Kumeroa School

1 Context

Kumeroa-Hopelands School is located in a rural farming community northeast of Woodville in the Tararua district. At the time of the review, the roll was 48 students and 11 identify as Māori.

The school continues to benefit from a high level of parent and community support. Attractive classrooms, a well-maintained physical environment and spacious grounds have been well used to develop a schoolwide focus on sustainability, including the construction of a greenhouse from recycled bottles in 2015.

There have been two changes of principal and all staff are new to the school since the May 2013 ERO report. The current principal was appointed Term 4, 2015. While there are pending changes to the membership of the board, many trustees remain on the board from 2013. Trustees continue to be involved in external professional development to support their stewardship role.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are within the GROW acronym: Guide; Reflective, Resilient, Reliable; Open to learning; Willing to learn independently and collaboratively. A matrix, developed with students, illustrates these expectations at
4 levels - hatching, exploring, gliding and flying. Students use the matrix to track their development as they progress through the school.

The school’s achievement information shows that most students achieve at or above in relation to National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Some gains in Māori student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics were evident in 2015.  Addressing disparity between Māori students and boys, compared to other students remains a next step.

Teachers regularly assess student learning. They use a range of processes to support their overall teacher judgements in relation to National Standards. They are refining their use of assessment to further increase the reliability of judgements through moderation within the school and with neighbouring schools.

Since the previous ERO evaluation, teachers have been involved in externally-led professional learning and development (PLD) for writing (2014). The staff also undertook PLD in assessment and leadership in 2015. Teachers are currently involved in PLD for reading and teacher inquiry. This has improved schoolwide consistency in planning and helped to develop teachers’ understanding and use of data to better identify students’ needs.

3 Accelerating achievement

How effectively does this school respond to children whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

There is an increasing response to students who need their achievement accelerated. The school identifies those students who require additional learning support and puts actions in place to address their needs.

The school has successfully implemented a range of strategies and interventions. These include:

• aligning school and classroom processes to better focus on underachieving students
• strengthening teachers' inquiry into the impact of their practice on student outcomes
• revisiting the curriculum to better focus on a hands-on approach in contexts relevant to students
• placing a greater focus on teaching practices better matched to student needs
• resourcing reading material of higher interest to boys
• strengthening tracking and reporting of student achievement at school and class levels.

The board funds additional staffing for smaller classes.

School information shows some positive impact on student achievement. However, more specific inquiry into what is working best, and for which students, is a next step.

4 School conditions

How effectively do the school’s curriculum and other organisational processes and practices develop and enact the school’s vision, values, goals and targets for equity and excellence?

School processes and the curriculum have been strengthened in order to promote equity and excellence.

Trustees and community members want students to have strong rural links and to be aware of, and equipped for, the wider world when they leave school. A revision of the school charter has identified the need to create a local curriculum that better represents the community and student interests.

The school's AGRI curriculum, offers students a range of relevant and motivating learning opportunities. They have been involved in many hands-on projects where they grow their knowledge of agriculture and horticulture. Continued curriculum development, including delivery plans for all learning areas, is a next step.

A strong platform has been developed to integrate te reo me ngā tikanga Māori into the curriculum. There is increased Māori whānau engagement and support for school activities. Next steps include strengthening these developments and building closer relationships with local iwi.

Students are actively engaged in their learning. Positive relationships between students, staff and families are evident. Parents receive useful reports that show children's progress, next learning steps and how to support the learning of their child. Students are supportive of their peers and have many opportunities to develop leadership skills. Classroom tone is positive and a sense of fun is evident. Teachers use a range of appropriate teaching strategies and tasks are relevant. There is a collective responsibility for the progress of students.

Teachers are reflective and highly engaged in professional learning that supports their ability to evaluate practice. Continuing to implement and strengthen inquiry practices should help them to better understand the impact of teaching programmes on student outcomes.

A suitable appraisal process has been developed over time. It is aligned to school goals, teachers' professional development and student needs. Teacher reflection and building of cultural competency is encouraged. A next step is to make more deliberate links to Practising Teacher Criteria and to consistently implement the process.

Leaders are improvement focused, have a clear vision for the school and are strategic in their decision making. They are collegial and collaborative and seek to continually improve their knowledge of their roles through ongoing professional learning.

Experienced trustees are have a sound understanding to their roles. They are strongly focused on raising student achievement and the sustainability of the school. Student achievement information informs decision making that supports identified needs and priorities. School goals and achievement targets are appropriately focus on acceleration.

A useful policy framework and cycle of review is evident. Trustees are aware of the need to update some policies in order to incorporate recent legislative changes. Strengthening internal evaluation is a next step.

5 Going forward  

How well placed is the school to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children?

The school is well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• respond to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
• regularly evaluate how teaching is working for these children
• do not always or systematically act on what they know works for each child
• have a plan in place and yet to build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children.

Strengthening inquiry and evaluation processes will assist trustees and leaders to identify and implement the most effective practices for promoting equity and excellence. 

Action: The board, principal and teachers should use the findings of this evaluation, the Effective School Evaluation resource, the Internal Evaluation: Good Practice exemplars and the School Evaluation Indicators to develop a Raising Achievement Plan to further develop processes and practices that respond effectively to the strengths and needs of children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated.

As part of this review ERO will continue to monitor the school’s Raising Achievement Plan and the progress the school makes. ERO is likely to carry out the next full review in three years.

6 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 the following:

• board administration
• curriculum
• management of health, safety and welfare
• personnel management
• 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
• processes for appointing staff
• stand down, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
• attendance
• compliance with the provisions of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014

7 Recommendation

ERO recommends that trustees, leaders and teachers should:

• develop the local curriculum and continue to refine schoolwide assessment practices
• strengthen and consistently implement appraisal
• build teacher inquiry processes and schoolwide evaluation to more closely identify the impact of curriculum and teaching practices on raising student achievement. 

Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

15 August 2016

About the school