Whenuakite School

School Context

Whenuakite School caters for students from Years 1 to 8. It is located about 30km south of Whitianga. The current roll is 133 of whom a very small number identify as Māori. The school’s mission is to develop every child as a confident, connected, actively involved life-long learner. The values of endeavour/whakamatua, inquiry/tuhinga, respect/whakaute, and relationships/whakawhanaungatanga are actively promoted.

At the time of this ERO review the principal and senior leadership team had only recently taken up their roles. Most teaching staff have been at the school less than 18 months and most of the board of trustees are also new to their roles.

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

• reading, writing and mathematics.

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 achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for some of its students.

School achievement data for 2017 shows that most students are achieving at or above expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. However, ERO and the school agree there is a need to strengthen the dependability of this data. School data indicates significant disparity between boys and girls in all areas.

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

The school is unable to show how well they are responding to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

While the school is able to report anecdotally that some students have made accelerated progress, they are yet to formally collate and track this data. There have also been issues with the correct identification of the Māori students at the school.

In 2018 there are clear processes in place to identify and monitor the progress of students with additional learning needs.

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?

Professional leadership has begun to build the collective capacity of teachers and relational trust with the community. Leadership is collaboratively developing and pursuing the school’s vision, goals and strategic direction. The perspectives and aspirations of students, parents and whānau are sought to inform the charter values, goals and targets. Senior leaders are providing a clear direction focused on strengthening teaching to improve learning outcomes for students. High levels of ownership of the school’s vision and direction are evident. There is a strong focus is on identifying students learning needs and responding more effectively to these.

There is a strategic approach to leading and managing change in all aspects of school operations. The school community and students are involved in evaluating the quality and usefulness of current practices. There is a deliberate approach to improving the quality and consistency of teaching across the school. A strong alignment is evident between the school’s practices and a focus on accelerating student achievement.

The local community and environment are well embedded in aspects of the school programme. There are many opportunities for parents, whānau and the local community to make contributions to the programme, and the local environment is well utilised. An inquiry learning approach encourages students to follow their own interests in their learning. Aspects of the programme make authentic connections to students’ lives and real-world contexts. The school environment is managed in ways that support high levels of student participation, engagement and contribution.

Parents, whānau and community participate and support positive ways to enhance learning opportunities. An open door policy is helping teachers to begin effective learning partnerships with parents. Students and their whānau develop a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school as a place of learning.

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

The collation, moderation and use of assessment information and targeted planning to accelerate learning and progress for students needs improving, particularly for students not meeting expectations. Particular attention needs to be given to improvement in relation to:

• the monitoring and tracking of rates of student progress by teachers
• continuing to embed processes for the identification of student learning needs
• further strengthening and embedding expectations for teacher practice in literacy and numeracy
• strengthening student use of assessment information so that students can take greater responsibility for their own learning and progress
• developing and implementing processes that strengthen the dependability of achievement data across the school.

There is a need to continue to strengthen bicultural practices with a focus on a sequential approach to teaching te reo Māori, and local iwi history in consultation with local iwi.

Trustees need to undertake regular and ongoing training in order to strengthen their capacity to meet their goal of effectively governing the school and raising student achievement.

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.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

• ensure that all teachers are annually appraised against all of the appropriate professional standards and in line with current Education Council requirements
• maintain an ongoing programme of self review in relation to the school’s polices and guidelines for all aspects of school operation
• in consultation with the school’s Māori community, develop and make known to the school’s community, policies, plan and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• leadership that is strategically focused on building the collective capacity of teachers and raising student achievement
• parents, whānau and community that support the current direction of the school, its programmes and initiatives.

Next steps

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

• targeted planning to accelerate learning [ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school.]
• strengthening the collation and use of student achievement at all levels of school operation to accelerate learning particularly for those at risk of not achieving
• strengthening bicultural practice in consultation with local iwi to further promote New Zealand’s bicultural heritage and the success of Māori students
• further training for trustees to build their capability as stewards of the school.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Lynda Pura-Watson

Deputy Chief Review Officer

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

29 June 2018

About the school