Vardon School is located in the northern part of Hamilton. It caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The current roll is 350, 32% of whom identify as Māori. The school reports that Māori students come from various iwi throughout New Zealand.
Senior leadership has been consistent since the last ERO review in 2015. Recently there have been significant changes to both middle leadership and the classroom teaching team. The board is a mix of both new and experienced trustees.
The school mission and vision have recently been reviewed following community consultation. The school seeks to ensure that students are fulfilling their potential. Relationships/whanaungatanga, resilience/kia maia, resourcefulness/kia taiao, and reflection/kia ata are promoted.
Leaders and teachers regularly report school-wide information about student outcomes to the board in the following areas:
In 2018 they also reported student progress in the areas of reading for pleasure and self-management to the board.
The majority of students are achieving at or above expectations. The school is not yet achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.
In 2017 there was significant disparity between the achievement of Māori and Pākehā students in reading, writing and mathematics. There is significant disparity between boys and girls in writing. This pattern of underachievement has been consistent for a number of years. Achievement for boys is equivalent to that of girls in reading and maths. The majority of Pacific students are achieving at or above expectations in reading and a small majority in writing.
Leaders have begun developing systems to monitor the extent, pace and sufficiency of progress to determine if students at-risk of underachieving are on track to achieve accelerated progress.
The school is effectively responding to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration in reading. It is not yet effectively accelerating at-risk learners in writing and mathematics.
The progress of students who have individual education plans, (IEPs) is regularly tracked and monitored. IEPs sighted by ERO indicate that students are making progress over time.
Students participate and learn in a caring, collaborative learning community. Relationships between teachers and students are respectful and productive. Difference and diversity are valued. Well-promoted school values and restorative justice practices promote resilience and strong relationships between students. Various pastoral care initiatives contribute to the wellbeing of students who come to school with material needs. Classrooms are settled, well-managed learning environments. This is contributing to students’ sense of wellbeing and belonging.
Students with special needs participate in learning opportunities that provide appropriate support and challenge. They are effectively identified and their learning and progress are well monitored. Experienced learning assistants provide targeted learning experiences according to specific objectives in individual education plans (IEPs) developed with parents, whānau and relevant external agencies.
Leaders have established a welcoming school culture where parents feel that they can readily discuss their students’ learning and wellbeing as needed. This has been enhanced by a number of recent, effective initiatives to improve communication about school events and strategic direction. The school and community are engaged in learning-centred relationships.
School leaders now need to give urgent priority to the following development areas, a number of which were also identified in the 2015 ERO report.
Strengthening the collation and use of assessment information. ERO and school leaders agree that there is a need to:
Continuing to strengthen the local curriculum to:
Developing processes for the robust evidence-based evaluation of the curriculum including the school’s innovations and interventions.
Continuing to strengthen learning partnerships with parents, especially those with at-risk learners.
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.
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:
ensure that high-quality feedback about teaching practice and next steps are fully documented, particularly for provisionally registered teachers.
[Good practice re s 77A State Sector Act 1988, Part 31 Education Act 1989]
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education consider providing support for the school in order to bring about improvement in the areas for review and development outlined above.
ERO intends to carry out a process of ongoing external evaluation to support development over the course of one-to-two years.
Adrienne Fowler
Director Review and Improvement Services (Acting)
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
21 August 2018
Location |
Hamilton |
Ministry of Education profile number |
2045 |
School type |
Contributing Primary School (Years 1 to 6) |
School roll |
351 |
Gender composition |
Boys 52% Girls 48% |
Ethnic composition |
Māori 32% |
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
Review team on site |
June 2018 |
Date of this report |
21 August 2018 |
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review May 2015 |