Browns Bay 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 

Browns Bay School is on Auckland’s North Shore. It provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The values of respect / manaakitanga, personal excellence / tu rangatira, inquiring minds / whai whakairo and taking responsibility / takahanga underpin the school’s vision of building leaders and learners. A new principal was appointed in Term 2 2024.

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 

Expected Improvements and Findings

Since the previous report in November 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the school conditions contribute to accelerating learner progress and achievement in literacy.

The school expected to see:

Teachers consistently using effective strategies and practices in literacy.

• Professional development has ensured teachers have good curriculum content knowledge to implement consistent structured literacy teaching approaches.
• Teachers and leaders regularly evaluate the literacy programme and make changes to enhance learner progress and outcomes.

Students demonstrating increasing agency and self-efficacy in their learning.

• Children are able to talk more explicitly and confidently about their literacy learning.

Positive trends in literacy achievement for all learners, including Māori and Pacific learners. 

• Achievement data shows significant improvement in reading and writing for most learners, particularly at Year 2.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the achievement of learners in reading and writing improved due to structured literacy teaching approaches. 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was in the collaborative development of consistent structured literacy teaching approaches across the school. 

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Most learners achieve at or above the appropriate curriculum level for reading, writing and mathematics.
• Learners who require additional support benefit from systems that ensure their learning needs are identified and addressed, contributing to improved engagement and learning outcomes.
• Learners experience a positive and inclusive learning environment where physical and emotional safety is well promoted and contributes to their sense of belonging.
• Regular attendance is approaching the Ministry of Education 2024 target; the school is working with parents and whānau to support the regular attendance of all learners.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders undertake effective planning, coordination, and evaluation of teaching and learning to meet students’ learning needs.
• Leaders use a suitable range of quality evidence about learners’ progress and achievement to evaluate the implementation of strategic targets and inform future priorities. 
• Leaders ensure professional development is targeted, planned and implemented for improving and sustaining learner outcomes.

• Teachers use a range of appropriate strategies that support and reinforce knowledge and skill-building and respond to learner strengths and needs.
• Programmes to support children with additional needs promote their progress and learning; external agencies are involved when appropriate.
• Leaders and teachers provide appropriate support for the significant number of English language learners in the school to progress well in their learning.

• Well-developed policies, programmes and practices are in place that promote learners’ engagement, wellbeing, inclusion and sense of belonging.
• Leaders and teachers increasingly use effective communication strategies with parents and whānau to deepen shared understandings of learners’ strengths and learning needs.
• The board and leaders work together to develop and implement the school’s strategic direction to improve outcomes for all learners.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• consolidate cohesive and consistent teaching practices that sustain high levels of learner progress and achievement and meet the refreshed curriculum priorities
• further refine assessment tools, strategies and processes to respond to learner needs, monitor and report progress and achievement of all learners, including those identified with additional needs
• further strengthen learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau that enable them to be connected and actively engaged in the learning of their child
• continue to focus on raising regular attendance rates for all students to meet Ministry of Education targets.

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

Within six months:

• review assessment tools, strategies and processes to ensure clarity and cohesion for teachers and learners
• develop an implementation plan to guide teacher professional learning to support the review and improvement of current teaching, learning and assessment approaches

Every six months:

• continue to analyse and monitor learner progress, achievement and attendance information to inform next steps in teaching and learning
• use a range of communication strategies with parents to create shared understandings of learners’ strengths and learning needs to inform learning partnerships

Annually:

• using learner progress and achievement data and a range of other sources, evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learning, attendance and engagement, and report the outcomes to the board to inform strategic decision making
• gather feedback to evaluate the impact of strategies used to strengthen engagement and learning partnerships with parents and whānau
• review and evaluate the impact of professional development on coherence of teacher practice and learner progress and achievement outcomes.

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

• cohesive and consistent teaching, learning and assessment practices that sustain high levels of progress and achievement for all learners
• effective use of data to inform teaching and learning
• open, learning-focused partnerships with parents and whānau who are connected and actively engaged with the learning taking place at school
• sustained levels of attendance that meet the Ministry of Education targets.

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

Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools

13 February 2025

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