Ramanui School

School Context

Ramanui School, located in Hawera, has students from Years 1 to 6. At the time of this review there were 83 students enrolled, with most identifying as Māori.

The school’s overarching mission and vision is ‘Hikaia te Ahi Matauranga kia mura mo ake tonu atu; To provide the spark that kindles life-long learning; Kia Kaha, Kia Matauranga, Strength and Wisdom’. The school’s strategic plan 2019-2021, articulates the goals of an inclusive school culture, engaged tamariki and whānau, delivering quality teaching and learning and effective leadership and management.

Key aims for 2019 are to:

• further develop the curriculum in response to student needs and the school community’s aspirations
• promote students’ wellbeing
• improve progress and achievement, especially for those learners not achieving at curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders and teachers report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in

• reading, writing and numeracy.

The September 2016 ERO report found trustees, leaders and teachers needed to strengthen their capacity and understanding of internal evaluation to know how effectively the curriculum, strategies and initiatives impact positively on students, especially those whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Following the ERO evaluation, school leaders participated in an internal evaluation workshop provided by ERO. They also developed a Raising Achievement Plan to better respond to target students in 2017 and shared this with ERO.

The school is a member of the South Taranaki - Hawera 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?

Outcomes for students are often good but fluctuate and inequity is still apparent. The school’s strategic planning focuses leaders and teachers on improving and consolidating systems and practices that promote children’s wellbeing for learning and improve their academic achievement.

The school’s achievement data at the end of 2018 shows an overall improvement in mathematics, with most students’ achieving at or above expectation. This improvement was significant for Māori children and girls.

Reading achievement has continued to decline since 2016, with just over half of students achieving at or above curriculum expectation at the end of 2018. The disparity between girls and boys achievement has increased, with many boys not achieving at expectation at the end of 2018.

A similar pattern is reflected in writing where girls continue to achieve better than boys.

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

Achievement data for 2018, showed most of those students identified in the annual targets made progress. However, learning was not accelerated for most. There are processes in place to enable teachers to track and monitor progress of their target students. These systems are not being consistently implemented and dependable information over time is not available.

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?

Students experience a breadth of learning experiences through a culturally responsive curriculum, steeped in Taranakitanga. Hauora underpins teaching and learning practices. The inclusive setting and focus on positive relationships and interactions promote children’s sense of wellbeing and belonging.

Community connections including working in partnership with whānau, iwi and other professionals has improved attendance and participation in learning. School personnel are highly committed to promoting the holistic development of all learners and advocating for families and whānau.

Students identified with additional learning or complex needs are well known to teachers. The school works in partnership with whānau and external agencies to support the development of these students.

Trustees and leaders work collaboratively to enact the vision and values of the school. They identify relevant priorities for ongoing development. Trustees access appropriate training and support to carry out their stewardship role. A restructure of leadership provides greater clarity of responsibilities and expectations to achieve the school’s priorities.

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

Assessment practices require further development to provide information that can be used to respond well to the learning needs of all students. Rationalising the range of assessment tools to ensure teachers have sufficient information to make dependable judgements about children’s progress in relation to curriculum levels should be undertaken as a first step. Assessment and data analysis must be used more efficiently to improve responsive teaching and learning and moderation and reporting practices. Reporting to the board more regularly about learning and other valued outcomes is a next step.

Systems for building teaching capability require further strengthening to clarify teachers understanding of, and to meet, the school’s expectations for effective practice. More rigorous implementation of assessment, teaching inquiry and appraisal is necessary to realise the school’s priorities.

Strategic planning promotes ongoing improvement. Curriculum developments that promote student agency are in the early stages of implementation. Further developing review and inquiry processes to establish the impact of these curriculum initiatives for all, and especially for targeted learners, is needed to strengthen evaluation practice.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

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

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:

• curriculum provision for students that is culturally responsive
• a learning environment that is inclusive
• advocacy and strategies that support students with complex needs.

Next steps

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

• improving assessment practice to strengthen teaching, learning, moderation and reporting
• appraisal, inquiry and internal evaluation practice to determine how well teaching and curriculum initiatives contribute to achieving equity and excellence for learners.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

6 August 2019

About the school

1 Context

Ramanui School, located in Hawera, caters for students from Years 1 to 6. At the time of this external evaluation, 51 students were enrolled at the school with 46 identifying as Māori. Since the 2013 ERO evaluation the school has experienced a number of changes that included a new principal who began at the school in Term 4 2015, a new board of trustees and a number of teaching staff changes. Support services on site includes a Resource Teacher: Literacy (RT:Lit) and a Resource Teacher: Māori (RT:M).

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are Kia kaha, kia matauranga strength and wisdom; Hikaia te ahi matauranga kia mura mo ake tonu atu - to provide the spark that kindles the flame of life-long learning. The values of: aroha, kotahitanga, manaakitanga, rangimarie, pononga, rangatiratanga, whakaetanga and awhina - love, unity, care, peace, truth, strength, acceptance, help and support - underpin all aspects of the school.

The school’s achievement information shows that over time there has been a decline in achievement, particularly for boys. At the end of 2015, under half of students achieved at or above the National Standards for reading, writing and mathematics. The 2016 interim mid-year achievement data shows similar patterns. Trustees and leaders are aware of the urgent need to improve student achievement for all students.

Leaders and teachers work collaboratively to moderate their overall teacher judgements (OTJs) about students' achievement in relation to the National Standards. Teachers have a good understanding of expectations for moderation. A key next step is for leaders to develop a documented framework to guide teachers' practice in this area. Over time, this will support greater consistency of teachers' judgements about learners' progress and achievement.

Since the last ERO evaluation the school has experienced some roll growth. Teachers have been involved in a Ministry of Education (MoE) professional learning and development initiative Accelerating Literacy Learning (ALL), and a particular focus on accelerating Year 5 boys' achievement in writing and mathematics through the Accelerating Learning in Mathematics (ALiM). Leaders are developing learning partnerships with parents and whānau.

The school also requested from the MoE the support of a Student Achievement Function (SAF) practitioner to focus on accelerating student achievement and to investigate the possibility of establishing a bilingual Te Reo Māori kaupapa. A draft plan has been created to guide these developments. The school is also investigating being part of a Community of Learning (CoL).

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

Leaders and teachers have identified target students' whose learning and achievement needs acceleration across the school. They regularly track and monitor their progress. The achievement data for this target group indicates that some students have made accelerated progress in the first half of 2016. The school identified that many students are progressing well and should meet the National Standard expectations by the end of 2016. However, they acknowledge that a significant number of students are underachieving.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

The board of trustees are focused on improving student learning, achievement and wellbeing. The principal provides useful information about student achievement, needs, progress and those students at risk of poor educational outcomes. Trustees are actively consulting with iwi, hāpu, whānau and their community to help inform the future direction, educational pathways and priorities for the school. They are well informed about curriculum focuses and the future direction of the school to enable to them to make resourcing decisions.

The principal works collaboratively with trustees and teachers with a key focus on improving outcomes for students.

The school's curriculum and programmes of learning have a focus on a local and culturallyresponsive authentic contexts. School leaders acknowledge that the school's curriculum needs to be revised to ensure it reflects the aspirations of their community, whānau, hapū and iwi. Key next steps for trustees and leaders are to:

• set clear expectations to guide effective teaching practice to promote student learning and wellbeing
• develop a graduate profile to define what success looks like for all students
• consult with parents, whānau, hapū and iwi about a local contexts for learning.

Teachers use a range teaching strategies to help support students' learning. Classroom environments promote positive and respectful relationships with students as well as with their peers. Students' culture, language and identity are highly valued, promoted, acknowledged and celebrated within the school.

Teachers are inquiring into their practice to help identify how they can improve learners' writing across the school, particularly boys' writing. Strategies they have used are promoting acceleration of learning. As a result, students are more engaged and have positive attitudes towards their learning. Some are taking active leadership roles in the classroom to help support their peers.

The recently implemented inquiry approach, linked to appraisal has the potential to build teachers capability to inquire more deeply into their practice and improve outcomes for learners. Appraisal is improvement focused to help develop and support staff. Goals are clearly aligned to the school's priorities and targets for accelerating student achievement.

Parents receive useful information about their child's learning needs, goals and progress in relation to the National Standards. A recently implemented system is supporting parents to be more involved in their child's learning. The school acknowledges it needs to ensure parents and whānau have opportunities to be active partners in their child's learning.

The understanding and use of internal evaluation needs to be established across the school. This should assist leaders and teachers to evaluate the systems, processes and initiatives, and their impact on student outcomes.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• need approaches that effectively meet the needs of each child
• need to ensure the school is well placed to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it.

Action: The board, principal and teachers should participate in an internal evaluation workshop. They should use this workshop, ERO exemplars of good practice and the School Evaluation Indicators to address the findings of this evaluation and develop a Raising Achievement Plan that includes a significant focus on building teacher capability to accelerate learning and achievement.

As part of this review ERO will continue to monitor the school’s Raising Achievement Plan and the progress the school makes.

ERO is likely to carry out the next full review in three years.

6 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 the following:

• board administration

• curriculum

• management of health, safety and welfare

• personnel management

• 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

• processes for appointing staff

• stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions

• attendance

• compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014

7 Recommendation

Trustees, leaders, and teachers should:

• continue to build and strengthen their capacity and understanding of internal evaluation to identify, strengthen and implement strategies and initiatives that impact positively on students whose learning and achievement need acceleration
• strengthen their curriculum to ensure it reflects the aspirations of iwi, hapū, whānau and parents.

Joyce Gebbie

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

12 September 2016

About the school