- ERO evaluates and reports on the education and care of children and young people in early childhood services and schools.
Victory School provides an inclusive, caring environment for its multicultural students and families/whānau. Students are able to be educated through the English or Māori languages. The board and staff make effective use of good quality resources to benefit students’ learning. The school is focusing on increasing the involvement of parents and whānau in their children’s learning.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.
Students learn in a caring and inclusive environment where their wellbeing is strongly nurtured by the staff and board of trustees. Parents and members of the school’s multicultural community have many opportunities to participate in and contribute to the school’s programmes.
The board and staff continue to maintain close ties with other community services sharing the Victory Urban Village campus. Facilities are available for before and after-school care, a kōhanga reo, a community centre for several social agencies and for new New Zealanders to socialise and learn the English language together.
Students are able to learn through either English-Medium or Māori-Medium programmes. A significant number of students are being supported to learn English or te reo Māori.
Apart from the appointment of a new principal in June 2014, there have been few changes in staffing.
The school has had a positive reporting history. The board and staff have built on the school’s strengths outlined in ERO’s December 2009 report.
The school makes effective use of achievement information to promote student engagement, progress and achievement.
In the English-Medium classes, well-analysed information reported to the board, shows that many students make significant progress in relation to the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. After two years at school, students make considerable progress in reading and writing, as a result of specific one-on-one teaching, effective and targeted learning support and small classes.
After four years in the Māori-Medium classes students have acquired a good level of proficiency in te reo Māori. Most of these students achieve at or above Ngā Whanaketanga Rūmaki Māori (the Māori National Standards) in writing. Students who are learning English language or have specific learning or special needs are well supported by their teachers and the learning support staff.
Students are becoming more involved in their learning. They set their own goals and know what they are trying to achieve. They are becoming more familiar with how well they are achieving or progressing in relation to the National Standards.
Teachers have high expectations for students’ learning and behaviour. They provide stimulating environments that engage students in their learning. Teachers are reflective about their teaching and use research to support or enhance the ways they teach. They identify and share the strategies they use that effectively keep students fully involved in their learning.
The senior leaders and teachers have developed good systems for monitoring and tracking students’ progress. They now need to:
The board and senior leaders have identified strengthening relationships with the Pacific families and communities as an important part of their ongoing support for Pacific children.
The school’s English-Medium and Māori-Medium Curricula strongly promote and support student learning and progress. They are well designed to reflect the school’s priorities for their students. Students learn in meaningful contexts that reflect their interests, cultural experiences and abilities.
The Māori-Medium curriculum provides a good model of how Māori values and perspectives are woven across the programmes. Parents’ and students’ aspirations and teacher expectations have been collaboratively used to develop the Graduate Profile for their tuakana (Year 6) students.
The senior leaders are working with staff to complete the review of the English-Medium curriculum by considering complementary values and a graduate profile similar to the Māori-Medium’s model.
The school effectively promotes educational success for Māori, as Māori. A strength of the school is the way te ao Māori is successfully woven throughout all aspects of school life. All students have opportunities to:
Teachers demonstrate their respect for, and value of Māori students’ culture, language and heritage. They show a commitment to increasing their own learning in te reo and tikanga Māori. Māori staff provide high quality support to their non-Māori colleagues.
The senior leaders and staff have been updating the school’s curriculum. They have identified that their next steps are to review the school’s values to make sure they more closely reflect the school’s expectations for teaching and learning and to embed the newly-developed cycle for curriculum review and reporting.
The school is very well placed to sustain and improve its performance. The board has a good balance of experienced and new members. They work well with the principal to set the direction for the school and monitor the progress the school makes toward achieving its strategic goals.
The board provides strong support for the principal , staff and students. They make good provision for parents families/whānau to be involved in the life of the school and to contribute to the decision-making about school programmes.
The board has been updating its policies and procedures and acknowledges that these need to be completed and shared with the school’s community.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:
Victory School provides an inclusive, caring environment for its multicultural students and families/whānau. Students are able to be educated through the English or Māori languages. The board and staff make effective use of good quality resources to benefit students’ learning. The school is focusing on increasing the involvement of parents and whānau in their children’s learning.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.
Graham Randell
National Manager Review Services
Southern Region
23 December 2014
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Location |
Nelson |
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Ministry of Education profile number |
3231 |
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School type |
Contributing (Years 1 to 6) |
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|
School roll |
409 |
|
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Gender composition |
Boys 53% Girls 47% |
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Ethnic composition |
Māori NZ European/Pākehā Pacific Asian Other European |
37% 27% 4% 28% 4% |
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Special Features |
Five Māori-Medium classes |
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Review team on site |
November 2014 |
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Date of this report |
23 December 2014 |
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Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
December 2009 August 2006 June 2003 |