990 Kahutara Road , Featherston
View on mapTēnā 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.
Kahutara School, located rurally near Featherston, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school board appointed a new principal at the beginning of 2024.
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 following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.
| Outcomes for learners at Kahutara School are not yet known. |
| Leadership sets and pursues improvement-focused goals and targets, with a focus on quality teaching and equity and excellence in learner outcomes. |
| Teachers create collaborative learning environments that support students to be engaged. |
| Organisation conditions, policies, systems, processes, and practices are strengthening to drive strategic improvements. |
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
Within six months:
Every six months:
Annually:
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
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
29 July 2024
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of April 2024, the Kahutara School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
The board has not yet addressed the areas of non-compliance identified.
For further information please contact Kahutara 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
29 July 2024
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of September 2021, the Kahutara School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
For further information please contact Kahutara 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
24 February 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Kahutara School is a rural school located near Featherston that caters for students from Years 1 to 8. At the time of this ERO evaluation, the roll was 111 students, including 17 Māori. There is an annual turnover of some families as farm contracts are reviewed.
The school states that its vision for all children is: ‘Opening the gates to the future. High achievement for every child while maintaining the warm, friendly environment.’ Valued outcomes are, ‘respect, to do ones best, open mindedness, acceptance of others, involvement, honesty and taking responsibility.’ The school’s values are to be revised, in consultation with the community in 2018, as part of the strategic plan review. A curriculum review and the development of a Year 8 student leaver profile is also planned as part of this work.
Since the June 2014 ERO report, the school has had changes of leadership and teachers. Three new teachers were employed in 2017 and two in February 2018, just prior to this ERO review. A new principal and deputy principal have recently been appointed from existing staff.
The teaching team has been undertaking professional learning and development (PLD) in mathematics for the past two years. A hub has been created in the senior school allowing two teachers to work collaboratively.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
The school is part of the South Wairarapa Kāhui Ako.
Schoolwide achievement information, from the end of 2017, showed that almost all students were achieving at or above expectations in reading, with most achieving at or above expectations in writing and mathematics. High achievement levels have been sustained over time in reading and mathematics. However, some disparity between girls and boys, and Māori and non‑Māori in writing is evident.
Those students achieving below expectations are identified and specific teaching strategies and interventions implemented to progress their learning. Outcomes over time are regularly monitored and tracked.
Children with additional learning needs benefit from the highly inclusive school culture and practices. Appropriate interventions, including external agency support, promote their participation in school programmes and progress their learning. Regular and effective monitoring shows some progress well. Those requiring extended learning opportunities are identified to participate in external community-based activities.
The school’s end-of-year data for 2017 showed that all Māori students who achieved below school expectations in reading, writing and mathematics at the beginning of the year, had made accelerated progress. For all students, more than half of those who were below expectations in reading, writing and mathematics at the beginning of the year made accelerated progress.
The school’s priority for 2018 is to strengthen the focus on students achieving below expectations, with an appropriate emphasis on the achievement of Māori, boys and in writing.
The board actively represents and serves the community in its stewardship role. Trustees work supportively with the principal and teachers. They are proactive in seeking ways to increase learning opportunities for children. Trustees receive regular updates on the progress of target students and fund initiatives to improve student achievement.
School leadership is strengthening systems to promote increased organisational coherence, with focus on building a collaborative and supportive culture in the new team. Work is progressing in aligning key planning documents. Achievement priorities, teacher development and inquiry are clearly linked.
Student wellbeing is a high priority. Children benefit from being part of a close-knit, friendly and inclusive learning community. Supporting students’ self-management, and understanding of their achievement, has led to improved learner engagement and agency.
Collaboration between families and the school enriches opportunities for learning. Families are well informed about their children’s progress in relation to the national priorities of reading, writing and mathematics, and key learning competencies. Student/teacher/parent conferences and use of
on-line platforms provide opportunities for sharing home and school information.
Purposeful links with early learning services and schools in the region are established. Students’ transitions in, through and on to secondary school are supported. A range of information is sought to support older children as they move schools, to improve transitions and promote continuity of their learning. The school is an active member of the Kāhui Ako and through this collaboration such initiatives are likely to be strengthened.
The school, at all levels, has undertaken work to support understanding of bicultural partnership. This has promoted better understanding of ways of working, for trustees and staff that acknowledge the principles and intent of the Treaty of Waitangi. The curriculum includes both local and Māori perspectives.
The previous ERO report found that the school had a well-considered local curriculum, clearly aligned to The New Zealand Curriculum. The local curriculum, and breadth of learning opportunities provided for children continue to be a strength. An appropriate range of assessment tools is used to make judgements about student achievement and progress. The assessment schedule has been revised for 2018. Moderation is an important and regular part of the school’s assessment process.
The principal and board are positive about ongoing development and have identified key steps that include reducing disparity and sustaining equitable outcomes in achievement between groups of learners. This development includes: reviewing the curriculum and guiding documents; improving written reports to parents by including achievement information in relation to all learning areas; and strengthening the teacher-inquiry process to support better student outcomes. Reviewing the charter and developing long-term plans to better reflect the needs of students and the values of the community is also a self-identified next step. ERO’s evaluation confirms these priorities.
As part of curriculum review, the school should consider including clear articulation of the thinking that sits behind inquiry learning, discovery time and collaborative teaching to support shared understanding and consistency of practice across the school.
Trustees and leaders should continue to strengthen the coherence of planning systems and processes. The alignment of long-term planning and targets, with staff development, internal evaluation and reporting to the board should support sustained good practice and promote ongoing improvement.
As part of this coherency, and for sustainability of practice:
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
ERO identified non-compliance in relation to health and safety and the curriculum.
In order to address this, the board of trustees must:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Patricia Davey
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
2 May 2018
| Location | Featherston |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 2868 |
| School type | Full primary |
| School roll | 111 |
| Gender composition | Boys 56%, Girls 44% |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 15% Pākehā 83% Other ethnic groups 2% |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | February 2018 |
| Date of this report | 2 May 2018 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review June 2014 Education Review July 2011 Education Review June 2008 |