Westport South School is a Year 1-8 full primary with a roll of 304. Due to fluctuations in employment opportunities within the local community, there is high student transience. The school has a long serving principal and staff. Since the 2014 ERO review, a new deputy principal, board chair and some trustees have been appointed.
The school’s mission statement is ‘Together We Can’. The overall vision is for children to be capable communicators, effective thinkers, self-managers, able to interact with others and their environment, and make positive contributions in a range of communities. The school’s valued outcomes are based on the HEART values of honesty, encouragement, attitude, respect and together we can.
Current strategic goals and targets focus on:
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
The school is a member of the Buller Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL).
The school needs to continue to address in-school disparity in order to ensure equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.
School data shows that most children consistently achieve well in reading over time. Boys’ reading achievement has improved slightly over time, however disparity remains.
Writing has been identified as an ongoing area for targeted support. Most girls achieve at or above expected levels but there is significant disparity for Māori and boys. Many of the children who are not reaching expectations in writing are new to the school.
Mathematics achievement for all children is lower than reading and writing. Achievement over time has been consistent, with little disparity for all groups of children.
The school effectively supports accelerated learning for some Māori and other children who need it.
Children whose learning requires additional support are clearly identified, assessed and tracked closely. They are actively supported to develop the skills to successfully access learning, and are provided with many valuable opportunities to enable engagement in learning. School data shows that many of these children make accelerated progress.
The school’s inclusive culture supports a strong sense of belonging for children and provides a positive and welcoming environment. The school’s HEART values are highly evident in practice and are consistently modelled across the school by children, staff and parents.
Children’s learning and wellbeing is closely monitored. Leaders and teachers carefully consider the individual learning and pastoral needs of children and their whānau. They provide appropriate support and learning opportunities for children with specific learning and behavioural needs.
Children benefit from a wide range of meaningful opportunities which support their engagement in learning. Teachers ensure that children experience meaningful learning contexts which reflect children’s understanding of the world. The broad and interesting Education Outside the Classroom programme supports connections with and extends children’s knowledge of the local and wider outdoor areas.
A number of well-considered organisational structures allow for a cohesive and collective approach across a range of school programmes and practices. The experienced and caring leadership team have clear and consistent expectations to support teaching and learning, children’s wellbeing and positive behaviour. Leaders have led and participated in a range of appropriate and targeted professional learning opportunities. They are highly supportive of staff and make good use of individual strengths. The principal is building leadership through a distributed approach.
The board is genuinely responsive to the needs of the school community and is supportive of staff and children. Trustees regularly receive reports about school operations through a well-thought through and applied process for internal evaluation. This is capably led by school leaders.
School leaders and teachers have identified, and ERO agrees, that there is a need to evaluate how well the curriculum:
The board and leaders agree that it is timely for the schools strategic and annual plans to be strengthened. School leaders and teachers need to continue to improve target setting processes and planning related to identified students, including having specific expectations for accelerated achievement for these students. The board’s internal evaluation process needs to be strengthened. This will enable trustees and leaders to know about the effectiveness and impact of strategies in raising achievement and to help inform their decision making.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in the:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in continuing to:
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
15 October 2018
|
Location |
Westport |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
3236 |
|
School type |
Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) |
|
School roll |
304 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys: 53% Girls: 47% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 14% Pākehā 79% Other ethnicities 7% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
August 2018 |
|
Date of this report |
15 October 2018 |
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review November 2014 Education Review July 2011 Education Review January 2008 |