Onerahi 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

Onerahi School is situated in Whangārei and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school aims to create a learning environment that is positive and inclusive where students, staff and the school community are encouraged to belong, contribute and grow themselves as productive members of society.

The board funds a Māori bilingual reo rua class for students from Years 4 to 6.

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 August 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how well the school conditions contributes to students experiencing learning that is relevant and meets their goals, strengths and successes.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners.

• Learners who attended the school over this time sustain high levels of achievement in reading and mathematics; a slight decline in writing was observed.

Teachers consistently use effective teaching strategies and practices that provide students, including Māori and Pacific learners, with relevant and meaningful learning experiences.

• Teachers increasingly use strategies and practices that provide students with relevant and meaningful learning opportunities that connect students with their local environment and community.
• Staff are working towards developing students’ understanding of what they are learning, why and their next learning steps.

Every student receives learning that relates to their strengths and who they are as learners, experiencing growth and success in their learning.

• Strong and cohesive school systems ensure students who have additional learning and behaviour needs are well supported, make progress and achieve.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that in order to effectively meet all learners’ strengths, interests and needs, the local curriculum needed to be refined so that it was responsive to the local context. This has since been implemented with increasing consistency across the school.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been the strengthening of relationships and engagement with parents, whānau and the wider community; this is increasingly building positive learning partnerships that improve outcomes for all learners.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Learner outcomes are increasingly equitable and excellent.

• The large majority of learners achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Achievement information shows that most learners attending over time, including Māori students achieve well, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• Learners express a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school and are confident in their cultural identities.
• Less than half of learners attend school regularly; the school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic leadership demonstrates a strong commitment to school improvement.

• Leaders collaboratively set and implement a manageable number of clear strategic goals; this contributes to improving learner outcomes and wellbeing.
• Leadership increasingly reviews and refines school systems to ensure these benefit the interests and needs of students and the input from staff, parents and whānau.
• Leadership continually engages in professional knowledge building with teachers that enhances teaching effectiveness.

Students experience a broad range of meaningful learning opportunities that support their success and wellbeing.

• Students experience inclusive class environments where respect between learners and teachers promote active engagement in learning activities.
• Teachers implement relevant curriculum programmes that help students make progress, particularly those with additional learning needs.
• Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are becoming increasingly integrated into the local curriculum so that all learners know and understand more about Aotearoa New Zealand.

Key conditions that underpin successful education continue to strengthen.

• The board, leaders and teachers build positive relationships with parents, whānau and the wider community so that students are provided with relevant and engaging learning experiences.
• Staff have well-considered professional development opportunities that support the school’s strategic goals and learner progress and wellbeing outcomes.
• Leaders and staff are collaboratively implementing a deliberate schoolwide behaviour and wellbeing initiative that increasingly enables all students’ participation in learning.
• A schoolwide culture of collaboration supports leadership and teachers to reflect on their practice, evaluate the impact on learner outcomes and respond through action.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• increase the regular attendance of all students
• strengthen effective teaching, learning and assessment practices to ensure teacher consistency and equitable outcomes for student achievement
• continue to refine and embed the local curriculum to enhance learner engagement and develop learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau
• continue to improve systems and processes for reviewing school policies and procedures.

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

Within six months:

• review current attendance initiatives and develop and implement an action plan
• refine the process for reviewing school policies and procedures

Every six months:

• review the impact of the action plan to improve students’ regular attendance and support further action
• continue to provide professional learning opportunities that strengthen teachers’ understanding and use of highly effective teaching, learning and assessment practices
• review the progress made with embedding the school’s local curriculum to support future planning and action

Annually:

• evaluate the impact of teaching, learning and assessment practices on students’ engagement, progress and achievement and use this to inform next steps
• review and report to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement information to support ongoing decision making for improvement
• ensure all school policies and procedures are regularly reviewed by the board.

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

• improved regular student attendance and sustained high levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• a local curriculum that continues to engage all learners resulting in strong learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau
• confident learners that actively participate in the learning process and can explain what they are learning, why and their next learning steps.

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

5 December 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