Kaiapoi Borough School

Kaiapoi Borough 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

Kaiapoi Borough School is located in Kaiapoi and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s technology centre provides specialist education for local schools. Several changes in the leadership team have occurred over recent years. Kaiapoi Borough School’s vision is to partner with whānau to develop lifelong learners in a safe and inclusive learning environment, through the three focus areas of teaching and learning, relationships and community. 

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

The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for students.
  • Most students are achieving at or above curriculum expectations in literacy and mathematics.
  • Māori students are achieving at similar levels to all students in literacy.
  • Boys are achieving significantly lower than girls in writing.
  • The majority of students attend school regularly; the school has strategies in place to support students and is yet to meet the national attendance target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders increasingly foster a culture committed to quality teaching and learning.
  • Leadership across the school is being developed; new and middle leaders are well-supported to grow their skills and capacity through coaching and professional learning.
  • Leaders increasingly use multiple sources of feedback and processes that are linked with the school’s strategic planning to identify teachers professional learning development needs.
  • Leaders use evidence to plan and monitor the school’s strategic goals; focusing on improving outcomes for students will further strengthen this.
Teachers provide a curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts and build on learners’ experiences, knowledge and understanding.
  • Teachers and leaders are strengthening positive learning-focused relationships with students to enhance learning engagement and achievement.
  • Teachers use a range of teaching practices to meet students’ needs and encourage questioning and problem solving to increasingly support student progress and achievement.
  • Teachers increasingly provide students with a range of meaningful learning opportunities and experiences across the curriculum that reflect local contexts and respond to student learning needs.
Well aligned systems and practices are in place to support ongoing improvement.
  • Student wellbeing, engagement and achievement are well-supported through trusting relationships between the board, teachers, students and whānau.
  • The board and leaders work together to develop and implement the school’s strategic direction to improve outcomes for students.
  • Leaders’ and teachers’ understanding of restorative and trauma informed practice is the foundation for relationships and teaching practice which meets students’ needs.
  • Leaders and teachers partner with a range of external agencies to effectively support students’ wellbeing and their whānau.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

  • embed and monitor consistent implementation of literacy and mathematics curriculum and effective teaching practices in literacy and mathematics across the school to improve student progress and achievement
  • evaluate the impact of professional learning on teaching and leadership practices and improving student outcomes
  • strengthen internal evaluation processes to know what is working well and what is not and further support consistency and improved student outcomes
  • continue to increase whānau engagement in learning and improve regular student attendance.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

  • review the mathematics and literacy curriculum programmes and teaching expectations to link with changes to the New Zealand Curriculum
  • gather student feedback about wellbeing and respond to any emerging findings to further enhance student wellbeing, engagement and attendance
  • review the effectiveness of middle and senior leader professional learning and its impact on improving their leadership practice

Every six months:

  • review and report to the board on progress and achievement for target students to identify how well progress is being accelerated and respond to the review findings
  • continue to evaluate and report to the board on student progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics of all students
  • review the impact of strategies to improve attendance

Annually:

  • review professional learning undertaken and its impact on teaching practices to improve outcomes for students
  • evaluate the effectiveness of target student interventions and identify students who need further acceleration in their learning
  • strengthen monitoring and review of initiatives in the annual plan to include evaluating the impact on learner outcomes, including attendance.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

  • improved student progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics
  • increased consistency of effective teaching practice in literacy and mathematics to further improve outcomes for students
  • more students attending regularly and greater whānau engagement in learning
  • strengthened leadership practices.

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

17 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

Kaiapoi Borough School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027

As of March 2024, the Kaiapoi Borough 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

Actions for Compliance

ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • One teacher had not completed restraint training and the board had not authorised in writing teacher aides who had completed training to use restraint
    [Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2023]

The board has since addressed the areas of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact Kaiapoi Borough 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

17 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

Kaiapoi Borough School

Findings

Kaiapoi Borough School is moving ahead positively. Significant progress and improvements have been made since the March 2017 ERO report. Effective and capable school leadership is strategically focused on embedding and sustaining new initiatives that are strongly focused on high quality teaching, learning, achievement and wellbeing outcomes for all children. 

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

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

The March 2017 ERO report for Kaiapoi Borough School identified that the school needed to raise student achievement and engagement, improve the quality of teaching and learning, develop a school wide curriculum, and increase evaluation capability. The board, principal and teachers have made significant progress in addressing all areas for review and development in that report.

The board has a range of new and experienced trustees. There have been major improvements to the school environment and learning spaces. This includes a new school hall and classroom block, and the refurbishment of other classrooms. Ongoing property development that recognises the cultural narrative of the local area has been a strong focus of the board. Since 2017 there have been a number of staff changes. Leaders and teachers have received regular, targeted, internal and external professional development.

Effective leadership of the school ensures a strong and sustained focus on continuous improvement, the successful operation of the school, and the ongoing promotion and support for positive learning and wellbeing outcomes for all students.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

The 2017 ERO report identified priority areas for review and development. They were:

  • raising student achievement and engagement
  • school curriculum development
  • improving the quality of teaching and learning
  • building internal evaluation capability.

The findings of this review are outlined below.

Raising Student Achievement
Progress

The principal and senior leaders have developed robust systems and processes for identifying, addressing and monitoring the learning and wellbeing of all students. Teachers have actively participated in targeted professional development to continue to improve their understanding of effective teaching practices, curriculum delivery and clearer learning pathways for students.

A range of valid achievement data informs leaders’ and the board’s decision making. It also contributes to identifying and prioritising support to raise the engagement, and accelerate the achievement, of individual and groups of students who are performing below the school’s expectations.

Strong pastoral care processes have been developed within the school for all students. Leaders and teachers proactively identify and draw on community resources to enhance student learning, achievement and wellbeing.

Key next step

School leaders and ERO agree that the key next step is to continue to focus on progressively raising student achievement over time.

Quality of teaching and learning
Progress

Leaders ensure effective planning, coordination and evaluation of the school’s curriculum and teaching through transformational leadership approaches. This helps to ensure continuity and coherence across learning programmes. They have high expectations for teaching and learning practices. Regular coaching and modelling of effective practice within classrooms helps build teacher capability. Leaders actively promote collaboration, inquiry practices and collective responsibility for all students.

Key next step

School leaders and ERO agree that the key next step is to sustain and continue to build on recent initiatives and practices that promote high quality teaching and learning across the school.

School Curriculum Development
Progress

Leaders have developed clear guidelines and expectations for the delivery of the school’s integrated curriculum. Learning and teaching strategies such as goal setting, student agency and deliberate teaching practices enable students to take increasing control of their learning within a responsive curriculum. Students participate and learn in caring, collaborative, inclusive learning environments. Students with additional needs or abilities participate in learning programmes that provide appropriate support and challenge.

Students have many leadership opportunities. Tuakana teina learning relationships are actively promoted across the school. Transitions into, within, and onto secondary school are well managed.

Leaders have implemented a number of initiatives to build bicultural understandings. They provide opportunities for students to learn te reo Māori progressively as they move through the school.

Key next steps

School leaders and ERO agree that the key next step is to strengthen and give more prominence to te ao Māori in key curriculum documentation.

Internal Evaluation
Progress

Leaders have developed effective systems to increase the collective capacity of staff to use evaluation, inquiry and knowledge building to promote improvement. Regular surveys and consultation with parents, children and staff help inform school priorities and decision making. The strategic plan clearly defines the school’s vision and values. There is strong alignment between the vision, values, goals, targets, professional development and the appraisal process. Reflective and adaptive practices are focused on strengthening the quality of teaching and positive learning outcomes for students.

Key next steps

School leaders and ERO agree that the key next steps are to:

  • develop a formalised process for more in-depth internal evaluation
  • continue to strengthen appraisal processes
  • include a specific achievement target for Māori students in strategic planning.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?

The school is well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.

ERO recognises that the principal and senior leaders are very effectively building leadership capacity and teacher capability. They promote and maintain high expectations and a supportive environment that is conducive to student learning and wellbeing.

Leaders regularly consult and collaborate with the school community to inform decision making about school priorities and strategic planning for improvement. This is ensuring better sustainability of new systems, processes and initiatives that have a greater focus on enabling positive learning conditions and operations across the school.

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

Kaiapoi Borough School is moving ahead positively. Significant progress and improvements have been made since the March 2017 ERO report. Effective and capable school leadership is strategically focused on embedding and sustaining new initiatives that are strongly focused on high quality teaching, learning, achievement and wellbeing outcomes for all children.

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

Alan Wynyard

Director Review & Improvement Services

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

18 January 2019

About the School

LocationKaiapoi
Ministry of Education profile number3388
School typeFull Primary (Years 1 to 8)
School roll359
Gender compositionBoys 49 % ; Girls 51%
Ethnic compositionMāori
Pākehā 
Other ethnicities
24%
61%
15%
Review team on siteNovember 2018
Date of this report18 January 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)Education Review 
Supplementary Review 
Education Review
April 2017 
2016 
May 2015