Tauhei Combined School

Education institution number:
1985
School type:
Contributing
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
48
Telephone:
Address:

860 Tauhei Road, Tauhei

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Tauhei Combined School - 18/06/2020

Findings

The new principal has worked effectively with the commissioner, and more recently the new board of trustees, to address the areas of development. The principal and teachers work collaboratively to support and challenge students in their learning. The community supports the school and parents and whānau have confidence in the school. The school’s ability to use internal evaluation has improved.

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

1 Background and Context

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

Tauhei Combined School is a small rural school located 13 km north west of Morrinsville, catering for students in Years 1 to 6. The current roll of 33 includes seven students who are Māori. At the time of the 2018 ERO review a commissioner had been appointed to act on the board’s behalf. A new board was elected in 2019 and the commissioner recommended that his position end in August 2019. A new principal was appointed early in 2019.

2 Review and Development

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

Priorities identified for review and development

Re-establish productive relationships among teachers, parents and the wider community.

  • Build teacher capability, including aligning professional learning and development to school goals and implementing a robust appraisal system.
  • Gather dependable schoolwide achievement data to inform internal evaluation and ongoing school improvement.
  • Develop consistent use of student achievement information at class level to inform specific learning programmes and to build students’ understanding of their learning progress and next steps.
  • Fully implement the school’s policy and procedural guidelines to ensure the smooth operation of the school.
  • Address areas of non-compliance.
Progress
Re-establish relationships with teachers, parents, whānau and the community

Students, teachers, parents, whānau and the community demonstrate a strong sense of belonging to the school. Leadership has prioritised re-establishing key relationships with parents, whānau and the wider community. This has resulted in strong connections with local iwi that support and promote the bicultural heritage of Aoetearoa New Zealand. Parents feel valued and confident that their aspirations for their children are acknowledged and acted upon. Teachers work alongside the principal in a collaborative and respectful relationship. Learning partnerships between parents, teachers and students have been strengthened and there is evidence of parents’ involvement in their children’s learning. Relationships are supported by the increased frequency and quality of school communications.

Building teacher capability

There is a clear focus on developing the capability of teachers. Teacher appraisal processes are now robust and useful. These processes, along with a collaborative approach to the analysis of student achievement data, have enabled teachers to plan effectively for the learning needs of their students. Teachers involvement in targeted professional learning and development (PLD) has helped build their confidence to further enhance their practice. Teachers regularly track and monitor student achievement. This enables them to plan differentiated programmes so that students’ learning needs are catered for.

Dependable data to inform the strategic direction of the school and to inform teacher practice

Teachers have worked collaboratively to develop transparent processes to support their planning, administration and collation of student achievement data. They use a range of assessments to measure student achievement and rates of progress. Student achievement data is regularly discussed and recorded. Data is analysed and reported to the board of trustees. There has been an overall increase in student achievement and evidence that many students have made accelerated progress. Data is also used to identify target and priority students. These groups of students receive specific interventions to support their learning. Teachers’ professional inquiries also support the ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of teaching practice.

Developing internal evaluation capability

The school’s ability to use internal evaluation has improved. Trustees have moved to an online portfolio of policies and procedures. This should support ongoing review and strengthen the sound practices already in place. It should also ensure policies and practices reflect current best practice guidelines and meet mandatory requirements. Student achievement is analysed against annual achievement targets and reported in the analysis of variance.

Address areas of non-compliance

All areas of non-compliance have been addressed and no new non-compliance issues were identified. Procedures have been developed to support the enactment of policies.

Key next steps

ERO and the board agree that key next steps for the school are to:

  • embed internal evaluation practices to evaluate the effectiveness and impacts of recent changes to school operations
  • support students to have more understanding and ownership of their learning
  • continue to consult with the community, whānau and iwi to review and further develop the localised curriculum.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

The school has made significant progress towards addressing the areas for development identified in the previous ERO report. Leadership is transparent which contributes to a positive, collaborative school culture. Leaders and teachers use student achievement data effectively. Trustees have developed some systems and processes to strengthen internal evaluation with a focus on continual school improvement.

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.

Conclusion

The new principal has worked effectively with the commissioner, and more recently the new board of trustees, to address the areas of development. The principal and teachers work collaboratively to support and challenge students in their learning. The community supports the school and parents and whānau have confidence in the school. The school’s ability to use internal evaluation has improved.

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

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.

Darcy Te Hau

Acting Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

18 June 2020

About the school

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

Tauhei Combined School - 19/06/2018

School Context

Tauhei Combined School is a small rural primary school catering for students in Years 1 to 6. The school is located in the area of Tauhei, 13 km north west of Morrinsville. The current roll of 40 includes seven students who are Māori. The roll has declined since the last ERO review in 2015 and as a result one full-time teacher position has been lost. The principal and other teachers have remained the same.

In February 2018 all trustees resigned following a breakdown in relationships with the principal. A commissioner was appointed by the Ministry of Education in March 2018 and is now responsible for the governance of the school The school has not responded well to the areas of development identified in the 2015 ERO report..

The school’s mission statement is, ‘Learning together active minds – Akongia tātou hei kotahi te whakaaro’. Its vision statement is, ‘Through meaningful learning opportunities nurture a love of learning where children will develop an open and enquiring mind and interact positively with others’.

Teachers’ professional learning and development focus for 2018 is to build oral language and literacy skills to improve learning outcomes by promoting effective communication and social skills.

Tauhei Combined School is part of the Morrinsville Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

Leaders and teachers regularly report school-wide information about outcomes for students to the board in the following areas:

  • reading, writing and mathematics.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

ERO does not have confidence in the dependability of the school’s achievement information. The school is unable to reliably demonstrate how well students progress and achieve in reading, writing and mathematics.

Students with additional learning and high health needs are well supported, however ERO is not confident in the reliability of the achievement data for these students.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

Due to ERO’s concerns about the dependability of the school’s achievement information, leaders are unable to identify the rates of acceleration for Māori and students who are at risk of not achieving. Strengthening the management and use of student achievement information is an urgent priority for school leadership.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Aspects of the school’s curriculum support equity and excellence. Long standing links have been maintained with the local Māori community, including Tauhei Marae, that foster Māori students’ language, culture and identity. ERO observed high levels of student engagement in a calm and settled environment. Teachers know students well and successfully promote tuakana/teina relationships where older students support their younger peers. Caring and positive relationships are evident between teachers and students. There is an appropriate focus on literacy and mathematics learning in the curriculum. Students enjoy extra learning opportunities including regular trips, sporting competitions, events and school camps.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

School leadership is not effective. Urgent priority should be given to:

  • re-establishing productive relationships between teachers, parents and the wider community

  • building teacher capability, including aligning professional learning and development to school goals and implementing a robust appraisal system

  • gathering reliable school-wide achievement data to inform internal evaluation and ongoing school improvement

  • developing consistent use of student achievement information at class level to inform specific learning programmes and to build students’ understanding of their learning progress and next steps

  • fully implementing the school’s policy and procedural guidelines to ensure the smooth operation of the school.

3 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

  • finance

  • 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.

Appraisal audit

The principal and teachers must be appraised annually through an agreed and robust process aligned with the requirements of the Education Council.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to health and safety and personnel.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

  • implement procedures to ensure that the school provides a safe physical environment for students
    [NAG 5]
  • ensure appropriate risk management procedures are fully implemented
    [NAG 5]
  • develop appropriate procedures to address the risk of cyber bullying
    [NAG 5]
  • annually assess the principal against professional standards for principals
    [NZ Education Gazette: and relevant employment agreement]
  • on the basis of good quality assessment information report to students and their parents on progress and achievement. [NAG 2(b)]

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • fully implement the school’s complaints policy and procedures.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • the school’s curriculum that supports students engagement and provides meaningful learning opportunities.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • school leadership to promote a shared approach to ongoing school development and improvement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO intends to carry out a process of ongoing external evaluation to support development over the course of one-to-two years.

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

19 June 2018

About the school

Location

Tauhei

Ministry of Education profile number

1985

School type

Contributing (Year 1 to 6)

School roll

40

Gender composition

Girls 27 Boys 13

Ethnic composition

Māori 7
Pākehā 33

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

May 2018

Date of this report

19 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review May 2015
Education Review March 2012
Education Review February 2009