Huapai District 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 

Huapai District School is a full primary for Years 1 to 8 in Kumeu, West Auckland. Underpinning all aspects of the school’s ‘Huapai Way’ are global competencies of ‘Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical Thinking, and New Pedagogies Deep Learning (NPDL).’ 

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 previous ERO report in August 2022, school leaders evaluated how well the school’s localised curriculum reflected deep learning and measured and reported on global competencies reflected in the school’s deep learning approach.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Progress and achievement outcomes are consistently equitable and excellent for all learners within reading, writing and numeracy and the Global Competencies.

• Learning and assessment frameworks and teaching practices contribute to improved student progress and achievement for more learners.
• More consistent teaching approaches respond to student’s specific learning needs and strengths.
• Students’ survey results indicate a strong sense of belonging and empowerment that is fostered by the school’s broad curriculum.

All learners access opportunities for meaningful and authentic educational experiences.

• Evidence-informed and differentiated teaching approaches support students access and engagement in learning.

Teachers and learners demonstrate agency and efficacy in their learning.

• Students confidently discuss what they are learning and can increasingly identify their next learning steps.
• Teachers demonstrate own and apply new learning in creative ways that engage students in their learning.

Improvement in internal evaluation of the five learning conditions positively impacts Deep Learning competencies and the school vision and goals, leadership and collaborative culture.

• Deep Learning and Global Competencies are highly visible and promote a coherent learning pathway across the school.

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the school has further developed a strong culture of collaboration, in both teaching and learning, through the ‘Huapai Way.’

The greatest shift that occurred was the impact of the school’s strategic investment is in empowering teachers and staff to use their collective strengths and abilities to drive the school’s vision to ‘be the best they can be.’

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• School achievement information shows that most students achieve at expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics and a majority in writing.
• Data shows increasing parity for boys in writing and improvements for Māori and Pacific learners; robust systems enable students to be identified and provided with targeted learning support.
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school is yet to reach the Ministry of Education attendance target.

Conditions to support learner success

• Schoolwide systems and leadership structures sustain high levels of trust and collaboration to achieve the strategic vision and goals.
• Leaders effectively use a variety of high-quality data and evidence to systematically evaluate their effectiveness of teaching in improving student learning and wellbeing. 
• A strong school culture prioritises staff professional growth and capacity building, through strengths-based approaches and ongoing staff coaching.

• Students experience breadth and depth in the school curriculum; NPDL is effectively used to build on individual strengths and learning needs. 
• Leaders and teachers confidently analyse data to develop responsive teaching practices that enables students to be meaningfully engaged and apply new learning in innovative ways. 
• Teachers continue to build their capacity to deliver high quality te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning programmes.
• Staff build and sustain community and professional networks with a view of how to best prepare for predicted roll growth from a changing school community.

• All staff take shared responsibility for improving student outcomes and conditions for learning; embedded monitoring and evaluation practices supports increased achievement. 
• Leaders and teachers proactively identify, draw on, and work with community resources, including professional and support agencies, to enhance student wellbeing and inclusion.
• The board make targeted resourcing decisions that support the school’s strategic direction, vision and improvement goals.
• Teachers provide responsive and useful ongoing support and resources to parents and whānau to continue to strengthen partnerships for learning.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen the curriculum, blending deliberate teaching approaches with the school’s deep learning approach to promote attendance and positive learning outcomes
• grow staff capacity to integrate quality te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning programmes across the school
• continue to provide staff with targeted professional learning opportunities to support learning, progress and achievement for all learners to ‘be the best they can be'.

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

Within six months:

• identify what is needed to build staff understanding of ongoing curriculum changes
• review the alignment between the local curriculum and ongoing changes in the New Zealand Curriculum
• continue to monitor and report to the board on the impact of strategies on improving attendance and learning outcomes.

Annually:

• monitor and review the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum changes and identify actions to further increase student attendance, engagement and achievement
• build and use the knowledge of the local rohe and engagement with iwi to integrate te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori in teaching and learning 
• review how well staff implement learning support strategies for diverse learners to improve students’ progress and achievement.

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

• a revised school curriculum that incorporates the new content and approaches blended with the school’s existing document
• increased student and staff use of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori in teaching and learning programmes
• staff confidently meeting the needs of learners so more students achieve equity and excellence in learning
• improved regular attendance outcomes to meet and exceed the Ministry of Education target. 

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

11 October 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

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027 

As of August 2024, the Huapai District 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 Huapai District 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

11 October 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

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 no International Students attending the school.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

11 October 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