Greytown School

Greytown School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Greytown 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 

Greytown School, Southern Wairarapa, provides education for learners from Years 1 to 8. A new principal was appointed at the start of 2022.

Greytown School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • harness the strengths of each other to succeed as a community, and enable individuals to reach their own potential

  • equip children with the skills, values, and knowledge that they can challenge themselves physically, emotionally, artistically and academically in a supportive environment

  • children and staff will be purposeful in their learning with the goal of becoming life-long learners who achieve personal excellence and success. Together they will strive to make a positive impact on their own and others’ lives, the wider world and on the environment.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the mathematics programme meets the needs of all learners and accelerates their progress in mathematics.  

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • that leaders and teachers have identified through schoolwide data the need to comprehensively review the effectiveness of mathematics programmes at all levels of the school

  • that it will support the alignment of systems and processes, the development of consistent classroom expectations, strengthen cultural responsive practices and lift the achievement of all learners.

The school expects to see the achievement of all learners accelerated in mathematics through the alignment and cohesion of systems and processes, the building of culturally responsive practices, the development of consistent classroom practice and strengthened learning partnerships with whānau.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve learner achievement in mathematics:

  • strong mathematics leaders who collaboratively share their knowledge with their colleagues to support improvement of outcomes for students

  • a committed board, focused on student achievement, that prioritises the resourcing of teachers’ professional learning in mathematics.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • the development of a strategic framework to review and evaluate mathematics programmes schoolwide with a focus on learner’s continuous improvement

  • the development of clearly aligned and well understood ‘Greytown School Expectations’ for the teaching of mathematics across the school

  • using the evaluation findings to guide the board, leaders and staff in decision-making, build collective capability and culturally responsive practice, align systems and processes for sustained improvement in literacy.

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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

10 May 2023 

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

Greytown School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of November 2021, the Greytown School Board of Trustees 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 Greytown School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements is due in December 2024

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

10 May 2023 

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

Greytown School 2021

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2021

As of September 2021, the Greytown School Board of Trustees 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 Greytown School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements is due in December 2024

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

21 December 2021 

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

Greytown School - 26/10/2017

Summary

Greytown School is located in southern Wairarapa. It caters for children in Years 1 to 8. At the time of this ERO review there are 366 students enrolled, including 16% who identify as Māori. Greytown has seen increased growth and diversity of its population in recent years, with a significant number of families living in the town and surrounds but working in Wellington.

Since the August 2014 ERO report, a new principal and assistant principal have been appointed. Most trustees are new to the board. The school has an enrolment zone in place. There is strong support for children’s learning and the school from the community. The school is an Enviro School. Students work alongside external organisations to promote sustainable practices and clean environments.

Greytown School is a member of the South Wairarapa Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

How well is the school achieving equitable outcomes for all children?

The school is strengthening systems and working positively to respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The board of trustees and school leaders have identified the need to:

  • revise the vision, direction and strategic plan in consultation with the school community

  • review the school curriculum, including assessment practices and the voice of the learner.

The school should continue to strengthen appraisal, inquiry and internal evaluation for ongoing improvement and sustainability of practice.

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all learners. However, disparity in achievement for Māori and other learners remains.

The school agrees to:

  • continue to develop more targeted planning to accelerate progress for learners

  • monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and learners’ progress

  • discuss the school’s progress with ERO.

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

Equity and excellence

How effectively does this school respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school is working positively to respond to Māori and other children whose learning and achievement need acceleration.

The school reports that most children achieve at and above National Standards expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. There is disparity of achievement for Māori children in reading, writing and mathematics and for boys in reading and writing. The school is beginning to use longitudinal data to track achievement trends across year groups.

Through the school’s participation in Accelerating Learning in Mathematics (ALiM) and Accelerating Learning in Literacy (ALL) there has been a clear focus at class and syndicate level, to lift student achievement. Teachers have strengthened systems to identify, track and monitor children’s progress and achievement.

Moderation in writing occurs at syndicate and schoolwide level. The school has identified a need to strengthen processes to support schoolwide consistency in making judgements about children’s learning. Leaders and teachers identify that moderation in reading and mathematics is a next step.

Sound systems are in place to identify and allocate resources to students requiring additional learning support. A good range of programmes and initiatives meet their identified needs. The school works positively with families and whānau and external agencies to enable children to engage in learning where they experience success.

School conditions supporting equity and excellence

What school processes are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?

The school is strengthening systems and processes to support the achievement of equity and excellence.

There is a strong focus by the board, leaders and staff to be responsive to all children. This is supported by a number of initiatives within the school including Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L), restorative practice and the SHARP (safe, honest, achieve, respect, pride) school values. The values are deliberately promoted and modelled and underpin expectations for teaching and learning across the school.

The school plans to review the curriculum to incorporate what the school community values for children, and current best practice.

Trustees have good processes and systems to undertake their responsibilities. There is a focus on developing and maintaining positive relationships across the school community. New trustees are building a shared understanding of promoting equity and excellence through stewardship.

School leaders work collaboratively to promote ongoing improvement to school conditions to support equity and excellence. The value of self review and evaluation to inform improvement is recognised.

The school continues to strengthen relationships with early learning services and secondary schools to support children’s transitions and pathways through education.

The newly implemented appraisal process guides ongoing teacher improvement through professional learning and inquiry into practice.

There is a deliberate focus on establishing a shared understanding and commitment to ensuring that the school is culturally responsive and that Māori students experience success. Teachers are building their capability and confidence in te ao Māori to embed this across the school.

Sustainable development for equity and excellence

What further developments are needed in school processes to achieve equity and excellence?

Progress has been made in developing processes and practices for achieving equity and excellence.

The board of trustees and school leaders have identified the need to:

  • revise the vision, direction and strategic plan in consultation with the school community

  • review the school curriculum, assessment practices and using the voice of the learner.

The school should continue to strengthen appraisal, inquiry and internal evaluation for ongoing improvement and sustainability of practice.More effective use of achievement and other data would enable trustees, leaders and teachers to evaluate the impact of programmes and interventions on student progress and achievement.

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.

Appraisal audit

The school appraisal process meets the requirements for issuing and renewing teacher practising certificates. The process is improvement-focused and provides opportunities for teacher goal setting and reflection.

Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

The school has capacity and capability to accelerate learning for all learners. However, disparity in achievement for Māori and other learners remains.

Leaders and teachers:

  • know the learners whose progress and achievement need to be accelerated

  • need to continue to develop and implement approaches that effectively meet the needs of each learner

  • need to further build teacher capability to accelerate learners’ progress and achievement.

The school agrees to:

  • continue to develop more targeted planning to accelerate progress for learners

  • monitor targeted planning, improved teaching, and learners’ progress

  • discuss the school’s progress with ERO.

ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop to support the school to continue to develop effective planning and monitoring processes to support equity and excellence for all children.

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

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

26 October 2017

About the school

Location

Greytown

Ministry of Education profile number

2850

School type

Full Primary (Year 1 - 8)

School roll

366

Gender composition

Male 60%, Female 40%

Ethnic composition

Māori 16%

Pākehā 79%

Other ethnic groups 5%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

August 2017

Date of this report

26 October 2017

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review August 2014

Education Review August 2011

Education Review October 2008