Elizabeth Avenue , Morrinsville
View on mapThis Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Morrinsville 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
Morrinsville Intermediate school is located in the rural township of Morrinsville and within the boundaries of Ngāti Hauā, tumuaki o te Kīngi. It caters for students in Years 7 and 8. The school continues to be led by an established leadership team.
Morrinsville Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
to enhance teacher capability and leadership by further embedding an effective coaching model
to enhance the localised curriculum by creating explicit opportunities for learners to strengthen their key competencies.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Morrinsville Intermediate’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which they are strengthening parent and whānau involvement as partners in their children’s learning.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
through meaningful involvement of parents and whānau in their children’s learning, progress and achievement should improve and result in more equitable outcomes
through being effectively involved in supporting their children’s learning, the sense of belonging and engagement with the school should improve and positively impact on outcomes.
The school expects to see an increase in the number of students making accelerated progress and achieving at the expected curriculum level.
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to increase parent and whānau involvement as partners in their children’s learning:
whanaungatanga is prioritised to ensure students participate and learn in a culture that is caring, inclusive and collaborative
students experience a broad, localised curriculum that is student-centred and highly relevant to emerging adolescents
effective internal evaluation processes are in place with clear strategic vision; these drive and sustain school improvement, innovation, and enable equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
planning internal evaluation to ensure the voices of all stakeholders are considered
research and inquire into effective ways of improving parent and whānau engagement in their children’s 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
5 May 2023
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of August 2022 the Morrinsville Intermediate , School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
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For further information please contact Morrinsville Intermediate, 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
5 May 2023
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Morrinsville Intermediate is a co-educational intermediate school located in the Waikato township of Morrinsville. It caters for 296 students in Years 7 and 8, including 64 Māori students.
The school’s vision statement is ‘Empowering learners to succeed’ and the motto is ‘Kia ū ki te pai - whatever you do, let it be your best’. The focus in 2018 is on ‘Growing from good to great’ with an emphasis on embedding the school’s values and supporting all learners to achieve personal excellence.
There is a school-wide aim to improve the achievement of all students in writing and mathematics, with targets set to accelerate the learning of identified students. Strategic aims for 2018 include growing teachers as learners and strengthening learning-focused partnerships.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, school-wide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
outcomes for students in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies
students receiving targeted support through the Literacy Centre.
Since the previous ERO review in 2015, there have been significant staffing changes. A new principal and a new deputy principal have been appointed. There have also been a number of changes to the teaching staff. The board has a mix of experienced and new trustees.
The school is a member of the Morrinsville Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako (CoL).
The school is achieving excellent outcomes for some students, however, disparity for Māori students and boys remains. The majority of students are achieving at expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Girls are significantly outperforming boys in reading and writing, and to a lesser degree in mathematics. Pākehā students are outperforming Māori in reading and writing, and also at a significant level in mathematics. However, this disparity has been reducing over time. The school has achieved improved outcomes for most students with additional needs.
The school is accelerating the learning of some Māori and other at-risk students. The school’s data shows that the majority of students, including Māori students, who have been targeted through teacher inquiries and the Literacy Centre programme have made accelerated progress. The school is yet to analyse data to show the rates of progress for all students whose learning requires acceleration to reach expected curriculum levels. However, school leaders have recently developed systems to enable this analysis.
School governance and leadership successfully create conditions that support the school’s strategic vision. The board is comprised of experienced trustees and there is a strong culture of collaboration and professional trust between the board, leaders and teachers. Leaders strategically undertake appropriate professional development to build their leadership skills. In addition, they provide relevant and targeted professional development opportunities to support teachers to grow their capability. School leadership use a range of evidence to inform strategic decision-making. This is focused on improving outcomes for students, and effectively promotes meaningful integration of the school’s vision and values at all operational levels.
Positive and reciprocal relationships with parents, whānau, iwi and the community have been established. Authentic connections with the local community and iwi support the language, culture and identity of students, in particular Māori students. Parents feel welcome and able to be involved in the school. Effective communication strategies are used to inform, engage and consult with parents. The school has effective processes to support parents as their children transition into the school.
The school’s broad and rich curriculum offers extensive learning opportunities for students. The vision and values of the school are woven naturally into the design and delivery of a cohesive local curriculum, and the New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies are a strong feature of students’ learning. Opportunities are provided for students to learn about local history and connect with local iwi. Te ao Māori is integrated authentically through a range of activities outside the classroom.
Positive relationships between students and teachers contribute to settled classrooms where students are engaged and learning-focused. An inclusive programme provides for students with additional learning needs, and offers extension and enrichment opportunities for all students. There is a range of leadership opportunities for students, and the school has developed a number of ways to seek student input into school operations.
Leaders and teachers have worked collaboratively to develop and embed a robust teacher appraisal process. This process is aligned to the school’s strategic goals and aimed at growing teacher capability to improve and accelerate learning outcomes for students.
The strategies and approaches used for targeted learners needs to be refined and extended to include all priority learners. In addition, school-wide strategic achievement targets need to be inclusive of all at-risk students. Leaders and teachers need to analyse achievement data regularly to identify the rates of progress of all students whose learning is at risk.
Teaching practice focused on increasing student agency needs strengthening. Formative assessment practice, including the use of the school’s learning progressions framework, needs to be embedded to effectively support students’ understanding of their learning and next steps.
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.
The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 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.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
collaborative leadership that sets high expectations focused on improving student outcomes
productive partnerships with parents, whānau, iwi and the community that foster a strong sense of belonging
a rich curriculum that provides a range of opportunities for students to achieve success.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
extending targeted planning and action to accelerate the progress of all students whose learning is at risk
intentional teaching strategies to develop student ownership of learning.
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
10 July 2018
|
Location |
Morrinsville |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1833 |
|
School type |
Intermediate (Years 7 and 8) |
|
School roll |
296 |
|
Gender composition |
Boys 52% Girls 48% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 21% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
May 2018 |
|
Date of this report |
10 July 2018 |
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review March 2015 |
Morrinsville Intermediate School explicitly promotes its vision, values and strategic goals. Raising student achievement within meaningful learning contexts is a continual focus. Students have many opportunities to experience leadership and success. Classes are settled and purposeful. The school is well placed to sustain its performance.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Morrinsville Intermediate School caters for students in Years 7 and 8 who come from contributing schools in the Waikato town of Morrisville and its surrounding districts. Many students transition to nearby Morrinsville College at the end of Year 8. Twenty-two percent of students identify as Māori. The school continues to provide tuition for all students in Māori language and culture. In addition, some students choose to engage in extension te reo Māori classes.
In June 2013, ERO finalised a two-year longitudinal review of Morrinsville Intermediate. This review was undertaken during a time of many developments and changes. These included extensive board training, focussed literacy professional development for teachers, the resignations of the previous principal and other senior leaders, and the election of a new board. At the time of the 2013 ERO report, an acting principal and deputy principal were providing professional school leadership. The report noted that there had been significant progress in the areas of governance, strategic planning, self review, principal and staff appraisal, curriculum development, teaching practice, and assessment in relation to National Standards.
In order to establish and maintain a time of stability for staff and students, the new board decided to delay the appointment of a principal until the end of 2013. ERO, therefore, decided to continue the longitudinal review process until school improvements could be evaluated under permanent leadership.
A new principal took up his position at the beginning 2014 and the deputy principal’s position was made permanent at the end of term 1. During 2014, school buildings have been re-roofed and repainted and the school has enhanced its capacity to use computers as tools for learning. Large shade sails have been installed to provide playground sun protection and students have participated in painting large colourful murals depicting local Māori contexts.
During term 1 2014, the board engaged in community consultation to further define its values, which are based on the motto Kia u ki te pai (Be the best you can be). The values of rangatiratanga (self awareness), manaakitanga (service to others), whakawhanaungatanga (community participation), kaitiakitanga (caring for the environment) are now prominently displayed and well integrated into class programmes. A new school logo has also been consultatively introduced. Since the beginning of term 4, students have been encouraged to provide their own digital devices to assist their learning. This initiative supports the board’s strategic goal to provide 21st century environments and opportunities that enhance students’ learning.
Further curriculum review and development
Student achievement, including the progress and achievement of Māori students
Sustainability following the appointments of a new principal and deputy principal
The curriculum effectively promotes and supports students’ learning. It has been developed to include:
Senior leaders regularly monitor teachers’ planning, assessment and teaching practices, providing feedback to affirm and improve performance.
Effective teaching practices observed by ERO include maintaining positive relationships with students in settled, purposeful classes, effectively using resources and activities to promote independent learning and celebrating student success in attractive, educationally stimulating classrooms. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are used as tools for learning across the curriculum. Specialist teachers provide interesting technology, art, music and science programmes with many opportunities for hands-on learning experiences.
The curriculum is reviewed according to a strategic schedule. Every year reading, writing and mathematics are reviewed using analysed achievement information and comments from staff, students and the community. Recommendations from reviews are actioned in further planning.
Student achievement and the achievement of Māori students
The school is well placed to sustain progress in continuing to raise student achievement.
Raising student achievement, and in particular, raising the achievement of Māori students are explicitly promoted strategic priorities. Trustees, senior leaders and teachers closely monitor achievement and progress through the year for each class and for Māori students. This year’s mid-year survey indicates that many students are making very good progress towards meeting National Standards for their year levels.
Teachers use assessment information to:
Some students who require learning assistance benefit from specialist reading tuition at the school’s Literacy Centre. Assessment results for these students show that many make accelerated progress.
Māori students have many opportunities to experience success and to be proud of their culture, language and identity. These are increasingly promoted in board planning, school displays and protocols, and in classroom programmes.
As the result of reflection and review, senior leaders and ERO identified that the school’s priorities for further progress are to:
The school is now well placed to sustain and improve its performance because of the following factors:
Agreed further priorities for the board and senior leaders are to:
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:
In order to improve current practice, the board should receive regular reports about the trends and patterns of student attendance.
Morrinsville Intermediate School explicitly promotes its vision, values and strategic goals. Raising student achievement within meaningful learning contexts is a continual focus. Students have many opportunities to experience leadership and success. Classes are settled and purposeful. The school is well placed to sustain its performance.
ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.
Dale Bailey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern
5 March 2015
|
Location |
Morrinsville |
|
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
1833 |
|
|
School type |
Intermediate (Years 7 to 8) |
|
|
School roll |
255 |
|
|
Gender composition |
Boys 58% Girls 42% |
|
|
Ethnic composition |
Pākehā Māori Other Indian Other European Asian |
70% 22% 3% 2% 2% 1% |
|
Review team on site |
November 2014 |
|
|
Date of this report |
5 March 2015 |
|
|
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review Education Review Education Review |
June 2013 September 2011 July 2008 |