21 Rangipawa Road, One Tree Hill, Auckland
View on mapOranga School
Oranga School - 17/05/2018
School Context
Oranga School is a contributing primary school located in the suburb of One Tree Hill, Auckland. The school’s diverse roll of 354 students comprises mainly Pākehā and Tongan students, and smaller groups of students who are Māori, Samoan and Cook Island Māori.
Its vision statement of “achieving excellence as a community of life-long learners,” forms the foundation of the school’s strategic direction. This aspirational goal is for all learners at Oranga School, both children and adults. The school’s motto of “E=4C”, captures the school’s value of excellence and is supported by creative, connected, critical and caring practices.
Key school targets are focused on increasing the number of students achieving at or above the school’s expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
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achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, and wellbeing
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curriculum development and learning experiences that acknowledge student identity, language and culture
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learning experiences in a variety of areas, including school events.
Since the 2015 ERO review, the board has several new trustees, including a new chairperson. The increasing diversity in the school community is reflected in the new families from overseas moving into the area. The roll has increased over time and is likely to continue to grow due to new housing development in the area.
Oranga Primary School is part of the Te Iti Kahurangi Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL).
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?
Achievement information for 2015 to 2018 indicates that the majority of students achieve at curriculum expectation for reading, writing and mathematics. Data also indicate that girls achieve at higher levels in literacy and mathematics than boys.
The 2017 achievement data show that all groups of students have made good progress in writing. Despite this, leaders have identified the teaching of writing continues to be an area for further development. This work aligns well with the CoL focus on improving achievement in this learning area.
School achievement data indicate that Māori students achieve well in comparison with other students in reading and writing.
Pacific student data for 2015 to 2018 indicate an upward trend of improvement in mathematics and writing achievement. However, data indicate that, while there has been some reduction of disparity for Pacific boys, a pattern of disparity remains.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
Good processes and practices exist for monitoring and tracking student progress and achievement. Leaders and teachers know students who need to make accelerated progress and identify their learning needs.
Good provision is made for children with additional learning needs. Teachers quickly identify and plan appropriate teaching and learning programmes. Positive, learning-focused partnerships with families of children with additional needs support children to progress well in their learning. These partnerships contribute to addressing in-school disparity.
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 school’s broad and responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunities to learn are mostly effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence. Students use inquiry approaches that increasingly require them to manage their own learning. They actively participate in curriculum activities, such as the arts, sciences, technology and digital learning. Students benefit from an inclusive environment that celebrates difference and supports their confidence in learning.
Teachers are increasingly adaptive in their teaching practices. Good progress has been made in building teachers’ capabilities to be reflective practitioners. The school’s appraisal process supports teachers to use achievement information and adapt their practice in response to learner needs. As a result, most students have good opportunities to learn and develop their social, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
The school uses a variety of ways to engage whānau and the community. These include regular student-led conferences, opportunities for parents to contribute their talents and interests in curriculum activities, and sharing achievement information for literacy and mathematics. These approaches are designed to enhance student achievement and wellbeing.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
Further developments are needed in aspects of stewardship and leadership to support equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning.
Trustees bring appropriate professional expertise and skills to their stewardship roles. They recognise the need to access external training to increase their understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This could support the board to determine how well the school achieves valued student outcomes. Enhancing meeting procedures will also support the school’s focus on improving outcomes for all learners.
Trustees should now develop annual school-wide achievement targets that include all at-risk learners to show how effectively their progress is being accelerated. Increasing access to analysed student progress and achievement information would help trustees scrutinise the success of school initiatives.
Strong respectful relationships amongst staff are a strength. School leaders could now build on the good leadership capability in the school to further develop professional leadership roles. Such roles would contribute to developing more coherence across the curriculum, learning programmes and support sustainability of practices.
Trustees and leaders are committed to improving outcomes for students. They have adopted some good internal evaluation processes and practices. Strengthening reporting to the board and greater use of internal evaluation practices could help with achieving school goals in relation to equitable and excellent outcomes for students.
3 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:
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board administration
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curriculum
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management of health, safety and welfare
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personnel management
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finance
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asset management.
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
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emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
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physical safety of students
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teacher registration and certification
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processes for appointing staff
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stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
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attendance
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school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
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 was one international student attending the school.
The student is provided with a very good standard of education that includes formal English language learning and good opportunities to participate fully in school activities. The international student benefits from the good pastoral care systems and has settled well into the school community.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in the:
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professional capability and capacity of trustees, leaders and teachers to replicate and build on examples of very good school practice
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broad curriculum that caters for students’ diverse interests and capabilities
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reciprocal and positive learning partnerships with parents and whānau that form a foundation of success for their children’s learning and wellbeing.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in strengthening:
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stewardship capability to achieve the school community’s vision, values, goals and priorities
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leadership capability of school wide initiatives to enable and sustain coherent approaches that promote equity and excellence
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internal evaluation of programmes and systems with a focus on improving outcomes for all students.
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Julie Foley
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
17 May 2018
About the school
Location |
One Tree Hill, Auckland |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1403 |
|
School type |
Contributing (Years 1 – 6) |
|
School roll |
354 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 53% Girls 47% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori |
7% |
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
March 2018 |
|
Date of this report |
17 May 2018 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review |
May 2015 |
Oranga School - 15/05/2015
Findings
Oranga School’s inclusive environment supports student wellbeing and achievement. Student success is celebrated across a wide range of areas. Senior leaders and the board work collaboratively to promote developments that impact positively on student outcomes. The school is well positioned to increase student achievement and develop student-led approaches to teaching and learning.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
1 Context
What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?
Oranga School in One Tree Hill, Auckland, was established in 1949 on spacious, park-like grounds. It has a history of being a well-functioning school. The majority of students are in Years 1 to 3. The school is led by an experienced principal, deputy principal and newly appointed assistant principal. Senior leaders and the board work collaboratively to promote ongoing school developments that lead to positive student outcomes.
A feature of the school is its diverse community. Fifty per cent of the students identify as Pacific, 25 percent identify as New Zealand European and nine percent as Māori. The board, senior leaders and staff embrace the multicultural strengths of the school through an inclusive learning environment. Respectful relationships underpin learning, and students and their families are valued. Senior leaders share a commitment to continuing to grow understandings of a bicultural curriculum within the school.
2 Learning
How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?
The board and senior leaders make good use of achievement information to inform the future school direction. This is contributing to an increasing school-wide emphasis on raising student achievement and accelerating progress for target students.
Staff professional development in reading, writing and maths over the last three years has led to a review of school-wide systems and processes for gathering and using data. This has enabled senior leaders to establish consistent school-wide assessment practices and has provided the school with robust baseline data in 2014 for measuring student progress over time.
Information about overall student achievement against the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics is comparable to that of the local cluster of schools that are of a similar type to Oranga. Reading results for Māori students are similar to that of other students in the school. In writing, Māori students are achieving higher than non-Māori students.
Increasing confidence in the reliability of recent achievement data is enabling senior leaders to implement appropriately targeted plans to raise student achievement. The principal has begun to undertake deeper analysis and evaluation of the impact of planned actions. Consequently, the school is becoming better placed to identify school-wide trends and patterns of progress and achievement over time to inform future planning decisions. Senior leaders are aware that achievement for Pacific students is an area that requires further targeted action.
Teachers have improved their understanding and use of data to identify and support students and groups at risk of not achieving well. They share and compare data and make judgements about student achievement. They participate in work to build their reflective practice across the school. Senior leaders and teachers continue to develop these good beginnings to further enhance student achievement.
Teachers report to parents about their children’s progress in relation to the National Standards. They are continuing to progress work to:
- increase students’ capability to self manage and lead discussions about their learning
- strengthen learning partnerships with parents.
Student attendance is regularly monitored and reported to the board. There are good systems and processes in place to improve students’ attendance and to provide appropriate support where needed.
3 Curriculum
How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?
The curriculum is effectively promoting and supporting student learning.
Oranga School’s values are captured as 'E=4C' representing 'Excellence = caring, creative, critical, connected life-long learners.' These values underpin school practice and are modelled by leaders, staff and students. Teachers reinforce school values by celebrating the many ways that students and staff demonstrate success and achievement through them.
An inclusive, settled school environment supports student wellbeing. Students have a clear understanding of school expectations for learning and show a strong sense of pride and belonging in their school. Students see their classmates in the onsite satellite unit for Carlson Special School as important members of their school community.
There is a commitment amongst leaders, trustees and staff to ensure that children’s pastoral and learning needs are well met. The school provides a range of programmes and initiatives to support students with special learning needs. These initiatives are now reviewed to evaluate their impact on students' learning and progress.
Ongoing curriculum review is improving the school’s focus on increasing student-led and inquiry-based learning through provision of an integrated curriculum. The school’s curriculum aligns well with school policies and provides clear expectations and guidelines for teachers.
Teachers incorporate formative assessment strategies and thinking tools into classroom practice. These strategies and tools are helping students to have a clearer understanding of their learning. Planned teacher professional development focusing on learning with digital technologies, positive behaviour for learning and Enviro-schools should further enrich the school’s curriculum.
Senior leaders agree that they should continue to strengthen the intent of the school’s Māori and Pacific action plans through purposeful consultation with families and through the evaluation of progress against action plan goals. The school should also ensure that its curriculum documentation reflects the school’s multiethnic community, local environment and history.
How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?
The school has 26 Māori students. Over that last three years the school has had variable success in engaging whānau to promote educational success for Māori as Māori. Senior leaders and ERO agree that this is an area that requires further development.
There is a school-wide expectation that teachers should integrate Māori culture and language meaningfully through learning programmes. Teachers are building their capability in basic te reo Māori. The board contributes towards funding a te reo Māori teacher who also supports teachers to include bicultural perspectives in their class programmes.
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.
Senior leaders and trustees take a strategic approach to improvement and provide very effective leadership and governance. Trustees have a sound knowledge of their role. They seek further advice and clarification from leaders and external agencies to ensure that they are being good governors. The board is well informed by school leaders and engages collaboratively with staff and parents.
The principal models a commitment to life-long learning through her participation in research-based professional development. The board supports the principal with a robust appraisal process and programme of mentoring support. The teacher appraisal process has been reviewed and strengthened, and the senior leadership team effectively lead curriculum developments. They take a shared team approach to providing support and models of effective teaching practice for staff.
School self review continues to progress, improving the basis for strategic planning. The principal is leading a more collaborative and inclusive approach towards the development of this planning. The board and senior leaders agree that their next priority for strengthening self-review is to develop more collaborative consultation with families.
Provision for international students
The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.
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.
Conclusion
Oranga School’s inclusive environment supports student wellbeing and achievement. Student success is celebrated across a wide range of areas. Senior leaders and the board work collaboratively to promote developments that impact positively on student outcomes. The school is well positioned to increase student achievement and develop student-led approaches to teaching and learning.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
15 May 2015
About the School
Location |
One Tree Hill, Auckland |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1403 |
|
School type |
Contributing |
|
School roll |
291 |
|
Number of international students |
0 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 52%; Girls 48% |
|
Ethnic composition |
NZ European/Pākehā Māori Tongan Samoan Cook Island Māori Niue African British/Irish Chinese Indian Japanese Middle Eastern South East Asian other ethnicities |
25% 9% 29% 12% 6% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% |
Special Features |
Host to Carlson Special School satellite unit |
|
Review team on site |
February 2015 |
|
Date of this report |
15 May 2015 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
April 2012 January 2009 May 2006 |