Te Ranga School

Te Ranga School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and Te Ranga 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 

Te Ranga School is a rural school located 15 km southeast of Te Puke and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school is the hub of the country community and is proud of its learner-focused partnerships with whānau, community and iwi. School vision and values support learners to be confident, connected, actively involved, caring and responsible.

Te Ranga School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • students have maximum opportunity to learn and succeed at or above their appropriate curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics

  • empowering Māori to achieve success as Māori

  • to develop smooth transitions into and from Te Ranga School

  • for all students to reach their full potential.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well learning programmes and culturally responsive practices impact outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • improve outcomes of success for all learners, particularly those at risk of underachieving

  • strengthen consistency of teacher practice, particularly in the areas of writing and mathematics

  • ensure all learners have a strong sense of identity and belonging.

The school expects to see consistent and coherent culturally responsive practices and programmes for learning, resulting in all learners successfully reaching their full potential.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to empower all learners to reach their potential.

  • Committed and collaborative leaders and staff who are focused on improving outcomes for all learners.

  • Internal expertise, enhanced by external expertise in the focus areas of literacy, mathematics and culturally responsive pedagogy, to facilitate and support high expectations for schoolwide consistency of effective practice.

  • A committed board of trustees focused on enhancing school performance and learner outcomes.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners through:

  • consolidation and consistent schoolwide use of learning progressions for reading, writing and mathematics

  • prioritising authentic, motivating learning experiences and high expectations of success for every learner as they journey through the school

  • focusing on embedding te reo, te ao and tikanga Māori

  • strengthening whānau and community partnerships to support valued outcomes for all learners.

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

23 November 2022 

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

Te Ranga School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of August 2022, the Te Ranga School Board of Trustees 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 Te Ranga School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees 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

23 November 2022 

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

Te Ranga School - 18/06/2018

School Context

Te Ranga School, located near Te Puke, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll of 136 includes 53 Māori students. Many of the students come from Te Puke.

Since the previous ERO review in 2014 the school has experienced significant roll growth. A new principal was appointed in 2014 and there have been some changes to the teaching team. Teachers have undertaken professional learning and development in the areas of literacy, mathematics and the use of digital technologies.

The school’s vision is to be a caring, dynamic school community committed to high achievement and life-long learning. The values of honesty, excellence, accountability, respect and trust underpin the school’s family-like atmosphere for learning. The 2018 charter identifies the key goals of:

  • accelerating student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

  • ensuring all students achieve their potential

  • empowering Māori to achieve success as Māori.

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

  • reading

  • writing

  • mathematics.

The school is part of the Te Puke Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

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 Ranga School is achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for most of its students. The school’s achievement information shows that in the previous three years most students achieved at or above national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This data indicates that Māori students generally achieve at similar levels to their non-Māori peers at the school. Proportionally, girls achieve at similar levels to boys in mathematics and at higher levels than boys in reading and writing. Accelerating the achievement of boys in literacy is a priority for school leaders and trustees.

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

The school is effectively accelerating the progress of many at-risk Māori and other students. School leaders have developed useful processes to track the accelerated progress of at-risk students. This data for 2017 shows that half of these students, including Māori, who were achieving below expected levels at the beginning of the year, made accelerated progress during the year in reading , writing and mathematics.

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?

School leadership is knowledgeable and well-informed. Leaders have developed useful frameworks to guide teaching practice, focused on acceleration and achievement. Leadership makes good use of achievement data to inform internal evaluation processes. Leaders access appropriate professional development for teachers focused on accelerating the achievement of at-risk students in writing and mathematics. They have developed a robust process of teaching as inquiry that supports teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of their practice and focus on accelerating student achievement. A comprehensive performance management system includes regular feedback to teachers about the effectiveness of their practice.

Trustees provide good-quality stewardship for the school. They set challenging charter targets that identify the number of students whose learning requires acceleration. Trustees are supportive of leaders and teachers and are highly focused on accelerating school-wide student achievement. The board undertakes regular consultation with the wider community to inform strategic planning and internal evaluation.

The school’s holistic curriculum is broad and responsive to students’ interests and learning. There is an appropriate emphasis on literacy and mathematics learning. A focus of care and working in partnership with whānau underpins the school’s culturally responsive practices. Students enjoy many opportunities to experience success in the arts, sports and academic activities and events. Teachers make good use of the wider community and environments to provide authentic context for learning. They have positive learning relationships with students and ERO observed examples of teachers implementing effective strategies that reflect recently developed school expectations. A knowledgeable special needs coordinator (SENCO) works in partnership with parents, whānau and external agencies to respond to students with diverse learning and behaviour needs. This approach contributes to positive outcomes for these students.

Meaningful partnerships for learning between the school and families enhance learning. Curriculum and knowledge evenings support parents to assist with their children’s learning by providing useful information about current teaching and learning strategies and resources. Teachers share important information with parents about their children’s learning. Parents indicated to ERO that they appreciate the regular informal contact they have with their children’s teachers and school leaders. This is supported by regular student-led conferences and comprehensive written reports. Student learning outcomes are supported by high levels of community involvement in the school.

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

There is a need to establish consistency of teaching practices school-wide to reflect recently developed guidelines and expectations. This should include:

  • strengthening teachers’ use of achievement information to plan in a more responsive manner

  • fully implementing literacy and mathematics learning progressions to support students to a greater understanding of their progress and next learning steps

  • the implementation of te reo and tikanga Māori in class programmes.

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:

  • professional leadership that is knowledgeable

  • stewardship that is focussed on accelerating achievement

  • curriculum and teaching practice that supports positive learning outcomes

  • partnership with parents, whānau and wider community that contribute to meaningful opportunities for students.

Next step

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

  • establishing school-wide consistency of effective teaching practices to further support acceleration.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

18 June 2018

About the school

Location

near Te Puke

Ministry of Education profile number

2019

School type

Years Full Primary (1 to 8)

School roll

136

Gender composition

Girls 53% Boys 47%

Ethnic composition

Pākehā 53%
Māori 40%
Other European 4%
Other 3%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

February 2018

Date of this report

18 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review December 2013
Education Review October 2009
Education Review September 2006