38 Patumahoe Road , Patumahoe
View on mapPatumāhoe Primary School
Patumāhoe Primary School
School 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.
About the School
Patumāhoe School, a large semi-rural primary school, provides education for learners Years 1 to 6. The school values are ‘manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga and kotahitanga’. The school roll is currently 287 students. Māori learners make up 15% of the school roll.
Part A: Parent Summary
How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?
How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. |
How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established. |
How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range of information gathered through community consultation, to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
Achievement in Years 0 to 8
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
Reading | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
Writing | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners. |
Mathematics | Almost all learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners. |
Attendance
The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is reducing.
Assessment
The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
Progress
The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has significantly improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has significantly extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets set for 2030.
An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Guide to ERO school reports
Part B: Findings for the school
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Areas of Strength
Senior leaders and staff have high expectations for student success. Students requiring additional learning support are identified early and receive targeted literacy and numeracy support. Challenging opportunities, particularly in mathematics, extend students.
School leaders provide cohesive, focused leadership that increasingly strengthens school conditions to support student success and wellbeing. Strategic planning provides clear direction for priorities and targets to improve student outcomes.
A consistent, well understood approach to teaching and learning is evident across the school. Learning is well planned, emphasising reading, writing and mathematics and embedding student mental wellbeing strategies. Teachers and leaders use reliable achievement data to track and monitor student progress.
Teachers are well supported to build capacity through an evidence-based professional learning programme that clearly aligns with strategic goals for learner achievement.
Parents are knowledgeable about student achievement, progress and wellbeing through effective communication between the school and them.
School culture fosters inclusivity; values are consistently upheld within the school and with the community.
Key priorities and actions for improvement
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- sustain gains in attendance through more specific actions in annual planning and monitor the impact of these
- accelerate the progress of Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics, for equitable outcomes
- build on increasing te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and te ao Māori within the curriculum
- develop a graduate profile that highlights those competencies, skills and attitudes that effectively prepare students for learning beyond Patumāhoe School.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Every six months:
- review and report to the board on the impact of actions taken to improve students’ regular attendance
- evaluate the success of identified strategies expected to accelerate the progress of Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics and identify further actions required
Annually:
- report to the board on progress towards achieving the Government’s attendance targets, to inform further steps
- review and report to the board on the progress made towards equitable outcomes for Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics
- report to the board on the progress of increasing in the curriculum te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and te ao Māori, and plan for further development
- review and report on the effectiveness of the graduate profile in relation to the intended outcomes for students.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- the school meeting or exceeding the target for regular attendance
- equitable outcomes for Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics
- te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and te ao Māori evident in learning across the school
- a graduate profile that highlights students’ competencies, skills and attitudes for learning.
Part C: Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Board Administration
Yes
Curriculum
Yes
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Personnel Management
Yes
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
Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools
8 April 2025
Education Counts
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Patumahoe Primary School - 13/02/2018
School Context
Patumahoe Primary School is located in a small rural township near Pukekohe. The school provides education for 326 students in Years 1 to 6. Fifty eight of these students are of Māori descent.
The school’s vision for students is ‘to sustain enthusiasm for learning, appreciate our environment, our heritage and be well equipped to face the future with strength and integrity’. The school’s charter states that it aims to provide an inclusive culture for learning where students are well supported to achieve success and be motivated, independent, life-long learners.
In 2017 a plan to improve outcomes for Māori learners was developed. This plan documents expectations and the values underpinning these.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
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Reading, writing and mathematics.
Since the ERO review in 2014, the board appointed a principal who began his tenure at the start of the 2017 school year. The senior leadership personnel (deputy and assistant principals) remain unchanged. There have been changes to the make-up of the middle management (team leaders), and two of the schools experienced teachers have become in-school Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako (COL) leaders. These leaders provide ongoing liaison, and will assist school leaders to align learning and teaching with the achievement plan for the COL.
There has been some change to board membership. An experienced trustee has been appointed to the chairperson role. Some new trustees have been elected and there is stronger Māori and Pacific representation on the board. The board continues to undertake stewardship training.
Evaluation Findings
1 Equity and excellence – valued outcomes for students
1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?
The school is achieving excellent outcomes for most of its students, but disparity remains for Māori as a group, and boys. Achieving equity for these groups of student is an ongoing challenge for the school.
School-wide data over three years shows consistently high levels of overall achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, with most students, including Māori, and boys achieving at and above expected levels. However, there is continuing disparity in the proportion of Māori students and boys who achieve at and above expectation, in comparison with other groups. Current data is indicating a noticeable closing of this gap in reading, but not in writing. Boys are now achieving at comparable levels to girls in mathematics.
School leaders must now specifically target and deliberately plan to accelerate progress for these groups, sustain shifts, and address the recently emerging trend in writing, particularly for Māori and boys.
1.2 How effectively does this school respond to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration?
The school needs to strengthen its response to Māori and boys who are underachieving.
Comprehensive analysis of school-wide data in 2017 shows that there has been accelerated progress made by some at-risk learners in reading and mathematics. This is most notable for Māori students in reading.
2 School conditions for equity and excellence
2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?
The board is providing committed stewardship for the school. Trustees are diligent about policy review and implementation and work closely with the principal and school leaders to provide a well-resourced environment for learning and teaching. Trustees understand the overall picture of achievement in the school, and demonstrate a strong commitment to the provision of support for students who have additional learning needs.
Leadership for learning is well-informed and collaborative. A well-established leadership structure involves a wider team of leaders, and high levels of relational trust are evident across this team. Senior leaders liaise closely with team leaders to provide clear school-wide direction for teaching staff. Team leaders and the two in-school Kāhui Ako leaders work alongside teachers in their respective teams, to coach and give practical guidance that is informed by current educational research.
Teachers are reflective practitioners. They regularly inquire into their practice, through a well -defined process as ‘teaching as inquiry’. This process is consistently implemented across each team and provides a useful forum for team leaders to facilitate dialogue about the learning and progress of students in target groups. Teachers are able to share and discuss effective teaching strategies. This is leading to more deliberate teaching for students in these groups which link to teachers’ inquiries.
Teachers know the students well. They identify and closely track their progress. Students are able to engage purposefully in their learning, independently of the teacher, and most are successful self -managers. Collaborative learning relationships are modelled by teachers and evident in the way some students work together cooperatively in learning situations. These practice are enabling students to enjoy and succeed in their learning.
The curriculum is engaging and inclusive. Students experience a broad range of learning experiences in a rich and authentic curriculum. Teachers take a deliberate approach to the provision of contexts for learning that are meaningful for students and which reflect their interests and experiences. Digital technology to enhance learning and teaching is well used, and continuing to develop.
Values are integral to the environment for learning. The principal is leading a review of school values with a view to strengthening cultural responsiveness in the learning environment. The school’s whanaungatanga initiative is being enhanced, placing priority on wellbeing and belonging for Māori and Pacific students. Agreed values are modelled through practices such as tuakana-teina. Cooperation, collaboration and inclusiveness are integral to learning and teaching.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence?
Targeted action to accelerate learning and progress needs to be strengthened. Leaders now need to set inclusive, measurable targets for identified groups of at-risk learners.
Internal evaluation needs to focus more consistently on outcomes for learners. Priority should be placed on:
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scrutinising data to notice and track rates of progress over time for cohorts
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identifying the most effective strategies – those most likely to accelerate the learning and progress of students working below the expected level
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using achievement data to report on the effectiveness of additional learning support programmes/interventions.
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.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
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a highly-responsible approach to stewardship that is engendering a high level of support from parents and wider community, for the school
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informed professional leadership that is continuing to build the capability of teachers to enable learners to achieve high levels of success
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teaching practice that is informed by a robust inquiry process
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a learner-centred curriculum that reflects the values and aspirations of the school and its parent community.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, development priorities are in:
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establishing stronger alignment of achievement targets, through more inclusive and deliberate action planning (for Māori and boys in particular)
-
using achievement information consistently to inform internal evaluation processes.
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Lynda Pura-Watson
Deputy Chief Review Officer
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region
13 February 2018
About the school
Location |
Patumahoe |
Ministry of Education profile number |
1438 |
School type |
Contributing Primary (Years 1–6) |
School roll |
326 |
Gender composition |
Boys 50% Girls 50% |
Ethnic composition |
Māori 18% |
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
Review team on site |
December 2017 |
Date of this report |
13 February 2018 |
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review June 2014 |