Warepa School

Findings

This school has a very positive culture. Collaborative, caring relationships support this. There is a strong emphasis on improvement and providing for the best outcomes for all students. The board, leaders and teachers are making very good use of students' learning information and are increasingly making evidence-based decisions. An ongoing strength of the school is the high quality of leadership and teaching. The school environment and use of digital technologies are highly effective in supporting students' learning, engagement and achievement.

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

1 Context

Warepa School provides a range of rich opportunities for learning for students from Years 1 to 8. There are seven Māori students. The school is relatively small and rurally located with three classrooms. Many students travel by bus with some coming from the wider area. Teachers, students and whānau get to know each other well. Students learn in three attractive, well-resourced classrooms. Students develop a strong sense of pride and ownership of their school. They have helped develop aspects of the school environment to promote physical activity and opportunities for wider learning. The staff and principal are long-serving in the school. They have a long history of working collaboratively with other schools in the region. They enjoy good support from parents and the local and wider community. They are now part of a collaboration of schools called the South Otago Community of Learning. ERO’s previous reviews show a consistent history of effective school performance.

2 Equity and excellence

The school’s vision is to ‘inspire students to be life-long learners, to achieve and reach their potential’. The valued outcomes are for students to be self-aware, determined, connected and thinkers who are creative.

The school community encourages its students to strive for excellence, support one another and work collaboratively. The school promotes life-long learning for its students, encouraging students’ independence and self-motivation. The school values students showing respect for themselves, others and their environment.

The school’s achievement information shows that for the small number of Māori students achievement in relation to The National Standards (NS) varies. Greater proportions of Māori students are achieving at or above these standards than in the past. All Māori students who were well below the NS have made accelerated progress. The school has identified and particularly focused on those Māori students whose learning needs to be further accelerated and put in place very good quality planning and programmes to achieve this.

School-wide achievement information shows that most students achieve at/above the NS in reading, writing and mathematics. While some students are below the NS there are none well below. Students achieve well in external academic competitions and in sport.

Of significance is the increase in students’ achievement overall in mathematics and the high proportion of students at/above NS in literacy. At the end of 2015, half of the students were reading above NS and at the writing standard.

Leaders and teachers need to extend their analysis and reporting of student achievement information to more clearly show the progress students have made and evaluate whether or not accelerated progress has been made. This should include interim reporting to the board on the progress of students at risk of not achieving well. 

Since the last ERO evaluation, the school has focused on raising students’ achievement in literacy and mathematics through specific programmes and interventions. Students at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes are quickly identified and supported to accelerate their learning. There has been significant development in the use of ICT as a teaching and learning tool. All students in years 3 to 8 have access to and are using individual devices effectively to support their learning. There have been considerable advances made in teachers’, students’ and trustees’ use of ICT to communicate and promote engagement, achievement and progress in learning.

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school accelerates the progress of learners at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes. Most students who have needed to make accelerated progress have done so. The school now has no students who are well below NS. The confidence, attitude and self-belief of these learners has increased. Teachers continue to monitor these students to ensure any gains achieved are sustained and built on.

The school uses the same processes for identifying Māori learners who are at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes as for any other learner. Classroom teacher observations, reflections and discussions, extensive standardised testing and analysis are used to identify these students. Specific targets for these students are set as part of the school’s aim to accelerate the progress of any student who is not achieving NS.

The school responds to the identified needs of students whose progress needs to be accelerated by accessing board resourcing for targeted support. Students participate in class and withdrawal intervention programmes and receive additional teaching. Plans for raising students' achievement are written and implemented by teachers to monitor ongoing levels of achievement. Parents are aware if their child is receiving targeted support. Some are actively working in partnership with the school to accelerate their child’s progress. Teachers acknowledge, and ERO agrees, that this should be extended.

The teachers are very well aware of the conditions at this school that contribute to students’ accelerated progress. They include:

• working collaboratively as a teaching team with shared leadership
• a belief that all students can achieve with high expectations
• a very positive school culture
• implementation of a dynamic curriculum adapted to the students’ interests and needs
• teachers knowing students’ learning needs very well and building their independence
• extensive use of digital technologies to engage and promote student learning
• ensuring students have effective opportunities to learn.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and priorities for equity and excellence?

The board of trustees is well placed to sustain and improve the conditions required for all students, including Māori students, to attain equitable and excellent outcomes for individual success.

Trustees ensure that sufficient resources are allocated towards building the capacity of teachers and school leaders to continue to grow and improve school performance. The board’s strategic goals and school operations are well managed. Trustees are well informed about how well the school is achieving its goals for students and staff, and what still needs to be done.

A next step for the board is to reactivate the review of its own systems and processes. This could include the use of the New Zealand School Trustees Association tool ‘Hautū’ to determine how well the school incorporates Māori language, culture and identity in its focuses and processes.

The teachers have a good understanding of the purpose and use of evaluative inquiry. They use these inquiries to promote better outcomes for students. Inquiries are useful and well informed by a detailed range of achievement and other relevant information. They particularly focus on teaching and learning. They are used to guide change and improvement.

The principal maintains a strong vision for student-centred learning. She provides effective leadership and support for staff, students and the board. A culture of trust and caring is evident across the school.

Teachers know the students well. They are mindful of the many age levels and the length of time students are placed in their classrooms. They work as a teaching team to ensure all students are supported outside the classroom and that the learning is fresh and meaningful. Teachers are motivated to develop their interests and improve opportunities for students’ learning. They are experienced and share a passion for ongoing learning. They work cooperatively and collaboratively to achieve their common commitment to students’ achievements and wellbeing.

A next step for teachers is to ensure the inquiry approaches for all targeted students are more evaluative, determining how well the actions in the inquiry had worked for students.

The school is active within the local community. It has a long history of working in productive and innovative ways. Students and staff benefit from the collaborative way in which the school engages with businesses and other schools, in the local and wider region.

Students are well supported to take increasing responsibility for managing their own learning. They have many opportunities and authentic learning in core curriculum and other learning areas, such as sports, swimming, business enterprise and digital learning.

A next step for teachers and school leaders is to increase opportunities for Māori students to learn more about their language, culture and identity, and to develop further curriculum reviews.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children who need their learning and achievement accelerated
• respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
• regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
• act on what they know works well for each child
• build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
• are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

This school has a very positive culture. Collaborative, caring relationships support this. There is a strong emphasis on improvement and providing for the best outcomes for all students. The board, leaders and teachers are making very good use of students' learning information and are increasingly making evidence-based decisions. An ongoing strength of the school is the high quality of leadership and teaching. The school environment and use of digital technologies are highly effective in supporting students' learning, engagement and achievement.

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

6 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 the following:

• Board administration.
• Curriculum.
• Management of health, safety and welfare.
• Personnel management.
• 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.
• Processes for appointing staff.
• Stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions.
• Attendance.
• Compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
• Provision for international students.
• Provision for students in school hostels.

During the course of the review, the school became aware that some staff police vets were not up to date. The board and leaders were not aware that police vets must be carried out every three years. The school has now begun the process of re-vetting those staff whose police vets were not current. 

Chris Rowe
Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)

7 April 2016 

School Statistics