Whangarei School

Whangarei School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Whangarei 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

Context

Whangārei School located in the heart of Whangārei City caters for learners in years 1 to 6. Learning is underpinned by the school vision, ‘Dare to be Remarkable’ and the school values of Ngakau Pono|Care, Ākonga Toa|Courage, Manaakitanga|Respect, and Ākonga Tutika|Responsibility. A new principal has been appointed since the last ERO report.

Whangarei School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • strengthen wellbeing in the school
  • embed a strong identity and positive culture
  • raise achievement in all areas of school life.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school is engaging, involving, and strengthening whānau and community partnerships to further increase wellbeing and achievement levels for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • effectively engage with whānau to further raise engagement, wellbeing and achievement
  • providing situations and opportunities to involve whānau and community in the school
  • strengthen existing partnerships with community
  • further raise engagement, wellbeing, and achievement in learning. 

The school expects to see:

  • leaders and teachers effectively engaging and utilising whānau and community partnerships to enhance wellbeing and learning opportunities for all tamariki
  • whānau and community demonstrating increased involvement and connection with the school that will result in improved wellbeing and learning outcomes for all tamariki.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to involve and strengthen whānau and community partnerships to further increase wellbeing and achievement levels for all learners: 

  • school leadership that reflects ongoing commitment to achieve the school’s strategic direction
  • School values reflect attributes that both students and adults aspire to, model, and act upon in everything that they do
  • leaders and teachers who value the importance of knowing individual learners and meeting their needs and strengths 
  • effective assessment systems and processes that and monitor the achievement of all tamariki
  • professional learning and classroom literacy programmes that support improved literacy learning outcomes for tamariki.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • building the collective capability and capacity of staff through relevant on-going professional learning programmes 
  • inviting whānau and members of the community to share their knowledge and skills to further develop and strengthen the local curriculum 
  • working towards increasing equitable and excellent outcomes for all tamariki.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

23 February 2024 

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

Whangarei School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report ​2023​ to ​2026 

As of ​March 2023​, the ​Whangarei 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 ​Whangarei School​, 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​ 

​​23 February 2024​   

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 

Whangarei School

Provision for International Students Report

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there were four international students attending the school, and no exchange students.

International students actively engage in regular classroom programmes and participate well in co-curricular activities.  The school’s self-review process for international students is thorough.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

23 February 2024

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

Whangarei School

Summary

Whangarei School caters for children in Years 1 to 6 and currently has a roll of 598 children. Māori children make up about half of the school roll and Pākehā children are the next largest group. There are smaller numbers of children from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds including children with Pacific heritage.

Since the 2014 ERO evaluation a new leadership team has been established. The board has new trustees and a board chair from the previous board who provides continuity. The board has reviewed the school’s vision and values and together with school leaders and staff responded to next steps identified in ERO’s 2014 report.

Leaders and teachers have undertaken significant professional development and learning focused on accelerating student achievement and promoting positive behaviour strategies. This is impacting positively on student outcomes.

The school’s children are achieving very well in comparison to their peers in comparable schools regionally and nationally. School achievement information shows that increasing numbers achieved at or above the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics between 2014 and 2016. This data also shows notable improvements in achievement and increasing parity for Māori learners and boys over time.

Whangarei School is one of eight schools in Ngā Kura mo te ako o Whangarei Kāhui Ako Group 2. This Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako (CoL) is at the early stages of becoming established.

How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?

Whangarei School has implemented specific strategies to respond more effectively to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. The processes and practices that are helping to achieve excellence and equity for all children include:

  • strategic direction setting that is focused on improvement
  • evidence-informed and responsive leadership for equity and excellence
  • increasing professional capability to build the collective capacity of teaching staff
  • strategic use of teaching expertise to address children’s learning needs
  • innovative teaching programmes that are helping to accelerate student achievement.

School leaders note and agree that key next steps to enhance this progress are to:

  • increase opportunities for students to have ownership of their learning,
  • continue board training
  • strengthen internal evaluation in order to more accurately gauge the effectiveness and impact of the initiatives, strategies and programmes designed to accelerate children’s progress and lift achievement.

The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.

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

Equity and excellence

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

Whangarei School has implemented strategies specifically designed to more effectively respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Leaders and teachers are very aware of the “numbers, names and needs” of the children who are at risk of not achieving. Teachers work intensively with identified children using teaching strategies that are deliberately tailored to address individual’s learning needs. They carefully monitor the progress of these learners.

Recent school information shows that by the time children leave the school in Year 6, between 80 and 90 percent of them are achieving at or above the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. While some disparity in achievement is still apparent for Māori learners in reading, and for boys in writing, the achievement gap for Maori learners continues to steadily close.

Leaders and teachers have strengthened assessment processes over time. These processes are ensuring greater consistency in teachers’ judgements about achievement.

The Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) closely monitors the achievement and wellbeing of children identified as requiring additional learning support. The SENCO, leaders and teachers work collaboratively with parents, external agencies and in-class teacher aides to provide appropriate support for the diverse learning needs of these children. The school’s inclusive practices are supporting all learners to achieve more equitable outcomes.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?

The school’s processes and practices that are enabling equity and excellence include; a value-based school culture that supports learning, a leadership focus on developing capacity to improve children’s achievement, and effective teaching that is targeted to support children whose achievement needs acceleration.

Children are confident, friendly, and demonstrate a sense of belonging at school. Most notably, the children have positive attitudes towards enacting the ‘MANA’ school values of demonstrating respect, responsibility, care and courage.

The school’s vision and values, reviewed in consultation with the community and staff, underpin positive changes in the school’s learning culture and the school’s inclusive practices. The new school values are promoted through a school-wide programme focussed on developing positive attitudes and behaviours to support learning.

The board and school leaders have an ongoing commitment to achieving equitable outcomes and success for Māori. Together they plan to continue prioritising initiatives aimed at increasing levels of engagement with families, whanau and iwi and hapu in order to further promote success.MāoriMāori

Leaders encourage and promote collaboration and innovative practices that are improving outcomes for children. They have a strong focus on developing staff capacity for sustaining improvements in children’s achievement. Evidence based research and significant professional learning inform decision making and integrate theory and practice.

A strong culture of reflection and a commitment to ongoing growth and improvement is evident amongst leaders and staff. Internal expertise is being developed through a ‘distributive leadership’ model. Leaders of literacy, mathematics and digital learning are supporting teachers to improve their practice.

School leaders and teachers are reflective and have developedwell documented plans for accelerating children’s progress. Teachers regularly monitor the progress of learners who are most at risk of not achieving.

The school has successful initiatives in place, including a boys’ class that is supporting Māori learners to achieve educational success as Māori.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?

New Zealand School Trustee Association’s tool Hautū: Māori Cultural Responsiveness Self Review Tool for Board of Trustees. This tool could help the board evaluate and gauge how effectively it is contributing to promoting Māori learners’ success.Trustees have identified that a key next step is to develop a coordinated approach to board training, to help strengthen their understanding of their governance role and responsibilities. Some trustees are familiar with the

School leaders and teachers engage in professional inquiry. They investigate aspects of their practice to better understand and respond to emerging issues. Inquiry practices could be strengthened by teachers making clearer links between their evaluative judgments about the quality, effectiveness or value of processes, programmes and practices and the desired and actual outcomes for children.

The school’s vision is to “develop self-regulating learners”. Leaders have identified that increasing children’s sense of ownership of their learning is a key next step towards achieving this vision. Teachers can support this process by teaching relevant learning-to-learn strategies that help children better understand and participate in making decisions about their learning, progress and achievement.

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
  • 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.

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should review performance management policies and procedures to ensure that staff appraisal aligns with the Education Council’s Standards for the Teaching Profession.  

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

At the time of this review there were four international students attending the school.

International students at Whangarei School are provided with very good levels of pastoral care. They are well supported to achieve educational success and to integrate into the school community. Effective systems are in place to monitor compliance with the Code of Practice 2016.

Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

Learners are achieving well. The school demonstrates strong progress toward achieving equity in educational outcomes, supported by effective, sustainable processes and practices.

Agreed next steps:

  • continuing to prioritise processes and practices that support educational success for Māori, as Māori
  • developing the use of formative teaching strategies that help students have greater ownership of their learning progress and achievement
  • board training to support trustees in their governance role and responsibilities
  • strengthening internal evaluation to identify the impact of initiatives on outcomes for children and to assist with strategic decision making.

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

Julie Foley

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

13 March 2018

About the school

LocationWhangarei
Ministry of Education profile number1130
School typeContributing School
School roll598
Gender compositionGirls 52% Boys 48%
Ethnic compositionMāori 
Pākehā
Pasifika
Chinese
Indian 
other
45%
41%
4% 
2%
2%
6%
Provision of Māori medium educationNo
Review team on siteSeptember 2017
Date of this report13 March 2018
Most recent ERO report(s)Education Review Education Review Education ReviewJuly 2014 
May 2011
March 2008