Campbells Road , Blenheim
View on mapTua Marina School
Tua Marina 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
Tua Marina School is located is in Tuamarina township, close to Blenheim. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. A newly appointed principal is guiding the school towards its vision of working together to grow a healthy and happy community where every learner succeeds.
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
Outcomes for learners are increasingly equitable and excellent. |
- Most students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading and mathematics, and less than half achieve in writing.
- Māori student achievement is higher than their school peers in reading and mathematics.
- Disparity for boy’s progress and achievement remains in reading and writing.
- Less than half of all students attend school regularly; the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education attendance target.
Conditions to support learner success
Leadership increasingly identifies and implements plans for improvement, aligned to current school priorities. |
- Leaders gather and analyse a wide range of student achievement and wellbeing information; informative reports to the board strengthens goal setting and plans for ongoing improvement.
- Leaders have strengthened guidelines and expectations for consistent assessment practices; achievement information is now reliable and sufficient to identify areas for improvement.
- Leaders increasingly use achievement information to select appropriate professional development; improvements in teaching practice are targeted to students learning needs.
Teaching is increasingly intentional and responsive to the different needs of learners. |
- Learners benefit from orderly learning environments; teachers actively support them to engage and apply new learning.
- Teachers and leaders have established useful plans to meet individual learners needs and progress and achievement is tracked and monitored well; continuing to build knowledge and understanding of effective literacy strategies is a priority.
- Teachers and leaders proactively identify and draw on community resources to enhance student learning opportunities, engagement and wellbeing.
Key organisational conditions that support student learning and wellbeing need further development. |
- The board and leaders effectively consult with the community and gather their aspirations for improvement; this informs strategic priorities.
- Parents and whānau value the wide range of opportunities that enable them to be actively involved in their children’s learning.
- Staff know learners well and work together to provide purposeful, well-paced learning opportunities for all learners.
Part B: Where to next?
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- strengthen leaders’ and teachers’ knowledge and use of effective literacy strategies to raise student achievement in writing
- engage with students, parents and whānau to identify strategies to improve regular attendance at school
- develop a more targeted and strategic approach to evaluating school priorities for ongoing improvement.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
- teachers undertake professional development in literacy
- consult with students and parents to understand attendance issues and develop an improvement plan
- research what effective internal evaluation looks like and develop a shared approach for leaders and teachers to review what is working to improve outcomes and who for.
Every six months:
- review the impact of targeted approaches to further improve rates of regular attendance and report this to the school board
- staff take deliberate action in response to emerging trends, with particular attention to those learners at risk of not achieving in literacy and those with lower rates of regular attendance.
Annually:
- leaders, with staff, analyse and report to the board on attendance and student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics and used to inform ongoing improvements
- review longitudinal data to understand shifts in trends and patterns of student attendance, progress, achievement and wellbeing to monitor the sustainability of improvements
- evaluate the impact of the agreed teaching and learning practices and professional development.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- improved achievement outcomes for students in writing
- improved equity between groups of students, particularly boys in reading and writing
- more students engaging in learning and attending regularly
- a fully embedded evaluation process to inform strategic direction.
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
30 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
Tua Marina School
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027
As of May 2024, the Tua Marina 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 Tua Marina 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
30 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
Tua Marina School - 25/10/2019
School Context
Tua Marina, a rural school located near Blenheim, caters for students from Years 1 to 8. At the time of this review the roll was 131 students, with 18% identifying as Māori.
The school aims to develop resilient, lifelong learners who strive for peak performance in their community and beyond, ‘me whakapau kaha’. The charter outlines the schools’ valued outcomes and expects the best for and from every child. It recognises that whānau are important contributors to each child’s success and wellbeing.
Culturally responsive practice is a key within the school, and is an ongoing focus for teachers’ professional learning and development. It is a strategic priority along with wellbeing, leadership, a responsive curriculum, internal evaluation, and professional and collective capability.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
- targets for improvement
- wellbeing
- attendance.
The school is a member of the Piritahi 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?
School reported data for 2018 shows that almost all students, including Māori, achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. The overall picture in literacy and mathematics shows improvement over time. While there is an achievement gap for boys this fluctuates and reduces as students move through the school.
In 2018, there was highly significant improvement for Māori students in writing, as well as improvement in reading and mathematics.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those students who need this?
There is evidence of acceleration for students who need it. Those who require additional support are well identified, tracked and monitored. Regular professional conversations and collaborative teaching practices enable teachers to adapt their teaching and personalise instruction to actively support children’s progress.
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?
Strong leadership provides positive guidance and promotes innovation and development across the school. There is a well-considered approach to change, with time taken to develop, implement and embed new initiatives.
Bicultural practices are highly evident. The 2019 Culturally Responsive Practices Action Plan aims to ensure that every student and their whānau feels included and supported to enable every student to make optimal progress. Staff work collaboratively to make this happen.
Māori success is effectively promoted. Teachers have developed cultural competence and expertise to provide inclusive and productive learning environments. Māori language, culture and identity is enhanced with the outcome that these students experience high levels of achievement and success.
Parents, whānau and the community are welcomed and involved in school activities as respected and valued partners in learning. They work together with teachers to identify strengths, learning needs, set goals, and plan responsive learning strategies, joint activities and interventions to improve learning.
Evaluation and inquiry are well embedded in systems, processes and practices that inform school plans and actions to realise the school’s vision, values, goals and targets. Relational trust supports collaboration, risk taking and openness to change. Leaders and teachers engage with evaluation for improvement and innovation.
A comprehensive appraisal and performance management system is in place. It involves all staff and is designed to support and develop teacher practice. It uses a strong inquiry framework where teachers share and inquire into their practice to determine the impact for selected learners.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
The school, through its strong internal evaluation, has identified its priorities for ongoing development. These include:
- enhancing culturally responsive learning through bicultural practices
- redeveloping documentation of their localised curriculum
- further supporting wellbeing at all levels.
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 Tua Marina School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Strong.
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:
- internal evaluation processes that inform decision making and future actions for student success
- leadership that supports innovation and change
- cultural responsiveness that includes high levels of partnership with whānau and parents.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
- documenting the localised curriculum to better reflect the high quality practice already demonstrated in the school
- continuing professional development in culturally responsive practice to sustain the gains made
- an ongoing focus on the wellbeing of all to promote continued success.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini
Southern Region
25 October 2019
About the school
Location |
Blenheim |
Ministry of Education profile number |
3050 |
School type |
Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) |
School roll |
131 |
Gender composition |
Female 54%, Male 46% |
Ethnic composition |
Māori 18% |
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
Review team on site |
September 2019 |
Date of this report |
25 October 2019 |
Most recent ERO report(s) |
Education Review May 2015 |