Kaitaia Intermediate

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 

Kaitaia Intermediate is located in Kaitaia, Northland and provides education for students in Years 7 and 8. The school has eight classrooms; three are bilingual classes for students who wish to learn te reo me ōna tikanga Māori. All classes include Year 7 and 8 students. 

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation. 

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

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the previous ERO report of September 2022, school leaders evaluated how effectively school processes and practices raise student progress and achievement. This is achieved through building a learning-focused culture that promotes wellbeing and culture, language and identity of all students.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

A focus on equity and excellence to raise student overall progress and achievement.

• Teachers collaboratively inquire into the quality of their teaching and learning practices to support students learning and continue to improve student progress and achievement.

Teachers with a systematic approach to use appropriate tools and methods to gather a range of reliable and valid student achievement information. 

• Teachers targeted professional development improves their understanding of assessment tools and results in greater consistency in assessment practices. 
• Differentiated instructional coaching by leaders contributes to increasingly reliable and valid schoolwide assessment information. 

A school curriculum that promotes student learning and opportunities to learn in a variety of meaningful educational experiences. 

• Teachers’ alignment of tools including Te Whare Tapa Whā framework, the learner profile and a localised curriculum better support student’s progress and learning experience. 

High levels of relational trust that foster staff collaboration and professional growth. 

• All teachers purposefully engaged in professional development and learning groups to share good practices that lead to improved progress and achievement and learning outcomes for students. 

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the school has better aligned systems and processes to support the ongoing journey of improvement for high quality teaching and learning. 

The greatest shift has been the implementation of clear schoolwide expectations and routines for teaching and learning. These shifts in practice have contributed to a stronger school learning culture, and students and teachers working more respectfully in partnership. These responsive actions continue to be a school priority.

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Raising student achievement to curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics remains a significant challenge of the school, in particular reducing disparity in boys’ achievement and students with low attendance.
• The majority of students made accelerated progress in by the end of Year 8 in 2023.
• Attendance rates have improved; however, meeting the Ministry of Education regular attendance targets remains a critical focus.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders set and pursue improvement goals and targets, including a sustained focus on accelerating the progress of learners at risk of underachievement. 
• Leaders promote a school culture focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning to improve outcomes for learners. 
• Teaching staff increasingly use more reliable data and evidence to monitor and report progress towards the school’s strategic improvement plan targets. 

• The school has established reliable foundations for assessing and monitoring students’ achievement and continues to focus on accelerating progress to improve student outcomes.
• Teachers work collectively to regularly look into aspects of their teaching practice to support learner progress and achievement.
• Targeted interventions in reading, writing and mathematics are regularly reviewed to continue to address achievement gaps and improve student progress and learning outcomes. 

• The school is giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through focused actions that better support Māori learners to achieve educational success as Māori.
• Leaders and teachers value access to professional networks and increasingly work with external providers to contribute to lifting student progress and achievement. 
• All staff recognise, affirm and value the identity, language and culture of students to promote engagement and attendance.
• The board effectively manages the school’s resourcing to continue to improve and support learning conditions across the school.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• embed use of schoolwide planning frameworks to support deliberate teaching strategies in reading, writing and mathematics and raise achievement of all students 
• engage staff in professional development to strengthen students' wellbeing and engagement through te ao Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori learning contexts and experiences
• further strengthen learning partnerships with students and whānau to improve student’s attendance with a sustained focus on raising students’ progress and achievement 
• review and evaluate teaching strategies and initiatives to ensure improvement actions positively impact on accelerating students’ learning and progress.

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

Within three months

• develop a professional planning framework that provides schoolwide clarity in expectations for deliberate teaching of reading, writing and mathematics 
• engage staff in professional development that strengthen the social, emotional, and overall wellbeing of learners alongside their learning needs.

Every six months:

• leaders and staff to review the use of, and visibility of deliberate teaching and learning frameworks in reading, writing and mathematics to ensure greater shifts in student progress and achievement 
• continue to monitor and report on the progress of annual improvements targets, including progress toward meeting the Ministry of Education regular attendance target. 

Annually:

• review the implementation of schoolwide teaching planning and practices to see what is working for students and how well they are supporting accelerated progress
• continue to evaluate and report to the board the shifts in student attendance, accelerated progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics to show increased progress overtime 
• continue to collect and respond to student and whānau voice in establishing student achievement improvement priorities.

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

• increased regular attendance and improved achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, accelerated progress for all students from more deliberate instructional strategies 
• enhanced social, emotional, and overall student wellbeing through te ao Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori learning contexts reflected in student wellbeing surveys and other feedback
• deliberate use of student and whānau voice to identify strategies that increase regular attendance rates and learning outcomes
• strengthened leaders and teachers use of evidence, assessment, monitoring and internal evaluation at all levels to support ongoing cycle of improvement.

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

18 September 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