Coley Street School

Coley Street School 

School Evaluation Report 

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context 

Coley Street School is located in Foxton, Horowhenua and provides education for students from Years 1 to 8. The school acknowledges and supports the social, spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing of their learners through the values of Rangatiratanga, Mana Aotūroa and Manaakitanga.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings. 

Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action.

Part A: Current State 

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Improvement is required to ensure all learners are engaged, make sufficient progress and achieve well.
  • Achievement information shows that less than half of all learners achieved at or above the expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; progress is evident among students who continue their education at the school.
  • Improving equity for groups of learners remains a school priority, particularly for Māori and Pacific students.
  • Students’ experience a positive and increasingly supportive learning environment that acknowledges their culture, language and identity and contributes to their sense of belonging. 
  • Attendance information shows that less than half of all students meet the Ministry of Education target to attend school more than 90% of the time; leaders and teachers apply a range of well-considered approaches focused on improving the attendance rates of learners.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders are establishing teaching and learning conditions for learner success. 
  • The board, leaders and teachers prioritise a relational and inclusive culture that fosters student wellbeing and active participation in learning through the school’s values.
  • Leaders set data-informed improvement goals and targets, with a focus on increasing the progress and achievement of learners at risk of not achieving; developing evaluative capabilities to know and understand the impact of these initiatives is a next step for the school.
  • Leaders purposefully support and facilitate ongoing improvement and development of teacher capabilities focused on increasing learner engagement and achievement.
Teachers are building responsive teaching and assessment practices to ensure consistency and coherence across the school.
  • Staff know students well and work collaboratively to provide purposeful and challenging learning opportunities for all.
  • Students who require additional support are known, supported and provided with effective assistance, that fosters a positive and inclusive learning environment.
  • Leaders and teachers are aligning schoolwide planning, assessment and reporting practices to better inform teaching and learning.
Key school conditions to build and sustain improved outcomes for learners are strengthening.
  • Students are encouraged to celebrate their identity, language and culture and show a strong sense of pride in their school.
  • Leaders and staff promote a positive school culture with clear focus on supporting students and their families as they work towards improved learner outcomes; partnerships with external agencies are well-established to reduce barriers to learning.
  • The board, leaders and teachers increasingly use information from a range of sources to plan for ongoing school improvement.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

  • further develop use of achievement information to inform responsive teaching practice, with a focus on affirming and meeting the diverse learning needs and interests of students, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners
  • further modify the school’s evaluation processes to focus on the most significant initiatives for improving achievement outcomes for all students
  • improve the percentage of students attending school more than 90% of the time.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

  • review and use assessment information to adjust teaching programmes to support greater consistency and purposefully address barriers to learner progress and success.

Every six months:

  • continue to moderate, monitor and use assessment information to report on the attendance, progress and achievement of all students, with a particular focus on achieving equity for target groups of learners and those at risk of not achieving
  • review and report on the effectiveness of changes to teaching practice, through teacher observation, collection of student voice and student outcomes

Annually:

  • collectively analyse, evaluate and report on schoolwide achievement and attendance data to strategically plan actions that will continue to improve progress and achievement outcomes for all learners
  • analyse achievement information of target groups of learners to identify initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating progress and achievement and develop next steps for strategic planning.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

  • consistency of effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide, resulting in improved and sustained levels of attendance, progress and achievement for all students
  • enhanced internal evaluative practices that effectively use multiple sources of evidence to assess the impact of actions and deliberate decision making on student outcomes.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

31 October 2024

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

Coley Street School 

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027 

As of June 2024, the Coley Street 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 Coley Street 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 

31 October 2024 

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

Coley Street School - 11/09/2019

School Context

Coley Street School is in Foxton. It caters for students from Years 1 to 8. At the time of this review there were 235 children enrolled. Māori students comprise 54% of the roll.

The school states, The back bone of the school is PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning). These values ‘Caring, Proud, Striving, and Thinking all built on Trust’ provide the ‘house’ or framing to lead the school’s vision, ‘Always our best.’ The school has consulted with parents, whānau and community to form a list of key dispositions and attributes for a ‘Coley Kid’.

Strategic goals in 2019 include:

  • supporting the achievement of all students around the priority areas of reading, writing and mathematics in relation to The New Zealand Curriculum
  • ensuring the provision of an environment where the school community can be actively engaged in the teaching and learning of tamariki
  • ensuring the schoolwide behaviour management system (PB4L) fosters an environment where tamariki develop the ability to make positive choices that lead to social and academic success supported by whānau
  • supporting the health and wellbeing of students, staff and whānau.

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 and achievement in relation to school targets in reading, writing and mathematics
  • wellbeing and attendance
  • engagement and behaviour, PB4L.

School staff have undertaken professional development in Te Ao Māori, use of the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT) and PB4L practices. The leadership team has been working with an external provider to develop leadership capability.

The school has continued to develop its Modern Learning Environments (MLE) since the June 2016 ERO report. Two areas of the school, junior and senior, are now connected into ‘Hub’ spaces.

Coley Street School is part of the Kerekere Cluster and the Taitoko 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 outcomes are continuing to improve towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all students. Achievement outcomes are trending upward. Data since 2016 shows gains have been made by all groups of students. Disparity has been reduced for boys and Māori children. The majority of students at the end of 2018 achieved at or above curriculum expectation in reading, writing and mathematics.

School reported information indicates students identified positive wellbeing.

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

The school effectively responds to those Māori and others at risk of underachievement.

Data from 2018, shows that the majority of students targeted in literacy made progress towards curriculum expectation with many making accelerated progress. Data for priority students in 2019 reflects a similar trajectory.

At the time of this review, data for students who were targeted in literacy and mathematics in 2019 indicates some have accelerated to being at or above curriculum expectations. Improving boys’ writing achievement has been an appropriate priority for the school. The 2019 writing data also shows most have increased their rates of progress and many of those targeted have made progress towards expectation.

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?

Leaders and teachers are focused on ensuring schoolwide practices and processes promote student voice and enable them to learn and achieve at the appropriate curriculum level. Effective tracking and monitoring systems are in place. Information is collated and shared appropriately across the school for teachers and leaders to be able to respond to students’ needs. Internal and external expertise is sought to provide timely and appropriate interventions and programmes.

Leaders and teachers are relationship focused and they know their learners and community well. Connections with local iwi, marae and kuia, and those with external expertise are used effectively and collaboratively. This support further strengthens understanding, development and learning opportunities of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, and te ao Māori across the school for staff and students.

Learning environments reflect cooperation and respect. These are managed effectively to support participation, and engagement. Students are building self-management strategies and demonstrating confidence in their learning. Student leadership is promoted across the school.

Leadership demonstrates strategic resourcing through time, staff and tools to ensure staff can promote student participation and engagement. The common ‘PB4L’ language across the school promotes an environment that supports students’ learning and wellbeing.

Parents and whānau are valued and involved in school activities. Multiple opportunities are provided to students, their families, and teachers to be involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of the school curriculum. The school identifies and draws on community expertise and resources to support students and their families.

Teacher development builds capability linked to students’ outcomes in achievement, engagement and wellbeing. Teacher inquiries support the development of strategies and programmes to assist teaching and learning. School processes include opportunities for teachers and leaders to share their practice and learn from their peers.

The school charter and strategic goals clearly identify a direction toward equity and excellence for all students. The priorities for improvement are collaboratively developed by school leaders and trustees and are aligned to annual targets and include professional development appropriately.

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

The priority is to build on current strengths and achieve equity and excellence for all students.

It is timely to review the implemented innovations and practices in the school. This review should include evaluating the learning hubs to know the impact on students’ learning and wellbeing as the school looks to incorporate the MLE model across the school.

Leaders and teachers should strengthen their collective understanding of effective assessment practice. This should support teachers to make overall teacher judgements about each student’s achievement and identify progress and acceleration.

The school has been reviewing their documented curriculum to more closely reflect the community and links to the area. Continuing to develop the curriculum and delivery guidelines should enable the school to identify best practice.

Further development and understanding for leaders and teachers is needed in student agency, students leading their learning and student assessment for learning, to promote the school’s vision for successful learning.

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 Coley Street 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:

  • identifying the learning needs of individual students and providing support that promotes achievement of equitable outcomes
  • teacher inquiry and professional development that grows collective capability to improve outcomes for learners
  • collaborative relationships between leadership, whānau and the community that supports and enhances students’ learning and wellbeing.

Next steps

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

  • strengthening collective understanding of assessment practice to ensure leaders and teachers keep their focus on accelerating learning for those students at risk of underachievement
  • continuing the development of an overarching curriculum document to provide expectations and guidance for teaching practice and learning and ensuring it reflects the current effective teaching practice and connections to place and context.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

11 September 2019

About the school

Location

Foxton

Ministry of Education profile number

2352

School type

Full primary (Years 1 - 8)

School roll

235

Gender composition

Female 55%, Male 45%

Ethnic composition

Māori 54%
NZ European/Pākehā 44%
Other ethnic groups 2%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

August 2019

Date of this report

11 September 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review June 2016
Education Review May 2013
Education Review April 2010