Te Awamutu College

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 

Te Awamutu College is a co-educational secondary school and provides education for learners in Years 9 to 13. The school mission is to create ‘learning success for every student in a place of learning where students, staff, families, whānau and the community enjoy working together to create success in all aspects of school life.’ Te Awamutu College is the managing school for alternative education and hosts the local attendance service.

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 to previous ERO report of August 2022, ERO and the school have been working to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used to raise achievement in literacy in Years 9 and 10. 

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Positive trends in achievement for all Year 9 and 10 students in literacy and accelerated progress for those who need this.

• A small majority of the targeted Year 10 students achieved the Common Assessment Activity in reading, writing and mathematics.
• A small shift in the overall reading achievement part of the Common Assessment Activity (CAA) literacy requirement for National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) between 2023 and 2024.

Increasingly equitable student outcomes in formal literacy assessments.

• A small target group of Year 9 students who required additional support made accelerated progress in literacy.

A collaborative and consistent approach to literacy learning across all curriculum areas.

• An across-school literacy committee leads literacy initiatives and there have been some positive shifts in the use of specific literacy teaching strategies.
• Teacher professional development resulted in a more consistent and collaborative schoolwide approach to teaching literacy across the curriculum.
• Increased teacher understanding of the literacy requirements for Year 9 and 10 students. 

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, disparity in literacy achievement for Māori and boys was still evident and improving this remains a priority. The school recognises the need to use progress and achievement data more effectively to respond to identified learning needs. 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been teachers’ increasingly taking collective responsibility for literacy. 

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• A large majority of students achieve the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1 and 2 with a small majority in Level 3, less than half gain University Entrance; disparity in Māori and boys’ achievement continues.
• Progress and achievement outcomes for Years 9 and 10 are yet to be fully analysed.
• The Ministry of Education targets for regular attendance is yet to be achieved with just over half of students attending regularly, this remains a priority. 

Conditions to support learner success

• School leaders recognise they need to raise student achievement and reduce disparity in outcomes by working collaboratively towards this key goal.
• Leadership has begun to take steps to respond to student wellbeing surveys; this remains an ongoing priority to further promote a positive school culture.
• Leaders consider and respond to learner needs when developing a wide range of curriculum and future pathways for students.

• A well-resourced curriculum offers a variety of relevant learning pathways; improving the schoolwide understanding of effective teaching practice is a next step.
• Teachers have established clear in-class routines that increasingly respond to individual students’ needs.
• Learners needing additional support are identified and plans to support their progress are being strengthened.

• Regular opportunities for staff professional growth and development occur and these need to be aligned and targeted to annual student achievement improvement goals.
• The school is working to further develop partnerships with mana whenua to better respond to whānau, hapū and iwi aspirations for Māori learners. 
• The board needs to strengthen the development and ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the school’s strategic plan to improve student outcomes.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• develop a more targeted and strategic approach to school improvement planning
• improve student achievement outcomes and attendance, particularly for Māori learners and boys
• take steps to further promote a positive, safe and inclusive environment for all learners
• continue to build partnerships with iwi, hapū and whānau to improve learning opportunities and outcomes for Māori students.

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

Within three months:

• the board, together with leadership, identify a small number of student achievement improvement priorities 
• develop an action plan with strategies, responsibilities, measures of success and timeframes 
• investigate, analyse and respond to the key areas of need identified in the student wellbeing survey
• continue to build iwi, hapū and whānau connections to support the integration of mātauranga Māori principles into teaching and learning programmes in relation to te reo Māori, me onā tikanga Māori and te ao Māori.

Every six months:

• continue to build teacher capacity to use progress and achievement data to identify and respond to learner needs
• identify next learning steps and develop schoolwide data management systems and processes to support teachers to do this
• evaluate the measures put in place to promote a safe and inclusive school environment and adjust planning and implementation/practice as needed
• collaboratively review and develop schoolwide expectations for effective teaching and learning across the curriculum, including integration of te reo Māori, me onā Māori and te ao Māori across the school
• report to the board on progress, achievement and attendance from Years 9 to 13. 

Annually:

• review and reset the strategic priorities for student achievement and attendance in annual implementation planning
• review longitudinal data to understand shifts in trends and patterns of student attendance, progress, achievement and wellbeing to monitor the sustainability of improvements
• evaluate the impact of the agreed teaching and learning practices and professional development
• use agreed measures to monitor the progress and achievement of Māori students and integration of te ao Māori across the school curriculum.

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

• improved regular student attendance, achievement outcomes, particularly for Māori and boys
• a clear, manageable, aligned and targeted school improvement strategy and planning implementation
• a positive and inclusive environment with increased levels of student engagement
• clear and consistent expectations for evidence-based teaching and learning practices.

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

2 October 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