Forrest Hill 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 

Forrest Hill School is located on Auckland’s North Shore and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision of Nurturing growth for a lifetime of learning is underpinned by three core values of Respect, Connect and Challenge.

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 learners achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Learners express a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school; wellbeing information shows that students are well supported to succeed.
• A large majority of learners attend school regularly; the school is approaching the Government’s target for regular attendance. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leadership uses a range of high quality evidence, including achievement information and community feedback, to plan and implement strategic priorities; improvement actions are regularly evaluated for impact on student outcomes.
• Senior and middle leaders collaborate closely with teaching staff to inquire into their practice, effectively responding to the many different needs of learners.
• Leaders tailor professional learning to the needs of staff and the priorities of the school, ensuring a strong culture of growth and development is at the centre of strategic decision making. 

• Teachers know their learners well and create inclusive, responsive and well-organised classroom environments that encourage high engagement in learning.
• Learners experience rich and relevant learning opportunities across the school that reflect local contexts.
• Effective teaching and learning approaches ensure that learners know what they are learning, building independence and ownership of their learning goals. 

• Parents and whānau are valued partners in their child’s learning; the board and leaders regularly consult to ensure that community aspirations are reflected in strategic priorities.
• Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are increasingly embedded into learning programmes across the school, with learners taking on leadership roles for schoolwide mihi whakatau and class paepae.
• Leaders and teachers use strong systems for the analysis of student progress and achievement information, supporting robust discussion and decision making throughout the school.
• Students with additional learning needs are clearly identified and well supported to achieve through a range of personalised learning programmes. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• monitor strategies and initiatives to continue to improve the regular attendance of all learners
• embed structured literacy approaches across the school, further building teacher knowledge and practice and sustaining positive learner outcomes in reading and writing
• work in partnership with local iwi to understand and integrate knowledge, perspectives and stories from the area, strengthening the school curriculum.

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

Every six months:

• review attendance information to refine strategies that increase regular attendance
• continue to provide relevant professional learning opportunities that strengthen teachers’ understanding and delivery of structured literacy approaches
• meet with local iwi, alongside Te Kāhui Ako o Pupuke, to explore and develop further a curriculum that includes mana whenua perspectives and stories from the local area

Annually:

• analyse and report to the board on learner attendance, progress and achievement information against strategic priorities to inform future planning
• review and refine the school curriculum to ensure that it reflects the knowledge and stories of local iwi.

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

• sustained and increasingly high levels of regular student attendance
• teachers consistently use effective strategies in structured literacy that further support excellent progress and achievement in reading and writing
• learners who are confident in their knowledge and understanding of key stories and places of significance shared by local iwi.

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

3 March 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