Wairau Valley Special School

Education institution number:
1556
School type:
Special School
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
School for pupils with intellectual impairments
Total roll:
238
Telephone:
Address:

102 Hillside Road, Glenfield, Auckland

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Wairau Valley Special School - 09/06/2016

Findings

Students benefit from a responsive curriculum in a supportive environment where they are valued and respected as individual learners. The staff work in partnership with parents to provide the best outcomes for each student. The school continues to use internal evaluation to guide ongoing improvement for students and their families.

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?

Wairau Valley Special School provides specialist teaching and therapy services for children and young people who have high or very high learning and health care needs.

Students with very high needs are generally provided for at the base school. Twelve satellite classes at surrounding mainstream schools provide specialist teaching and opportunities for students to integrate into a regular school environment.

Approximately eighty percent of students are on the autistic spectrum. Some students have multiple disabilities. All students benefit from the provision of a range of therapies including speech and language, occupational and physiotherapy.

In addition, the school provides an itinerant specialist teaching service to support children with identified needs enrolled at their local school.

There have been significant changes to the school management team since the 2013 ERO review. A new principal was appointed in mid-2014, and a new deputy and two assistant principals have been appointed. A senior leadership team has also been established to mentor and coach staff on their professional practice.

2 Learning

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

The school makes good use of achievement information to support student learning. Senior managers have introduced an assessment framework that is appropriate to the context of the school. It is used to provide school-wide achievement information to the board.

Teachers consult with parents, and therapists to prepare individual learning programmes (IEP) for students. Each IEP includes annual learning goals. The assessment framework helps teachers break down learning goals into manageable steps that assist with planning and showing progress.

The school keep parents well informed about student progress and participation using a variety of approaches. Teachers and parents communicate regularly through booklets that go home daily with students. Staff also communicate using electronic methods. Parents receive regular and informative newsletters.

Recently a new electronic student information management system has been introduced that is helping staff to gather and analyse information about student learning.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum continues to effectively promote and support student learning. It takes a holistic approach to education and is broad in its scope. It is based on The New Zealand Curriculum and makes provision for students’ individual differences and needs. There is a clear expectation that all children will learn and progress.

The school curriculum has recently been reviewed. Therapists often work with teachers to find ways to help students access the curriculum by developing ways for them to communicate. Literacy and numeracy are taught regularly and students are supported to be creative.

Learning new skills often involves initial modelling by adults followed by repetitive practice by students. Teachers, teacher aides and therapists work closely as a team to support students’ learning. Students are well supported to develop a wide range of life skills to help them gain greater independence and enjoyment.

Students have many opportunities to learn through experiences within the wider community. They take part in excursions. Students regularly visit the gym and swimming pool. Education providers such as music teachers add to the richness of the programme. Students in the transition classes engage in work-related experiences and practise skills that give them greater independence at home.

Students in satellite schools benefit from interacting with the mainstream students. In some cases they attend mainstream classes for part of the day. They have opportunities to form friendships with the students from the host school.

Students between the ages of 17 and 21 attend transition classes where there is a significant focus on life and vocational skills. The curriculum is designed to support students’ independence and to support them to access the community and its facilities.

The process of transitioning students into the school, between classes, and from the school is well managed. Students who have difficulty learning in the satellite classes are sometimes transitioned back to the base school.

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

The school charter identifies the unique position of Māori in New Zealand society and expresses the school’s obligation to supporting Māori student identity by including aspects of tikanga and te reo Māori into the educational programme. The board is committed to consulting Māori whanau to discover their views on how the school can best support their children as Māori.

The school recognises that there is work to do to strengthen programmes to support Māori learners. Since 2014 four staff members of Māori descent who have knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori have been employed. This has increased the knowledge of Māori culture within the school and supports the learning of other staff.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well led. Senior managers work effectively as a team to provide a school environment where students feel safe, supported and challenged in their learning environment. They have established a culture where staff and parents are consulted and can have a positive influence on students’ education.

The formation of a senior leadership team has had a positive impact on the quality of teaching. Professional development is now better aligned to teachers’ and students’ learning needs. Teachers’ knowledge of autism and appropriate teaching strategies have been increased. The improved appraisal process promotes teacher inquiry and reflection. Teachers feel well supported to improve learning outcomes for students.

Induction programmes for new staff, and job descriptions, clarify the roles for all staff. Teacher aides are a very significant part of the staff and they value the guidance they get from their colleagues to enable them to support students effectively.

The board has clarified its role in governing the school. It has reviewed how it operates and has developed a more coherent approach to planning and development. Policies have been reviewed to ensure that they are up-to-date and provide guidance for school personnel.

The school roll is growing and the number of satellite classes is increasing. Facilities at the base school have improved. These now include a fully fenced sports field, improved playground equipment, sunshades, staff car parking and office facilities for the therapists. Future plans include improving the swimming pool facilities and bus loading area.

The improvements to teaching and learning, leadership and facilities have improved learning opportunities for students. School leaders recognise the need to consolidate changes so that they are sustained.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

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

Students benefit from a responsive curriculum in a supportive environment where they are valued and respected as individual learners. The staff work in partnership with parents to provide the best outcomes for each student. The school continues to use internal evaluation to guide ongoing improvement for students and their families.

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

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

9 June 2016

About the School

Location

Glenfield, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1556

School type

Special School

School roll

148

Number of international students

0

Gender composition

Boys 83% Girls 17%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Filipino

Chinese

Korean

British

Indian

Japanese

South East Asian

other European

other ethnicities

9%

51%

7%

4%

4%

3%

3%

3%

3%

7%

6%

Special Features

12 satellite classes at:

Birkdale North School (2 classes)

Glenfield College (2 classes)

Glenfield Intermediate (3 classes)

Glenfield primary (3 classes)

Northcroft Centre (2 transition classes)

Review team on site

May 2016

Date of this report

9 June 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

April 2013

February 2010

December 2006

Wairau Valley School - 22/04/2013

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Wairau Valley School provides education for students with intellectual impairment between the ages of five and twenty-one. The school caters for students with very high and high needs, and for a smaller number who receive no special external ongoing funding. A significant number of students fall within the autistic spectrum. Students come from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They are united by the school’s strong inclusive practices, its celebration of students’ strengths and successes, and by effective home and school partnerships.

The school is a complex organisation. Students with severe, multiple disabilities are generally provided for in the base school. Four satellite classes cater for students who are able to benefit from increased mainstream opportunities. The twenty-four percent increase in the school roll over the past three years is being carefully managed, although a reduction in space available at the base school has led to some reduction of programmes. In 2013 a satellite class will open in a local secondary school and planning for a further primary school satellite is underway.

The school staff is increasing as the roll grows. Full-time and part-time employees include teachers, teacher aides, specialists and therapists, and other support staff. As new staff join the school they are well inducted into its vision and goals, as well as into its specialised teaching and learning programmes. The appointment of the two current deans has considerably enhanced staff support and has sharpened the improvement focus of the school.

2 Learning

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

The school is increasingly able to use achievement information to make positive changes to outcomes for students. Planning and monitoring for individual students is well incorporated into individual education plan (IEP) processes. School managers review the percentage of IEP goals achieved in each classroom. They use this information to identify teachers who would benefit from additional support in IEP goal setting and writing, and in working in this special school setting.

Newly introduced assessment frameworks enable teachers to monitor and plan for more direct student progress. New resources are also being well used by teachers to plan for and monitor student progress in the key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum. Teachers and school leaders can now make more evidenced-based judgments about resourcing needs, and about the impact teaching and learning programmes are having on student learning and development.

One of the school’s charter goals for 2012 was for all junior students to make fine-grained progress towards Level 1 of the National Standards. School leaders intend to use their analysis of the 2012 results to evaluate the impact and outcomes of the extensive professional development and support provided to teachers throughout the year. The results were not available at the time of this ERO review.

The school is improving its processes for reporting formally to parents on student progress and achievement. The new and attractively presented e-portfolios demonstrate the learning and engagement of all students and are written in more parent-friendly ways than were the school’s previous reports. Where appropriate, parents are being advised of student progress in relation to the National Standards.

The positive school tone and highly inclusive school practices encourage student involvement in all school programmes, routines and special occasions. School activities enable students to participate in a variety of group sizes and settings, thus supporting their overall socialisation.

Affirming classroom environments and focused teaching sessions support students’ in-class engagement. Students are supportive of each other and celebrate their own and the achievements of others as individuals and as important members of the school. School performances are particularly important in developing students’ growing confidence and ability to participate in group situations.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes and supports the learning of all students. Staff are making notable progress in developing and implementing programmes based on the philosophy that all students are learners who are able to make progress at their own level and rate. Programmes focus on enhancing learning opportunities for all students in individualised and relevant ways.

The curriculum has undergone significant improvement over the past three years. Effective professional learning and development (PLD) has impacted positively on the quality of teaching. The programmes introduced through PLD are researched for their effectiveness, and their implementation is well monitored.

Teachers have improved their planning for students’ learning. They place a more noticeable focus on what students are to learn, rather than on what they are to do, especially in literacy and numeracy programmes. Stronger alignment of the school’s curriculum with the key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum has provided an additional and appropriate direction for student learning.

Students are advantaged by the wide range of learning activities available to them. The curriculum has an appropriate focus on the local community. It includes coherent, well planned and well implemented transitions from one class to another, from base to satellite classes and, for older students, from the school to the community. Programmes support students’ creativity. They provide access to physical activity through good playground provisions and a well set up gymnasium/exercise room. The base school swimming pool is used daily for hydrotherapy as well as for learn-to-swim opportunities.

As a next step in programme implementation, teachers should reflect on the purpose and the outcomes of whole class teaching sessions and daily routines. In doing so, they could ask themselves how they maximise student learning opportunities in these contexts.

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

School leaders are aware of Ka Hikitia, the Ministry of Education’s initiative for promoting educational success for Māori, as Māori. Some school practices reflect and acknowledge the language, culture and identity of Māori students and their whānau.

School leaders have prepared a strategic plan that includes general goals for the future, based on Ka Hikitia. These goals could now be broken down into a specific annual plan that includes dated timeframes and details about how the impact of new provisions will be evaluated.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. The school benefits from thoughtful, knowledgeable and experienced senior leadership. The deans are enthusiastic motivators and effective change managers. School leaders have high expectations of staff. They have recently documented more explicit expectations and have strengthened quality assurance processes. There is now greater school-wide consistency in the quality of programmes available to students.

The school’s climate of trust cultivates ongoing school improvement. Over the past three years effective building of staff capacity and capability has occurred through all levels of the school. School leaders and staff immerse themselves in professional learning and adapt their practices accordingly. They engage more frequently in formalised, open and honest self review. The school’s climate of trust provides a sound foundation for a meaningful focus on the home-school partnership.

Members of the board of trustees have had a long association with the school and know its strengths and challenges well. Trustees represent the perspectives of a wide range of families served by the school. They work well with school leaders to set school direction and maintain governance oversight.

As part of the school’s progress, trustees and school leaders should continue to strengthen:

  • the evaluative content of school reporting processes
  • the use of specific and well monitored annual plans that show how strategic goals will be implemented
  • formalisation of board policy review and updating of policies
  • the links between the deans’ ongoing discussions with teachers and the teacher appraisal process
  • the documented delineation of governance and management roles, particularly in the principal’s performance agreement and school financial responsibility delegations.
Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review. However, the board should annually review policies related to international students.

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.

The board does not have a signed performance agreement with the principal and has not annually undertaken a formal review of the principal’s performance. The deputy principal has not been appraised. This lack of effective senior management performance review weakens demarcations between school governance and management, and makes the board’s overall self-review processes less effective.

To improve current practices the board should ensure that a performance agreement is signed annually with the principal and that the principal and deputy principal are appraised annually[State Sector Act 77c].

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Dale Bailey

National Manager Review Services Northern Region

22 April 2013

About the School

Location

Glenfield, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1556

School type

Special School

School roll

123

Number of international students

0

Gender composition

Boys 78% Girls 22%

Ethnic composition

New Zealand European/Pākehā

Māori

Korean

British/Irish

Filipino

Pacific

Indian

other European

others

46%

6%

9%

4%

4%

4%

3%

11%

13%

Special Features

Satellite classes at Glenfield Primary School, Glenfield Intermediate School and Oteha Valley School

Review team on site

December 2012

Date of this report

22 April 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

February 2010

December 2006

June 2004