Clearview Primary

School Context

Clearview Primary School is a Year 1 to 8 school located in the community of Rolleston, near Christchurch. The current roll is 743 students, 8% of whom identify as Māori.

The school’s vision promotes ‘skilled thinkers and communicators stepping out with confidence.’ Valued outcomes are connected to the competencies of ‘collaborate, climb, connect, create, care, and curiosity’.

Three strategic goals drive planning and improvement in the areas of learning, partnerships and creativity. The 2019 annual targets are for students to demonstrate the competency of caring, and to improve writing for Year 4 and mathematics for Year 6 learners.

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

• reading, writing and mathematics
• additional needs, including students whose learning requires extension
• competency development.

Since the 2014 ERO review, there has been significant roll growth. Changes in leadership, staff and the board include a new principal and board chair.

Leaders and teachers have participated in whole school professional learning linked to:

• pedagogical practice
• collaborative inquiry
• bicultural practices, including the development of a cultural narrative for the school
• learning progressions in core learning areas
• leadership coaching.

School staff are active participants in the Ngā Peka o Tauwharekākaho Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning.

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 achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for the large majority of its students.

Achievement information for 2018 shows that:

• most students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading
• the large majority of students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in writing and mathematics
• there is a measurable, positive shift in student capability to work collaboratively.

In 2018, school leaders and teachers identified disparity for Year 3 students in writing and Year 5 in mathematics, compared with other cohorts. These cohorts are the focus for targeted action to develop reading and writing during 2019.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

School information to determine the extent of accelerated learning is unavailable for 2018.

Mid-year data for 2019 shows that the school has considerable work to do in accelerating learning for a significant number of students who are underachieving in reading and writing.

The school is more successful in accelerating learning in mathematics. Almost one-third of students identified for additional support made accelerated progress in this area.

The mid-year information for 2019 shows that, to date, teaching is having a more positive impact on the learning extension of high achieving students in reading, writing and mathematics. Approximately half of these students made accelerated progress in reading and mathematics, and one-third in writing.

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?

Governance and leadership very clearly place students at the heart of decision-making. A strong culture of collaboration and care is evident and promoted at all levels of the school. Professional relationships between all stakeholders, including students, are respectful, thoughtful and improvement-focused. Parents and the local community are valued as active participants in supporting a culture of learning.

School systems and processes are well aligned to strategic and annual goals, providing clarity and coherency within the leadership team and for teachers. Schoolwide communication processes are effective. Leaders and teachers actively seek professional learning connections with each other and externally, as part of a professional learning plan connected to strategic priorities.

The curriculum is localised, flexible and provides a range of authentic opportunities for learning. The competency-driven nature of the curriculum promotes self-management and student agency. Well-considered interventions assist students to access the depth and breadth of the New Zealand Curriculum.

A strong culture of collaborative inquiry is building teacher capability. Leaders and teachers take collective responsibility for student learning and wellbeing. Systems and processes to guide quality teaching and learning are aligned to school priorities.

Leaders are focused on building effective leadership capability and recognising teachers’ skills and strengths. Targeted professional learning (internal and external) is informed by research, aligned to strategic priorities and aims to promote effective teacher practice. Staff have multiple opportunities to develop leadership skills. A culture of inquiry, innovation and reflection is developing well. Purposeful links to the wider education community, including the global education community, provide new ideas and research to inform teaching practices.

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

The completion of the curriculum was identified by leaders, and confirmed by ERO, as a priority for further development. Learning progressions for reading, writing and mathematics should be extended to all learning areas. Teachers need to have clear expectations for progress and achievement in relation to all areas of the curriculum. Clarity around expectations for teaching, learning and student achievement is likely to support the school’s focus on increasing student agency and self-management of learning.

Leaders have identified, and ERO confirms, the need to build on existing culturally responsive practices. They need to complete a Māori action plan and share this with whānau for their input. The visibility of te ao Māori could also be strengthened across all learning areas.

Internal evaluation is not yet used effectively to gauge the impact of innovations and interventions. Elements of critical reflection and inquiry are evident in practice but are not yet strongly evaluative. School leaders need to adopt a framework for evaluation and build evaluative capability to identify those practices which are most effective in supporting learning for all students, and particularly for those who require additional support.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Clearview Primary’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• improvement-focused governance and leadership which places children at the centre of decision-making
• a strongly localised, authentic curriculum which provides an extensive range of learning experiences for children
• a well-developed culture of professional learning and inquiry which is focused on improvement for teachers and students.

Next steps

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

• establishing learning progressions and clarity of teaching and learning expectations in all learning areas
• building on culturally responsive practices, including the visibility of te ao Māori in learning areas
• building a shared understanding of internal evaluation to identify those innovations and practices that are most effective in accelerating and promoting student learning.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

27 November 2019

About the school