Paengaroa School

Paengaroa School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within nine months of the Education Review Office and Paengaroa 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 

Paengaroa School is located in the Western Bay of Plenty and provides education for students in Years 1 - 6. The school aims to provide a rich, real and relevant curriculum in ‘an environment where learning has no boundaries’.

Paengaroa School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to foster:

  • engaged and achieving students

  • effective and inspiring teachers

  • a culture of pride and respect.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Paengaroa School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which a responsive, integrated, localised curriculum is promoting equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the opportunity:

  • to pull a broad curriculum together into a cohesive whole

  • to connect students to an environment rich in natural and historical resources

  • to understand which aspects of the curriculum are promoting equitable outcomes for all students.

The school expects to see:

  • a responsive, integrated and place-based curriculum that provides students with opportunities to link science, Aotearoa New Zealand Histories and te ao Māori to local contexts

  • teaching and learning tailored to the interests and needs of students, particularly at-risk learners

  • partnerships with whānau and the community supporting, informing and improving the enactment of the curriculum.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to promote equitable and excellent outcomes:

  • experienced leadership which deliberately pursues a vision for an inclusive, bi-cultural environment

  • participation in a Kāhui Āko that facilitates relationships with mana whenua and promotes culturally sustaining pedagogies

  • a broad curriculum that offers students access to a range of engaging and meaningful learning experiences.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise continuing to:

  • analyse and respond to student achievement information to meet learner needs and accelerate learner progress

  • develop teacher capacity to integrate te ao Māori, Aotearoa NZ histories and science into a responsive, localised curriculum

  • strengthen whānau and community partnerships to ensure that the curriculum closely reflects the knowledge, identity and history of mana whenua and the local community.

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

6 July 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

Paengaroa School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of September 2022, the Paengaroa School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Paengaroa 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

6 July 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

Paengaroa School - 05/12/2019

School Context

Paengaroa School is located in a semi-rural setting east of Te Puke township. The school caters for 204 students from Years 1 to 6 and approximately half are Māori. There are a small number of students from a range of other cultural backgrounds.

The vision states that Paengaroa is a school ‘where learning has no boundaries.’ The strategic charter goals for 2019 are focused on:

  • student engagement and achievement
  • building teachers’ cultural responsiveness
  • enhancing the school culture
  • developing the school environment and resources.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • reading, writing and mathematics.

Since the previous ERO report in early 2017, the principal and deputy principal both continue in their roles. A new assistant principal was appointed at the beginning of 2019. Leaders and teachers have undertaken professional learning in cultural responsiveness, mathematics and special education. There have been some changes of trustees.

The 2019 achievement targets are:

  • to raise the achievement of Māori boys in writing, reading and mathematics to at least 85% at or above expectation
  • to raise the achievement of students in mathematics for Year 5 and 6 students to more than 85% at or above expectation.

The school is a member of the Te Puke Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

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?

Overall the school is achieving consistently good outcomes for most students, but not yet achieving equitable outcomes in reading and writing.

The school’s data from 2018 shows that most students are achieving at or above expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Māori students and boys are achieving at significantly lower levels in writing in comparison to Pākehā students and girls. Some disparity also remains for these groups of students in reading. This pattern of disparity has been consistent over time. All students are working at comparable levels in mathematics.

Students with additional learning needs are well supported and make appropriate progress in relation to their individual goals.

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

The school is accelerating the learning of some Māori and other students who need this in reading, writing and mathematics.

The school’s analysed data from 2018 shows less than half of priority students including Māori made accelerated progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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?

Strong professional leadership is effectively building an environment focused on student achievement. Leaders model orderly and supportive practices that are conducive to learning and wellbeing. Effective collaboration through a supportive team culture builds professional knowledge and relational trust. A priority has been placed on building teaching capability in cultural responsiveness to address the identified disparity. Leaders have established clear alignment of the school’s documentation with practices. The board uses information provided by leaders to make informed resourcing decisions that promote equitable opportunities to learn. Distributed and emergent leadership is valued and encouraged.

Teachers are responsive to individual students’ interests, strengths and needs. Students whose learning needs acceleration are clearly identified, and planning is in place to support and monitor their learning. Regular liaison takes place with an appropriate range of external agencies to effectively support learning for staff, students and families. Positive and respectful relationships enhance and promote the inclusive culture for learning. Learning environments are calm and settled. Teachers use a range of strategies and programmes to support students’ achievement, provide challenges and enhance enjoyment of learning. Transitions into, through and out of the school are managed sensitively by teachers.

Students enjoy learning through a rich curriculum. The school’s vision is well known and underpins all curriculum decision making. Relevant and authentic contexts are woven throughout the curriculum and school life. Māori students are affirmed in their language, culture and identity through participation in te reo and tikanga practices. Students are able to talk about their learning.

Parents and families are welcomed into the life of the school. Strategies to support parent partnerships for learning are actively promoted. Parents are well informed about their children’s learning and progress through regular opportunities for both formal and informal communication. The board places value on seeking and responding to whānau feedback and their aspirations. Organised whānau hui are well attended each term.

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

Aspects of the management and use of achievement information need strengthening. Leaders and teachers closely monitor and report on individual children’s achievement and progress. However, analysing this assessment information to identify trends, patterns and rates of progress over time for groups of learners will better inform planning and decision making.

ERO and leaders have identified the need to develop and embed systems that empower students to take more responsibility for their own learning. Priority should be given to building a school wide approach, to improve the consistency of practice. In addition, leaders and teachers should consider ways to provide specific feedback and feed forward to students to enhance knowledge and understanding of their own learning and next steps.

Provision for international students

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.

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 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Paengaroa School’s

performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

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

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • leadership that is focused on school improvement
  • teaching practice that is responsive to students’ wellbeing and learning needs
  • rich and diverse opportunities across the curriculum that support student outcomes
  • effective relationships that enhance learning-focused partnerships.
Next steps

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

  • targeted action to reduce disparity, especially in literacy for Māori students and boys
  • empowering students to lead their own learning.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

5 December 2019

About the school

Location

Te Puke

Ministry of Education profile number

1882

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

204

Gender composition

Male 53% Female 47%

Ethnic composition

Māori 50%

NZ European/Pākehā 42%

Other ethnic groups 8%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

September 2019

Date of this report

5 December 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review February 2017

Education Review February 2014

Education Review December 2009