Waikaka School

Education institution number:
4037
School type:
Full Primary
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
59
Telephone:
Address:

22 Matheson Road, Gore

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Waikaka School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Waikaka 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 

Waikaka School is situated in Eastern Southland, 26 km north of Gore. Waikaka School provides education for students in Years 1 – 8. Their mission statement is: Learning for Life. He puna matauranga mutungakore|A pool of learning / knowledge that never dies. The school has been part of the Pomāhaka Kāhui Ako for six years. 

Waikaka School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • all students will be learners for life - he akonga whaimatauranga (students forever in pursuit of knowledge)

  • building a positive school community environment - he wāhi whakamana (a space of uplifting)

  • celebrating our rural character on a global stage - tu ana ki te āo, tau ana (to stand proudly on the world stage.)

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively teachers implement culturally responsive practices.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • leaders wish to develop a curriculum that truly honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and better reflects Aotearoa New Zealand’s bi-cultural heritage

     

  • teachers are undertaking professional learning programmes to strengthen their cultural capability.

The school expects to see:

  • teachers developing culturally responsive practices that are effective for all learners

  • Māori students and their whanau will see their language and culture is valued at Waikaka School

  • Māori students experiencing success as Māori.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively teachers implement culturally responsive practices:

  • a teaching team who actively seek opportunities to grow their capability to teach in a culturally responsive way 

  • high expectations for excellent and equitable learning outcomes for all students

  • a strong commitment to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • engaging with whānau to explore and define how students might experience success as Māori

  • developing a curriculum plan for te ao Māori, which identifies te reo progressions through the school and provides clear guidelines for teachers

  • developing schoolwide tikanga to establish and embed culturally appropriate protocols within the school context

  • professional learning for staff to continue to strengthen their confidence and capability in tikanga and te reo Māori

  • building meaningful relationships with iwi to grow partnerships, inform the school’s curriculum plans and support rich and authentic 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools


25 May 2023 

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

Waikaka School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of April 2022, the Waikaka School Board 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 Waikaka School, School Board.

The next School Board 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
 

25 May 2023 

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

 

Waikaka School - 08/05/2019

School Context

Waikaka School is a small rural school which provides education for students from Years 1 to 8. There are currently 59 students on the roll, eight of whom identify as Māori and including an increasing number of Filipino students. Students learn in three multi-level classes.

The school’s mission statement is ‘learning for life’. This is supported by a vision for students that is to ‘cultivate a culture that inspires all to achieve beyond what they thought possible’. The purpose, mission and vision are underpinned by the school’s values of: noho tahi (co-operation), mahi ngātahi (collaboration), and tauwhāinga (competition) to be the best that we can be by showing excellence.

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

  • achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
  • wellbeing for success.

Waikaka School is a member of the Pomahaka Kāhui Ako | Community of Learning (CoL).

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?

The school is working positively towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all students. School information shows that overall most students are achieving at or above the school’s expected curriculum levels in writing, reading and mathematics. All Filipino students are achieving at or above expected levels in all areas.

Over the last three years:

  • there has been a downward trend in the proportions of students achieving at or above expectations in reading, with a disparity in achievement for Pākehā students in 2018

  • although levels of writing achievement have remained stable there is some disparity in achievement for boys

  • achievement in mathematics has been variable, however 2018 information shows a lift in levels of achievement, including for Māori students.

The principal uses school information to identify which students need support and develop interventions to meet their needs. In order to know about the effectiveness of the interventions, learning information needs to be closely scrutinised.

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

The school is working towards accelerating learning for identified students. It has had some success with this.

As a result of a board-funded intervention, a third of identified students made accelerated progress in mathematics and the majority accelerated their progress in writing.

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?

Students experience learning in a caring environment and have a strong sense of belonging with their school. They have positive relationships with their teachers, their teachers with each other, and the principal with the board. The board, principal and teachers:

  • know students and their families well
  • have a very clear focus on strengthening learning-centred relationships with the school community
  • value the voice of students, parents and the community and respond accordingly.

Waikaka School has a broad localised curriculum that provides students with many opportunities to learn. Students’ and the community’s voice are effectively gathered and their ideas are well integrated into curriculum developments. Recent developments have meant a more coherent and well-organised coverage for learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum. The students’ wellbeing for learning is a core focus for the board, principal and teachers. This has been evident for example with the senior students, where their needs have been clearly identified, and opportunities for extension have been put in place to meet them.  

The school’s values are well known and enacted by the students. The recent revision of the vision and values have led to clearer expectations for students. Students have many opportunities to develop and demonstrate these values in and beyond the school.

The principal and teachers are proactive and respond to the learning needs of their students, as shown in their response to the school’s mathematics achievement data. Teachers are working collaboratively through inquiring into aspects of their teaching practice. This collective approach is being strengthened by ongoing, in depth, external professional development. As a result, teachers are provided the opportunity to lead, build their capability, and improve and better support students’ learning.

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

The board, principal and teachers need to:

  • build and deepen their understanding of school data so that information can be transformed into evidence-based effective teaching strategies and practice

  • evaluate those strategies and practices by asking the question, “are we making enough difference?”

The principal and teachers need to:

  • develop a shared understanding of internal evaluation and a systematic process for evaluation

  • engage in regular and consistent evaluation of the effectiveness and quality of programmes and practices to know what is working and what is not.

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 Students Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Waikaka School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • the board and principal having a clear focus on continuing to strengthen learning-centred relationships within and beyond the school that benefit students
  • the principal’s and teachers’ collaborative inquiry into aspects of their teaching practice
  • the prioritisation of student wellbeing for learning.

Next steps

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

  • building and strengthening the understanding and scrutiny of school data by the board, principal and teachers
  • systematic evaluation of all aspects of the school to ensure the quality and effectiveness of programmes and practices are making a positive difference to student outcomes.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

8 May 2019

About the school

Location

Waikaka

Ministry of Education profile number

4037

School type

Full primary school, Years 1 to 8

School roll

57

Gender composition

Boys 34, Girls 23

Ethnic composition

Māori 8
Pākehā 41
Filipino 8

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2019

Date of this report

8 May 2019

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review December 2015

Education Review July 2012

Education Review October 2008

Waikaka School - 14/12/2015

Findings

The school has a welcoming and family-like culture. Overall, students achieve well against the National Standards and enjoy a broad curriculum. Senior students have good opportunities to grow their leadership skills, take responsibility and work with students from other small schools. Trustees are focused on what is best for students.

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?

This is a small rural, Years 1 to 8 school. The school roll has increased, resulting in funding for three classes. Students stay with the same teacher for several years. This, plus small class sizes, means that teachers know students and their families very well.

The school has a welcoming and family-like culture. Older students play well with, and look out for, younger students. Students know and can talk about the school values of noho tahi/cooperation, mahi tahi/collaboration and tauwhainga/competition.

The school is well supported by parents and the wider community. Each year they raise significant funds for school resources. The community uses some of the school’s facilities, such as its pool.

Since the 2012 ERO review, there has been significant work to upgrade and improve classrooms.

The board and principal have taken some steps to address ERO’s recommendations. However, some important areas remain as areas for development. For this reason, ERO has requested a plan that clearly shows how the board and principal will address the next steps identified in this 2015 report.

2 Learning

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

Staff and trustees make good use of assessment and other information to help them make informed decisions as to how they can best support students in their learning.

Overall students achieve well in mathematics and writing when compared with regional and national trends. In these learning areas, most students achieve at the National Standards. Reading achievement is lower. An appropriate target has been set to lift achievement in this area. In 2015, some of these students made sufficient progress to catch up with their peers.

Teachers know the students well as learners and individuals. They use a range of assessment information and discuss their judgements with each other, especially for writing. Periodically they work with teachers from other schools to compare judgements.

Teachers provide detailed and useful information to parents about their children’s learning, especially for reading, writing and mathematics. Much time is put into high-quality assessment books for each child, each year. These include examples of students' work, assessments against clear criteria and useful next steps for learning. Comments in these books and in reports are written in easily understood language. ERO encourages the teachers to use the assessment books more in the class as a tool to help students better understand their progress and next steps.

Few students could confidently talk about their progress and achievement. However, they had frequent opportunities to assess their own work in areas such as the arts and physical education. These practices could be extended into core learning areas, such as mathematics and writing.

Key next steps are to ensure:

  • students have a better understanding of their progress, achievement and next learning steps and take greater responsibility in assessment processes
  • plans to lift the achievement of students who are below expected levels include sufficient detail about the strategies teachers will use.

ERO encourages the board to set a ‘stretch’ target. For example, they could set a target to increase the percentage of students achieving above the National Standards in mathematics or writing.

3 Curriculum

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

Students experience a broad curriculum and are well supported in their learning.

Teachers make good use of the local environment, people and places to enrich students’ learning. For example, local experts and parents often share their knowledge with the students.

Teachers work closely with other schools so that students, especially older students, have a wide range of social and learning experiences. For example, senior students join other rural schools for a special Years 7 and 8 programme. These senior students have meaningful opportunities for leadership and for planning and organising school events.

Students benefit from a particularly interesting and well-resourced junior-class programme. There is a strong focus on oral language and other literacy learning. In this class there is an especially close monitoring of students’ progress and frequent communication with parents about their children’s learning.

Curriculum reviews are regularly reported to the board. These tend to describe what is happening rather than looking deeply at how well curriculum areas are resourced and taught. Presently they do not include student input. Reviews should be extended to include other important aspects of teaching and learning, such as assessment practices.

The school’s curriculum was developed in 2009. This now needs to be reviewed so that it better reflects parents’ and the school’s priorities for learning. For example, staff members need to think deeply about what the school’s vision of cooperation and collaboration and the NZ Curriculum principles mean in terms of how students learn. Some curriculum guidelines and procedures need updating to reflect best practice for teaching and learning. The te reo Māori curriculum needs developing.

Key next steps

Teachers had identified some useful next steps. ERO agrees that teachers need to:

  • review the school’s inquiry approach to topic learning and develop guidelines for this
  • continue to build the use of digital technology as a tool for teaching and learning
  • better include a Māori dimension and language in students’ everyday learning.

Other next steps include to:

  • review the school’s curriculum guidelines
  • extend curriculum review to include review of other aspects of teaching and learning
  • ensure reviews are evaluative by considering deeply how well desired practices are in place
  • build understanding and use of ‘teaching as inquiry’
  • review and extend learning opportunities and the level of challenge for students with special abilities and/or talents.

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

Māori students are well supported in their learning. At the time of this review, there were four Māori students at the school. The principal informally consults with the parents of these students. Teachers have ongoing communication with parents about their children’s learning.

The school has useful procedures about how they will support Māori learners and value Māori culture. However, these need to be consistently followed.

Key next steps are to:

  • explore how the school might best nurture the pride and identity of Māori students
  • ensure that the outcome of annual consultation with parents of Māori children is reported to the board and leads to a plan of action.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The board and principal need to thoroughly address ERO’s recommendations to assure ERO that the school is well placed. Trustees and the principal have the capacity to do this.

The board is committed and long serving. There are easy-to-follow policies and procedures in place to guide school operations and manage students' safety. Trustees are focused on student achievement. They have sought parent views on various matters and responded to these.

The principal keeps trustees well informed about what is happening in the school and is now updating them about the implementation of the school’s annual plan.

The trustees and principal are presently reviewing their long and short-term plans (strategic and annual plans). Past plans have been well set out but needed to better identify priorities for developing school direction. Annual plans need more detail as to what and how changes will happen.

Teachers work well as a team, sharing ideas and discussing how to best support students. The principal has begun to improve the appraisal system so that it has a greater focus on improving teaching and learning. The board needs to be assured that non-teaching staff are also appraised.

Key next steps are to:

  • build trustee, principal and staff understanding of effective internal evaluation
  • ensure future strategic and annual plans clearly state the school’s priorities for development
  • continue to strengthen appraisal practices
  • ensure questions in parent surveys are sufficiently broad to get useful feedback
  • extend surveys to include staff and students.

ERO requests that the board and principal provide an action plan that shows how it is going to respond to the recommendations identified in this report.

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.

Conclusion

The school has a welcoming and family-like culture. Overall, students achieve well against the National Standards and enjoy a broad curriculum. Senior students have good opportunities to grow their leadership skills, take responsibility and work with students from other small schools. Trustees are focused on what is best for students.

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

Chris Rowe

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)

14 December 2015

School Statistics

Location

Gore District

Ministry of Education profile number

4037

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

59

Gender composition

Boys: 36

Girls: 23

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

British

Asian

4

52

2

1

Review team on site

November 2015

Date of this report

14 December 2015

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

July 2012

October 2008

March 2005