Cosgrove School

Cosgrove School - 17/11/2016

1 Context

Cosgrove School in Papakura is a primary school for children in Years 1 to 6. The majority of the children are Māori with smaller percentages of Pacific and Pākehā children.

Recent property developments include the refurbishment of classrooms. Senior leaders provide professional learning programmes that include advice and guidance for all the first and second-year teachers from the wider Papakura area. The principal and senior leaders are working with managers from the Ministry of Education to manage the impact of housing development in the newly created communities close to the school.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are to develop a community of motivated learners who respect themselves, each other and their environment. Helping children to 'be their best' is the core school value. In addition, the school's mission is to improve learning outcomes for children by building a 'kind' school through engaging the community to value learning, themselves and others.

The school’s achievement information shows that many children achieve below the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the school's data shows that, by the time children are in Year 6, their average achievement is considerably higher than the average achievement for the school as a whole. For example, in 2015, 77 percent of Year 6 children were achieving at the national standard in reading whereas across the whole school 57 percent of children were at or above the standard. Similarly in mathematics, 59 percent of the Year 6 children were achieving at or above the national standard compared with 49 percent across the whole school. The difference was less marked in writing, with 50 percent of Year 6 children achieving at or above the National Standard compared to 46 percent of the whole school.

Māori and Pacific children achieve similarly to their peers in reading, writing and mathematics. Over the past three years the total percentage of children achieving National Standards in reading is slowly increasing. Last year children's achievement in writing and mathematics lifted significantly across all ethnic groups.

Since the last ERO evaluation in 2013 the school has introduced an initiative to support children to know more about their own learning so that they can set their own learning goals. School leaders and teachers have developed teaching practices that build children's understanding of their own learning and progress. Teachers have also participated in professional learning to improve children's achievement in mathematics. Over this year teachers' professional learning has focused on promoting children's positive behaviour for learning. There are also plans to further develop teaching practices that make learning processes more visible for all children.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school is continuing to refine, develop and evaluate effective ways to accelerate the learning of Māori children who are yet to achieve National Standards. Leaders and teachers use a range of targeted approaches to identify and respond positively to those children who are not yet achieving at or above the National Standards. They are also identifying and responding to children who require enrichment and extension and those with special abilities.

Teachers are using increasingly robust systems for collecting, collating, analysing and moderating assessment data. Their analysis of this data, at the end of each term, shows them how well Māori children are progressing towards the charter goals. Senior leaders report to the board specifically about the accelerated progress that Māori children make in relation to National Standards over each year, and over their time at the school.

Targeted professional learning is building teachers' knowledge and use of teaching strategies, and assessment. This knowledge is resulting in more tailored programmes, and interventions to promote Māori children's achievement. Senior leaders and teachers have also developed practices to moderate the assessment of children's achievement and they plan to continue extending these practices. As a result, senior leaders are now more confident about the validity and reliability of the school's data and the extent to which it accurately reflects Māori children's levels of achievement.

Teachers work collaboratively to share information about children's achievement and to make overall teacher judgements (OTJs). In 2015 senior leaders reviewed the assessment tools and practices used for making OTJs. They continue to review these and make modifications where necessary to cater better for the needs of children.

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

The school is becoming increasingly successful in accelerating the progress of all children who are yet to achieve at or above National Standards.

The school has three main strategic goals for 2016. The first is to further develop teacher practice to improve children's learning outcomes within a culturally responsive curriculum. The second is to develop effective and inclusive assessment practices that support all students to become assessment-capable learners and to produce good quality data that inform teaching practice. The third is to create partnerships for learning between children, home and school.

ERO recommends that the board and senior leaders consider the value of appending to their charter the school's existing planning that is explicitly aimed at accelerating the progress of all children who are not achieving at or above the National Standards.

The principal reports regularly to the board about children's progress towards the charter goals. These reports are based on achievement reports from the team leaders of each teaching syndicate. Trustees use this information as the basis for resourcing decisions aimed at improving the learning outcomes for Māori and all other children.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The school's curriculum and other organisational processes and practices enact the schools' vision, values, goals and priorities for all children. The curriculum has been recently reviewed and is aligned to The New Zealand Curriculum. It offers children a broad variety of relevant contexts and opportunities to engage in learning within the school and in the wider community.

The school's recent focus on helping children to take ownership of their learning is positive. Children are becoming increasingly confident and knowledgeable when talking about their achievement. Teachers plan to extend and further develop this so that children can identify and talk about the strategies they can use to improve their achievement.

Positive and respectful relationships are evident throughout the school. Children's health is well catered for with strong wraparound support for their wellbeing. Many external agencies and support workers use the school site to work with children and their families to manage their health and welfare.

The school has enhanced the range of processes for reporting to parents about how well children are progressing and achieving. The school is exploring how to further develop the learning partnership they have with parents and whānau in order to improve learning outcomes for children. This could include using whānau to help teachers design a bicultural and multi-ethnic curriculum that reinforces the value that the school places on children's language, culture and identity.

The school has comprehensive systems for strengthening the foundation skills that children bring with them when they enter the school. A senior leader has responsibility for coordinating special educational needs, and works with staff and external agencies to identify children at risk of not achieving. The mathematics lead teacher and literacy support teacher closely monitor the progress of individual children over time. The literacy support teacher provides guidance and support to ensure literacy is taught well and in addition facilitates an effective ESOL programme.

Provision for children with special education needs has been reviewed and strengthened. There is now a greater focus on supporting children in the classroom programme. Where withdrawal programmes continue to be used, they now more effectively reinforce and support the children's class learning. The board would benefit from receiving evaluative reports about how well additional learning programmes have impacted on children's engagement, progress and achievement

Children have increasing access to digital technologies. Teachers continue to explore how these technologies can be used to enhance learning across the curriculum. They are also considering ways to provide children with more choice and responsibility for how they learn. Some children are now learning in flexible classroom spaces. Evaluating the impact of these technologies and flexible spaces on children's learning outcomes would help teachers to maximise the potential of these changes.

Senior leaders know staff and children well. They focus on enacting the school's vision and ensuring that relationships are learning focused. The principal is strengthening this by growing staff leadership and teaching practice. In addition, he is promoting home-school partnerships and reporting on the improvement of target students as part of his commitment to promoting positive changes for learners.

5 Going forward

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

Leaders and teachers:

  • know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
  • respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
  • regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
  • act on what they know works well for each child
  • build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
  • are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

The school is well placed to continue extending its initiatives and strategies to accelerate children's progress and lift their achievement. The senior leaders and board are confident that the next steps that they have identified will support the school's ongoing development towards excellent and more equitable outcomes for all children. These steps include:

  • continuing to embed teacher professional development in order to consolidate the strategies and approaches that are successfully accelerating student learning
  • further developing teachers' capability to undertake in depth inquiry into teaching practice
  • maintaining an ongoing focus on accelerating the progress of those children who are not currently achieving at or above National Standards.

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

6 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review the board of trustees 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

  • processes for appointing staff

  • stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions

  • attendance

  • compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

7 Recommendation

ERO recommends that the board, leaders and teachers sustain the school's recent achievement momentum by continuing to build evaluative capability at all levels to support ongoing initiatives and development. 

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

17 November 2016 

About the school

Location

Papakura, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1257

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

553

Gender composition

Boys 56% Girls 44%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Samoan

Cook Island Maori

Tongan

Indian

other

61%

13%

11%

4%

4%

3%

4%

Review team on site

June 2016

Date of this report

17 November 2016

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

June 2013

June 2010

May 2007



Cosgrove School - 21/06/2013

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Cosgrove School, a large urban school located in Papakura, South Auckland, provides education for students from Years 1 to 6. The board and leaders have worked successfully over the last three years to strengthen partnerships with the community. Good home-school relationships are having an increasingly positive impact on students’ learning. A sense of community ownership and pride in the school is evident.

The 2010 ERO report noted that a key feature of the school was a focus on developing teachers’ capability to improve student achievement. Significant professional learning and development for teachers continues to be a priority to accelerate student’s progress.

The school's vision for students’ learning and achievement is being realized through the school's 6 Kinds model – ‘kind to ourselves, kind to others, the environment, the community, and to learning and achievement’. This shared vision is contributing to a settled school tone and promotes respectful relationships between adults and students.

Opportunities are provided for students to take leadership roles and to become peer mediators. Students display a sense of pride in, and make confident contributions to the life of the school.

The board has overseen significant and on-going property development in recent years which is improving teaching and learning environments for students and staff.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

The school is beginning to interpret children’s different levels of progress and achievement using a range of achievement information. Relevant professional learning is helping teachers to examine their practices for interpreting the data they collect and to deepen their knowledge of assessment.

School data indicate that some students make very good progress in relation to National Standards. Students who continue their schooling at Cosgrove show good progress over time.

Students see themselves as achievers and have clear aspirations for their own learning. They are ready to take greater ownership of their learning and make decisions about how their learning can improve. Senior leaders have identified the need to increase teaching and learning strategies which will allow students to become better managers of their own learning. Teachers have started to share assessment information with students to help them set their next learning goals. A professional and collaborative approach to further develop teaching practice is evident between senior leaders, team leaders and teachers.

Students with specific learning needs are well catered for at the school and data indicate they make good progress against identified goals. The school employs a significant number of teacher aides and they are well used to support in-class learning.

Senior leaders agree that there is a need to review school assessment practices, including the purposes of assessment tools used, and the quality of reporting and use of the data. Further development is also required to build teacher capability in effective moderation to form more reliable teacher judgements about student achievement

Senior leaders must ensure that at least one National Standards target per year is derived from more than one assessment tool. Senior leaders also acknowledge that reporting to students and parents should be explicitly in relation to the National Standards.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

Aspects of the school’s curriculum are effective in promoting and supporting student learning. Senior leaders acknowledge that work to align the New Zealand Curriculum to the school’s 2009-2010 vision and charter is not yet well embedded.

Capable leadership is driving recent curriculum development. Senior leaders are introducing relevant curriculum research and learning theory to inform the Cosgrove School curriculum. The ‘6 Kinds’ together with the current school-wide PLD is beginning to support a school curriculum that integrates the key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum values.

There is a strong focus on literacy and numeracy across the school. Broad curriculum opportunities enhance students' experience of success and include cultural and whānau events, celebrations and education outside the classroom. Samoan language week is celebrated and Pacific themes are integrated into the curriculum. Students value sharing and learning about Māori, Pacific and other cultures within the school. Home learning networks support and strengthen relationships with whānau.

Staff are developing greater opportunities for students to increase their knowledge of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori throughout the curriculum. Expertise within the school and community are being used to support this.

Improving the quality of syndicate and curriculum reviews would enable the board, senior leaders and teachers to reflect on how well the curriculum is meeting the needs and improving the progress of all priority groups of students.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

The school has good practices in place to support these students in succeeding as Māori. Sixty percent of its students identify as Māori. Māori students have positive attitudes to schooling and learning. They benefit from respectful relationships and the inclusive school culture. Māori students report that they have pride in their identity and a sense of belonging in the school. They are represented in leadership roles and have clear aspirations for their future.

Teacher professional development related to success for Māori students has focused on the recognition of culture and the importance of relationships as a foundation for learning. A school kaumatua guides and supports Māori protocol within the school. A community liaison officer and school social worker have helped strengthen whānau engagement.

The school supports a kapa haka group, and Māori language week raises the profile of te reo Maori within the school community. School powhiri are held at the beginning of each term to welcome new students, whānau and staff. The board and senior leaders could consult further with students and the community about an appropriate sequential te reo Maori programme within the curriculum.

4 Sustainable Performance

How well placed is the school to sustain and improve its performance?

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance.

School leadership is effective. The senior leadership team is cohesive and has a common vision for developing teaching and learning. Their individual leadership strengths are complementary and successfully serve the school and its development. Identifying and promoting leadership within the teaching staff is a feature of school development. In 2012, two senior leaders shared the acting principal role while the principal took leave to undertake university study.

A good performance management system supports teacher development. Thorough processes for supporting staff and monitoring the quality of teaching and learning are in use. Senior staff and syndicate leaders know teachers strengths and development needs. The use of school strategic goals as part of teacher appraisal goal setting could help contribute to raising student achievement.

The board provides sound governance. Shared leadership among trustees supports good succession planning. Policy statements and a comprehensive set of procedures guide board and school practice. Professional accountabilities and a good working relationship exist between the board and school leaders.

Improving the reporting to the board about how well strategic planning goals are being met would help assure trustees they are meeting their charter obligations and legislative responsibilities. Planned, regular, documented self review could also contribute more usefully to school decision making and plans to raise student achievement.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees 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:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Dale Bailey National Manager Review Services Northern Region

21 June 2013

About the School

Location

Papakura, Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

1257

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

571

Gender composition

Boys 51% Girls 49%

Ethnic composition

Māori

NZ European/Pākehā

Samoan

Cook Island Māori

Tongan

Indian

Fijiian

Other

60%

16%

9%

4%

4%

2%

1%

5%

Review team on site

March 2013

Date of this report

21 June 2013

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

June 2010

May 2007

February 2004