Manuka Primary 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

Manuka Primary School is located on Auckland’s North Shore and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision of Inspiring Today’s Learners for Tomorrow’s World is underpinned by the three core values of Be Respectful|Whakaute, Be Resilient|Manawaroa, and Be Responsible|Takohanga. 

The school has two Wilson School satellite units onsite. 

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 and above expected curriculum levels for mathematics, and the large majority of learners achieve these expectations in reading and writing.
• The school continues to respond to inequity in achievement for some groups of learners, particularly in writing and mathematics; addressing this remains an identified priority for leaders and teachers. 
• Learners have a strong sense of wellbeing and belonging; they experience a positive and inclusive learning environment.
• The majority of learners attend school regularly; the school is not yet meeting the 2024 Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Strategic leadership determines areas for school improvement and actions are carefully planned to achieve positive outcomes for learners. 
• Leaders create a culture of collaborative inquiry among staff where they question, discuss and adapt teaching practices to effectively respond to learner strengths and needs. 
• Shared leadership responsibility ensures that systems, practices and teaching and learning approaches are clear and consistent across the school. 

• Teachers plan and implement highly engaging learning experiences that support students’ many different needs and interests; staff know their learners well, and relationships are warm and respectful. 
• Learners speak confidently about their current learning goals and are well supported by teaching staff to take increasing ownership of their learning. 
• Leaders and teachers continue to refine the school’s localised curriculum so that it better reflects the aspirations of learners and the wider community.

• Learners requiring additional support are identified promptly and provided with effective support that enables them to learn and progress at an appropriate pace. 
• Parents are valued partners in their child’s education; regular communication from leaders and teachers ensures that parents and whānau are aware of their child’s learning goals and progress. 
• Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are increasingly integrated into teaching and learning across the school, building staff and learner confidence in their knowledge and understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Leaders gather a range of achievement information; they are strengthening their analysis of this to ensure they respond effectively to the needs of all learners.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to develop effective strategies and initiatives to improve the attendance, progress and achievement of all learners
• refine the localised curriculum, reflecting the aspirations of learners and the wider community and integrating the new literacy and mathematics requirements 
• strengthen schoolwide analysis and use of achievement information to effectively respond to learner needs.

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

Within six months:

• consult with whānau and the wider community to gather their input and aspirations to inform the refinement of the localised curriculum
• continue to provide professional learning opportunities that strengthen teachers’ understanding and use of the new literacy and mathematics requirements 
• investigate high quality examples of schoolwide data analysis and design a framework for reporting that shows learner progress and achievement over time.

Every six months:

• review the impact of initiatives to improve students’ regular attendance and identify further action
• monitor and report to the board on rates of progress for all students at risk of underachieving to further inform effective teaching and learning practice.

Annually:

• review and report to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement information to support ongoing strategic decision making
• evaluate the progress made with refining the localised curriculum to inform future planning and action.

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

• improved attendance, progress and achievement for all learners
• a responsive localised curriculum that provides high quality teaching and learning and captures the aspirations of learners and the wider community
• effective use of schoolwide student learning information to continue to improve student attendance, progress and achievement.

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

28 January 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