Aranga School

School Evaluation Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa. 

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter. 

Context  

​​Aranga School​, located on the border of the Kaipara and Far North Districts, is a small rural school providing education for students in Years 0 to 8. Most students travel long distances to attend the school. The school has a long-standing connection with Te Roroa, the local iwi. A new principal and teaching team started at the beginning of 2024. 

There are two parts to this report. 

Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings.  

Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.  

Part A: Current State 

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement. 

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Most students are achieving at the expected curriculum level in reading and the majority of students in writing and mathematics.  
• Students have a strong sense of belonging, are confident in their identity, language and culture and have a positive attitude towards learning te reo Māori. 
• Regular student attendance is below the Ministry of Education targets; improving and maintaining student attendance is a priority for school leaders. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders plan and co-ordinate the school’s curriculum to include and respond to the aspirations of the community.  
• Deliberate steps are being taken to strengthen curriculum planning, and the tracking and reporting of student attendance, progress and achievement through the development of learning portfolios. 

• Teachers build positive relationships with students to support progress and achievement through individualised programmes.  
• An integrated curriculum provides multiple opportunities for learning in and through te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori.  
• Students needing additional support are increasingly provided with evidenced-based interventions to improve their progress and achievement.  

• The values of mahi tahi, takohanga, whakaute, kaitiaki increasingly guide all aspects of school routines and processes to promote inclusion and wellbeing. 
• Leaders and teachers respect and value working in partnership with parents and whānau to improve student outcomes. 
• The board need to strengthen self-review processes to ensure alignment between policy, procedures and practice.  

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:  

• regularly track and report student attendance, progress and achievement to support ongoing improvement  
• develop and align systems to manage curriculum planning and formal reporting of student attendance, progress and achievement  
• develop and implement a professional learning plan to improve continuity and consistency of teaching and learning, focused on raising student progress and achievement 
• provide regular opportunities for students to give feedback and contribute to what and how they learn.  

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows. 

Within six months 

• provide evidence of student progress against individualised goals and provide opportunities for students to give feedback and contribute to what and how they learn.  
• plan appropriate professional learning to support governance, leadership, teaching and learning practice 

Every six months: 

• analyse and review progress, achievement and attendance of students to inform improvements to teaching and learning 
• undertake reporting to whānau informed by student learning portfolios 

Annually: 

• review student attendance, progress and achievement to further inform improvement priorities 
• review key policies, in particular policies related to student safety and welfare 
• evaluate learning portfolios, including collecting stakeholder voice to inform continuous improvement.  

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:  

• all students attending regularly and achieving at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 8 
• learning portfolios used to plan, track and report individualised student progress and achievement 
• improved teacher collaboration and consistency to support student understanding of progress, successes and next steps  
• the school board practices meeting legislative requirements and align with policies and procedures.  

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years. 

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki  
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children 

Shelley Booysen 
Director of Schools 

​​20 August 2024​ 

About the School 

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home