Apiti School

Findings

Leaders, teachers and trustees have made well-considered changes to support an improved response to meeting the needs of learners and their community. The school is well placed to sustain these improvements and further strengthen internal capability towards achieving equity and excellence for students.

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

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Apiti School is a small rural primary school in northern Manawatu for Year 1 to 8 students. There are 27 students enrolled.

The school vision is to create life-long learning – 'learn for life'. It aims to provide quality learning programmes through a challenging curriculum that enhances student engagement and achievement, prioritises literacy and numeracy and develops skills required for success as confident learners.

The July 2016 ERO report outlined concerns in a number of areas of school practice, systems, capability and performance. The principal and trustees have taken a well-considered approach in addressing the areas identified for development. External support and professional learning and development (PLD) have been provided to strengthen these.

The school is a member of the Feilding Kāhui Ako.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

The July 2016 ERO report recommended that the board, principal and staff should focus on developing sustainable school systems and processes to support school improvement. This includes strengthening:

• moderation and overall teacher judgements for assessment in literacy and numeracy
• processes for reporting progress in achieving equitable and excellent student outcomes, including the impact of interventions, to the board
• schoolwide curriculum documentation
• culturally responsive school practices through planned teacher professional learning and development
• teacher appraisal, including teaching as inquiry
• governance policy and procedure framework
• internal evaluation through establishing and implementing a framework to guide practice.

Progress

Assessment practice is more robust. Appropriate assessment tools are used to enable leaders and teachers to better identify students requiring their achievement to be accelerated. Tracking and monitoring processes have been strengthened to ensure trustees receive useful information about schoolwide initiatives, student achievement and progress so they can make informed decisions for resourcing.

Students experience a curriculum that provides them with many opportunities to learn in authentic contexts such as environmental sustainability projects. Literacy and numeracy is promoted through purposeful programmes. An appropriate focus is placed on developing students’ oral language.

A well-considered culturally responsive framework has been developed and implemented to determine how effectively the school is supporting Māori students and their whānau. The board of trustees, principal and teachers have recently defined what Māori educational success is for their students and identified strengths and areas requiring further improvement within the curriculum. The school should now consider how best they can consult with parents and whānau Māori to determine what educational success looks for them and their children.

A sound appraisal system is in place to support and develop teacher practice. Teachers continue to build their capabilities to effectively inquire into improvements to their practice that better support those students whose learning and achievement requires acceleration. Leaders should determine how they can provide teachers with specific feedback from observations of practice, to help inform the next steps for development.

Key next steps

ERO, the board of trustees and principal agree that the school should continue to build their effectiveness by:

• consulting with parents and whānau Māori to determine what educational success looks like for them and their children
• strengthening the implementation of the appraisal system to better provide specific feedback that informs teachers’ next steps for development.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

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

The school is well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance. Trustees have engaged with external support and PLD so they can effectively fulfil their stewardship role. Well-considered systems and processes have been developed to promote ongoing improvement across the school.

Trustees demonstrate a commitment to achieving success for all students. Strategic and annual planning reflects relevant priorities for the board and guide ongoing improvement. Clear policies and procedures are in place that reflect legislative requirements. Trustees should consider ways they can set and relentlessly pursue a small number of targets that relate to accelerating the learning of those students who are at risk of underachievement.

Leaders and teachers are improvement focused. Systematic self review is used to help progress the learning and wellbeing for all students. A key next step is for leaders to build their evaluative capabilities to enable them to effectively measure the impact of the curriculum and teacher practice on children’s learning outcomes.

Key next steps

ERO, the board of trustees and principal agree that the school should continue to build their effectiveness by:

• developing a small number of targets that relate to accelerating the learning of those students who are at risk of underachievement
• building trustees' and the principal’s evaluative knowledge and capabilities.

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.

Conclusion

Leaders, teachers and trustees have made well-considered changes to support an improved response to meeting the needs of learners and their community. The school is well placed to sustain these improvements and further strengthen internal capability towards achieving equity and excellence for students.

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

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

6 November 2018

About the School

1 Context

Apiti School is a small rural primary school in northern Manawatu for Years 1 to 8 students. There are 28 students enrolled, including 3 who are Māori. Long term, stable staffing continues to be a feature of the school.

Students and their families are well known as individuals by teachers and staff. These longstanding relationships contribute to providing learners with interesting and relevant learning opportunities. Whānau groups continue to be a meaningful platform for students to exercise leadership in a number of key areas, including Enviroschools developments.

There has been a sustained focus on personalised learning through the use of digital technologies. The school's rural context is reflected in a range of local annual events. A wider range of experiences outside the classroom is an integral part of the school curriculum.

The school enjoys strong support from its surrounding farming community and families. New entrants to school are supported by close relationships with the adjoining parent-led Apiti Playcentre that operates one morning each week. There is a focus on encouraging smooth transitions for older students through information sharing with secondary schools.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are reflected through a focus on learning for life. This includes students being confident, connected, creative, actively involved, future focused learners.

The STAR acronym reflects valued learner outcomes through students striving, thinking of others and treating people as you would like to be treated, active learning and being responsible.

The school’s achievement information shows that over time, most students continue to achieve well in reading and mathematics. Writing is an area with more variable achievement and has been a school improvement target since 2015.

Māori learners' progress is carefully monitored on an individual basis and their progress as a group is reported to the board.

School processes to consider how well equity and excellence are promoted through reducing disparity in achievement is at early stages of consideration. Further development should include establishing trends and patterns of progress and achievement over time and for groups of students, including those new to the school during the year.

Teachers are involved in a local cluster of schools that are working to strengthen their assessment practices for making and moderating judgements about students' achievement in reading. They should document school guidelines for these processes in reading, writing and mathematics to support ongoing improvements in the quality of National Standards data.

During ERO's external evaluation, the principal and senior class teacher began to consider how to analyse and report students' accelerated progress in relation to the National Standards. An initial inquiry into students' progress in writing indicates over half made accelerated progress in a year.

Since the March 2012 ERO evaluation the school has continued to develop its approach to personalised learning. Board investment in digital technologies is increasing younger students' access and use of these learning tools.

The school is at the early stage of considering participation in a Community of Learning.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

Teachers support students to set ongoing personal goals in literacy and mathematics through their use of assessment for learning. Given the small number of students in the school, these needs are well-known and used by teachers through student's individual use of electronic assessment portfolios. Teachers expect all students to progress and achieve well.

Students with special learning needs are appropriately identified and additional strategies, supports and external expertise are accessed when required. There is a focus on providing students with assistance in classrooms, trialling new strategies and teacher aide supported programmes.

Reporting the impact of special programmes or interventions to the board 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?

A number of key school conditions require further strengthening to support ongoing improvement. These include the documentation of the school curriculum, culturally responsive practices, appraisal, the governance policy framework and internal evaluation.

An inquiry based, real-life curriculum focuses on the key competencies, key events, literacy and mathematics. Teaching is guided by a long term plan for key areas, integrated learning themes, annual events and planned assessments.

Documenting a cohesive school curriculum to guide effective teaching and learning is a next step. This should include expectations for effective assessment, teaching, planning and evaluation. Teachers should also formalise how they will inquire into the impact of their teaching in supporting students who require accelerated progress.

The development of culturally responsive practices remains a next step with limited progress since 2012. Some ongoing engagement with local iwi is sustained. Students learn te reo Māori, including waiata and pōwhiri, through a virtual learning network. Teachers recently began a planned external professional development programme to improve culturally responsive practices, including curriculum experiences and extending whānau and iwi relationships.

Students regularly set ongoing learning goals and reflect on their learning, particularly in the senior room. Parents attend student-led conferences each term where they share their progress with their goals and achievement in relation to the National Standards.

Staff collaboratively provide students with relevant independent learning experiences. Their participation in professional learning and development is well supported by the board. This includes focuses on leadership, advanced teaching qualifications and modern learning practices.

The teacher appraisal process requires improvement. Reviewing the policy to reflect current Education Council guidelines is a next step. The process should make clearer links between teachers' goals, school targets and their impact on teaching and learning. This should include the role of evidence in meeting the Practising Teacher Criteria.

The board has improved its understanding of governance through regular professional development. Trustees are further strengthening the school's policy and procedure framework. This should include how policies and procedures are reviewed and implemented. Continuing to access New Zealand School Trustees Association resources and support should assist.

The development of an internal evaluation framework to better consider the impact of school practices is a next step. Limited reviews have occurred around digital citizenship and the school's vision statement. Reviews included some useful staff, trustee, parent and some student input. More in-depth evaluation should better support ongoing school improvement.

5 Going forward

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

Leaders and teachers:

• have not yet adequately built their knowledge of the children whose learning and achievement need to be accelerated

• have not yet adequately established necessary conditions to effectively accelerate learning and achievement

• are not well placed to achieve and sustain equitable and excellent outcomes for all children.

ERO intends to carry out a process of ongoing evaluation to support development over the course of one-to-two years.

The board, principal and staff should focus on developing sustainable school systems and processes to support school improvement. This includes strengthening:

• moderation and overall teacher judgements for assessment in relation to the National Standards
• processes for reporting accelerated student achievement to the board and progress in achieving equitable and excellent student outcomes, including the impact of interventions
• schoolwide curriculum documentation, including teaching as inquiry
• culturally responsive school practices through planned teacher professional learning and development
• teacher appraisal
• governance policy and procedure framework
• internal evaluation through establishing and implementing a framework to guide practice.

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.

The board must ensure that:

• all teachers hold the appropriate teacher practising certificate, including day relief teachers
  [Education Act 1989 Sections 78C]
• procedures for the police vetting of non-teaching employees and contractors are established and implemented, including their renewal
  [Education Act 1989 Sections 78C to 78D]
• a careers education programme is in place for Years 7 and 8.
  [National Administrative Guideline]

In order to improve current practice, the board of trustees should complete:

• the review of health and safety policies and supporting procedures, including those for education outside the classroom and hazard management
• their response to the Vulnerable Children Act 2014, including reviewing aligned policies and procedures.

7 Recommendation

The board, principal and staff should focus on developing sustainable school systems and processes to support ongoing school improvement for students. 

Joyce Gebbie

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

21 July 2016

About the school