Oturu 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  

Oturu School is on the outskirts of Kaitaia township and provides education for Tamariki in Years 1 to 8. The school’s whakataukī, Me mahi tatou kia kaha te iwi | Working together to strengthen the people, underpin the school values of Āko, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Whanaungatanga and Rangatiratanga. 

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, the school have evaluated how well conditions, processes and teaching practice supported the wellbeing and engagement of Tamariki to raise student progress and achievement. 

Expected Improvements and Findings  

The school expected to see: 

Tamariki progress and achievement becoming more equitable and excellent. 

• Raising student progress and achievement to the expected curriculum levels to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes remains a priority for the school. 

Teachers using high quality assessment practices consistently that meet the needs of each individual tamariki. 

• Schoolwide use of assessment practices is beginning to show a positive impact on progress and achievement for those tamariki who have regular attendance. 
• The schoolwide implementation and teachers’ use of learning progressions has enabled more consistent assessment practices to guide explicit teaching and learning strategies for tamariki.  

Teachers supporting Tamariki to know and understand where their learning is at, and what their next learning steps are. 

• Teachers now provide learners with explicit goals in reading, writing and mathematics and identify what success would look like so that tamariki feel increasingly confident in their learning; this continues to be a priority for the school.  

Tamariki learning to take responsibility for their actions and learning and being considerate of other people and their learning. 

• Improved tamariki behaviour reflected in positive communication and interactions, with a strong emphasis on respecting and valuing individual differences. 

Teachers, tamariki and the community work together to implement the Oturutanga Curriculum and Graduate profile. 

• Whānau and community engagement has resulted in stronger relationships with local iwi, this is resulting in tamariki cultural identity. 
• Tamariki have a clear understanding of the school values and demonstrate them in their daily lives.  

Other Findings  

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that consistent teacher use of assessment and explicit planning and learning practices led to improved learning outcomes for tamariki.  

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action resulted in tamariki being supported to know what they are learning and know how they were successful in their learning.  

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing  

The school is well placed to continue to focus on accelerating progress to improve tamariki outcomes. 

• The school has yet to lift overall achievement to where most tamariki achieve at curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; raising achievement remains a priority for the school.  
• Learners benefit from strong pastoral and wrap around care that supports their wellbeing; whanaungatanga is prioritised in the school community to promote a positive culture for learning.  
• The school does not yet meet the Ministry of Educations attendance targets; leaders and staff proactively work with external agencies and whānau to improve regular attendance. 

Conditions to support learner success 

School leadership works collaboratively and strategically to improve outcomes for all tamariki.

• Leaders use a variety of reliable information to monitor key school priority areas; and increasingly use evaluation to measure the effectiveness of these strategies to improve learning outcomes.  
• Leaders build educational relationships with other providers and community groups that lead to increased opportunities for tamariki learning and success.  
• Leaders increasingly foster a culture committed to good quality teaching to ensure there are clear teaching and learning expectations that improve tamariki progress, attendance and achievement outcomes. 

Curriculum and teaching practices are increasingly evidence-based and responsive to tamariki interests and learning needs.

• Local contexts and a range of meaningful learning experiences are reflected throughout the school’s curriculum in ways that support tamariki to feel a sense of belonging and embrace their cultural identity.  
• Teachers support learning through responsive teaching strategies that build on tamariki prior knowledge, strengths and needs to improve positive learning outcomes.  
• Schoolwide assessments are aligned across curriculum levels and learning areas to promote greater teaching and learning consistency that continues to lead to improvement in tamariki progress and achievement.  

Organisational conditions continue to strengthen and bring about improved learning outcomes.

• Staff show a commitment to tangata whenuatanga and te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership; this is demonstrated throughout school programmes and teaching practices in mana enhancing ways to promote tamariki wellbeing. 
• Strong relational trust and open communication supports teachers’ ongoing professional growth; this supports the school’s focus on improving overall student progress and achievement and acceleration for tamariki.  
• Staff provide valuable support and resources to whānau to enable them to effectively assist with their tamariki learning at home; this remains an area of focus for the school. 
• School conditions including policies, processes and leadership practices continue to improve and drive strategic direction, improve schoolwide attendance, progress and achievement for all tamariki. 

Part C: Where to next?  

The agreed next steps for the school are to:  

• develop clear teaching plans and implement structured literacy and mathematics to improve tamariki progress and achievement  
• continue to track, monitor and analyse the effectiveness of attendance strategies to support whānau to improve attendance 
• extend critical reflection and evaluation to provide clarity about which initiatives are having the biggest impact on improved tamariki attendance, learning and progress.  

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

Within three months: 

• use planning frameworks that provide schoolwide clarity of expectations for explicit teaching and learning in reading, writing and mathematics  
• gather and analyse tamariki and whānau feedback on ways to increased schoolwide regular attendance. 

Six months: 

• staff to complete professional development in structured literacy and mathematics; teachers will implement these practices into their everyday classroom learning 
• attendance initiatives show an improvement in tamariki regular attendance. 

Annually:  

• gather and analyse evidence-based structured learning approaches and assessment data to inform the evaluation of the effectiveness of reading, writing and mathematics teaching programmes 
• evaluate the outcome of actions taken to progress the school's strategic direction; what has been successful and what needs further development for continued improvement  
• evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented strategies to improve attendance to inform ongoing approaches to raising attendance.

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

• well aligned systems, processes and practices that support improvement priorities moving forward with particular focus on raising achievement and attendance 
• evidence-based structured learning approaches and interventions that effectively target additional support to learners to improve progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics  
• improved attendance outcomes.  

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 November 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