Kimbolton School

School Context

Kimbolton School is located in a rural setting of the Northern Manawatū, near Feilding. Of the 65 students from Years 1 to 8, 11 identify as Maori.

The school’s vision statement is Working together with friendship-mahi tahi I roto I te hoa tanga, me te whanaungatanga. This supports the valued virtues that include: compassion, respect, courtesy, consideration, tolerance, honesty, excellence, teamwork, communication, independence and cooperation.

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 New Zealand Curriculum
• progress and achievement over time in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leadership and the teaching team remains settled at Kimbolton School. Since the August 2016 ERO report the school roll has fluctuated.

In response to the need for upgrading some areas of the school, property developments have been completed over the past year.

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?

Data from 2018 shows that most students achieve at or above expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Māori students achieve very well with all achieving at or above expectations in writing and mathematics, and nearly all in reading. Disparity of achievement is evident for New Zealand European/Pākehā students and for boys.

In 2018, all Year 8 leavers were at or above expectations for reading, most for mathematics and the majority for writing. Achievement levels have remained similar over time, with a small decline in writing.

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

The school identifies a group whose learning needs acceleration and supports these students through in class and external interventions. In 2018, only a small number of these students accelerated in reading and mathematics, with no acceleration evident in writing.

2019 achievement targets have been developed in response to 2018 student achievement information.

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?

Positive relationships across the school community support and promote students’ wellbeing and an environment that encourages learning. Leaders and teachers know students well. Parents, whānau and community are welcome and well involved in school activities as respected and valued partners in their children’s learning. They contribute to rich and authentic opportunities for learning.

Teachers use appropriate assessment tools to identify and respond to individual learning strengths and needs of students. They use informal and formal assessment processes to deliver deliberate, well planned lessons matched to learning needs. Teachers identify focus students aligned to the school achievement targets and they inquire into the effectiveness of their response to these learners.

The school leader has a clear vision for the school and oversees the implementation of a curriculum that reflects that vision. Collaboration within the school and with the community is promoted.

The enrichment programme for Year 6 to 8 students effectively allows them to follow their strengths and learn at their own pace or from each other. This part of the curriculum is used as a way to develop key competencies.

Students with diverse learning or health needs are well supported through appropriate initiatives and interventions, including using external agencies and specialists.

Trustees are regularly informed about student achievement and curriculum focuses. They provide good levels of resourcing for teaching programmes, with a priority on supporting and enhancing learning for students. They are very supportive of staff and their wellbeing. Provision of schoolwide professional learning and development is well aligned to school goals and priorities.

The curriculum is responsive to the language, culture and identity of Māori students. Review of practice contributes to ongoing improvement and high levels of achievement for Māori students.

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

Trustees, the principal and teachers should more closely focus on and monitor the progress of target students, using evaluation to know about what works, what does not and what needs to change to accelerate their progress.

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 Kimbolton 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 consistent in its vision for high achievement outcomes for all students
• teaching practices and learning environments, that support student collaboration, participation and engagement
• collaborative practices by trustees, that supports decision making focused on student outcomes.

Next steps

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

• strengthening understanding and use of effective internal evaluation processes and practices to determine what is working well for students’ learning and where improvements are needed.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services

Central Region

10 June 2019

About the school