27 Waikare Road , Putorino
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Putorino 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
Putorino School is a Years 0 to 8 country school north of Napier. The school’s vision is to develop ākonga to show respect, act with integrity, and achieve excellence in all they do.
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
Learners’ achievement levels are below curriculum expectations. |
- In 2023, achievement information shows less than half of students achieve at or above curriculum expectations for reading and writing and half in mathematics.
- School collected data shows learners clearly progress; moderation of students’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics is a priority, to ensure levels of achievement are more accurately gauged.
- Learners have a strong sense of belonging, promoted by positive teaching and learning relationships.
- The school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education target for regular student attendance; absence is closely monitored, areas of concern identified and students and their whānau are supported by to engage.
Conditions to support learner success
Leadership works collaboratively within the school and wider community, to set and pursue improvement goals focused on learner outcomes. |
- Strategic planning and improvement goals, developed in collaboration with the community, board and staff are focused on equitable and excellent outcomes.
- Professional learning and development for the principal and staff aligns well with the school’s improvement focus and makes a positive difference to practice; the impact on learning is adequately reported to the board.
- Students at risk of not achieving are clearly identified, have targets set, well monitored and their progress is regularly checked.
Teaching practices are increasingly responsive to students’ learning needs, interests and cultural identities. |
- Students have a curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts and provides a range of activities, so they see themselves in their learning; reviewing the local curriculum to include more local knowledge is a planned next step, affirmed by ERO’s evaluation.
- Teachers’ capacity in using structured literacy and mathematics approaches is growing and supporting learners’ academic achievement.
- Assessment information is used to plan for, adapt teaching practice and report the progress and achievement of each learner; moderating with colleagues in other schools for the accuracy of data about learner achievement is a next step.
School conditions continue to be refined with focus on learner outcomes. |
- The principal, teachers and board seek and use input from the school community in setting future goals and priorities that clearly guide ongoing school improvement and learner success.
- Strategic planning sets appropriate goals to guide ongoing development aligned to strengthening curriculum delivery and continuing to foster successful outcomes for learners.
- Sufficient information is provided by the principal to the board so that resourcing decisions are aligned to their well-established priorities for learner success.
Part B: Where to next?
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- monitor and analyse patterns of attendance and work with the community to understand the impact of absences on progress and achievement
- strengthen assessment practices, including moderation, and data analysis for more in-depth understanding of the progress and achievement of all students
- evaluate the impact of improvement strategies on learner progress and achievement outcomes and the ongoing effectiveness of professional develop programmes.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
- set and analyse achievement targets focused on improving regular attendance and accelerating the progress of students in reading, writing and mathematics
- implement schoolwide systems and processes to track and monitor accelerated progress and achievement of students
Every six months:
- use appropriate tools and assessment procedures, including moderation practices, and check data is accurate and valid; using this data ensure students at risk of not achieving are identified and plan specific responses to support their progress
- report to the board the progress and achievement of students in relation to accelerated progress and strategies that improve regular school attendance
- evaluate progress and achievement data with a particular focus on the ongoing impact to reading, writing and mathematics programmes
- continue to encourage the involvement of the community in the local curriculum review
Annually:
- evaluate and report attendance, progress and achievement to the board to inform future strategic improvement priorities
- evaluate and report to the community the effectiveness of strategies and approaches to improve high levels of attendance
- the principal and staff review and evaluate the impact of teaching programmes and assessment practices to ensure they are fit for purpose, effective and achieve ongoing learner success
- evaluate the progress in implementing its local curriculum and the extent to which the community have been involved.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- improved levels of learner achievement and attendance
- increased community input into the local curriculum
- effective evaluation, using evidence gathered from a range of sources and aligned to the school’s identified goals and targets to sustain and improve rates of learner progress and achievement.
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
11 December 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
Putorino School
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027
As of September 2024, the Putorino 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 Putorino School, 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
11 December 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
Putorino School - 03/05/2019
Findings
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO‘s overall evaluation judgement of Putorino School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.
1 Background and Context
What is the background and context for this school’s review?
Putorino School is a small rural primary school north of Napier. At the time of this external evaluation, there were 20 students enrolled, including 12 Māori students. This is a significant overall roll increase since 2017 and many are new to the school in 2019.
A first-time principal was appointed at the start of 2019. The previous principal had led the school in 2017 and 2018. The board is made up of local community and parent representatives. A small number of trustees provide stability and help with succession planning for the future.
The June 2017 ERO report identified a number of significant issues that needed to be addressed to ensure that suitable school systems were in place for teaching, learning and governance. In response, external expertise and support have been accessed to address these matters.
The school is developing conditions to promote positive learning for students. Good progress has been made in: establishing a foundation curriculum document; board understanding of governance and ongoing review of policy and procedure and practices. Teacher engagement in appraisal, professional learning and development and use of inquiry is underway.
2 Review and Development
How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?
Priorities identified for review and development
The June 2017 ERO report identified a number of areas for review and development, including the need to:
- improve the school curriculum, including assessment practices, monitoring and reporting, to increase student outcomes and success as learners
- strengthen stewardship and governance practices and the policy and procedure framework
- develop understandings of effective evaluation to guide schoolwide improvements for equity and excellence of all learners.
Progress
Good progress is evident in the development of a useful curriculum document to guide teaching and learning. This reflects the intentions of the New Zealand Curriculum and includes appropriate assessment expectations. The use of an online tool, to electronically share students’ learning, has been initiated. Termly parent meetings are developing to build learner-centred relationships between school and home.
The school continues to have a positive tone with respectful relationships between students and with staff. There is a focus on using contexts that celebrate the school’s rural setting.
For equity and excellence in Māori and all students’ progress, a central focus for 2019 is raising student achievement in literacy and mathematics. The board received dependable student achievement information from the principal that enabled annual target setting for 2019.
Trustees have promptly responded to the changing needs of learners by allocating extra teacher aide resource. More external agency expertise is being accessed to help individual students with specific learning requirements. Individual education plans are beginning to be evaluated for the impact of strategies on students’ learning outcomes.
Professional learning and development provision, for new leaders and from the literacy advisor, have made a positive difference to staff capability and student achievement. Their expertise is responsive and central to the sustainability of ongoing school developments for students. The new principal has begun to join other local professional networks, including working with local Ministry of Education advisors.
The teacher and principal appraisal system in place meets requirements and is beginning to encourage growth in professional practice. The use of external appraisers enriches the process. Teachers are beginning to meaningfully inquire into how their practice contributes to the acceleration of progress for those students that need this. There is a clear focus on all students, including Māori learners.
Key next steps
The board, principal and staff should continue to:
- further develop the school curriculum to include:
- assessment strategies that encourage students to lead and understand their learning
- increased culturally responsive opportunities that celebrate the uniqueness of Putorino and local Māori history, including building relationships with whānau Māori and local hapū and iwi
- build learning-based partnerships with parents, whānau and families to encourage positive conditions and experiences for students.
3 Sustainable performance and self review
How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?
The board, principal and staff are developing improved, more coherent conditions to promote positive learning opportunities for students and continuity in school systems and practices.
The board has improved its governance practices and regularly reviews policies and procedures. Annual planning improvement targets respond to students’ learning needs. Trustees are proactive in seeking external advice and guidance to better undertake their roles and responsibilities. Succession planning for mid-2019 board elections is well in hand.
Trustees, the principal and staff are beginning to use aspects of internal evaluation to consider school development. This includes reflection, review, appraisal, inquiry and monitoring of students’ progress and achievement. Continuing to develop these evidence-based practices should help sustain ongoing developments for students.
The compliance issues identified by ERO in 2017 have been addressed.
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:
- board administration
- curriculum
- management of health, safety and welfare
- personnel management
- financial management
- asset management.
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:
- emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
- physical safety of students
- teacher registration
- processes for appointing staff
- stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
- attendance.
Conclusion
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO‘s overall evaluation judgement of Putorino School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.
ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services
Central Region
3 May 2019
About the School
Location | Putorino | |
Ministry of Education profile number | 2658 | |
School type | Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) | |
School roll | 20 | |
Gender composition | Female 10, Male 10 | |
Ethnic composition | Māori Pākehā | 12 8 |
Review team on site | March 2019 | |
Date of this report | 3 May 2019 | |
Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review Education Review Education Review | June 2017 March 2014 October 2011 |