Okaihau Primary School

Okaihau Primary School

School Evaluation Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context 

Okaihau Primary School is located in Okaihau, Northland and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision statement Riding The Winds To Success -Ma nga hau e kawe te matauranga ki te taumata - Heka he Matangi ko Ma’ili fainoa – represents the Pakeha, Māori and Tongan communities in Okaihau.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation. 

Part B: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings. 

Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the ERO report of 2023, the school has been working to evaluate how well strengths-based teaching and learning practices support all learners to succeed in mathematics.  

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see: 

Excellence in teaching practices and resources to support learning in mathematics. 

  • Teachers provide a variety of learning opportunities and use deliberate strategies to better support students’ learning needs.
  • Overall student achievement has improved since the introduction of a structured programme, this remains a focus area. 

School culture supportive of student wellbeing.

  • A focus on the school values of respect, responsibility and reactions sets an expectation for positive behaviour for students.
  • Teachers use karakia and mihi to start the day to support a settled and inclusive atmosphere for learning.

A localised curriculum that addresses learner needs and raises achievement. 

  • A focus on learning about the local area has enabled the school to deepen its connections with the local marae and promote learner engagement in learning. 

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that a structured approach to mathematics has led to greater consistency in teaching programmes and some improvements in achievement.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been increased learner engagement and enjoyment in mathematics. 

Part B: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Outcomes are improving for some learners.
  • A small majority of learners are achieving at or above curriculum level expectation in reading and mathematics and some learners are achieving at or above curriculum expectation in writing.
  • Māori learners achieve at similar levels to their peers; some disparity for boys is evident.
  • Systems are in place to identify and provide targeted support for those who are below curriculum level expectation, and this has led to accelerated progress for some learners; accelerating achievement in writing, especially for boys, is a priority. 
  • The school has yet to meet the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance, with less than half of students attending regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership sets improvement goals that focus on achievement and wellbeing.
  • Leaders promote improvements in teaching and learning through the increased use of evidence to plan and monitor strategies that improve learner outcomes; leaders recognise the need to focus on the pace of progress so that more learners meet expected curriculum levels.
  • Leaders are committed to the professional growth of teachers to encourage retention and to provide stability.
  • Leadership builds and sustains supportive educationally focused relationships with other schools and education providers to share ideas and expertise. 
 Teaching is based on positive and mutually respectful relationships and the school values. 
  • An increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain sound foundational skills in literacy and mathematics is evident.
  • Teachers create an orderly and collaborative learning environment that supports learners to engage, experiment and apply new learning that builds on their experience and interests and reflects local contexts.
  • Learners with additional learning needs are provided with effective support to learn and progress. 
The school is well placed to sustain an inclusive learning environment for students.
  • Leaders and teachers value the diverse identities and cultures of learners and the community; learners are confident in their sense of belonging at school.
  • Leaders use relevant internal and external expertise to support capability building; professional learning and development is based on collaboration, relational trust and aligned to school priorities. 
  • The school board effectively represents and serves the local community including the local iwi.
  • Learners are provided with opportunities to develop their understanding of mātauranga Māori; tikanga Māori and te reo Māori are increasingly woven throughout the school curriculum. 

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

  • plan and introduce a schoolwide focus on the effective teaching of writing
  • strengthen systems for assessment in relation to the new literacy and mathematics curriculums to measure and monitor learning in reading, writing and mathematics
  • continue to promote attendance initiatives so that more students attend school regularly.

Within 3 months

  • develop and implement a teacher professional development focus on writing
  • develop and introduce an assessment overview that allows teachers and leaders to measure and monitor progress and achievement over time in reading, writing and mathematics.

Every 6 months

  • observe the teaching of writing and review achievement data to provide feedback to teachers about the effectiveness of their teaching
  • collect and monitor progress and achievement information to ensure that all learners are on track to make sufficient or accelerated progress in reading, writing and mathematics
  • collect and analyse attendance and wellbeing data to monitor attendance.

Annually

  • analyse students’ writing achievement information to measure the improvements from teacher professional development and use this information to inform future professional development
  • measure and report on the rate of learner progress over time in reading, writing and mathematics so that teachers and leaders can measure the success of teaching and learning programmes and make further resourcing decisions for school improvement
  • evaluate and extend the success of attendance initiatives that promote regular attendance.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

  • high quality teaching expertise to support learner progress and achievement in writing
  • strong systems for the analysis of achievement data so that teachers can effectively respond to individual learning strengths and next steps
  • all learners make expected or accelerated progress in reading, writing and mathematics
  • most learners attending school regularly.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

30 January 2025

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Okaihau Primary School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027

As of November 2024, the Okaihau Primary School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Okaihau Primary School Board.

The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

30 January 2025

About the School 

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Okaihau Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 24 months of the Education Review Office and Okaihau Primary School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Okaihau Primary School sits on the top of a plateau that connects the Hokianga from the west with Te Pewhairangi (Bay of Islands) to the east. Year 1 to 6 students come from a wide geographical area in rural Te Tai Tokerau. Many of the students are of Māori descent, mostly connected to iwi of Ngāpuhi.

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are 'Ma ngā hau e kawe te matauranga ki te taumata,' 'Riding the Winds to Success', Heka he Matangi ko Ma’ili fainoa.  

Context

Okaihau Primary School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • raising the achievement of all students: Māori, Pakeha and Pacific, by providing exciting dynamic programmes and innovative teaching
  • creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and a value of all cultures by fostering positive, confident relationships in a safe environment
  • encouraging a partnership between school and the wider community by involving whānau positively in their children’s education.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Okaihau Primary School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well strength-based teaching and learning practices support all learners to succeed in mathematics.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • embedding the PRIME mathematics programme is a school goal to provide structure and coherence to the teaching of mathematics
  • a focus on learner progress and achievement in mathematics will inform teachers, leaders and board members about the programme’s impact on student learning
  • professional learning with a focus on how a strength-based relationship between teacher and learner contributes to a learner’s sense of wellbeing and ‘can do’ attitude towards learning.

The school expects to see:

  • excellence in teaching practices and resources to support learning in mathematics
  • a positive school culture that creates a safe place for all; physically, emotionally and socially
  • a localised curriculum that addresses learner needs and raises achievement.

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how well strength-based teaching and learning practices support all learners to succeed in mathematics.

  • a graduate profile that describes principles and values that learners at Okaihau Primary will demonstrate 
  • a supportive school culture to promote learner wellbeing and engagement, a sense of belonging, unity and connectedness
  • respectful relationships in the school which signify the value placed on diversity.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • consistency in the analysis of achievement information by teachers to identify learners who are at risk of not achieving
  • deliberate teacher inquiry to identify mathematics strategies which have the most impact on learner achievement
  • strengthening its use of evaluation, inquiry and knowledge-building approaches to improve learner outcomes, with a clearer focus on equity and excellence and for Māori and Pacific and learners with diverse learning requirements.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

18 May 2023 

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.   educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Okaihau Primary School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of June 2022, the Okaihau Primary School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Okaihau Primary School Board.

The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

18 May 2023 

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home