Blockhouse Bay School

Blockhouse Bay 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 

Blockhouse Bay School in Auckland serves a diverse community of learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision is Ka tae mai he manu pī, ka puta he manu rere – arrive a fledgling, leave soaring.’ 

There are two parts to this report.

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

Part A: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Outcomes for most learners are increasingly equitable and excellent.
  • Most learners achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics; the large majority achieve in writing.
  • A priority for the school is to improve equitable outcomes for Pacific learners in reading; boys in writing; Māori learners in mathematics.
  • Students with additional learning needs are well supported to make progress in relation to their individual learning goals.
  • Attendance information shows the school meets national Ministry of Education targets.

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic and collaborative leadership create highly effective conditions for learners to succeed.
  • Leaders promotes a culture of relational trust and respectful relationships at all levels of the school, supporting conditions for collaboration and good quality teaching. 
  • Leaders and teachers work successfully together to strengthen shared understandings of what good quality teaching and learning is, so learners experience success schoolwide.
  • Senior leaders liaise closely with each other and with teachers to provide targeted oversight of curriculum and teaching that focuses on improving positive learning outcomes.
Curriculum and teaching approaches effectively respond to learners’ strengths, different needs and interests.
  • Learners have rich opportunities to learn through a curriculum that fosters creativity and a broad range of learning experiences.
  • Staff are increasingly embedding mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori through the curriculum to promote learners’ language, culture and identity. 
  • Teachers regularly use assessment information to inform and design teaching and learning programmes to effectively meet the needs of learners. 
Coherent organisational conditions promote a culture of ongoing improvement. 
  • Leaders and teachers have built strong reciprocal relationships with whānau and community that contribute to improving positive outcomes for learners.
  • The board intentionally seeks community input in all aspects of school planning to support ongoing improvement.
  • The board appropriately resources targeted professional learning and development aligned to strategic goals and priorities.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

  • accelerate learning progress for Pacific learners and boys in literacy, and for Māori learners in mathematics
  • implement clear expectations that define how a school culture of ‘speaking and listening’ can be further enhanced to meet the needs of diverse learners in culturally appropriate ways 
  • continue to develop and embed practices and procedures focused on building learners’ social skills and the wellbeing of learners
  • further determine and embed collaborative teacher practices and high levels of attendance that improve positive outcomes for learners.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

  • finalise and implement collaborative teaching guidelines to improve learner outcomes.

Every six months:

  • continue to monitor the impact of teaching and learning strategies that accelerate learner progress for groups of students
  • identify core elements needed to develop and refine school expectations of a culture that promotes and values speaking and listening 
  • develop a framework to support teachers to teach social skills and enhance learner wellbeing.

Annually:

  • evaluate achievement outcomes in literacy and mathematics for boys, Pacific and Māori learners and determine next steps
  • review and embed the speaking and listening culture schoolwide
  • gather feedback from teachers on collaborative teaching practices and their impact on learner outcomes and use the information to determine what worked well, for who, and where to next
  • evaluate the effectiveness of the social skills teaching framework and attendance rates and use this information to identify next steps. 

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

  • accelerated progress and positive achievement for Pacific and Māori learners, and for boys in writing
  • a cohesive speaking and listening culture visible across the school
  • effective collaborative teaching practice and high attendance rates embedded schoolwide.
  • improved social skills taught from when a learner begins at school.

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

13 December 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

Blockhouse Bay School 

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027

As of October 2024, the Blockhouse Bay 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 Blockhouse Bay 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

13 December 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

Blockhouse Bay 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. 

One international student was enrolled at the time of the ERO review. The school’s annual self-review and provision of pastoral care for international students, as well as their commitment to fully involve diverse cultures in the life of the school, is of a high standard.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

13 December 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

Blockhouse Bay School - 13/12/2019

School Context

Blockhouse Bay School caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The school has strong connections with its ethnically diverse community and local history. Almost one-third of students are Indian, and the next largest group is Chinese. The majority of learners attending the school speak other languages in addition to English.

The school’s vision is for students to seek knowledge, understanding and success, strive to be creative, resilient and respectful, and soar confidently into the world, strong in their unique identity. To achieve its vision the school’s strategic goals are to work together to improve learning, to be designers of learning, and to promote wellbeing.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board schoolwide information about outcomes for learners in the following areas:

  • reading, writing and mathematics achievement, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners
  • acceleration of progress for learners not achieving at expected levels
  • progress of students who have additional learning needs or are new English language learners
  • achievement and progress in relation to the school’s other valued outcomes
  • student health and wellbeing
  • priorities identified in the strategic and annual plan.

Since the 2016 ERO review, leaders have introduced a new leadership structure and extended leadership opportunities for teachers.

The school is a member of the Lynfield Kāhui Ako | Community of Learning.

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 most of its students.

School achievement information over the last three years shows sustained levels of achievement, with most students achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in literacy and mathematics. Achievement information also shows that most students have maintained sufficient rates of progress over time.

Most Māori students are achieving at or above curriculum levels in reading and writing, and a large majority in mathematics.

Over time, achievement for Pacific students has improved, with the majority achieving at or above curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics. However, in-school disparity in achievement continues for this group of students. There is also disparity in achievement for boys in reading and writing.

Students achieve very well in relation to the school’s other valued outcomes. He Manu Rere, the school’s learner profile, places a strong emphasis on social dispositions and key competencies for children’s wellbeing. These are well understood and known by students and whānau and are integral to the school’s culture and functioning.

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

The school is making good progress in accelerating learning for those students who are at risk of not achieving. Systems to accelerate learning are operating well in most areas of the school.

Māori students have achieved accelerated rates of progress in reading and mathematics over the last three years. Some Pacific students made accelerated rates of progress in reading and mathematics in 2018.

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?

The focus on equity and excellence, and the acceleration of student learning is well led by the senior leaders, who have high expectations for teaching and learning. Senior leaders with responsibility for learners with additional needs and abilities have a very strong line of sight across all these groups to ensure sustained levels of wellbeing, progress and achievement.

Students’ learning benefits from a responsive curriculum. Biculturalism is increasingly a strength of the school. The school’s te ao Māori plan is meaningfully implemented across the school and highly evident in classrooms, resulting in a more culturally relevant curriculum for Māori students. Pacific culture is strongly evident in the Years 1 to 3 classrooms. In these classrooms it is highly valued and incorporated into the local curriculum.

Classrooms are inclusive. Students with additional needs or abilities participate in learning that provides appropriate support and challenge. Students who are not yet achieving at expected levels are identified early and receive well planned, targeted support. Systems, processes and teaching strategies to accelerate outcomes for learners are continually evaluated for effectiveness.

Robust partnerships between the school and homes support learners to progress and achieve well. Parents, whānau and the community engage in joint activities and interventions to improve outcomes for children. The wider community, parents, the board, leaders and teachers, articulate and embrace He Manu Rere. Students understand the values and vision for their learning. The school’s community has shared ownership of its goals and values.

The board’s high-quality stewardship actively represents the community and works to serve the school and education community. The board has a focus on staff and learner wellbeing. The school is very well resourced by locally raised funds, which benefit the school and local community.

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

To ensure that the quality of teaching and learning meets the same high standards across the school, the senior leadership team needs to ensure that expectations for programme delivery are consistently implemented.

Greater consistency in the implementation of schoolwide professional development strategies would help ensure that all learners have access to focused, carefully implemented and monitored teaching approaches that support greater acceleration of learning.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to theEducation (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.

The school has well-established procedures for promoting the educational progress of its international students. Students benefit from the school’s pastoral care systems and its inclusive, positive environment. English language programmes support students to participate successfully across the curriculum and help them to integrate positively into all aspects of school life.

4 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 Children’s Act 2014.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Blockhouse Bay School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success

6 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • the senior leadership team’s strategic focus on equity and excellence for all students
  • the school’s responsive and localised curriculum
  • the board’s support for staff and student wellbeing.

Next steps

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

  • ensuring all middle leaders lead teachers’ learning and ensure that quality teaching is consistent
  • ensuring consistency of targeted teaching practice to achieve accelerated student learning and reduced disparity
  • continuing to strengthen home/school partnerships to positively impact students’ learning progress.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

13 December 2019

About the school

LocationBlockhouse Bay, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number1233
School typeContributing
School roll604
Gender compositionBoys 53% Girls 47%
Ethnic compositionMāori 6% 
NZ European/Pākehā 17%
Indian 29% 
Chinese 21% 
Pacific 8% 
Middle Eastern 6%
South East Asian 4% 
other ethnic groups 9%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)Yes
Provision of Māori medium educationNo
Review team on siteSeptember 2019
Date of this report13 December 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)Education Review June 2016
Education Review May 2013
Education Review September 2010