488E Don Buck Road , Royal Heights, Auckland
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Westbridge Residential School
Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and Westbridge Residential 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
Context
Westbridge Residential School is in Massey, West Auckland. The school is a specialist residential school catering for students with high, complex and neurodiverse needs. The school caters for students between nine to fifteen years of age. Students usually stay at the school between twelve to eighteen months.
Students must have a Specialist Education Agreement (SEA) between the Ministry of Education, the school and their whānau.
The school employs youth workers in the hostel and teachers, teacher aides and support staff who support the learning and wellbeing of students in the school.
The school experienced significant roll growth in 2023, growing from two students at the start of Term 1, 2023 to 18 in Term 4, 2023. This impacted on school operations in the second half of the year. During this time, an acting principal was in place. The principal returned at the start of Term 1, 2024. A new deputy principal began in their role Term 2, 2024.
A Ministry of Education appointed school board was established in 2014. The board governs Westbridge Residential School in Auckland and Halswell Residential College in Christchurch.
In 2021, the school was directed by the Ministry of Education to produce a plan to eliminate physical restraint. This plan was in place at the time of the initial ERO visit in Term 1, 2023. Strengthening practices that support positive behaviours and learning continues to be a key focus for the school.
Westbridge Residential School’s strategic and annual goals for improving outcomes for learners are:
- student learning – fostering student achievement by providing teaching and learning programmes that incorporate the National Curriculum and are underpinned by the key competencies
- effective teaching – all staff are recognised as leaders in providing children and adolescents with complex needs and behavioural needs to maximise achieving individual student learning goals
- leading the school – the service is cost effective, caters for needs of all students, and represents best practice. The school’s goals include being inclusive, culturally responsive and safe physically and emotionally for students.
A copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan can be requested from Westbridge Residential School.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate improvements in the school and hostel operations in relation to health and safety, and wellbeing of students and staff.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:
- use and embed comprehensive health and safety systems, policies and practices to ensure that students and staff feel well supported in the school and hostel
- implement the school strategic and annual improvement plan to lift student outcomes through better targeted teaching and learning strategies
- ensure that the board, school and hostel staff work cohesively to improve positive behaviour and learning outcomes for students.
The school expects to see:
- robust staff guidelines implemented for effective behaviour management that improves positive behavioural outcomes
- leaders providing comprehensive induction and training processes and practices for school and hostel staff to support behaviour management
- strengthened monitoring and reporting of behaviour management to the board that shows trends and patterns that can inform ongoing responses and strategic decisions over time
- evidence gathering processes that include student, whānau and staff surveys to enable leaders and the board to know how programmes and interventions impact on student outcomes.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate improvements in the school and hostel operations in relation to health and safety, and wellbeing of students and staff.
- The use of key competencies, especially managing self, participating, and contributing, are drivers of the school and hostel curriculum.
- Classroom programmes are based on students’ interests to support engagement and guide teaching and learning.
- School leadership understand the importance of strengthening professional capability and collective capacity of the board, leaders and staff to effectively support behaviour management for students.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- continuing to access and use external and internal professional development expertise for trauma-informed practices to support staff training
- working with the Ministry of Education to manage roll growth, and to ensure robust transition plans are carefully monitored and implemented to support student outcomes
- the board, school leadership and staff to consolidate and embed recent school improvements
- strengthening monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure that changes in practices are having the required positive impact on student outcomes.
ERO has concerns about
At the end of Term 4, 2023 ERO had significant concerns about the high numbers of reported incidents of physical assaults and property damage. In response to ERO’s concerns, the board took immediate actions to access expertise in trauma informed staff training and strengthened the school’s behaviour policy and procedures to guide practice.
ERO verified in Term 1, 2024 early signs of the positive impact of strengthened behaviour management practices. This was reflected in a significant reduction in the number of behavioural incidents in the school and hostel reported to the board. This work remains a key focus for the school.
Recommendations
ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education continues to work collaboratively with the board and school leaders to manage the pace of student enrolments. This includes ensuring students have access to learning support expertise such as therapists and psychologists that meet the needs of students enrolled at the school.
ERO will continue to work alongside the school to support its ongoing improvement journey.
This includes monitoring:
- the implementation of the annual school improvement plan
- the ongoing impact of targeted external professional learning development on improving students' outcomes
- the school strengthening systems, policies and practices to support students learning experiences and outcomes.
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.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
21 June 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
Westbridge Residential School
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027
As of March 2024, the Westbridge Residential 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
At the end of 2023, ERO was provided with a new report about behavioural incidents at the school and hostel. The report showed a significant increase in the number student behavioural incidents in relation to assaults and property damage, particularly in the school, and the hostel during the second half of 2023. The number of reported incidents had declined significantly in Term 1, 2024.
ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
- provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students
- school policies and/or procedures and practices meet all legislative requirements for health and safety.
[Section 127 (1) and (2) Education Act 2020].
The board has taken steps to address the areas of non- compliance identified.
Further Information
For further information please contact Westbridge Residential School Board.
The next 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
21 June 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
Westbridge Residential School
Hostel Report
Background
The Chief Review Officer has the authority to carry out reviews (which may be general or in relation to particular matters) of the provision of a safe physical and emotional environment that supports learning for students accommodated in hostels under section 470 of the Education and Training Act 2020. This function is delegated to review officers who have the powers to enter and carry out review of hostels under section 472 of the Act.
Findings
The hostel manager and the hostel owner has attested in the Hostel Assurance Statement that they meet the requirements of the Hostel Regulations 2005.
The hostel comprises of four whare-Te Puna, Pohutukawa, Puawai and Kowhai. The hostel is managed by staff to provide full time care for students and is actively supported by the school community.
Students experience a homelike environment with a kaupapa that is respectful of their individual needs. A team of professionally trained youth workers provide mana enhancing programmes that focus on student hauora including their emotional wellbeing and relationship skills.
Students are well supported to learn independence and social and daily living skills in an encouraging environment. There are appropriate systems in place to support and communicate with whānau.
Students that spoke to ERO appreciate that they are consulted with and can contribute to decisions that affect them. They valued positive relationships with staff and efforts made to provide students with a range of different experiences.
ERO was provided with information that showed an increase in student behavioural incidents in the school and some in the hostel in Term 4, 2023. In response to ERO’s concerns, the board, school and hostel staff took immediate actions to improve school policies, procedures, and staff practices to address this. In Term 1, 2024 the number of these incidents had reduced markedly in the school and the hostel. Further reducing student behavioural incidents remains a key schoolwide focus.
Actions for Compliance
ERO identified a non-compliance in relation to:
- providing a safe physical and emotional environment for boarders and staff.
[Regulation 58 Education (Hostels) Regulations 2005]
The board, hostel owner/manager responded immediately to address this area of non-compliance identified.
ERO identified non-compliance in relation to:
- updating the school’s Child Protection policy to reference and reflect the Children’s Act 2014
[Children’s Act 2014] - undertaking and documenting a risk assessment as part of safety checking for staff appointments
[Children’s Act 2014 - Workforce Safety Checking] - implementing regular trial evacuations, including fire, earthquake and lock downs, with records of their occurrence and reviews of their overall effectiveness.
[Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017; Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures and Evacuation Schemes Regulations 2018]
The hostel owner/Manager has since addressed these areas of non-compliance identified.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
21 June 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
Westbridge Residential School
School Context
Westbridge Residential School in West Auckland is a special school for students with learning and social difficulties. The school caters for students in Years 3 to 10. Nine students from across New Zealand were resident at the school at the time of ERO’s review.
Westbridge is part of national provision of intensive support for children and young people with highly complex and challenging behaviour, social or education needs. Students are currently referred to the school as part of the Intensive Wraparound Service. They are resident there for up to two years, with most staying less than one year. The school has capacity for 32 students.
The school and residential cottages provide a programme that is designed to support students to learn new skills and to stay engaged in education. Valued outcomes for students focus on them acquiring new ways of behaving and interacting with others that enable them to successfully transition back to their whānau and into a mainstream educational setting.
A Ministry-appointed board was established in 2014. The board governs Westbridge Residential School and Halswell Residential College in Christchurch. The school sets targets for the achievement of students in reading, writing and mathematics. These targets focus on all students making at least 18 months progress during their time at the school.
Since the 2015 ERO review there have been many changes to staffing. These included a number of principals and deputy principals, some of whom were employed in an acting capacity.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- participation in the school and residential programme
- development of self regulation and social skills
- social and behavioural incidents
- progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
- transition into the school
- enrolment of leavers in mainstream schools.
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 committed to providing conditions that promote better outcomes for all students.
The small roll, very small cohorts of groups of students and the short term nature of residential stays limit the dependability of analysis of schoolwide data.
The key competencies, especially managing self and participating and contributing, are key drivers of the curriculum. The school gathers useful information about individual students in relation to these areas. Refining the use of the data could further inform students’ next steps and meet students’ learning needs.
School data related to the valued outcomes for students show that in recent years 80 percent of leavers have enrolled in mainstream schools.
Entry levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics are low. Over time, while the greatest improvement has been in writing, achievement is higher in reading.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
The school is successful in accelerating learning in relation to the key competencies for most students.
This improvement is measured by progress in relation to the school’s criteria for development of social competencies and self regulation. Students’ achievement is motivated by incentives and recognised with rewards.
Teachers use appropriate assessment tools to determine students’ instructional levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Information gathered from assessment tasks helps teachers to identify and plan for students’ next steps.
Recent achievement information shows that 40 percent of students make accelerated progress in reading and writing and 50 percent in mathematics.
Collaborative approaches between teachers and teacher aides, and cottage managers and youth workers, support students to learn new skills and extend their knowledge. Explicit teaching of skills develops self-awareness and social skills through the school and residential programmes.
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?
Staff are committed to the work they do with students. They focus on developing students’ academic and social skills. As a result, improvements in learning and wellbeing are prioritised.
Relationships between students and staff are seen as paramount. Small class sizes, along with low cottage rolls, enable staff to develop in-depth knowledge of students’ preferences and learning needs. This knowledge helps staff to work in the interests of students.
The school’s curriculum prioritises the teaching of the key competencies. This focus is promoted across both the school and residential operations. Students benefit from the consistent use of strategies and approaches.
Staff reflect on their practice during opportunities that are incorporated into school processes. Spontaneous reviews of events and situations promote shared understandings among staff. These opportunities help staff to respond better to students’ needs and the immediacy of day to day situations. Professional learning and development for staff supports the implementation and consistency of appropriate practices.
The school has good systems for knowing about students, their background and health, and their wellbeing and learning needs. Staff share their knowledge of the student as they contribute to comprehensive, cumulative records. Regular review meetings provide opportunities for people who are closely involved with or have expert knowledge of the student to consider his progress and achievement.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
School leaders are considering ways in which the combined experience and knowledge of residential and school staff can strengthen practices. This collaboration would promote greater consistency across the school and contribute to the school culture.
Leaders and teachers need to review the school’s vision for teaching and learning. They could then establish a curriculum that is informed by best practice, research and theory. Student engagement, enhanced independence and readiness to reintegrate into mainstream schools should be desired outcomes that are promoted through the curriculum.
It is timely for leaders and staff to strengthen cultural responsiveness within programmes and the curriculum. Making te ao Māori more visible in the school through the use of te reo and tikanga Māori could help promote the cultural identity of Māori students and bicultural perspectives of Aotearoa New Zealand for all students. The Ministry of Education documents Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners and Hautū - Māori cultural responsiveness could be helpful tools to support this process.
Strengthening internal evaluation processes is a priority for leaders and staff. This would enable them to measure the effectiveness of decisions made and the impact of programmes, initiatives and interventions on positive outcomes for students.
As the new Direct Referral Pathway to residential schools is implemented, the school should ensure it has robust plans in place to cater for the increased roll so that high quality outcomes can be expected for all students.
The board should ensure that good progress is made in addressing the areas identified for development.
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 Vulnerable Children Act 2014.
Provision for students in the school hostel
All students are accommodated in three cottages. The cottages are licensed as the school hostel by the Ministry of Education. The board has attested in a Hostel Assurance Statement that it meets minimum standards as specified in the hostel regulations.
The cottages are appropriately staffed and managed. Residential staff develop supportive relationships with students as they work closely with them individually and in groups. Staff organise a range of recreational activities for students. They support students to participate in their interests or sports within the wider community. Most students are in regular contact with their family or whānau.
Staff focus on helping students to learn new ways of behaving and interacting. Regular professional learning and development facilitated by specialists from the Intensive Wraparound Service (IWS) supports staff to understand the young people in their care and to develop their own practice. Students are supported to develop self-management and social skills that are important for their return to their own communities.
Residential staff contribute significantly to the body of information that the school collects about each young person’s growth and development. Residential staff, along with other school staff, work closely with IWS to bring together appropriate plans and approaches for individual students. They are aware of the challenges for the students in independently using the skills they have learned when they are in the wider community.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
- relationships that help staff to work in the best interests of students
- teaching that prioritises the key competencies
- opportunities to reflect that help staff to better respond to students’ needs
- systems for knowing about students that help staff to understand their backgrounds and their health, wellbeing and learning needs.
Next steps
The leadership team and ERO agree that for sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
- sharing experience and knowledge to promote greater consistency across the school and to contribute to the school culture
- reviewing the school’s vision for teaching and learning to establish a curriculum that promotes student engagement, independence and readiness to reintegrate into mainstream schools
- strengthening cultural responsiveness to promote identity, language and culture for Māori students and bicultural perspectives of Aotearoa New Zealand for all students
- ensuring there are robust plans in place to cater for the anticipated roll increase so that high quality outcomes can be expected for all students
- strengthening internal evaluation to determine the effectiveness of decisions made and the impact of programmes, initiatives and interventions on positive outcomes for students. (ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders.)
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services
Te Waipounamu - Southern Region
31 January 2019
About the school
Location | West Auckland |
Ministry of Education profile number | 4157 |
School type | Special School |
School roll | 9 |
Gender composition | Boys 9 |
Ethnic composition | Māori 6 Pākehā 3 |
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | No |
Provision of Māori medium education | No |
Review team on site | November 2018 |
Date of this report | 31 January 2019 |
Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review August 2015 Education Review December 2010 Education Review May 2009 |