Waitoriki School

Education institution number:
2262
School type:
Full Primary
School gender:
Co-Educational
Total roll:
54
Telephone:
Address:

364 Lincoln Road , Inglewood

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Waitoriki School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written three months of the Education Review Office and Waitoriki 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 

Waitoriki School is located in a rural Taranaki community close to the town of Inglewood and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school is an active member of Te Kāhui Ako o Kōhanga Moa.

Waitoriki School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • to implement a holistic approach to teaching that balances student wellbeing with academic achievement

  • to strengthen relationships between iwi, hapū, whānau and community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s localised curriculum is improving outcomes for all learners, with a specific focus on wellbeing and achievement. Strengthening cultural relationships and redeveloping positive learning partnerships with parents, whānau and the local Māori community are ongoing priorities for the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • the opportunity it provides to respond effectively to school data to enable equity in the achievement of identified groups of students

  • the school’s commitment to maintaining a strategic focus on the holistic needs of all learners through quality partnerships for learning.

The school expects to see further actions implemented to strengthen the responsiveness of the school’s curriculum and enable increased engagement, self-confidence, and success for all learners.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve outcomes for all learners through a responsive curriculum:

  • leadership that promotes an inclusive school whānau that contributes to a sense of belonging and positive culture for learning

  • well established school processes and practices that identify and support the individual needs of students

  • the provision of ongoing professional learning, coaching, and mentoring that supports effective collaboration and builds collective capacity.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • continuing to grow teacher capability in assessment to address the needs of all students and support accelerated outcomes

  • strengthening the analysis of data to enable effective internal evaluation and inform planning for continuous improvement

  • further engaging with parents, families, whānau and the local Māori community to strengthen meaningful and responsive partnerships.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

29 November 2022 

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

Waitoriki School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of September 2022, the Waitoriki School, 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

Actions for Compliance

ERO has identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • Renewal of police vetting every three years for employees who still work at the school.

[Clause 12 schedule 4 Education and Training Act 2020]

The board has since addressed the area of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Waitoriki School Board of Trustees.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

29 November 2022 

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

Waitoriki School - 07/05/2018

School Context

Waitoriki School is a small, rural school with a sole charge principal on the outskirts of Inglewood. The school caters for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll has fluctuated over time. At the time of this ERO review 19 students are enrolled and seven are Māori.

The school’s vision is to develop the whole child. This is underpinned by the PURIRI values that have been recently developed through community consultation: Perseverance, Uniqueness, Responsible, Initiative, Respectful, and Integrity.

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

  • achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics, in relation to the levels of The New Zealand Curriculum
  • progress of those at risk of not achieving
  • student attendance and engagement.

The first time principal was appointed mid-2016. The school’s natural environment and surrounding area promotes strong connections and opportunities to learn with the local community.

The school is part of the Inglewood 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?

The school’s achievement information shows that since the February 2015 ERO report, there has been improvement in achievement for all students. End-of-year 2017 school reported data shows that almost all students achieve at and above curriculum expectation in reading and most achieve at and above expectation in writing and mathematics.

Rates of achievement for Māori are below that of their non-Māori peers in writing and mathematics, and similar in reading.

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

A small number of target students were identified in the 2017 annual plans. School data shows most of these students accelerated their achievement. Boys and Māori achievement are both identified as targets in the school’s 2018 annual goals.

Students with other identified learning needs are provided with targeted learning and behaviour support, that has had a positive impact on their achievement.

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 collaboratively developed school vision and values, and associated goals and targets, are strongly focused on student equity and excellence. A supportive environment, with participation and collaboration at many levels of the school community, has been established. Leaders and trustees value, and are actively involved in the opportunities provided by the Kāhui Ako.

Leadership has given priority to building robust systems and expectations for teaching and learning, and behaviour. The curriculum is engaging and enables all students to learn and achieve in an inclusive, collaborative environment. Specific plans are developed for children with more complex needs that makes provision for learning opportunities that are supportive and challenging.

The learning environment is effectively designed and managed to promote student engagement and agency. Students are actively involved in setting goals for their learning and working with teachers to develop criteria to measure their progress and achievement. Social and co-operative learning is encouraged across all levels.

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

Leaders have identified that further development of the curriculum guidelines is necessary for: more relevancy to the school’s context and philosophy; and to include alignment to the school’s vision, values, and aspirations for Māori and other learners. ERO’s evaluation confirms this direction.

The school’s appraisal process has undergone a number of changes over the past two years and explicit documentation developed to support the process. A key next step is to continue to embed and strengthen the process to ensure teaching and leadership goals promote capability and are linked to measureable outcomes for students.

Coherent, aligned organisational processes and practices are in place that with further embedding, should strengthen evaluation, inquiry, and knowledge building and lead to sustained improvement in learning and teaching.

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.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • ensure policy guidelines are well understood at all levels and consistently reflected in practice and operation.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • curriculum provision, that provides an inclusive, engaging learning environment, responsive to students’ needs

  • effective practice, use of data and regular tracking of student achievement that informs teaching practice

identifying individual student’s learning needs and providing support to achieve equitable outcomes.

Next steps

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

  • building capability and capacity, that promotes understanding of te ao Māori and affirms the language, culture and identity of Māori learners at the school
  • internal evaluation processes and practices, that supports trustees, and teachers to know the impact of actions on outcomes for learners.

[ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders]

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

7 May 2018

About the school

Location

Inglewood

Ministry of Education profile number

2262

School type

Full primary (Years 1 - 8)

School roll

19

Gender composition

Female 10, Male 9

Ethnic composition

Māori 7
Pākehā 12

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2018

Date of this report

7 May 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review February 2015
Education Review February 2011
Education Review May 2007