Waitoki School

Education institution number:

1558

School type:

Full Primary

School gender:

Co-Educational

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

176

Website:

http://www.waitoki.school.nz

Telephone:

09 420 5244

Address:

1119 Kahikatea Flat Road, Waitoki, Kaukapakapa

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Waitoki School - 12/11/2018

12 Nov 2018

School Context

Waitoki School is a small rural school just north of Auckland that caters for 135 students in Years 1 to 8. Māori students make up 14 percent of the roll.

The school states that it aims to be a “nurturing community of adaptive, creative, curious, lifelong learners, who confidently achieve excellence through integrity and perseverance”. It also aims for its students to develop the competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). The school values excellence, innovation, inquiry and curiosity, diversity, community and participation, ecological sustainability, integrity and respect.

The board’s strategic focus is to develop a responsive school curriculum that provides effective teaching and learning opportunities for all. School targets are set to continually lift student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. New developments in the school include play- based learning strategies that have been introduced into the junior classes to strengthen children’s transition to school. In addition, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori programmes have been established along with a kapa haka group which has been embraced by the whole school community.

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

achievement and progress in reading, writing and mathematics
wellbeing , including staff wellbeing
progress for children with additional learning needs, including gifted and talented children.

Since the 2015 ERO report, the board has consulted the community about the school’s direction and reviewed its Charter. The board continues to make good use of a whānau focus group for community consultation. The community has recently contributed funds and expertise to create a new sensory garden learning space.

The school has experienced significant roll growth and staff turnover in the past three years. A new principal was employed in 2016 and two deputy principals appointed at the beginning of this term. Full use is being made of teaching spaces to accommodate the growing roll.

The school is a member of Te Kāhui Ako o Kaipara 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?

Overall the school is achieving equitable and excellent outcomes of its learners. This is particularly evident in the way the school has demonstrated its ability to be inclusive, engage with diverse families and, as a result, promote the learning and progress of all children.

School data for the last four years show that most children achieve at or above expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

School leaders focus on achieving equitable outcomes for all children. Māori children are well catered for and there is good support for children who require additional support. There is parity of achievement in mathematics for boys and girls.

Children’s achievement of other valued outcomes is very good. Many children demonstrate that they:

are confident, actively involved and curious learners
are proud of their bicultural knowledge and heritage, and their participation in pōwhiri, waiata and kapa haka
have perseverance and creativity
have a good sense of belonging, and ownership of their learning
can establish and maintain strong tuakana/teina relationships.

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

The school is accelerating learning for Māori and other children who need this. The small number of Māori learners makes it statistically difficult to identify any meaningful or relevant patterns in data. However, individual children’s progress is evident.

Children whose progress needs to be accelerated benefit from a range of well targeted programmes. Teachers develop individual learning programmes for children and this supports a highly personalised approach. Leaders and teachers make good use of their comprehensive knowledge of individual children’s learning needs. Leaders closely monitor the progress of those children who are most at risk of not achieving well.

Partnerships between leaders and teachers and parents and whānau have a positive impact on children’s learning outcomes. This partnership allows parents and whānau to receive information and to participate in learning opportunities that equip them with strategies to support their children’s learning at home.

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?

The strong community commitment to the school provides a sound foundation for it to achieve equitable, excellent and accelerated learning for children. Trustees, staff and parents work collaboratively to support and enrich the educational opportunities and learning journey for every child. As a result, children benefit from many authentic experiences which contribute to, and enhance their literacy and mathematics achievement. Parents report that these positive partnership and consultation opportunities are creating better learning outcomes for their children.

Teachers successfully establish learning environments that encourage children to take part in constructive discussions and engage with the curriculum. Teachers adapt and trial different teaching strategies and approaches and promote achievement through deliberate instructional activities. Learning programmes are differentiated according to individual children’s strengths and needs. Children are knowledgeable about their learning and most demonstrate a good work ethic and sense of ownership of their learning.

The school’s membership of Te Kāhui Ako o Kaipara is strengthening the capacity and capability of teaching staff. In particular it is helping them to use data more effectively to inform their internal evaluation and to accelerate children’s learning.

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

There has been significant staff turnover in recent years. The newly appointed leadership team is building a staff culture of professional collaboration. The aim is to better enable teachers to engage in professional discussions that will help them learn together. The focus is on increasing their understanding and use of progress and achievement data to help them accelerate children’s learning.

Leaders and teachers should:

continue developing and embedding new initiatives to do with ‘teaching as inquiry’ and collaborative tracking and monitoring of children’s progress
further develop internal evaluation capacity focused on positive sustained learning outcomes for all children
further promote children’s ability to direct and have choice in their learning
utilise the high trust relationships amongst staff to advance teacher efficacy, flexibility and risk-taking to support them to build new knowledge and skills
continue development of a culturally responsive curriculum that reflects the turangawaewae of Waitoki School.

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.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to consultation with the school’s Māori community.

In order to address this the board must consult with its Māori community regarding the policies, plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students. NAG 1 (e).

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

a highly collaborative leadership team that promotes ongoing improvement
good levels of overall achievement
strong community commitment that supports children’s learning
teachers who are recognised for their strengths and professional expertise.

Next steps

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

leaders increasing their capacity and skills for coaching and mentoring to better support and build teachers’ professional practice
strengthening the school’s internal evaluation to better identify and gauge what is working well for children’s learning and where improvements are needed
continuing the school’s development of a curriculum that better reflects its turangawaewae.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

12 November 2018

About the school

Location	Kaukapakapa, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	1558
School type	Full Primary (Year 1 to 8)
School roll	135
Gender composition	Boys 58% Girls 42%
Ethnic composition	Māori 14% Pākehā 82% other ethnic groups 4%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	Yes
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	September 2018
Date of this report	12 November 2018
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review October 2015 Education Review October 2012 Education Review August 2010

Waitoki School - 09/10/2015

09 Oct 2015

Findings

Students benefit from the school’s positive and inclusive culture. They achieve well in literacy and mathematics. Teachers are developing practices to build students’ knowledge about their learning and how they learn. An important priority for the school is to design a curriculum that reflects the school charter, The New Zealand Curriculum, and the local community.

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?

Waitoki School is a small rural school north of Auckland that provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. Māori students make up 12 percent of the roll.

Most of the teaching staff have worked together at the school for several years and have good knowledge of the families and local community. During the past three and a half years the school has had two new principals after the previous principal had been at the school for over twenty years. The current principal has just completed his first year in this role. He has recently resigned to take up a principal role in Rarotonga at the beginning of 2016.

The school’s 2012 ERO report noted the positive family-focused culture. This continues to be a feature of the school. The past three ERO reports have recommended that teachers develop approaches that support students to know how well they are achieving and that challenge, enrich and deepen their thinking and learning. While an external adviser has supported teachers to make some progress towards addressing this recommendation it continues to be a key development priority for 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 continuing to develop its use of achievement information to provide relevant learning programmes that extend students’ learning. Current school data indicate that student achievement compares favourably with local, regional and national levels of achievement in National Standards.

The school’s charter achievement targets are appropriately focused on the progress of students who are yet to achieve the National Standards. Teachers with target students in their class have an appraisal goal focusing on the progress of these students. This good practice builds teacher accountability for supporting these students to make accelerated progress.

Teachers use a wide range of appropriate assessments to guide their overall judgements about each student's achievement. The principal has introduced an assessment tool that should guide teachers to more explicitly address students’ identified learning gaps. Teachers have opportunities to compare and discuss their assessments as a staff. There are also plans to moderate assessment with teachers from a local school.

Teachers are collaborative and share their knowledge of students to support them to achieve. Students with additional learning requirements benefit from inclusive practices and the small community-centred school environment.

In some classrooms students are confident learners and engage actively in their learning. Teachers are developing their feedback to students about what they are doing well and how they could improve their learning. As this approach becomes more consistent it will support students to talk about and evaluate their own learning and achievement. Students could also give feedback to other students about their learning.

Teachers provide parents with relevant information about their children's learning. Parents have regular opportunities to discuss their children’s achievement and to work with teachers to support students’ progress.

3 Curriculum

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

The school is developing a local curriculum that promotes the values, principles and key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). The school’s mission statement is to ‘empower students to achieve as confident, responsible life-long learners’. This statement, alongside the school’s charter aspiration, ‘one size fits one’, could guide teachers' review and use of the school’s curriculum.

Class programmes appropriately emphasise literacy and mathematics, particularly in the junior classrooms. School-wide topics offer students opportunities to present and hear different perspectives about what they are learning at school assemblies. Integrated units of work are helping students to make connections across the different learning areas. Students are benefitting from an increasing emphasis on the arts and physical education. They enjoy a broad range of curriculum opportunities that include their choice of electives that are run by parents and teachers.

Years 7 and 8 students travel to a local secondary school for technology programmes. The board and parents are currently developing a ‘technology shed’ on the school grounds that will provide facilities for a range of technology and arts programmes for all students. The principal acknowledges the requirement to provide a careers programme for Years 7 and 8 students. He is also considering how to provide opportunities for these older students to learn an additional language.

Tuakana-teina relationships are evident in the inclusive, supportive relationships between older and younger students. Senior students have opportunities to take leadership roles and act as peer mediators. Student perspectives are increasingly included in learning programmes. Students could also play a key role in evaluating teaching developments and programmes.

The principal plans to promote relevant teaching practices that:

encourage students to become creative thinkers and problem-solvers
develop students’ skills for learning through inquiry
integrate e-learning across the school.

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

The principal and teachers have introduced some strategies to raise the profile of te reo and tikanga Māori in the school. Waiata are a regular and valued part of school assemblies. A focus on the Treaty of Waitangi is included in teaching programmes at the beginning of each year. This year te reo Māori has been promoted through the class release teacher programme.

Māori students comprise 12 percent of the student roll. The school’s information indicates that they achieve well compared to national and regional levels of Māori achievement in National Standards.

The board has endeavoured to find ways to consult with the Māori community as a group. The principal acknowledges that meaningful consultation with whānau could best be done through connecting with individual whānau.

The principal has identified relevant priorities to promote Māori students’ language, culture and identity in the school. These include:

building students’ and teachers’ confidence and competence in learning te reo and tikanga Māori
further consideration of Ka Hikitia-Accelerating Success 2013 – 2017 and Tātaiako - Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners, to guide teaching approaches and school practices.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain the progress made in teaching practice to improve students’ learning. The current principal was appointed with the challenge of continuing the momentum of change that the previous principal had initiated. He has established confident, trusting relationships with students, staff, the board and community. This should help the school continue to move forward in its direction to equip students to become ‘confident, connected, actively involved, life-long learners’ (NZC).

The board maintains a well resourced environment for students and staff. Trustees work as a team and have a good understanding of their responsibilities on the board. They bring complementary skills and experience to their roles. Trustees seek and value the perspectives of the school’s community. The school enjoys high levels of community involvement in school life, fundraising and property maintenance.

The board and the previous principal reviewed the school charter through consultation with students, staff and the parent community. The strategic plan provides an appropriate pathway for the development of teaching approaches that reflect the NZC. More regularly reviewing progress against annual and strategic goals would help to achieve and consolidate these goals. The board and staff could now develop greater coherence between the school charter, curriculum, learning programmes and teacher appraisals.

Teachers’ appraisals are appropriately linked to the Practising Teacher Criteria. The principal recognises the value of teachers reflecting more deeply on the impact of their teaching practices on students’ engagement and development as learners. Teachers should also maintain records of their own professional learning as part of evidence for the endorsement of their practising certificates.

Provision for international students

For the past three years the school has received payment for hosting groups of international students for two weeks at a time. If this is to continue the board should become a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established undersection 238F of the Education Act 1089.

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.

To improve current practice the board should ensure that minutes of board meetings better reflect the range of trustees’ discussion and decisions.

Conclusion

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

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

9 October 2015

About the School

Location	Waitoki, Kaukapakapa
Ministry of Education profile number	1558
School type	Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)
School roll	93
Number of international students	Group of short-term students
Gender composition	Boys 58 Girls 35
Ethnic composition	Māori 11 Pākehā 82
Review team on site	August 2015
Date of this report	9 October 2015
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review October 2012 Education Review August 2010 Education Review June 2007