Te Huruhi School

School Context

Te Huruhi School on Waiheke Island caters for students in Years 1 to 6. It is located next to Waiheke High School in a semi-rural setting. Nineteen percent of the 377 students identify as Māori. Children learn in remodelled classrooms that allow flexible learning spaces.

Ngā Purapura Akoranga, the school’s bilingual unit, provides opportunities for students from all year levels to learn through bilingual learning programmes. Since the last ERO evaluation there have been changes to kaiako and support staff. Assessment in the unit is in English.

The school’s vision, “At Te Huruhi we are confident, connected and creative learners”, sets expectations for all. The school values include Caring - Manaakitanga, Cooperation - Mahitahi, Courtesy - Manawanui, Courage -Maia, Commitment – Mana. These underpin the schoolwide approach to learning. The school’s strategic goals focus on students:

• experiencing rich personalised learning
• developing a sense of identity that supports wellbeing and achievement
• understanding their place in the world and local community
• recognising and valuing te reo, tikanga Māori and the history of Aotearoa.

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

• achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, and progress toward targets

• programmes and interventions designed to support additional learning needs, including English as a second language

• student wellbeing and attendance

• innovative learning programmes such as ‘Garden to Table’, and the use of digital devices to enhance learning

• ways the school promotes biculturalism and upholds the Treaty of Waitangi.

The board and leaders also monitor the impact of the current poor state of the buildings and any potential health and safety risks. The board of trustees and Ministry of Education (MoE) have been working on progressing the rebuild of the school since 2013. The MoE has assured the board and community that the rebuild will commence in the latter part of 2018.

Te Huruhi School is a member of the Waiheke Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning.

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?

Te Huruhi School is making very good progress towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for students. The school’s achievement information shows that most children are achieving at or above expected New Zealand Curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics. This level of achievement has been consistent over recent years.

School data shows that the achievement of Māori students in writing and mathematics has improved in recent years. In reading, most Māori students achieve at expected levels. School leaders have identified a goal to increase the numbers of Māori students achieving above expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders set clear targets that focus on successful practices that promote excellence for these groups of students.

Leaders and teachers have also identified some boys who need to make accelerated progress in writing. Effective strategic planning, tracking and monitoring of these students’ progress continues to be a priority for staff.

Students achieve very well in relation to other school valued outcomes. Students:

• have a strong sense of their identity, culture and language
• demonstrate positive, caring and inclusive interactions
• use the school’s learning progressions to support their learning
• use oral te reo Māori oral language and are familiar with tikanga.

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

The school is responding well to Māori and other students whose learning and achievement needs accelerating. Systems and processes for identifying and responding to the needs of at-risk Māori learners and other students are well implemented. These include differentiated teaching programmes and personalised assessment processes that respond to children’s needs. Leaders and teachers monitor children’s progress well.

The leadership team places a priority on responding to the learning of all children who require additional support. Appropriate interventions for these students are overseen by school leaders. Data shows that many of these students make good progress.

Teachers use personalised approaches well to support children’s learning and behaviour. They develop well-considered action plans or individual education plans. Parents and caregivers who spoke to ERO appreciate the school’s holistic approach to supporting their children. They affirmed the school’s strengthening of partnerships with parents. School leaders could now consider ways to further clarify shared understanding of processes and use of students’ learning plans.

Leaders and teachers regularly share information about individual students’ progress and achievement. Teaching teams collaborate to carefully track and monitor these students over time. Professional learning opportunities for teachers and teacher aides help them to refine and adapt programmes to meet the needs of children whose learning and achievement needs accelerating.

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?

Leaders are improvement focused. A culture of reflection and good internal evaluation practices support the achievement of equity and excellence. Teachers and leaders are open to new learning and continuous improvement. They inquire into the effectiveness of their practices. Innovations in teaching and learning foster student engagement and improved achievement. Internal and external expertise is valued and well used to improve teacher practices and student outcomes.

Children are engaged in their learning. The development of a schoolwide ‘language of learning’, and a responsive curriculum based around schoolwide concepts support children’s learning. The curriculum includes a focus on caring for the environment and sustainability.

The school curriculum places a significant emphasis on integrating Māori concepts into programmes. A focus on building confidence and skills in te reo and tikanga Māori across the school has had a positive impact on Māori children and others.

Since the 2015 ERO evaluation, the school has continued to promote positive outcomes for tamariki in Ngā Purapura Akoranga. Recent successful staffing appointments and teaching stability have led to increased confidence in teaching and learning practices.

The school’s learning progressions in reading, writing and science support children well in knowing their achievement, progress and next steps for learning. Teachers have used a similar model to develop further learning progressions in mathematics and Te Reo Māori and Tikanga.

Trustees focus on improving student outcomes. They prioritise target students and outcomes for Māori students. Trustees have a shared understanding of their governance roles and responsibilities.

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

Leaders agree that, to support ongoing improvement in the school, they should continue to:

• implement and embed the school learning progressions to support assessment across the curriculum
• extend teaching and learning practices that promote student directed learning
• refine the analysis of data to better identify long term trends and patterns
• consult whānau around the vision and philosophy for bilingualism in Ngā Purapura Akoranga.

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.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• a collective sense of responsibility among trustees, leaders and teachers that actively promotes student engagement and success

• the “Te Huruhi way” with its focus on improvement, collaboration and innovative teaching practices

• the use of good frameworks for personalised learning assessment

• a strong commitment to bicultural practices schoolwide, and successful learning outcomes for tamariki in Ngā Purapura Akoranga

• a strong culture of collaborative teacher reflection.

Next steps

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

• extending teacher practices to better support student directed learning

• refining the analysis of student achievement data

• continuing to refine processes and systems to support sustainable practices in Ngā Purapura Akoranga.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

26 September 2018

About the school

Location	Surfdale, Waiheke Island
Ministry of Education profile number	1177
School type	Contributing (Years 1 to 6)
School roll	377
Gender composition	Boys 52% Girls 48%
Ethnic composition	Māori 19% Pākehā 72% other ethnic groups 9%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	Yes
Provision of Māori medium education	Yes
Review team on site	August 2018
Date of this report	26 September 2018
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review June 2015 Education Review January 2011 Education Review October 2007

Findings

Te Huruhi School is empowering students through new modern approaches to teaching and learning. A broad curriculum that includes provision for bilingual education supports many students to achieve well. The school is managing complex property challenges well, while preparing for a new school rebuild. High quality change management practices and school leadership are evident.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Te Huruhi School on Waiheke Island caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The school has a growing roll and has sustained the many good practices evident at the time of the 2011 ERO review. It continues to move forward, has reviewed its strategic direction, and has begun a significant change process.

In 2013, the long serving principal retired and a new experienced principal was appointed. Several long-serving staff have also retired and ten new staff have joined the school, including six more recently qualified and provisionally registered teachers. New trustees have also joined the board.

Nga Purapura Akoranga, the school’s te reo Māori bilingual unit, has also had several changes in staff. The Principal, staff and whānau are working in accordance with a renewed shared vision for the unit that increases opportunities for student learning about te reo and tikanga Māori.

The board is working closely with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to manage significant property development matters. A whole school rebuild is due to take place in the near future. The school site is in need of significant repairs and maintenance until the new school is built. Consequently, the board and principal are managing a number of ongoing property and health and safety matters.

Plans indicate that the new school building project will provide students with a modern, collaborative learning environment. To prepare for this new environment, senior leaders are working closely with teachers to develop modern and innovative teaching and learning practices. Staff have invested significant time to the study of successful practices in new schools and are using research about effective modern learning approaches to inform their decision making.

Well chosen and high quality external professional learning and development is supporting teachers to transform their teaching practice. A new teacher leadership structure has been implemented. Existing classrooms have been modified to support collaborative teaching and learning practice, and students are now grouped into vertical teams to better support their learning.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

In the last two years there has been considerable work to increase the quality and reliability of student achievement information. School leaders and teachers have developed effective tools for assessing writing. This work has increased the robustness of overall teacher judgements about student achievement in relation to the National Standards. They are now developing similar resources for reading and mathematics.

Many students continue to progress and achieve well in relation to the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. School leaders also acknowledge that further work is required to accelerate the progress of Māori students and some groups of boys. The board is now well placed to set more specific achievement targets for accelerating the achievement of these students.

School leaders and teachers use achievement information well to support students’ engagement and progress in learning. This purposeful use of achievement data is helping to establish a stronger evidence-based culture for guiding improvement planning for teaching and learning.

Teachers are also using achievement information more effectively to provide students with specific feedback about their learning and to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching practice. The principal has implemented a well designed performance management system to support teachers with this work and to promote a more evaluative school culture.

Students are motivated and positive about their learning. They are becoming increasingly aware of their own levels of achievement and next learning steps. They are beginning to evaluate their own progress and are taking more responsibility for their learning.

Students in Nga Purapura Akoranga show high levels of enthusiasm for their studies relating to tikanga Māori and te reo Māori. They use achievement information about their reading, writing and mathematics in English to set useful learning goals and monitor their progress.

Relevant assessment tools and further external teacher professional development could be used to strengthen the teaching of te reo Māori in Nga Purapura Akoranga. This should help teachers assess students’ progress and achievement in te reo Māori, and improve students’ use of the language.

Parent contributions are highly valued by school leaders and staff who acknowledge, ‘it takes an island to raise a child.’ School leaders have recently made mid-year reports clearer to better inform families about how well students are progressing towards achieving National Standards. Exploring additional ways to work with families as students transition in and through the school would now be useful, and could include further review of staffing arrangements in new entrant classes.

The board receives well analysed and comprehensive achievement information. Trustees use this information thoughtfully to provide a wide variety of curriculum resources. Students with additional learning requirements benefit from an inclusive and well planned approach. Reporting on progress towards achieving annual plan goals would now be helpful to the board.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes and supports student learning. It continues to prioritise literacy and mathematics within a broad and holistic curriculum. There is also a strong emphasis on the arts and science which reflects the island’s heritage well.

Curriculum review is also a key feature of current school development as part of the change to a more modern, future focused and collaborative learning philosophy. Work in this area is strengthening the alignment of the Te Huruhi School curriculum with The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) vision, values and key competencies.

High quality curriculum leadership and professional development is very evident. The collaborative and more open classroom environments being established are helping teachers to share teaching strategies and decisions effectively. Teachers reflect more regularly on ways they can modify their practice to improve student learning.

Student learning is well supported by the school’s values that are encapsulated in the 5 C’s – ‘caring, co-operation, courtesy, courage, commitment’. There are new school learning values, namely the 4 R’s –‘resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness and reciprocity’. Student are using these values well to help them manage their own learning and to develop positive work habits.

Students show a strong sense of belonging to their school. Students' contributions are valued by their teachers. Students are being offered more choice about, and control of, their learning. This approach is promoting students' sense of owning their learning and providing them with greater decision making opportunities.

Students in Nga Purapura Akoranga shared with ERO how their learning environment supports their wairua and enhances their desire to learn and succeed. Student wellbeing and positive behaviour for learning remains a key priority for school leaders and teachers. Leaders and teachers continue to support and strengthen these aspects of the learning environment school wide.

New school vertical structures offer useful and flexible ways to help students develop continuity and coherence in their learning as they progress through the school. They also offer innovative ways for students to explore their own learning interests and develop their talents.

After 18 months of curriculum redesign, ERO and school leaders agree it is time to consolidate curriculum changes. Key steps for the school to consider include:

• developing a shared understanding of what effective teaching practice looks like in the school’s collaborative learning spaces
• finding additional ways to explore biculturalism and further support bilingualism to affirm all students’ cultures, languages and identities
• implementing a learning progression for te reo Māori school-wide.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

School leaders are currently developing the school’s capacity to promote educational success for Māori, as Māori.

Very good student achievement monitoring processes are in place to assess how well Māori students progress and achieve. Regularly comparing the achievement and success of Māori students in English medium classes and in bilingual education could help further inform strategic plans and target setting. A focus on accelerating outcomes for all Māori students in both the bilingual and English medium settings should remain a key strategic priority.

The school’s long-term commitment to providing for bilingual education is clearly evident. Staff in Nga Purapura Akoranga are working well together and with whānau and the principal. There are positive relationships for future success of the unit.

To realise the vision for Nga Purapura Akoranga, school leaders acknowledge the need to ensure students benefit from a sustainable curriculum and assessment structures. Further professional development for staff could now be helpful to strengthen planning and language teaching practices in order to enrich students’ te reo Māori skills.

The school has useful links with the local marae and with Māori community representatives on the board of trustees. Developing the schools’ bicultural vision within the new school vision through consultation and communication with whānau would be a timely strategic decision, especially with the plans to rebuild the school on the horizon.

The use of MoE documents, such as Tataiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Students, as part of the teacher appraisal process could also be helpful. Teachers could consider how effectively they promote and support success as Māori and how well they use culturally inclusive teaching practices.

The school is yet to consult fully with the Māori community and this is an agreed next step. Building positive and collaborative relationships with all whānau could offer new opportunities for Māori students to experience a curriculum that strongly affirms their language, culture and identity.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. Self review is ongoing, robust and informs continual improvement. The focus on using a wider range of evidence for decision making is building a school culture that is more reflective and improvement focused. Improved systems for accountability, together with the school’s clear vision for the future is helping to guide decision making to increase school effectiveness.

The school is well led. School leaders work strategically and in complementary ways. There are many new initiatives in place and leaders provide good opportunities for teachers to learn and use new practices. The school’s community has high expectations and aspirations for their tamariki. School leaders and teachers are working very hard to meet these expectations, manage significant transformative change and enhance learning outcomes for students. Teachers are being well prepared for this change, as are students.

The board is inclusive, skilled and well led. Effective governance practices, policies and reporting processes are evident. Trustees are managing complex decision making well and providing very good support to the principal. Health and safety risks associated with the decay of the buildings are well managed.

A number of teachers are in fixed term roles due to staff leave and roll growth. Over time, school leaders and trustees should continue to review the number of fixed term and part time positions to promote a settled working environment for staff and continuity of learning for students.

The board and school leaders also agree that more regular reviews of wellbeing, including student, staff and community perspectives, could be useful particularly in this time of considerable change and development.

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.

During the course of the review ERO identified three areas of non-compliance. In order to address these, the board of trustees must:

• in consultation with the school's Māori community, develop and make known policies, plans and targets for improving the achievement of Māori students
  [National Education Guidelines, National Administration Guideline 1(v)]

• consult with the school community about the health curriculum every two years
  [s60B Education Act 1989]

• report, in writing, twice each year to students enrolled in Years 1 to 8 and their parents on the students’ progress and achievement in relation to the National Standards
  [Education Act 1989; section 60(1) 9ba), reference s 61(4) Education Act 1989].

Conclusion

Te Huruhi School is empowering students through new modern approaches to teaching and learning. A broad curriculum that includes provision for bilingual education supports many students to achieve well. The school is managing complex property challenges well, while preparing for a new school rebuild. High quality change management practices and school leadership are evident.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

Dale Bailey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

26 June 2015

About the School

Location	Surfdale, Waiheke Island
Ministry of Education profile number	1177
School type	Contributing (Years 1 to 6)
School roll	415
Gender composition	Boys 56% Girls 44%
Ethnic composition	Māori Pakeha Chinese Indian other European other Asian other Pacific	17% 71% 2% 1% 5% 2% 2%
Special Features	Māori bilingual class: Nga Purapura Akoranga
Review team on site	May 2015
Date of this report	26 June 2015
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	January 2011 October 2007 June 2004