136 Cole Street , Masterton
View on mapThis Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Douglas Park School 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
Douglas Park School is located in Masterton in the Wairarapa and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. It offers a curriculum that focuses on learner agency, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and positive relationships. It maintains a stable leadership team.
Douglas Park School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for are learners to:
know and understand where they are culturally located (Tūrangawaewae)
care for themselves and others, and take action for their community and environment (Kaitaikitanga)
be engaged with and develop future focused skills within innovative learner centred approaches to learning/teaching (Puāwaitanga).
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Douglas Park School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the Douglas Park School local curriculum is engaging students and supporting student progress and achievement. This will focus on evaluating how well they are developing Wairarapatanga within the school and community.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:
increase students’ awareness and knowledge of their local stories, histories, places and people
increase teacher and student confidence and use of Te Reo in everyday contexts, as well as participation in events and daily practices that uphold local tikanga
identify opportunities for students to engage in learning using Wairarapatanga as a meaningful context.
The school expects to see school leaders, trustees, teachers, students and whānau actively engaged in learning the local stories and histories of the Wairarapa. Students will develop an understanding of how stories affect them, people and place. Students will have the chance to acquire, use and practice Te Reo in appropriate contexts, and see the connections between Te Reo, local Tikanga and stories.
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school goal for children to develop a sense of identity and belonging:
leadership that provides a clear vision for success and sets high expectations
a rich local curriculum for learning
quality assessment practices that support identification of clear next steps for learning
positive relationships with students and whānau that support learning
school values that are well known and enacted to support the wellbeing of all.
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
developing a shared understanding of the importance of Wairarapatanga
identifying opportunities for students to engage in learning using Wairarapatanga as a context
measuring the children's knowledge of their local stories, and their use of Te Reo and Tikanga.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
12 August 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of May 2022, the Douglas Park School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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For further information please contact Douglas Park School Board of Trustees.
The next Board of Trustees 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
12 August 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Douglas Park School in Masterton has 350 students from Years 1 to 6. Approximately 30% of students identify as Māori and a small number as of Pacific heritage.
The school’s valued outcomes for students are to develop them as lifelong learners through the Douglas Park School Kid Learner Profile. This promotes collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and agency through flexible learning environments. PRIDE values - Peaceful, Respect, Independence, Dare to Dream and Excellence - continue to underpin schoolwide practices.
The school’s achievement focus is on accelerating the progress in literacy of groups of identified learners, to reduce disparity of outcomes.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
reading, writing and numeracy
engagement and attendance.
There have been recent changes to leadership. Trustees and staff are building links to the neighbouring Te Rangimarie Marae.
Ongoing professional learning and development (PLD) has been undertaken to support the review of curriculum and leadership development. Current PLD is supporting the development of collaborative teacher inquiry and culturally responsive practice. Recent property developments and reorganisation have provided collaborative teaching spaces across the school.
The school is a member of the Masterton (Whakaoriori) Kāhui Ako.
A majority of students achieve expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Similar patterns of achievement are evident over time. The school recognises there is persistent disparity for Māori children in the three learning areas, and ongoing disparity for boys in literacy. Outcomes for Pacific learners are variable.
Students with additional learning needs are well supported to access the curriculum through a range of deliberate strategies and inclusive support.
There is a clear focus on raising Māori boys’ achievement in literacy. Many of these students and others make accelerated progress.
A shared vision for learning successfully guides school development, operation and improvement. Change is well managed through purposeful and well-considered decision-making. Strategic actions and goals are coherent and clearly aligned to school priorities. There is an improvement-focused, thoughtful approach to development.
Trustees and leaders strategically develop leadership and teacher capability and promote a collaborative learning culture for teachers and students. Their strengths are appropriately recognised, valued and developed. Opportunities to lead are provided and well supported.
Good processes are in place for teachers to share, reflect on and build effective practice. Enhanced systems for using student achievement information assist teachers and leaders to track achievement, monitor progress and inform teaching.
Well-considered, ongoing development of the school’s curriculum supports children’s positive engagement in learning and school life. A number of useful initiatives support teachers to be responsive to students’ learning needs. Environments are thoughtfully organised to support learning. Students have opportunities to develop leadership skills and participate in sporting and Enviro School activities. They work purposefully, confidently and collaboratively.
Useful systems have been developed to help leaders and teachers focus on raising the achievement of targeted learners. A next step is to further accelerate the achievement of all students at risk in their learning through specific actions and clearer analysis and reporting of rates of progress.
The school is improving its responsiveness to Māori students and their families. There is enhanced engagement with whānau Māori. Te ao Māori ways of knowing, doing and being are increasingly evident in the school. The board and leaders recognise the need to clearly articulate the school’s vision for success as Māori, in response to whānau aspirations to sustain ongoing improvement.
Leaders and teachers are building their understanding and use of inquiry and evaluation. Continuing to strengthen these processes should support knowledge building of effectiveness and inform decision-making.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should ensure regular appraisal is consistent in application and completion for all teaching personnel.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
a shared vision for learning that successfully guides school development, operation and improvement
trustees’ and leaders’ strategic development of leadership and teacher capability that is building a collaborative learning culture for teachers and students
well-considered, ongoing development of the school’s curriculum that supports children’s positive engagement in learning and school life.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
further accelerating the achievement of all students at risk in their learning
clearly articulating the school’s vision for success as Māori to sustain ongoing improvement
continuing to strengthen inquiry and internal evaluation practice to support knowledge building of effectiveness and inform decision-making.
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
23 July 2018
|
Location |
Masterton |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1661 |
|
School type |
Contributing (Years 1 to 6) |
|
School roll |
369 |
|
Gender composition |
Male 52%, Female 48% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 30% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
June 2018 |
|
Date of this report |
23 July 2018 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review, July 2015 |