Tahatai Coast School

Tahatai Coast School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Tahatai Coast 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

Tahatai Coast School is located in Pāpāmoa and caters for students from Years 1 to 6.

Tahatai Coast School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • for all ākonga, developing equity and excellence with a lens on priority learners

  • providing a rich localised curriculum that develops the capacity for ākonga to engage strategically in their learning.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Tahatai Coast School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the achievement and mana of Māori ākonga are lifted by strengthening the holistic approach to culturally responsive teaching and learning practices.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • the school has begun its journey to embed culturally responsive practices to have Māori ākonga achieving as well as non-Māori in literacy and numeracy

  • evidence collected through school-wide assessment data and NZCER’s ‘Me & My Schools’ survey on engagement and attendance data highlights parity needed for Māori and learners.

This evaluation focus aligns with the direction of the Mount Maunganui Kāhui Ako and Te Wharepūni ā Pāpāmoa.

The school expects to see:

  • improved Māori student achievement through culturally responsive teaching practices

  • enhanced levels of engagement of Māori ākonga and whānau

  • increased representation of Māori learners through the provision of extra-curricular activities such as student leadership, sport and cultural performances.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to lift the achievement and mana of Māori learners:

  • reciprocal relationships with Ngā Pōtiki and Ngāi te Rangi

  • resourcing and staffing capability focused on culturally responsive pedagogy and practices

  • the Tahatai School local curriculum that includes strength-based approaches for Māori

  • continuation as part of the Mount Maunganui Kahui Akō and participation in Te Wharepūni ā Pāpāmoa Kahui Akō.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • strengthening the reciprocal relationships with iwi, whānau and ākonga to build trust and to work collaboratively to ensure there is a mutual understanding of aspirations for tamariki Māori

  • honouring the partnerships as outlined in Te Tirirti o Waitangi

  • individual strength-based plans for all Māori learners, with a holistic view and respect to cultural competencies

  • continued professional development to strengthen teaching strategies that are conducive to better outcomes for Māori ākonga

  • incorporating te ao Māori (Te Reo/Tikanga/our place) into learning programmes on a day-to-day basis to ensure all ākonga have a sense of belonging and value the connection with their learning and place.

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

1 May 2023

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

Tahatai Coast School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of March 2022, the Tahatai Coast School Board of Trustees 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

Further Information

For further information please contact Tahatai Coast 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

1 May 2023

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

Tahatai Coast School

Provision for International Students Report

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings 

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there were 10 international students attending the school, and no exchange students.

Highly effective self-review and robust processes support the school to identify and respond to areas for improvement that arise. Relationships supported by effective communication inform parents, students and their agents and provide opportunities for feedback.

International students enjoy equitable access to the breadth of the curriculum and are well supported to engage with wider school life. English language acquisition is promoted in a range of contexts and well resourced. Learning opportunities are positive and responsive to the students’ needs, interests and aspirations. Caring relationships and pastoral systems and processes effectively support international students’ wellbeing.

Students enjoy a wide range of opportunities and are encouraged to engage with sporting and cultural activities. The cultural diversity of international students is celebrated, and they are included as valued members of the school community. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

1 May 2023

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

Tahatai Coast School - 17/01/2018

School Context

Tahatai Coast School is currently a full primary catering for students from Years 1 to 8. The Ministry of Education has redesignated the school as a contributing school, catering for children from Years 1 to 6. This is to accommodate growth on the Papamoa coast, and will take effect from 2019.

Approximately 22 percent of children identify as Māori, and 63 percent of children are Pākehā. The school is becoming increasingly culturally diverse. An enrolment zone assists the school to manage roll growth.

‘Learning today for tomorrow’s world’ underpins the vision of assisting children to become active, confident, creative, and innovative lifelong learners and thinkers. Values of respect, responsibility, integrity, perseverance, and excellence are encouraged and modelled. The school’s six learning behaviours; ‘we support’, ‘we communicate’, ‘we think’, ‘we self-manage’, ‘we belong’ and ‘we create’, are well understood by children, teachers and the community.

The school charter and strategic plan identifies goals to promote children’s learning and the school’s vision for learners. Detailed actions to reach achievement targets are also included.

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

  • progress and achievement of all children against school targets

  • whole school improvement, trends, and patterns over time

  • details of programmes for children with diverse and additional learning needs

  • information related to children’s engagement and wellbeing

  • ‘connected’ curriculum information and reports on recently introduced acceleration programmes.

Since the 2014 ERO evaluation, a new principal and deputy principal have been appointed. Leaders have consulted with the community and reviewed organisational structures, the school’s charter and curriculum. Leaders and teachers have also participated in professional development to focus on accelerating children’s learning and progress.

Tahatai Coast School is a member of the Mt Maunganui Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL).

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

Tahatai Coast School is achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for children. The school has effective strategic planning and many acceleration strategies that are reducing identified disparities.

Achievement information between 2014 and 2016 indicates that most children achieve at expectation in reading, and that a large majority of children achieve at expectation in writing and mathematics.

The school’s 2017 data analysis shows lifts in achievement for all children. The majority of children are achieving at expectation in reading, writing, and mathematics. Disparity in literacy and mathematics for Māori learners has been significantly reduced, and boys’ literacy has significantly lifted. By the time children reach Year 6 most achieve well in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Clear schoolwide targets and effective tracking and monitoring of progress and achievement by leaders and teachers, are contributing to increasing achievement for boys, and for Māori children.

1.2 How effectively does this school respond to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school responds very well to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement needs accelerating. School achievement data for 2016/2017 show the school has successfully accelerated the progress of many Māori children.

The following approaches have supported this progress:

  • a strategic, bicultural focus promoted by the board and school leaders

  • collaboration and learning partnerships with Ngā Potiki, the hapū and mana whenua

  • specific targets to support Māori achievement

  • whānau structures that provide children with a sense of belonging and collaborative learning opportunities.

School data for children achieving below expectations show positive shifts in achievement for most students, and accelerated progress for many.

Through appropriate charter and annual targets, leaders place a high priority on responding to the learning needs of children who need to make accelerated progress. Progress towards these targets is closely monitored. Leaders maintain a stringent ‘line of sight’ across the progress and achievement of all learners.

Effective schoolwide systems ensure the early identification of children who are at risk of not achieving. Leaders and teachers use their detailed knowledge of children’s strengths and learning needs to specifically plan for, and support children at their point of learning need. These plans promote targeted teaching strategies in class programmes, alongside a range of special interventions.

Whānau leaders and teachers proudly share the positive impacts of their teaching. They celebrate how well their combined efforts and strategies for acceleration, contribute to the learning progress of all children.

Leaders and teachers respond well to children with additional and diverse learning needs. Children are identified and provided with a range of specialist support and facilities. This support enables children to access the curriculum, and ensures they have a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence?

The school has very good processes and practices that enable the achievement of equity and excellence.

Leaders are successfully building trusting relationships throughout the school community for supporting equity and excellence for all learners. Leaders are managing a period of change and a new direction that has been shaped through community consultation. A new sense of collaboration and transparency has resulted in shared understandings and raised expectations for learning and achievement.

The school has successfully re-established educational connections with parents, whānau, and its community. Parents, whānau, and Ngā Potiki are valued partners with the school in learning. Parents and whānau are kept well informed, and their opinions are regularly sought. This information is used well to support the child and their family and for ongoing school improvement.

Children benefit from a schoolwide and connected curriculum. They enjoy innovative, challenging, and fun learning opportunities that are engaging, and contribute to good levels of achievement. There is a continued focus on increasing children’s understanding and ownership of their own learning.

The school whānau structure allows teachers and children to work collaboratively. Inclusive and flexible groupings promote creative problem solving and future focused learning. The digital resources available in the school support children’s engagement and connection to learning.

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

Leaders agree to continue:

  • building the collective evaluation capacity of trustees, leaders, and teachers to extend the scope of evaluative thinking for ongoing improvement

  • focusing on acceleration and achieving equitable outcomes for all children.

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 international students

The school is a signatory to the (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. At the time of this review there were 22 international students attending the school.Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016

The school provides international students with a very good standard of education, and pastoral care. Students benefit from the school’s inclusive culture, and opportunities to participate in a wide range of school activities. They are well supported to achieve educational success and to integrate into the school community. The school’s monitoring systems are highly effective.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

  • review systems and procedures for the recording of board meetings and in-committee minutes

  • continue to develop and review board policies and procedures.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • school leadership that provides coherent school expectations through shared vision and values

  • a collaborative teaching culture

  • educational connections and relationships with parents, whānau, and community that support children’s wellbeing, social and academic outcomes

  • a connected curriculum that promotes collaborative learning opportunities and grows student voice.

Next steps

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

  • continuing the focus on acceleration to achieve equitable outcomes for all children

  • evaluating the impact of initiatives, to know the difference these are making in accelerating children’s learning

  • using ERO’s School Evaluation Indicators as a self-review tool to refine and strengthen board systems and processes.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Graham Randell

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

17 January 2018

About the school

Location

Papamoa

Ministry of Education profile number

6742

School type

Full Primary (Years 1-8)

School roll

667

Gender composition

Boys 51% Girls 49%

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Indian
Korean
African
British/Irish
other

22%
63%
4%
3%
2%
2%
4%

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

November 2017

Date of this report

17 January 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

October 2014
December 2011
February 2009