Motueka South School

School Context

Motueka South School caters for students in Years 1 to 8. At the time of this ERO review there are 264 students on the roll.

The school’s vision is ‘A School for Everyone – He Kura ma tatou’. Its mission is’ A respectful community striving for and celebrating success’. The Motueka South School learner tries their best to: ‘manage myself, show respect, strive to learn’.

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

• achievement, including information for groups of students, in reading, writing and mathematics
• attendance
• positive behaviour for learning.

Professional learning and development (PLD) in 2019 has focused on science. Staff have also been participating in PLD about relationship-based learning, a focus for schools belonging to the Motueka Kāhui Ako.

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?

The school is achieving equitable outcomes for most of its students.

Most students are achieving at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Achievement information from the end of 2019 shows that slightly more girls then boys achieve well in reading and writing, and slightly more boys than girls achieve well in mathematics.

Māori students are achieving at similar levels to Pākehā in reading and writing. Māori achievement in mathematics has increased over time.

Pacific students, as a group, are achieving at lower levels than their peers.

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

The school has accelerated learning for some of the students who need this.

In 2018, approximately one third of focus students involved in a writing initiative across two terms, made accelerated progress.

During 2019, one quarter of the children not achieving at their expected curriculum level in reading, made accelerated progress. Approximately one third of those not achieving expected levels in writing and around one fifth of those underachieving in mathematics, made accelerated 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?

Students are fully engaged in purposeful learning. Positive interactions are clearly evident across the school. Classrooms are calm, settled and well organised. Children are encouraged to support each other’s learning.

Many students can talk confidently about their learning and demonstrate knowledge of what is required to be successful at this school. Classroom displays provide well-presented prompts for learning and celebrate children’s success.

Leaders and teachers use clear, well-established processes to identify schoolwide achievement and for individual students who require additional support or extension. Teachers use a range of deliberate strategies to support students to make progress.

A recently introduced digital management system assists with the tracking of each student’s progress and achievement.

Students with additional needs, including English language learners, are well supported through appropriate interventions and learning programmes. External expertise also assists with this provision.

The vision and values are clearly enacted in the daily life of the school. Clear guidelines for teacher practice lead to consistent expectations of teaching, learning and behaviour across the school. Positive behaviour for learning strategies are having an impact on promoting successful conditions for learning.

The appraisal process is a useful system for supporting teachers to develop their practice. It includes a strong focus on improving learning and provides opportunities for teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching.

A deliberate, well-considered approach supports students effective transition in, through and out of school. Teachers are collaborating with local early learning services and secondary schools through the Kahui Ako.

Leaders and teachers use a range of strategies to communicate with families. Parents are well informed about their children’s learning and school events.

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

Leaders and teachers are currently reviewing and revising the curriculum. They have identified the need to:

• know about and be more responsive to the diverse needs of students’ wellbeing, culture, language and identity

• develop expectations for effective culturally responsive practice across all learning areas

• more clearly articulate the localised curriculum

• increase the effectiveness of accelerating learning for focus learners, especially Pacific focus learners.

Along with leaders and teachers building their cultural competencies, the school needs to more effectively gather Māori whanau and Pacific families voices to determine valued outcomes for their children. Analysis of this information is required to inform decision making to better meet the needs of students and their families and develop a shared vision of success for Māori learners and Pacific learners.

While leaders and teachers reflect on practice, further development of a shared understanding of effective, evidence-based evaluation is important to determine the quality and impact of initiatives and practices on outcomes for students. This should better inform planning for the future, including the development of strategic goals and targets.

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 Motueka South School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success 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:

• processes for identifying and tracking students’ achievement
• clearly enacted school vision and values that lead to consistent expectations across the school
• settled, purposeful classrooms that effectively support students’ learning.

Next steps

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

• the continued review of the curriculum with emphasis on students’ wellbeing, culture, language and identity
• internal evaluation to better inform decision making and strategic planning.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

9 March 2020

About the school