarly in relation to the National Standards. Approximately fifty percent of children achieve at and above the National Standards in reading, with a lower percentage achieving well in writing and mathematics. From 2013 to 2015, student achievement in reading and writing declined for both groups, while achievement in mathematics has increased for Pacific children. In 2015 Māori children achieved better in reading, and Pacific children achieved better in mathematics.

The school moderates teachers' levelling of children's writing samples with other local schools. Teachers within the school meet together to moderate the evidence they collect to make overall teacher judgements about children's achievement in relation to the National Standards. The school could consider using the progress and consistency tool (PaCT) developed by the Ministry of Education (MoE). The local principal cluster group is currently in discussion about how they might make use of this moderation tool when they become a community of learning.

Since ERO's 2012 ERO review, teachers have accessed professional learning in mathematics and literacy, including being supported to make learning more visible and clear for students. For the past two years, the school has been part of the Ministry of Education's Mutukaroa project aimed at forging learning partnerships with parents and their children. The school is also part of the Manaiakalani digital learning initiative. In addition, the school is now accessing specialist support from the Ministry of Education to address some of its intentions for providing bilingual Māori education and to improve student achievement overall. A further new initiative is PB4L, designed to address concerns about student behaviour.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school is somewhat effective in responding to Māori children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

Senior leaders and teachers are aware of the urgency in accelerating the achievement of Māori children who are achieving below the National Standards. For Māori children, this is around fifty percent in reading, writing and mathematics.

Teachers collect useful information about children and their achievement. They also use other information that helps them to respond to children's wellbeing so that learning can be prioritised.

To improve how well the school accelerates the progress of Māori children at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes, the board and school leaders agree that next steps include:

  • developing teachers' understanding of accelerating learning
  • strengthening the way teachers focus learning programmes on priority learners
  • aligning the board's achievement targets for priority learners to teachers' professional work and appraisal goals.

These next steps should ideally sit alongside an improved structure for leaders and teachers to monitor student progress and achievement, and to regularly evaluate the impact of their teaching and current interventions. This inquiry approach would enable the board to receive regular updated information about the effectiveness of the school programmes.

In addition, school leaders and teachers should review how well students receive and understand information about their own achievement. The school's current professional learning initiatives, especially Visible Learning and Mutukaroa are likely to further support the school with this important step in empowering children and parents to understand their own learning.

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

The school responds somewhat effectively to other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. The majority of other children are from Pacific nations with Samoan and Cook Island Māori the largest of these Pacific groups. A small number of children are from countries where languages other than English are spoken. The majority of these children either speak English as an additional language, or are learning English for the first time. These children achieve similarly to Māori children with about half achieving below the National Standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

Some teachers in the school have been supported to achieve qualifications in teaching English as a new language. These teachers use English language learning strategies in their classroom programmes and support other teachers to use these strategies.

Teacher aides also support other priority learners to develop their confidence and skills in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has various other specialist professionals, and initiatives and programmes to support children with special educational needs, well-coordinated by the Special Needs Coordinator.

The board of trustees receives information to let them know that these diverse programmes and initiatives are in place for students. However this information lacks analysis and currently the school has no clear way of knowing the impact of programmes or initiatives for particular learners. The board and senior leaders agree with ERO that the school should develop a system that allows leaders to monitor the progress students make and regularly review the types of intervention students require. This review should also include evaluating the impact of the work of teacher aides.

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 school's curriculum is at an early stage in supporting improvements for students and in enacting the vision, values, goals and targets to promote equity and excellence.

Parents receive useful written reports about their children's learning. Children's use of netbooks, especially in the senior part of the school, allows parents with internet access the opportunity to view some of their children's work. The Mutukaroa project continues to develop the way it works in partnership with parents around their children's learning.

Teachers access considerable professional learning aimed at promoting student learning and achievement. They plan programmes for children that are based on broad themes and that prioritise reading, writing and numeracy skills. In classrooms, children are focused and keen to learn. The challenge for teachers is to provide individual children with tasks that are adequately challenging to extend learning and accelerate achievement.

School leaders agree that a review and redesign of the school's curriculum is timely. They would like children to access a more culturally responsive curriculum that highlights Māori language, culture and identity and affirms the languages, cultures and identities of Pacific and other children. Children would benefit from a curriculum that provides:

  • differentiated classroom programmes based on their interests, strengths, talents and needs
  • literacy and numeracy integrated throughout learning areas such as science, technology, the arts and learning languages
  • opportunities to think critically and solve problems, and to lead their own learning and inquiry
  • a consistent and positive approach to promoting behaviour for learning.

The targets in the school charter for raising student achievement strategically through the curriculum goals over the next 3 to 5 years need to be underpinned with specific actions. A more directed and deliberate approach for students who are most at risk of not achieving should be the priority. The development of the curriculum and implementation plan will also need to be further considered.

Parents expressed their appreciation for the opportunities they have to discuss matters at the school and seek support to resolve any concerns. The board and ERO agree that trustees should work in partnership with whānau Māori, and with Pacific and other families to make the school's vision and values more meaningful to the community. This exercise would allow the vision and values to be more evident in the school's revised curriculum.

While trustees are committed to their governance roles and responsibilities, they do not receive adequate information to enable them to fulfil their role effectively. They would benefit from training and support in how to use analysed data from school leaders to good effect in improving outcomes for learners.

Trustees also need training to keep up to date with the government's priorities and with legislative changes. Ensuring that matters relating to disciplinary procedures in the school are documented to demonstrate that students' rights are protected in any exclusion from school and in board confidential discussions would be a good step.

There are a number of matters relating to the board's role as good employer that are a particular concern. At the time of the review the principal had not been appraised since her appointment two years ago. Most of the teacher aides had not been police vetted. Understanding by senior staff of the requirements for endorsing teachers for certification as registered teachers was poor.

Other key next steps include the board of trustees:

  • increasing its focus on the Māori, Pacific and other children who are at risk of not achieving at the National Standard in reading, writing and mathematics
  • receiving evaluative information from the principal that shows the impact of initiatives on accelerating the achievement of Māori, Pacific and other children
  • ensuring the principal and staff appraisals are implemented annually and that non-teaching staff are police vetted as required.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

Leaders and teachers:

  • know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
  • have not yet developed approaches that effectively meet the needs of each child
  • have not yet ensured the school is well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

Trustees, school leaders and ERO agree that useful next steps for the school include:

  • regularly evaluating how well teaching programmes and other initiatives are working for children whose achievement needs accelerating
  • setting and regularly evaluating the progress towards meeting specific achievement targets aimed at accelerating the achievement of Māori, Pacific and other children

ERO recommends that the school leaders coordinate the many different professional learning initiatives in place in the school, and ensure that the initiatives are aligning consistently to the board's strategic goals and targets.

ERO will carry out the next review in 1 to 2 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

Actions required

ERO identified significant areas of noncompliance. In order to meet their obligations to provide a safe environment for students and staff, trustees should:

  • undertake police vetting of staff employed as teacher aides, and
  • act as a good employer by ensuring that they have developed and implemented policies and procedures for employment and appraisal of staff
    [s77C State Sector Act 1988; National Administration Guidelines 3, 5].

7 Recommendations

ERO recommends that the school improves the quality of education for students. School leaders should collect and report regularly to the board evaluated information about the impact of teaching and other initiatives on accelerating children's achievement. The school should design a child-led and engaging curriculum that integrates literacy and numeracy across the learning areas.

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

30 June 2016

About the school

Location

Panmure, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1526

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

240

Gender composition

Boys 55% Girls 45%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Tongan

Samoan

Cook Island Māori

other

46%

27%

15%

5%

7%

Review team on site

May 2016

Date of this report

30 June 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

March 2012

November 2008

August 2005