Papatoetoe Intermediate

Papatoetoe Intermediate

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Papatoetoe Intermediate 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

Papatoetoe Intermediate provides education for students in Years 7 and 8 and is located in South Auckland. An associate principal has been appointed to the senior leadership team since the previous ERO review.

The school’s vision is to develop capable staff who empower students in their learning. School values of safety, trust, attitude and respect (STAR) aim to develop students who are effective communicators, connected and have healthy minds and bodies.

Papatoetoe Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • ensure inclusion and equity of access to all students
  • promote learners’ rights and responsibilities; particularly student agency
  • provide consistently high-quality curriculum delivery appropriate for all students
  • ensure cooperative, collaborative, peaceful classrooms
  • promote cultural competencies and ensure learning focused relationships with whānau.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and whānau connections to improve learners’ progress and achievement. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to: 

  • improve success for all learners through a culturally responsive curriculum that values and celebrates their backgrounds
  • promote whānau ownership of and participation in their children’s learning.

The school expects to see increased engagement and success in learning for all students. It also expects to see teachers using effective teaching practices and further involvement of whānau in their children’s learning.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal of developing a responsive curriculum, effective teaching and whānau connections to improve learners’ progress and achievement.

  • a positive, collaborative and supportive school culture
  • students’ strong sense of belonging and involvement in leadership
  • an increasingly responsive curriculum
  • high expectations for effective teaching practice.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • embedding effective teaching practices to promote success for all students
  • improving students’ progress and achievement in writing to develop their expression and confidence as learners.

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. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

25 January 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

This school hosts two Mount Richmond Special School classes and Resource Teaching of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) base on site.

Papatoetoe Intermediate

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of October 2023, the Papatoetoe Intermediate Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

No

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Actions for Compliance

ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • ensure the Child Protection and Appointments Policies and guidelines for implementation, meet legislative requirements.

[Children’s Act 2014]

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Papatoetoe Intermediate Board.

The next 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

25 January 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

Papatoetoe Intermediate

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

Papatoetoe Intermediate has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code of Practice and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation. At the time of this review there were no international students attending the school.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

25 January 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

Papatoetoe Intermediate - 20/09/2017

Findings

Papatoetoe Intermediate has undergone significant school-wide improvement. Strengthened professional leadership has been established. The principal, senior leaders, teachers and support staff have worked together to improve practices that promote student engagement and successful learning. They are developing a school that is learner-centred, and focused on developing successful, high achieving students.

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

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Papatoetoe Intermediate School is a large culturally diverse school and has served its local community for many years. The roll has remained stable over the past 3 years and has a majority of Pacific and Indian students.

Over the past four years significant issues with finance, personnel and governance resulted in the school receiving support from Ministry of Education (MoE) Limited Statutory Managers (LSM) and most recently a commissioner.

In 2014 ERO identified a number of areas of school-wide systems and practices that required improvement. The school has worked with ERO and MoE guidance to address these areas. There have been significant improvements to governance, personnel and the quality of leadership and teaching and learning.

The principal and school leaders have successfully led change management across the school that is resulting in children receiving more responsive and engaging learning programmes. The commissioner has planned a well-considered path to reinstating the board of trustees.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

ERO’s 2014 report identified that improvements were necessary to:

  • strengthen the analysis and reporting of student achievement
  • improve the quality of teaching and learning
  • improve curriculum design and implementation
  • build leadership and governance capability to sustain and embed changes.
Progress

The principal provides significant educational leadership. In collaboration with senior leaders and teachers, she has implemented strategic, considered and highly effective responses to the recommendations identified in the 2014 ERO review. This has resulted in improved school practices and operations, including better reporting systems. Senior leaders place a strong priority on the analysis and use of student achievement information, and on ensuring that this information is well used to inform planning for teaching and learning.

Developing an inclusive and positive school culture has been a key part of the work to improve students’ educational outcomes. Considerable professional learning and development has supported senior leaders to build professional capability and collective capacity across the school. This approach is generating greater collaboration for school improvement and helping to increase the capability at all levels of the school. Senior leaders are strategically planning to move from reliance on external expertise to a more sustainable approach for improvement.

Significant changes in the school’s teaching culture has contributed to greater student wellbeing and motivation to engage and achieve. The sustained work on teacher improvement has led to a fundamentally different quality of teaching and learning that is being constantly refined. Positive improvements include more personalised learning for individual and groups of students. Classrooms are settled, productive work environments.

Senior leaders and teachers have actively promoted parent and whānau engagement. There has been a significant increase in parents and whānau working together with teachers to enable them to better support their children’s learning and progress.

Senior leaders with teachers have reviewed the school curriculum. Key components of the revised curriculum are: responsive teaching and learning, deliberate acts of teaching, and students taking more ownership for their learning within local and relevant contexts. There is greater consistency in the planning of teaching and learning programmes at all levels of the school.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

The school is significantly better placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance. Improved educational leadership, effective teaching and coherent systems now support a school culture focused on improving outcomes for students. Decision making is well considered and informed by different sources of evidence. This is resulting in good strategic decision making and efficient resourcing at all levels of the school.

Internal evaluation is developing well and is now used more at leadership, team and teaching levels. Staff inquiry cycles align with school goals and are based on improving student outcomes through targeted actions. Increased student achievement between 2013 and 2015 is evidence of the school’s growing strengths.

Senior leaders model collaboration to promote a greater shared understanding and more collective decision making among staff. They provide time and encouragement for middle leaders and teachers to share best practice and to focus on enhancing teaching through targeted professional development. This is resulting in a more cohesive staff culture.

The commissioner is providing effective school governance. He has implemented a range of strategies to engage with the school community. An advisory group, representative of the community has been established to contribute to school decision making. The commissioner has planned a well-considered path to reinstating a board of trustees.

Senior leaders plan to continue progressing the development priorities noted in this report. In particular, senior leaders have identified the key areas of:

  • continuing to raise student achievement
  • further developing teacher and leader capability
  • continuing to develop a curriculum that is responsive to students’ interests and learning needs
  • using internal evaluation to continue lifting school performance.

Recommendations

ERO intends to monitor the implementation of the plans for working towards the reinstatement of the board of trustees. On this basis another ERO review is likely to be undertaken in three years.

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

Papatoetoe Intermediate has undergone significant school-wide improvement. Strengthened professional leadership has been established. The principal, senior leaders, teachers and support staff have worked together to improve practices that promote student engagement and successful learning. They are developing a school that is learner-centred, and focused on developing successful, high achieving students.

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

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern (Acting)

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

20 September 2017

About the School

LocationPapatoetoe, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number1428
School typeIntermediate (Years 7 to 8)
School roll732
Gender compositionBoys 53% Girls 47%
Ethnic compositionMāori
Pākehā
Indian
Samoan 
Tongan 
Cook Islands Māori
Fijian/Indian
Niue 
Asian 
Vietnamese 
other
14% 
4% 
26%
18% 
11%
7% 
4% 
2% 
7%
4% 
3%
Special Features

Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour Cluster

Mt Richmond Special School satellite classrooms

Social Workers in School (SWIS)

Review team on siteJuly 2017
Date of this report20 September 2017
Most recent ERO report(s)Education Review 
Education Review 
Education Review
August 2014 
April 2011
May 2008