Awapuni School (Gisborne)

Awapuni School (Gisborne)

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 

Awapuni School is an inner-city school in Gisborne that provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision, that students love to learn and learn to love, is supported by values based around kindness to self, others, the environment and community.  A new principal was appointed in 2022.

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. 

Part A: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

The school is working towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.
  • The majority of students achieve curriculum expectations in mathematics; achievement outcomes are lower in reading and writing with slightly lower achievement for Māori students in writing.
  • Effective transition processes for new entrants and inclusive, consistent practices schoolwide support students’ developing sense of belonging.
  • Less than half of the students at Awapuni School attend regularly; the school does not yet meet the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance and has prioritised working with whānau and agencies to improve this.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders foster a school culture that is committed to high quality teaching and working towards positive outcomes for learners.
  • Leaders use a range of evidence to identify school priorities and inform decision making; professional development is aligned to school priorities.
  • Leaders set and pursue goals for student progress within a local curriculum, that increasingly reflects the values and aspirations of the school community.
  • Leaders work collegially with staff to strengthen the consistency of teaching programmes and to closely monitor student progress.
Teaching is increasingly intentional and responsive to the diverse needs of learners.
  • Structured approaches to the teaching of reading are becoming embedded schoolwide.
  • Learners are well known by teachers and support staff; assessment evidence is increasingly used to inform teaching practices.
  • A school curriculum is being established, based on local contexts and school values, that engages students and provides opportunities to apply learning in new situations; a planned next step is to ensure consistency in the teaching of te reo Māori and build understanding of te ao Māori schoolwide
The school is embedding systems, structures and practices that support success and improvement over time.
  • Policies, programmes and practices are being strengthened to further promote student wellbeing and confidence in their identity, language and culture.
  • Partnerships are developing between the school, whānau, hapū and iwi; the stories and history of the area and its people are increasingly recognised and celebrated
  • Teachers collaboratively inquire into their practice to identify successful approaches; professional growth is prioritised and supported.
  • The board effectively manages the school’s resourcing and is strengthening its governance capacity to assist the principal in achieving school improvement goals.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

  • collaborate with whānau and the wider school community, with urgency, to improve regular attendance at school; develop an Awapuni School learner profile to promote engagement
  • continue to strengthen structured and evidence-based practices to support the teaching of reading and writing schoolwide
  • review assessment processes to ensure high quality useful information is gathered and used to inform teaching practice
  • develop teacher capacity in te reo Māori, ensure a consistent schoolwide teaching programme is in place and that te ao Māori and te reo Māori are authentically represented in classroom programmes. 

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

Within three months:

  • to improve regular attendance, a plan is created with whānau input, and actions are in place

Within six months:

  • staff are engaged in professional development in writing; a plan is implemented for literacy development across the school
  • te reo Māori is being taught schoolwide and te ao Māori concepts are embedded in the school curriculum; ways to measure teacher growth in this area are identified
  • community consultation has commenced to identify the values, skills and dispositions to be represented in the Awapuni School learner profile

Every six months:

  • critically review school attendance and the actions that support attendance and share this information with the board and school community
  • analyse achievement data to monitor student progress, the impact of initiatives and approaches, especially in writing, to inform next steps for teaching actions and resourcing
  • review the assessment schedule to ensure it aligns with The New Zealand Curriculum and provides information that supports learner progress
  • use agreed measures to identify teachers’ growing capability in te reo Māori, knowledge of te āo Māori and its authentic use in classroom programme.

Annually:

  • evaluate and report progress towards improving attendance for all groups of learners 
  • report to the board in relation to annual and over time progress and achievement for all groups of students, including the levels of disparity between these groups to inform planning 
  • the Awapuni Learner profile is used to report learning progress and achievement to parents and whānau. 

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

  • an increase in the number of students who attend over 90% of the time, leading to improved and sustained engagement in learning and progress and achievement
  • teaching practices that result in improved outcomes for learners raised achievement in reading, writing and te reo Māori, especially for Māori students in writing
  • well embedded assessment practices that inform school and classroom decision making
  • shared understanding between home and school of what student progress looks like and how learning goals can be enhanced by collaboration.

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

Awapuni School (Gisborne)

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027 

As of May 2024, the Awapuni School (Gisborne) 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 areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • safety checking of workforce: evidence of risk assessment records assuring that background and referee checks have been undertaken on the appointment of staff. 
    [Children’s Act 2014]  

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Awapuni School (Gisborne), 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

Awapuni School (Gisborne) - 13/06/2019

School Context

Awapuni School is located in Gisborne city and serves a wide geographic area. Many students enrol with diverse and specific learning needs. Most students are Māori and 26% are Pākehā.

The school’s valued outcomes for learners are to be active and successful learners, empowered to: ‘learn to love and love to learn’ through the values of ‘Being Kind’.

Strategic targets for 2019 include a focus on developing teacher practice; increasing the number of students making accelerated progress; aligning vision, values and practices; and promoting increased whānau involvement to support students’ learning. The 2019, student achievement target is for Year 6 Māori students to demonstrate progress so that 75% will be in the at expectations for their cohort by the end of the year.

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

  • reading, writing and mathematics
  • students with identified learning needs
  • wellbeing and attendance.

There has been significant leadership change in 2018. A new leadership team is in place and a new principal commenced at the beginning of 2019.

Schoolwide professional learning and development (PLD) in aspects of literacy has occurred and PLD in mathematics is ongoing.

The school is a member of Taha Whānau (Gisborne) Kāhui Ako| Community of Learning.

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?

A large majority of students, including Māori, achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Overall achievement has remained consistent over time. In 2018, there was significant improvement in overall achievement for mathematics.

Schoolwide data in 2018 shows improvement towards more equitable outcomes for Māori students in writing and mathematics. Significant disparity in reading for this group continues. Boys achieve less well than girls over time in reading, writing and mathematics, although literacy results have significantly improved for boys in 2018.

There are well established practices and processes for responsive provision for students with additional learning needs. Provision is coordinated in collaboration with a wide range of agencies and with whānau. Schoolwide practices effectively support their engagement, access to the curriculum and learning success.

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

There is evidence of accelerated progress for some of these learners, including Māori.

A range of support is provided for students requiring acceleration. A next step is to more clearly show acceleration for groups of learners through:

  • developing a shared understanding of acceleration and systems for measuring rates of progress
  • more specific targets and clearer reporting of accelerated progress for groups of learners to show how disparity is being addressed.

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?

There is a clear focus and collective approach to providing a positive and supportive environment for students. This promotes their wellbeing, engagement and learning. Established expectations for positive behaviour are well communicated, enacted and known by students. Students’ diverse needs are well identified and deliberately responded to. This supports the provision of holistic support for them and their whānau.

Students demonstrate a sense of belonging and confidence in their learning and environment. Transitions into, throughout and beyond school are well considered and effectively supported. Respectful interactions are demonstrated and promoted. Teachers care for students and their success.

Students’ participation and progress in learning is appropriately supported through deliberate acts of teaching. Teachers promote the use of digital tools and collaboration to support learning. Students are increasingly provided with opportunities to make decisions and know about their learning.

Trustees and leaders value their staff and support them to undertake their roles effectively. Teachers regularly engage in professional dialogue and learning opportunities to develop their practice. The new senior leadership team is working collaboratively to promote consistent and cohesive practices, and to progress strategic priorities.

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

The new principal is effectively leading review and development in a collaborative, strategic and considered way. Leaders and trustees should further develop and align systems, processes and practices to build the school’s capacity to sustain improvement and promote equitable outcomes for all learners.

This should include:

  • strengthening the use of achievement data to inform actions that promote acceleration for groups of learners and address disparity
  • developing the curriculum to enrich learning, reflect te ao Māori and the local context and better respond to students’ interests and strengths and the aspirations of whānau, hapu and iwi
  • strengthening the implementation and effectiveness of teacher appraisal and inquiry to support their professional development and culturally responsive practice
  • ensuring there are clear processes for robust evaluation to show the impact of actions and initiatives on improving outcomes for learners.

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 Awapuni School (Gisborne)’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:

  • a positive and supportive environment for students that promotes their wellbeing and learning
  • a collective approach to identifying and providing for learners with diverse and specific needs
  • respectful and collaborative relationships between staff, trustees and the school community.

Next steps

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

  • strengthening the use of achievement data to promote acceleration and address disparity
  • developing the curriculum to enrich learning, reflect the local context and community aspirations for students
  • strengthening the implementation and effectiveness of teacher appraisal and inquiry to support their professional development
  • ensuring clear, robust processes for internal evaluation are implemented, including policy review.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to policy review and formal consultation with the Māori community.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

  1. maintain an on-going programme of self-review in relation to policies
    [National Administration Guidelines 2(b)]

  1. in consultation with the Māori community, develop and make known the school’s policies, plan and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students.
    [National Administration Guidelines 1(e)]

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • share with its community, the school’s procedures for managing complaints and student behaviour
  • ensure all policies and procedures are current and accessible.

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

13 June 2019

About the school

Location

Gisborne

Ministry of Education profile number

2544

School type

Contributing primary (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

236

Gender composition

Boys 52%, Girls 48%

Ethnic composition

Māori 70%
NZ European/Pākehā 26%
Other ethnic groups 4%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

April 2019

Date of this report

13 June 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review December 2014
Education Review October 2010