Templeton School

School Context

Templeton School provides education for 379 children from Years 1 to 8. The school roll has grown substantially in recent years.

The school's vision is that through the efforts and example of the Templeton school community, children will be learners for life. The WISE values of working together, inquiring, self managing and being enthusiastic are prominent.

The 2017 achievement targets were:

• 75% of all students will be writing at or above the National Standards
• students are at the centre of teaching and learning, experiencing a curriculum that engages and challenges them.

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

• achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• outcomes for students with additional learning needs and those involved in enrichment programmes
• students' progress, including accelerated progress.

Since the 2013 ERO review, a new principal has been appointed. The deputy principal and three team leaders are also new to their roles in the last two years.

Teachers have been involved in extensive school-wide professional learning and development. The most recent focus, aligned with the strategic goal, is on improving students' writing and student agency.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – valued outcomes for students

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

The school is achieving equitable outcomes for all students. Many children are achieving excellence.

Māori students achieve at similar levels to others in the school. Students with additional needs are very well supported to achieve their best.

Achievement in reading has been consistently high, with most students at or above their expected level. In 2016, almost half of the girls were reading above expected levels. Almost all Year 8 students were achieving well. Most students are also achieving well in mathematics. This has been a very consistent result over the past four years.

While the majority of students are achieving well in writing, there has been a decline in the level of achievement in recent years. This is particularly the case for boys. Leaders have recognised this, and writing is a priority for 2017. In 2017, the school has achieved its target in writing, with 76% of students being at or above expected levels of achievement.

1.2 How effectively does this school respond to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school responds very effectively to Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

2017 data for writing shows that the students targeted for extra support showed accelerated progress during the year.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence

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

Children learn in caring, collaborative learning environments. There is a strong focus on pastoral care and student wellbeing. The school values, particularly of working together and self-management, are evident in the way students behave. They have many opportunities to choose what and where they learn. Teachers are continuing to develop culturally responsive practices that support all children to understand Aotearoa’s bicultural heritage and to celebrate Māori children’s success as Māori.

The school and community are engaged in reciprocal child-centred learning relationships. Teachers use data well to meet the strengths and needs of each child. This data includes the views of children and parents. Parents are frequently involved through learning celebrations, information evenings and informal contacts. Leaders and teachers are actively engaged with the local runaka, early childhood groups, and secondary schools.

High-quality professional learning and development (PLD) is well aligned to school priorities. The board provides substantial resourcing for this important aspect of school improvement. The recent focus on writing and student agency are evident in classroom practice and in the teachers' appraisal process. The impact of PLD is becoming evident in the ongoing improvements in teacher strategies and the achievement of students.

Leadership builds effective collaboration at every level of the school community. The five senior leaders model a collaborative, distributed-leadership approach. Teachers take on leadership roles in a variety of ways, that are clearly linked to school priorities.  Students have many opportunities for leadership roles at all levels of the school.

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

Trustees would be better informed if leaders refined and extended aspects of their reporting to the board. Existing reporting could be improved by documenting what the data shows, including a school-wide picture, and possible next steps and recommendations. School leaders could analyse and synthesise existing data in other areas, such as the WISE values, to look at any trends or patterns, and determine where further improvements could be made.

School leaders need to strengthen their evaluation practices to better identify the impact of the curriculum and specific initiatives. The strong focus on continuous improvement could be enhanced by clearly identifying an evaluative question and indicators of success at the start of an evaluation.

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:

• maintaining a curriculum that is responsive to the strengths and needs of students
• strong relationships with its community
• high-quality professional learning and development.

Next steps

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

• better using data to create a school-wide picture of achievement and the school’s other valued outcomes
• strengthening aspects of evaluation practices so that leaders and trustees know the impact of their initiatives and resourcing decisions.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in four-to-five years. 

Dr Lesley Patterson
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

23 February 2018

About the school