Waihola District School

1 Context

Waihola District School provides children from Years 1 to 8 with a rich range of learning in a supportive environment. The school's two classrooms have small numbers of children. These are being upgraded to provide increased flexibility for teaching and learning. The school has an experienced principal. Most school trustees are experienced in their role. Changes to teaching staff are planned for 2017. The school maintains close connections with its parents and local community. This includes sharing its buildings and resources, and housing an after-school programme.

2 Equity and excellence

The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school for all children are to be the best they can be, capable, confident and caring, who work and learn together and contribute to their community. The school's values of innovation (hautūtanga/auahatanga), integrity (pono), respect (manaakitanga) and community (whakawhanaungatanga) have been a focus strategic development focus for children and staff.

The school’s information shows that against the National Standards for reading, writing and mathematics, achievement has risen in recent time. Achievement improved in 2015 and again by mid-year 2016, when children were achieving well against the National Standards.

Teachers are using a useful variety of assessments to inform teaching and learning and to make overall teacher judgements about achievement against the National Standards. They work to ensure that assessment is reliable by comparing judgements about learning and achievement with each other and with teachers in other schools.

Since the last ERO evaluation, the school has addressed most of the recommendations in the 2013 ERO report. Teachers are building their knowledge, skills and confidence in the use of te reo and tikanga Māori. Aspects of internal evaluation require ongoing development.

3 Accelerating achievement

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

The school identifies and effectively supports children needing extra help to accelerate their progress. Teachers have well-developed strategies for meaningfully engaging these children in the learning. Teachers know the children well. They carefully inquire into their teaching and the child's learning. Most children, including most Māori children, make accelerated progress in their achievement. Each child's learning is closely monitored and regularly reported on. Children continue to be monitored to ensure that accelerated progress is sustained. The principal provides very well analysed reports to the board that clearly show the progress and achievement of children requiring extra support in their 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 in action effectively enacts the school's vision and values.

The curriculum is broad, relevant and effectively uses the local environment as a context for learning. Children benefit from a wide range of engaging experiences to help them achieve in their learning. Children are encouraged to offer ideas about topics for learning and many aspects of school life. Parents and the community are often involved in the life of the school giving children a strong sense of belonging. The school makes good use of the local environment and community. This helps make learning meaningful and relevant for children, parents and whānau.

The vision and values are well understood by children and staff, and are clearly evident in the school. The curriculum is designed with a focus on shared learning where everyone learns together. The school has identified as a priority the need for children to become self-directed learners. Children are increasingly knowledgeable about their own learning and what they need to do next to improve.

The curriculum plan for 2016 incorporates well thought-out strategies and resources to help build children's self-directed learning dispositions and skills. These are included within recently developed curriculum guidelines for the teaching of mathematics and writing. To continue to guide and strengthen this work, the school needs to develop similar guidelines, including school-wide learning progressions, for other essential learning areas.

The principal and teachers work collaboratively to make ongoing improvements to teaching that support children's achievement and progress. They actively involve parents and whānau in learning-centred relationships to support their children's learning. They use digital technology well to support teaching and learning and to involve parents in their child's learning. Staff and ERO identify the need to continue to develop the integration of te reo and tikanga Māori in children's learning.

The board is committed to providing high quality learning experiences and environments for all children. Trustees are well informed about children's progress and achievement and use this information to help guide them in their decisions. The board has effective processes to support continuity of school governance.

The board and principal need to:

• more regularly monitor the school's progress in meeting the annual priorities
• update the appraisal policy and strengthen the process to better guide and support teachers in meeting requirements.

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 school is successfully lifting overall levels of achievement in relation to the National Standards for reading, writing and mathematics. This is the result of focused teaching and meaningful learning provided by the experienced teachers and principal. In 2017 there is likely to be a change in teaching staff. A challenge will be to maintain and continue to improve overall levels of achievement and high levels of children's engagement and involvement in learning.

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.

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should update the appointments policy and procedures to ensure that all requirements are met.

7 Recommendations

ERO recommends:

• the school acts on the next steps as described in the body of this report 
• the principal and board develop ways to support ongoing improvements to school-wide achievement by ensuring appropriate levels of support for classroom teaching and children's involvement and engagement in their learning.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Te Waipounamu Southern

7 March 2017

About the school