260 Clarkin Road , Fairfield, Hamilton
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Fairfield Primary School
Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within nine months of the Education Review Office and Fairfield Primary 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
Context
Fairfield Primary School is located in north-east Hamilton and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. More than half of the students identify as Māori, with a growing number of nationalities represented in the school.
Fairfield Primary School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
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to raise achievement for all learners
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to foster an inclusive culture for learning by strengthening connections between school and community
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to strengthen the leadership of learning.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Fairfield Primary School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of school programmes and practices in improving outcomes for all students in literacy. Strengthening home-school partnerships in learning and improving rates of student attendance are ongoing priorities to further support progress and achievement.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
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the school’s commitment to raising achievement and improving equitable outcomes in literacy and increasing attendance for an identified group of learners
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the continual focus on building positive partnerships with students, whānau and community to support progress in learning
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the priority to further strengthen evaluation practices for continuous improvement.
The school expects to see planned actions implemented to improve progress and increase equitable outcomes for all learners in literacy.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to raise achievement for all students in literacy:
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Caring, supportive partnerships that promote a strong sense of belonging and connection with Fairfield learners and their whānau.
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Comprehensive systems and practices that enable appropriate responses to the diverse needs of students.
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Collaborative leadership for learning that is open to change and focused on improvement.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
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continuing to implement and embed deliberate actions to increase rates of progress, raise achievement and improve equitable outcomes in literacy
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extending learning-centred partnerships to improve student learning and rates of attendance
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strengthening evaluation knowledge and skills to further inform responsive planning, teaching and learning.
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
11 September 2023
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
Fairfield Primary School
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026
As of May 2023, the Fairfield Primary School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Board Administration
Yes
Curriculum
Yes
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
Ye
Personnel Management
Yes
Finance
Yes
Assets
Yes
Further Information
For further information please contact Fairfield Primary School, School Board.
The next School 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
11 September 2023
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
Fairfield Primary School - 02/05/2018
School Context
Fairfield Primary School is situated in north-east Hamilton and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. Of the 386 students on the roll, 68% identify as Māori. Students of Pacific ethnicities make up 17% of the roll, with Tongan being the predominant culture in this group. The school maintains regular contact with local early childhood services and community support agencies. Most students transition to Fairfield Intermediate School. On the recommendation of the Ministry of Education, the school will implement an enrolment scheme from the beginning of Term 2, 2018 to manage the school’s growing roll.
Since the 2013 ERO review, the principal and senior leaders have remained at the school and there have been board and staff changes. In 2018, team leaders have been appointed to lead and support each of the three teaching teams.
The school-wide curriculum has been further developed along with programmes that address the needs of children with special abilities. Teachers have engaged in professional development in cultural responsiveness, mathematics, positive guidance, literacy, oral language development and teaching as inquiry. A Ministry of Education student achievement facilitator and an external advisor have assisted in developing strategies for targeting and monitoring the achievement of at-risk learners.
The school’s vision is ‘Empowering Learners to Succeed’. The curriculum continues to be underpinned by the values of ‘The Fairfield Learner’, which are respect for people, places and property, always aiming for excellence, and resilience, interpreted as never giving up.
The school is a member of Te Pae Here North-east Hamilton Community of LearninglKāhui Ako.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- reading, writing and mathematics.
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’s 2017 achievement data for all students indicates that the majority achieve at the expected level in mathematics. In writing, overall less than half are achieving at expectation for their year level. In reading, while the majority of Māori and Pākehā are achieving at expected levels, Pacific students achieved at lower levels.
There is significant disparity for Māori and Pacific students in reading and mathematics. In these curriculum areas, Māori and Pacific students are achieving less well than their Pākehā peers. In reading and writing, data indicates significant gender disparity, with girls outperforming boys. Māori are achieving at lower levels than their Pākehā peers in writing.
Mathematics results indicate an upward trend over the last two years.
The school’s entry data shows that many students, including those for whom English is a new language, enter with literacy and numeracy levels that are well below expectations. School-wide achievement information also shows that by the end of Year 6, a majority of students achieve at or above year-level expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This has been a continuing trend since the previous 2013 ERO report. By the end of Year 6, 2017, there was no disparity for Māori and Pacific students’ achievement in reading and writing, but disparity for boys’ achievement remained.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
The school is accelerating learning for the majority of Māori, Pacific and other students who are at risk of underachieving. Assessment information shows that a majority of students, including Māori and Pacific who received targeted interventions, made accelerated learning progress in writing and mathematics by the end of 2017. A majority of Pacific and nearly half of all Māori who were at risk of underachieving made accelerated progress in reading.
The progress of English language learners and students with additional learning needs is well monitored. Accelerated progress within specialised and individual learning programmes is evident for many students.
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 curriculum is responsive to the diversity of its community. Teachers promote positive interactions with and among students. Culturally responsive teaching practices emphasise whanaungatanga (family-like relationships), manaakitanga (sharing and contributing), and mahi tahi (working together cooperatively). Classes are settled and students are actively engaged in meaningful learning experiences. Priority on addressing the identified learning needs of diverse groups and individuals is contributing to equitable learning opportunities for these students.
Reciprocal, learning-centred partnerships with parents/whānau are fostered. Parents and caregivers are well-informed about their students’ learning and achievement. They have many opportunities for formal and informal discussions with teachers about their children’s progress and achievement. Teachers engage deliberately with, and inform parents and families from all ethnicities, according to their preferred method of communication. Teachers’ indicate that parents’ are committed to supporting home and school learning and this has contributed to students making accelerated progress.
The experienced senior leadership team provides clear expectations for teaching and learning. A range of suitable assessment and moderation processes assist teachers to make reliable judgements about students’ achievement and progress. Leaders and teachers work collaboratively with staff and the board, maintaining a focus on raising achievement and the pastoral care for students and families.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
To strengthen teaching practice to improve learning outcomes, leaders and teachers should:
- implement a more deliberate approach to students’ self and peer assessment
- ensure that te reo Māori is consistently integrated in class programmes.
There is a need to strengthen internal evaluation for continuous improvement. Trustees and leaders should:
- sharpen annual targets to focus more specifically on all identified groups of students who are at risk of underachieving
- extend teachers’ focus on accelerating progress to include all at-risk learners
- strengthen consultation with community, staff and students about curriculum, achievement and wellbeing
- ensure that the school continues to formally engage with Māori parents to share information about achievement trends and patterns and gather aspirations for their 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:
- 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.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
- a responsive curriculum that meets the identified needs of many diverse learners.
- strong partnerships with parents that support and enable students to experience success
- professional leadership that is knowledgeable, reflective and collegial.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
- teaching practices that strengthen students’ self-management of their learning and the school-wide use of te reo Māori
- more consultative internal evaluation, particularly for Māori, that consistently promotes improved outcomes for at-risk learners
- targeted planning to accelerate learning.
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
2 May 2018
About the school
Location |
Hamilton |
Ministry of Education profile number |
1716 |
School type |
Contributing Primary (Years 1 to 6) |
School roll |
386 |
Gender composition |
Boys 52% |
Ethnic composition |
Māori 68% |
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
Review team on site |
March 2018 |
Date of this report |
2 May 2018 |
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review September 2013 |
In May 2019 ERO published an Exemplar review
Please read it here Exemplar Review - Fairfield Primary School - Writing - May 2019