St Joseph's School (Fairlie)

1 Context

St Joseph's School (Fairlie) is a small integrated Catholic school, located in a rural township. The school is closely connected to its local community. Children come from a wide geographical area and most travel to school by bus. The large, spacious physical environment offers children creative freedom and challenge.

There have been recent changes in staffing and the board. The school is actively involved in a local cluster of schools and is part of a newly formed Community of Learning. These links provide the principal and teachers with professional support.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are to develop and use the key competencies to become happy, confident, lifelong learners. The vision is that children will contribute in a fulfilling and positive manner, by using their skills and talents. The school's values are respect, responsibility, excellence, aroha, integrity, initiative and faith.

The school’s achievement information shows that children achieve highly and are at or above expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Achievement is highest in reading and mathematics. Writing has been identified as an area for improvement. The school has maintained high levels of achievement over time.

Teachers have undertaken professional learning and development (PLD) to ensure they make reliable judgements about children's achievement levels. They have moderated with other schools in their cluster to validate their overall teacher judgements.

Since the 2013 ERO review, the school has developed a system for tracking individual progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics for priority learners. The school's religious education programme has been included in the curriculum guidelines and programmes. Children's ideas and contributions are sought and acted on. A process for internal evaluation for curriculum and policy review has been implemented.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school is highly effective in identifying and responding to individual children whose learning needs accelerating.

Teachers are provided with a very clear definition of what acceleration means. They use an appropriate range of ways to assess children’s learning. Teachers make very good use of this assessment information and their knowledge of each child to identify those at risk of not achieving. Positive learning partnerships with parents are fostered to enhance learning outcomes for children.

The board provides additional funding for extra staff to support children’s learning.

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?

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes equity and excellence for all children. The vision and values are well understood across all levels of the school and are clearly evident within key documentation.

The school provides an inclusive culture where the special character is highly evident and valued. Children and their families are warmly welcomed and are well supported. There is a strong focus on service to others.

The curriculum is relevant and closely reflects the local context. Children are provided with a rich variety of authentic learning opportunities. Their needs and interests are catered for within and beyond the school environment. Teachers have identified the need to extend their use of te reo and tikanga Māori within class programmes.

Teachers work collaboratively and show a shared responsibility for all children's learning and wellbeing. PLD is well considered and targeted towards the identified needs of teachers and children to improve capacity and positive learning outcomes. The recently developed effective systems for tracking children’s progress provides the board with regular and useful information to inform their decision making.

There is good communication between home and school to ensure parents are knowledgeable about children's learning and school events. The revised reports to parents provide good quality information about achievement, progress and involvement in school activities. Parents are also provided with useful ways to help their children at home. The school is very well supported by the local community.

Teachers have prioritised the use of digital technology to better engage children and improve communication with families about their child's learning. There is a planned approach to implementing innovative learning approaches that includes future property developments.

The principal and teachers are accessible and encouraging of parent and community involvement. The principal has high expectations for teaching and learning and models these appropriately. Teaching staff are well organised and receptive to new ideas and change.

Trustees bring a wide range of skills and expertise to the board. They have a planned approach for future succession. The board is proactive and focused on positive outcomes for all children. Trustees are kept well informed about children's achievement, progress, programmes and school events. There are positive and supportive relationships between the board, principal and staff.

5 Going forward

How well placed is the school to accelerate the achievement of all children who need it?

Leaders and teachers:

• know the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated
• respond effectively to the strengths, needs and interests of each child
• regularly evaluate how well teaching is working for these children
• act on what they know works well for each child
• build teacher capability effectively to achieve equitable outcomes for all children
• are well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

The principal and teachers know the children and their families very well. They provide an inclusive learning environment where the school's special character and values are clearly linked to learning and wellbeing. Teachers respond to children's interests and needs. Children at risk of not achieving are very well supported and closely monitored.

ERO is likely to carry out the next 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 Recommendations

For the school to continue to improve its performance, ERO recommends that the next steps identified in this report are acted upon.

The board and ERO agree that the key next steps for further improvement are to:

• ensure children have greater understanding of their achievement and next steps for learning
• extend the process for internal evaluation, including review of curriculum learning areas and the effectiveness of the board
• continue to strengthen the appraisal process, including job descriptions and appraisal for all staff
• strengthen strategic planning to better reflect school priorities. 

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Te Waipounamu Southern

28 November 2016

About the school

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

St Joseph’s School (Fairlie) is an integrated Roman Catholic School. While it can take students from Years 1 to 8, currently it has only one student beyond Year 6. Students learn in multi-levelled classes.

There have been significant changes in staff over the last two years. These include the appointment of a new principal in 2013. The principal was previously a teacher at the school and this has resulted in a smooth transition from one school leader to the next.

Students are provided with a supportive, learning focused school environment. The active promotion of school values, consistent with the school’s special character, fosters such an environment.

The school’s curriculum gives priority to teaching literacy, numeracy and religious education.

The school is situated in rural South Canterbury. Teachers make good use of the local community and region to provide students with a wide variety of activities that include physical challenges.

Since the school’s June 2009 ERO report, improvements have been made to the opportunities students have to take responsibility for their own learning. The quality of achievement reports to the board and the school’s self review programme has also improved.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

Findings

The principal and teachers make good use of analysed achievement information to:

• identify, and provide additional support to, students with the greatest learning needs
• establish overall levels of achievement so they can consider ways to further promote student progress
• adjust teaching programmes, practices and groups and also to support students to set clear learning goals.

The principal has introduced useful school-wide initiatives to help foster the progress of priority learners. These initiatives are helping to develop a more systematic approach to responding to these students needs, and to track their progress.

The principal and teachers have continued to extend and refine ways they assess student learning. The sharing of achievement information among teachers is helping to promote consistency in their assessments. These developments mean teachers are well placed to make accurate overall judgements about student achievement.

Students achieve well, and in some instances very well, in reading and mathematics. Teachers are taking appropriate steps to raise student achievement in written language. Students also enjoy success in other aspects of their learning such as science fairs, fitness competitions and sporting events.

Area for review and development

The quality of the school’s annual achievement targets vary. The next step for the principal and teachers is to build on current initiatives to improve the way they set annual achievement targets and develop more specific plans to help accelerate the progress of priority students.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

Findings

Overall, the way teachers implement the school’s curriculum promotes and supports student learning very well.

The school’s curriculum provides students with a wide and suitably varied range of learning experiences. Features of this curriculum include the:

• strong focus placed on literacy and mathematics learning
• way religious education is integrated into programmes
• extent to which students' strengths, interests and everyday experiences are incorporated into activities
• way teachers help make learning meaningful for students through the integrated nature of programmes.

Teachers make consistent use of a wide variety of teaching practices that are known to foster student progress. For instance:

• teachers have high expectations and actively support students to achieve well
• teaching is clearly focused and successfully builds on students' previous learning
• teachers skilful questioning helps to challenge students and extend their thinking
• teachers place appropriate emphasis on helping students to take increasing responsibility for their own learning.

These features, along with the efforts teachers make to adapt their programmes to take into account the needs of individual students, help to motivate and engage students in learning.

Respectful and affirming relationships with teachers promote students' sense of belonging. Students often take part in co-operative activities and support each other with their learning. These relationships mean students are prepared to take risks to extend their learning.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

While the school has no Maori students currently, its culture and promotion of biculturalism would help to provide a positive learning environment for any student who may choose to attend the school.

Area for review and development

The quality and use of the school’s curriculum guidelines would be enhanced through:

• incorporating more details about the school’s religious education programme
• make more explicit provision for progressively developing some of the skills that will support students to become life-long learners
• revisiting the guidelines around effective teaching practices
• making wider use of the school’s curriculum guidelines as a focus for conducting self reviews and appraisals.

4 Sustainable Performance

How well placed is the school to sustain and improve its performance?

Findings

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance.

The school’s new principal is providing strong professional leadership. She is successfully building on the best of past practices to strengthen school systems and promote school improvement.

Leadership and management practices are successfully promoting:

• a more strategic approach to accelerating the progress of targeted students
• collaboration and collegiality among staff and the sharing of practices and ideas
• very good support and guidance for beginning teachers
• reflective practices and a positive school culture.

The trustees, principal and staff work well together to achieve the board’s strategic goals. Trustees

• maintain a strong focus on raising student achievement
• support teachers and students by being responsive to requests for resources and professional development
• have, with the support of the principal, adopted a more comprehensive programme of ongoing self review.

A good sense of partnership exists between the school and its immediate community. This is most evident in the relationships between the school and the parish and the strong practical support provided to the school by its Parent Teacher Association (PTA).

Areas for review and development

To build on the good start the principal and teachers have made to enhance curriculum self-review practices they should now:

1. develop a more extensive framework for conducting in-depth curriculum reviews
2. make wider use of success criteria to inform their judgements
3. build on the provisions made for including student ideas in reviews.

The next step for the board is to build on the best practices to successfully implement the recently adopted self-review programme. Such development should include:

• increasing the focus in reviews on evaluating the effectiveness of policies and procedures
• regularly include a wider range of evidence for example, parent and student opinion
• receiving regular reports about compliance and legal requirements.

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:

• board administration
• curriculum
• management of health, safety and welfare
• personnel management
• financial management
• asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

• emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
• physical safety of students
• teacher registration
• processes for appointing staff
• stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
• attendance.

To improve current practice the board of trustees should:

• update the school behaviour management guidelines
• review, update and further publicise complaint policies and procedures
• implement the recent recommendations made by the school’s financial auditor
• extend provisions for dealing with any non-custodial issues
• incorporate anonymous student surveys, including questions relating to their safety and wellbeing, as a routine part of self review.

When is ERO likely to review the school again?

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

Graham Randell

National Manager Review Services Southern Region

1 October 2013

About the School