Brookby School

Education institution number:
1236
School type:
Full Primary
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
117
Telephone:
Address:

359 Brookby Road, Manurewa, Auckland

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Brookby School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 16 months of the Education Review Office and Brookby 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 

Brookby School is in a semi-rural location, southeast of Auckland. The school provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. Since the previous ERO review in 2017, the Board appointed a new principal in Term 4 2020 and deputy principal in Term 3 2022.

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

  • quality teaching and learning

  • an inclusive school culture and environment

  • fostering a meaningful learning community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school conditions support the development of learner agency to impact positively on student outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • develop a shared understanding among students, staff and whānau of learner agency

  • continue to build on students’ individual strengths and successes

  • know how effectively teachers foster agency in their practice to support valued learner outcomes.

The school expects to see students becoming confident and motivated individuals who are actively involved in their learning. Students will be able to talk about what they are learning, why, and their next learning steps. Teachers will continue to consistently use culturally responsive teaching practices that promote learner agency and successful outcomes for all.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal of developing learner agency to impact positively on student outcomes:

  • students demonstrate a strong sense of belonging and connection to the school

  • the school’s learning culture is well established and characterised by meaningful student, teacher and whānau relationships

  • school leadership collaboratively plans, develops and promotes the school values and strategic priorities for continuous improvement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • embedding a shared understanding of learner agency to enable students to become confident and motivated individuals who experience success

  • strengthening culturally responsive teaching practice to foster learner agency and promote positive student outcomes

  • continuing to use evaluation and inquiry through a coaching model to build teacher capacity in understanding and developing learner agency.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

13 December 2022 

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

Brookby School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of August 2022, the Brookby School Board of Trustees 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 Brookby School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees 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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

13 December 2022 

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

Brookby School - 18/05/2017

Summary

Brookby School is in a semi-rural setting south of Auckland. It caters for children from Years 1 to 8 and has a stable roll of about 120 children. The Māori roll has grown to 34 percent and Pacific children comprise six percent of the roll.

Since the 2012 ERO evaluation the board of trustees and the leadership team have changed. The deputy principal was appointed in 2015 and a new principal in 2017. It is important to the board that its members reflect the ethnic groups of its community and it is now seeking to co-opt Māori representation.

The board and senior leaders have continued to make progress in relation to the findings of ERO’s 2012 evaluation. The main focus of teacher professional development has been ‘learning through digital technologies’.

Achievement information shows that most children achieve very well in relation to the National Standards. Levels of achievement have remained stable in reading and mathematics since 2013, and have improved in writing. Disparity for Māori has been addressed in literacy and is reducing in maths. Disparity has widened for boys in reading and writing.

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

Brookby School provides effective support for Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. School processes and actions are effectively helping to achieve equity and excellence for children. Processes and actions of particular note include support for teachers to take greater ownership of their professional learning, strengthening the curriculum so that children are highly engaged, and developing learning partnerships with parents/whānau.

Areas of school practice that could be further strengthened include aspects of stewardship, leadership and internal evaluation. Agreed next steps include children having greater involvement in decisions about their learning, and strengthening systems for knowing about the impact of programmes on the learning outcomes for children at risk of not achieving at the National Standards.

Children are achieving well. 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?

Brookby School responds effectively to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Teachers use a variety of assessment information to plan programmes that meet the needs of children and to identify those who could benefit from additional support.

Achievement information for 2016 shows that most children achieve very well, and that all Year 8 leavers achieve at or above the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Since 2013, overall writing achievement has lifted, with accelerated levels of achievement for girls. Achievement trends in writing and reading have not been as positive for boys.

Since 2013 Māori achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has improved significantly. In literacy they achieve as well as or better than other groups. Some disparity still exists in mathematics. Achievement outcomes are consistently high for the majority of Pacific children.

Other important achievement outcomes relate to the school’s rural character and the CARE values of citizenship, accountability, respect and excellence. These are reinforced and celebrated with children through the curriculum, and progress is reported to parents through the key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum.

The school has very good processes for moderating the reliability of teachers’ judgements about children’s achievement. Its involvement in the Howick Coast Community of Learning l Kahui Ako (CoL) provides good opportunities for strengthening moderation processes in the senior school through collaboration with teachers from other schools.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

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

School processes and actions are effective in helping to achieve equity and excellence for all children. This is most attributable to leaders and teachers building their professional capability and collective capacity. They have implemented curriculum and teaching strategies that are more responsive to individual learners, and developed good learning focused relationships with parents/whānau.

The focus on teachers taking greater ownership of their professional learning is contributing to equity and excellence. Teachers identify and strengthen practices that are most likely to accelerate children’s learning. This approach is having a positive impact on achievement, particularly for children most at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes. Teachers have regular opportunities to share effective practices.

Teachers provide positive learning environments and children engage well in learning programmes. The school-wide curriculum builds on children’s experiences and interests, provides meaningful contexts for literacy and numeracy development and allows children to learn from each other. The ‘inquiry model’ scaffolds children’s thinking and skill development, supporting them to become increasingly independent learners as they move through the school.

The school continues to strengthen positive relationships with, and seek input from, parents/whānau. The junior school is implementing the Mutukaroa Project. This is a collaborative process that deepens parent and school partnerships to benefit children’s learning. Many parents report that they find this collaboration very worthwhile, and the board is exploring ways to extend the project across the school.

School leaders consult with whānau Māori to share achievement outcomes and to discuss initiatives that might enhance outcomes for Māori children. This has resulted in the reintroduction of kapa haka and the inclusion of pōwhiri to welcome visitors. Developing a bicultural curriculum with the community would further support children to actively participate in Aotearoa New Zealand’s bicultural settings, and to know more about local Māori history. The board is planning to use the Ministry of Education’s resource, Hautū, to strengthen its evaluation processes.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

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

Aspects of stewardship, leadership and internal evaluation could be strengthened, and include:

  • developing consistency in effective teaching practices that enhance children’s ownership of their learning and accelerate learning for those at risk of not achieving equitable outcomes
  • refining the goals and actions to be achieved in the school’s strategic and annual plans, allowing teachers, leaders and trustees to more regularly monitor, evaluate and report what is contributing most to accelerated progress
  • strengthening evidence-based internal evaluation by recording information about the impact of professional development, programmes and initiatives on children’s learning, further supporting teachers, leaders and the board with their decision making.

Strengthening evidence-based teaching, leadership and governance to ensure a coherent focus on children whose learning and achievement need acceleration, should contribute to greater equity and excellence.

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.

Going forward

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

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

Agreed next steps are to:

  • continue to develop a responsive school curriculum that supports students to have agency in their learning and decision making
  • strengthen evidence-based internal evaluation, particularly in relation to accelerating learning outcomes.

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

Steffan Brough
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

18 May 2017

About the school 

Location

Manurewa, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1236

School type

Full Primary (Years 1 to 8)

School roll

108

Gender composition

Boys      57%
Girls       43%

Ethnic composition

Māori   
Pākehā                
Pacific
Japanese
South African

  34%
  56%
    6%       
    2%
    2%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2017

Date of this report

18 May 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

  September 2012
  June 2009
  August 2006