Verran Primary School

Findings

1 Background and Context

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

Verran Primary School is situated on Auckland’s North Shore. It provides education for students from Years 1 to 6. The school roll comprises 61 percent New Zealand European | Pākehā and 11 percent Māori learners. Learners who are of Pacific heritage and Asian heritage make up the rest of the school roll.  

The school’s vision, ‘Education to ready children to thrive in life’ is supported by five values: manaaki | respect, hiranga | excellence, kaitiakitanga | ecological sustainability, te ngākau tika | honesty and integrity, and auahatanga | innovation and creativity.

ERO’s 2019 report stated that students enjoyed a sense of belonging and connection to the school and community. This continues to be evident. The report also identified some key areas that required further development including governance, leadership, curriculum and teaching and learning.

2 Review and Development

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

Priorities identified for review and development

Since the 2019 report, ERO has maintained an ongoing relationship with the school to evaluate progress against key development areas noted in that report. Agreed priorities for school improvement include:

• strengthening governance and fostering collaborative leadership processes

• developing a responsive curriculum supported by effective teaching and learning.

School leaders, staff and board trustees are actively working with external facilitators to address the areas for review and development. Very good progress has been made in all priorities over time.

Progress

Collaborative leadership and building capacity: Leaders demonstrate a collaborative approach to improving student progress and achievement. They are clear about their roles and responsibilities and work cooperatively with all staff to strengthen outcomes for students.

Leaders have high expectations of teachers. They are deliberate about what they want to achieve and are open to new ways of working. The principal has had a key role in enhancing the school’s professional learning culture. She has ably led developments focused on improving effective teaching practice and student learning.

School leaders and the board make good use of accessing external providers. Facilitators provide professional guidance to the leadership team. They support leaders to improve school systems to help leaders and teachers to monitor school achievement and teaching practice more effectively.  

Teaching and learning: Leaders and teachers are working with a Ministry of Education (MoE) Student Achievement Function (SAF) practitioner to improve, and build capacity in, assessment practice. Leaders, with teacher input, have implemented across-school systems and processes for planning and assessment. Improved processes are helping teachers to make good use of assessment information to support their teaching practice and improve student learning.

School achievement information shows that most students are achieving at or above expected levels in literacy and mathematics. Data also shows that some students are making accelerated learning progress over time.

Targeted, whole-school professional development, while focused on the teaching of writing, has also contributed to improved practice across other areas of the curriculum. Teachers have opportunities to discuss what they notice about children’s learning. They plan collaboratively to implement teaching and learning strategies to raise achievement.

Curriculum development: External facilitators are working collaboratively with school leaders and teachers to review the school curriculum. Consultation is focused on collecting the perspectives of students, staff and groups in the school community. Students have an active role in contributing to curriculum design and determining the direction of their learning. Leaders are using these aspirations to review and strengthen the curriculum.

Strengthening governance: Trustees have received training from New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA). As a result, they are becoming more confident enacting their roles and responsibilities. Trustees are determining how they can be more actively involved in decision-making to address disparities in student learning and wellbeing.

Key next steps

Leaders and teachers should continue to consolidate and embed practices and initiatives including:

• a local curriculum that is relevant to students and responds to parent aspirations for their children

• developing a school-wide understanding of how best to use The Learning Progressions to support learner outcomes

• refining the collation and analysis of student information to inform regular reports to the board about student wellbeing and the achievement progress of groups of learners

• evaluating how well goals and priorities identified in the board’s strategic and annual plans are positively impacting on children’s learning.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

Verran Primary School is becoming well placed to sustain and continue its performance.

The board has documented guidelines to support trustees in their governance roles and responsibilities. Trustees have good systems in place to enable them to respond to legislative changes and school requirements and ensure policies are regularly reviewed.

Trustees have identified that the board could receive more regular reporting about the progress of groups of learners in relation to their learning and wellbeing.

The SAF practitioner and a school-based ‘change team’ have successfully improved consultation processes to inform school decision-making about the curriculum and school processes. 

Other factors contributing to sustainability include: 

• leaders’ and teachers’ active participation in ongoing professional learning to improve their capability

• leaders developing valid processes for internal evaluation to support school improvement

• well-aligned schoolwide systems to monitor student progress and achievement, and to support school improvement

• the collaborative work of the ‘change team’ who support change, value diversity and empower others to lead.

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

• school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014.

4 Recommendations

Recommendations, including any to other agencies for ongoing or additional support.

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education continues to work with the school, as support was disrupted due to the impact of COVID 19 lockdowns during 2020 and 2021.

Conclusion

The school has made sufficient progress to transition into Te Ara Huarau later in the year.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region - Te Tai Raki

14 September 2022

About the school

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.

School Context

Verran Primary School in Birkenhead, Auckland, caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The roll includes 14 percent who identify as Māori, nine percent with Pacific heritage, and smaller groups from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.

The school’s stated vision is ‘Education to ready children to thrive in life’. The school values have been reviewed and renamed as ‘Manaakitanga, Hiranga, Āuahatanga, Kaitiakitanga and Te Ngākau’.

Recent leadership changes include the appointment of a deputy principal and the introduction of team leaders. A new board chairperson has been recently appointed. The school has a new four classroom innovative learning space and a new hall, both finished in 2017.

The school’s 2019 achievement targets focus on accelerating students’ progress in writing and mathematics. Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

• achievement in reading, writing, mathematics
• specific learning programmes such as Reading Recovery and assessments for students at age six
• English Language Learners’ progress.

School priorities are to raise student outcomes in literacy and mathematics through professional learning and development (PLD) for teachers. This PLD is focused on improving learner agency and digital fluency through the use of digital technologies.

ERO’s 2015 review identified areas for improvement. These related to improving the curriculum, teaching and learning, promoting Māori student success, strengthening internal evaluation, and school leadership and governance. Some progress has been made towards meeting these, but most remain areas for further improvement.

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?

The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all students. The school’s information indicates that most students achieve at expected levels in writing and mathematics. Students achieve at higher levels of achievement in reading. There is evidence of some disparity in the achievement of Pacific and Māori students in reading, writing and mathematics.

School leaders and teachers support learners to participate actively in their learning, and celebrate their success with the school.

Many students achieve well in relation to school-valued outcomes, including:

• enjoying a sense of belonging and connection to the school and community
• feeling included, cared for, and secure
• developing self-management skills
• using digital technologies purposefully.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

The school implements some useful strategies to support the acceleration of learning for Māori and other students who need this.

Leaders and teachers use good assessment approaches to track, monitor and analyse student data. This has helped them to identify target groups of children who require accelerated learning to achieve at their expected level. Results show that this approach has been effective in lifting the achievement of many students in targeted groups, in reading, writing and mathematics.

A range of learning support, interventions and programmes support students with additional learning needs. Leaders and teachers are responsive and collaborative in providing individualised support for these students. Leaders and teachers also identify, support and monitor focus groups of learners who are near to achieving at their expected levels.

Assessment of student achievement is moderated within the school. School leaders and trustees have a focus on raising achievement levels overall. They have yet to address disparities for Pacific students and Maori students in some areas.

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?

Some areas of board stewardship and parent partnership, support the school’s progress towards achieving excellence and equity.

The board represents and serves the school’s community well. Over time trustees have been active in establishing good community engagement and positive parent/whānau relationships. Trustees bring a variety of strengths to their role, and contribute to school decision making. They have developed more robust questioning and inquiry in regard to student achievement information.

Leaders and teachers have developed strong relationships with parents/whānau. Parents receive information about their children’s learning in a variety of ways. They are invited into the school to participate in activities and events, and to support their children’s learning.

Leaders and teachers work together to plan teaching programmes. They use inquiry approaches to evaluate their teaching and build their knowledge.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Leadership is not yet supporting school operations effectively. Clarity around leadership roles and expectations is yet to be established. School leaders recognise the need to accelerate the momentum of some change initiatives and ongoing improvements. It would now be timely to access external professional development and support for leaders at all levels in the school, to:

• build individual and collective leadership capability
• ensure a coherent approach to achieving and sustaining improvement goals.

Trustees should continue to build their knowledge about their stewardship role. They need to develop appropriate systems, policies and procedures to guide governance practices, and to ensure that all legal requirements and obligations are met. This should include a focus on strategic goals, monitoring and internal evaluation.

Leaders acknowledge the need to continue to build teachers’ professional capability. This should include further development for teachers in accelerating the learning progress of target students.

Other priorities for school development include:

• implementing effective professional development and appraisal processes for all staff, that promote clear expectations, ongoing improvement, and leadership opportunities
• continuing to review and implement a local curriculum that is more responsive to the aspirations of students and their parents, and better promotes students’ self-efficacy, cognitive challenge, and opportunities for deeper learning.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to theEducation (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016established undersection 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

No international students were enrolled at the time of the ERO review.

4 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:

• board administration
• curriculum
• management of health, safety and welfare
• personnel management
• finance
• 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 and certification
• processes for appointing staff
• stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
• attendance
• school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Verran Primary School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Needs development.

ERO will maintain an ongoing relationship with the school to build capacity and evaluate progress.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

6 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

• a supportive board that works collaboratively with school leaders to realise the school’s vision and values
• developing partnerships with parents and the school community
• leaders and teachers working in groups to inform and implement teaching programmes.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

• re-establishing the leadership team and a collaborative schoolwide culture
• building professional capability and collective capacity across the school
• developing the school’s local curriculum and teaching practices, so that students benefit from consistently relevant and challenging learning experiences
• continuing to build trustees’ capability to support school effectiveness and sustainability.

Action for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to performance management procedures.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

• ensure the principal has a current performance agreement and is appraised annually.
  [77C, the State Sector Act,1997]

In order to improve current practice, the board of trustees must ensure all aspects of performance management procedures are kept up to date and implemented consistently in line with Teaching Council requirements.

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand School Trustees Association consider providing support for the school in order to bring about the improvement in school leadership and governance.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

14 June 2019

About the school