2 Ventry Street , Alexandra
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.
Alexandra Primary School is a state school for learners from Years 1 to 8 in Alexandra. It places an emphasis on all learners, whānau, community and staff feeling that they belong, which is reinforced by its vision, “deep learning in a safe and diverse environment where everyone belongs”.
There are three parts to this report.
Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) published report and subsequent evaluation.
Part B: An evaluative summary of learner outcomes and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including education in Rumaki/bilingual settings.
Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.
Since the previous report in October 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the impact of the development of a responsive and inclusive local curriculum, designed to ensure all learners’ achievement and progress is reflective of their individual needs, strengths and interests.
The school expected to see:
That teachers know their learners well and hold high expectations about their achievement.
Effective assessment for learning is embedded so that teachers notice, recognise and respond to learning needs and aspirations.
Ākonga who know themselves as learners and are excited about their learning.
The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is teachers’ increased capacity to build strong learner focused relationships is leading to better understanding for planning each learner’s next steps in learning.
The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.
| Outcomes for learners are increasingly equitable. |
| School leadership increasingly strengthens relational trust and collaboration to deliver improvements in learning. |
| Team based approaches to teaching positively impacts learners’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics. |
| The school is establishing effective conditions to support partnerships in learning. |
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows:
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.
Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools
27 February 2025
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of November 2024, the Alexandra Primary School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
For further information please contact Alexandra Primary 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.
Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools
27 February 2025
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Alexandra 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
Alexandra School is for learners from Years 1 to 8 and is linked to the first school established in Alexandra. It places an emphasis on all learners, whānau and staff feeling that they belong, which is reinforced in its vision, “deep learning in a safe and diverse environment where everyone belongs.” As part of the Dunstan Kāhui Ako, Alexandra School has a shared cultural narrative learning and valuing the mana whenua history of the area.
Alexandra School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
effective teaching and learning partnered with high expectations, ensuring that all learners experience progress and achievement
a unique and rich local curriculum that is responsive to the needs, identities, languages, cultures, interests, strengths and aspirations of learners and their families
a vibrant and inclusive school culture supporting learners to thrive in an environment which is stimulating, safe, diverse, inclusive and well-known in the community.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Alexandra School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of the development of a responsive and inclusive local curriculum designed to ensure all learners’ achievement and progress is reflective of their individual needs, strengths and interests.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
achievement information and analysis over time have identified a need to develop an inclusive and responsive curriculum that will improve outcomes for all learners
a wish to strengthen the role of learners’ whānau and to actively involve ākonga in their learning.
The school expects to see:
that teachers know their learners well and hold high expectations about their achievement
effective assessment for learning is embedded so that teachers notice, recognise and respond to learning needs and aspirations
ākonga who know themselves as learners and are excited about their learning.
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the impact of the development of a responsive and inclusive local curriculum:
designing and delivering quality teacher professional development that focuses on building a comprehensive understanding and use of effective assessment for learning practices
positive inclusive practices focused on the needs, strengths, interests and cultures of every learner
recognising, validating and celebrating the uniqueness of every learner and sharing this with the school community and whānau.
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
to continue to analyse and respond to achievement information to develop clear, attainable goals for all learners so they can achieve sound foundation skills in language, literacy and numeracy
to develop assessment for learning practices that focus on knowing learners’ strengths, interests and cultures, how they are progressing and what new learning opportunities can be designed to accelerate achievement
to continue to develop learners’ self-awareness of their next steps, supported by strong learning-focused relationships with the wider school community.
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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
11 October 2022
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 2022, the Alexandra School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
For further information please contact Alexandra School Board of Trustees.
The next Board of Trustees 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
11 October 2022
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Alexandra School is located in Central Otago. It is a Years 1 to 8 primary school with a roll of 224 students. Of these students, 22% identify as Māori.
The school states that its vision is for students to learn to know, learn to do, learn to be, and learn to live together. Its values are: respect|te whakaute, responsibility|kawenga, and ready to learn|rite ki te ako.
Current strategic goals for improvement are in building student success, leading learning, and building cultural competency.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
Since the 2015 ERO review, a new approach to organising learning and a future-focused curriculum have been implemented.
The school is a member of the Dunstan Kāhui Ako| Community of Learning.
Alexandra Primary School is achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for many of its students. Overall achievement information provided by the school shows that from 2016 to 2018 the majority of students achieved at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
There was some disparity in outcomes for boys in reading and writing and an overall downward trend in achievement in reading and mathematics.
School information shows that it is effective in responding to those students whose learning and achievement need acceleration.
The majority of those students who received targeted interventions were able to accelerate their progress and sustain gains made in achievement for reading and mathematics.
The curriculum is responsive, future focused and learner centred. Teachers and students work collaboratively to design real-world learning contexts and tasks through an innovative curriculum. They make effective use of community resources and agencies to enhance opportunities for learning and achievement. The aspirations of parents and whānau are meaningfully included. This collaborative approach to curriculum enactment provides opportunities for all students to experience active engagement, individualised participation and agency in their learning.
The board and principal have established a collaborative culture, characterised by high relational trust and shared school values. These values are visible throughout the school’s planning. There is a clear focus on student wellbeing and whanaungatanga. Students participate and learn in a caring, inclusive environment. Teachers are supported to build their professional learning and efficacy. Resources are in place to support innovation and improvement. Students benefit from learning in an inclusive environment where their strengths, needs and passions are responded to.
School leaders and teachers have built effective relationships with whānau and the community to achieve valued outcomes for students. Parents, whānau and the community are welcomed, included and informed. Communication through new digital technologies supports and strengthens reciprocal, authentic sharing of learning between the home and school. Teachers, leaders and the board actively participate in the community of learning. Students learn within a connected, learning-focused community.
The school has identified, and ERO’s evaluation confirms, that some aspects of the school’s processes and practices are ready to be further strengthened and embedded in order to increase effectiveness in achieving equity and excellence for all students.
The school needs to establish explicit expectations for effective teaching in the essential learning areas, across Years 1 to 8, to ensure students’ learning pathways are consistent over time. This should include planned actions to scaffold the integration of te ao Māori across the curriculum.
The scope of internal evaluation should be widened by using a range of sources of evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of innovations and interventions, to know more about what is working best and for whom. Processes to measure, record and evaluate the sufficiency of students’ progress and acceleration should form part of this widened scope.
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:
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Alexandra School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.
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:
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
24 June 2019
|
Location |
Alexandra |
|
Ministry of Education profile number |
3701 |
|
School type |
Full primary (Years 1 to 8) |
|
School roll |
224 |
|
Gender composition |
Male 54%, Female 46% |
|
Ethnic composition |
Māori 22% |
|
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) |
Yes |
|
Provision of Māori medium education |
No |
|
Review team on site |
May 2019 |
|
Date of this report |
24 June 2019 |
|
Most recent ERO reports |
Education Review December 2015 |