Whole school buddy system
At Otumoetai Intermediate, all teachers are engaged in differentiated professional learning and development. Those with similar goals are ‘buddied’ with another staff member.
In this section of our website you'll find our education system evaluations, effective practice reports, resources and guides. These are produced by Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre and Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.
Read more about Te Ihuwaka | Education Evaluation Centre.
Read more about Te Pou Mataaho | Evaluation and Research Māori.
At Otumoetai Intermediate, all teachers are engaged in differentiated professional learning and development. Those with similar goals are ‘buddied’ with another staff member.
In improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, leaders and teachers are working to develop safe, collaborative environments where every learner (teachers and students) can access the thinking of others to strengthen their knowledge and understanding.
Clarity of expectations within a supportive environment are key to scaffolding children into the behaviours of effective learners. Those expectations are realised through structures and processes that ensure everyone knows what to do to achieve success.
The team structure in this school supports the professional learning and development of leaders and teachers. Team members discuss their roles, responsibilities and the reciprocal nature of their interactions.
Evaluation and review are the engine room that drives the improvement agenda forward, involving all within the learning community in an ongoing cycle.
Members of a school strategic change leadership team discuss how a significant drop in the NCEA achievement outcomes of their Māori students, which had been consistently tracking upwards since 2009, created a context that required a critically reflective analysis of both cohort and individual data, alongside a review of the current tracking and monitoring processes and tools.
Curriculum approaches in years 9 and 10 are designed to set students up for success.
A school principal talks about how he works with his teachers and Māori community to develop a bicultural school context within which both Treaty partners are acknowledged and valued. A teacher and members of the Māori community describe how this principal’s leadership has facilitated a reciprocal relationship between the school and their local Māori community.
In response to student voice, this school sought external expertise to provide opportunities for the children to learn more about their identity, language and culture. For those involved, the opportunity to develop new knowledge and understandings is just the beginning of the journey.
At this secondary school leaders and teachers have responded to students’ need for more time to achieve their goals. While not mandatory for either staff or students, lunchtime and after school learning sessions have become the norm.
Data and information about teaching and learning is made highly visible and the interpretation and response are a collaborative process. Leaders and teachers reflect on the role of data in professional relationships and how an open approach builds capability and confidence to respond to the challenges that need to be addressed.
The provision of opportunities for collaborative professional learning are designed to build adaptive expertise through enabling the participation and contribution of all staff members.
ERO evaluated how well 35 secondary schools were using Vocational Pathways. While most schools knew about and were using the pathways, they were not fully realising the initiative’s potential. Vocational Pathways can be a valued part of a school’s curriculum for all students when used as more than just an add-on to careers education or course selection processes.
This ERO report is part of a series of reports being published over three years about aspects of the implementation of the National Standards in English-medium schools, with students in Years 1 to 8. The report focuses on schools’ progress with reporting to parents in relation to the National Standards.
Evaluation at a Glance: What ERO Knows About Effective Schools explores five themes from a cross-section of ERO's evaluations in primary and secondary schools over the past four years: