Westown School

School Context

Westown School is situated in New Plymouth and has students in Years 1 to 6. At the time of this review, the roll was 130 and 38% of students are Māori. The school’s mission statement, ‘Together we are KAHA (strong)’, is underpinned by the newly developed ‘KAHA’ values: ‘Kotahitanga, Ako, Hauroa, Aroha’.

The 2019 strategic plan gives priority to ongoing improvement in student outcomes in mathematics.

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

• achievement during and at the end of year against The New Zealand Curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

A new principal was appointed in Term 2, 2017. There have been some staff and trustee changes since the December 2017 ERO report. In October 2019, a limited statutory manager was put in place to support the board of trustees in the areas of employment, finances and communications.

Leaders and teachers undertook a range of professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities, including: Accelerating Learning in Literacy (ALL) in 2018; Teacher inquiry and appraisal, 2018; and a local Māori Achievement Cluster (MAC) throughout 2018 and 2019.

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?

Data provided by the school for the past two years shows an upward trajectory of improvement for most groups across reading, writing and mathematics.

At the end of 2018, most children achieved at or above expectation in mathematics. In literacy a large majority of children are achieving at or above expectation. Māori children are achieving higher than their peers in reading, writing and mathematics. Pacific students achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.

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

The school is building its practices to accelerate learning for those students who are at risk of underachievement. The school identifies and prioritises students for targeting and acceleration of achievement.

At the end of 2018, data for students targeted in reading, shows the majority of these students made acceleration to expectation.

In 2019, students at risk of underachievement in mathematics were identified. Data shows almost half have accelerated their progress closer to expectation and 20% of those identified have now reached expectation.

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?

Leadership focuses on ensuring school-wide practices and processes enhance learner wellbeing, promote students’ culture, language and identity and enable them to learn and achieve at the appropriate level. The newly developed KAHA values are an explicit part of the teaching and learning programmes, with focus on developing mutual respect and creating an environment for wellbeing for learning that contributes to growing confident and connected students.

The school has a positive tone. Relationships are respectful. Teachers and leaders are collaborative and collegial. They engage in regular reflection and consider ways to improve outcomes for students.

Tracking and monitoring of students’ progress is ongoing. Information is collated and shared appropriately. Moderation across the school regularly occurs. Internal and external expertise is sought to provide appropriate interventions and programmes for those children who need these and to support teachers to develop strategies that assist teaching and learning.

Students with additional needs are well catered for. Individual tracking and monitoring systems show movement and progress for these students. Appropriate education plans for students with more complex needs are inclusive of parent input and external agency support.

Partnerships with iwi have been developed and the opportunities created by this connection, and with whānau and the wider community, engage, support and enrich learners.

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

The board meets most of its statutory and regulatory responsibilities and has LSM support to ensure that it addresses financial concerns.

The school has documented clear and aligned strategic goals that should provide appropriate guidance to support development. Areas for further development include:

• ongoing curriculum review to strengthen teaching and learning practices and culturally responsive education
• teachers, leaders and trustees participating in further professional learning to promote ongoing capability building to support to achieve their strategic intent
• strengthening assessment practices to assist with target setting and inform teaching, learning and reporting
• strengthening learning partnerships with those parents whose children require acceleration.

As these changes are progressed, leaders, teachers and trustees should seek to further develop their understanding and use of effective evaluation and inquiry. Building the schools’ collective understanding of what is making the biggest difference in raising achievement should inform ongoing developments to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

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 Westown School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

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:

• practices that are inclusive and responsive to student needs, promote their wellbeing and support their learning progress and success
• relationships between leadership, teachers, whānau and community that are collaborative and support and enhance students’ learning and wellbeing.

Next steps

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

• strengthening understanding of assessment practice to ensure leaders and teachers accelerate learning for all students at risk of underachievement
• continuing to develop an overarching curriculum document that provides expectations and guidance for teaching practice and learning and reflects current practices and connections to place and context
• using effective internal evaluation to show the impact of planned actions on achieving equity and excellence for all learners.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to the health curriculum.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

• comply with the requirement to consult with the school community about the delivery of the health curriculum, at least once every two years. [Section 60B Education Act 1989]

Phillip Cowie

Director Review and Improvement Services Central

Central Region

14 February 2020

About the school