Verran 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

Verran Primary School in Birkenhead, Auckland provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. Students come from an increasingly culturally diverse local area.

In November 2022, a Limited Statutory Manager was appointed to support the school board with financial management. This was revoked in December 2023. A new principal was appointed in Term 3, 2023. 

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 students, including Māori and Pacific learners, achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading and mathematics, while a majority achieve at or above the expected level in writing.
• School practices are inclusive of all students, they engage, access the curriculum, and achieve success. 
• Attendance rates meet the Ministry of Education 2024 target as most students attend regularly and engage in meaningful learning.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leadership sets and pursues improvement goals and targets for learners at most risk of not achieving and closely monitors outcomes for key groups of students to track their progress.
• Staff regularly engage in professional learning aligned to the school’s strategic goals, improving teaching and learning and outcomes for all learners.
• Leaders continue to support teachers to develop their capability and confidence in mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori to improve better learning opportunities for all students.

• Teachers know their learners well and help them, through a variety of teaching approaches and techniques, that meet their individual learning needs.
• Individual student needs are met through well-planned teaching programmes in an engaging learning environment that promotes their success.
• Teachers use assessment processes effectively to adapt their teaching practice and identify, monitor and report on learner progress and achievement.

• Learner success and wellbeing underpins all school whānau interactions and promote positive learning partnerships.
• The board actively monitors finances to ensure that school managers direct resources to improve learner outcomes. 
• Staff develop their evaluation capacity through inquiry and knowledge building practices that promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. 

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue providing professional learning and guidance for teachers to deliver structured literacy approaches to improve outcomes for learners
• continue to build teachers’ capability, responsiveness and confidence in mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori
• strengthen the school’s localised curriculum so that all learners have a sense of belonging and connection to the area and know that their cultural identities are valued.

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

Within three months:

• continue with staff professional learning in structured literacy approaches across the school
• leaders will read and discuss the Poutama Reo ERO resource and work with their cultural capabilities facilitator to develop an action plan to use this resource.

Every six months:

• assessment information through participation in structured literacy approaches will show student engagement, progress and achievement against their learning goals
• school leaders will use the Poutama Reo framework to guide the development of the provision of Māori language schoolwide.

Annually:

• leaders will review and evaluate the impact of structured literacy approaches on improved outcomes for all learners
• leaders, teachers and the school community will evaluate the content of the school curriculum to see if it meets the needs of all learners
• leaders, teachers and students will review their knowledge and skills of te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori using the Poutama Reo framework continuum.

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

• clear and explicit literacy teaching that follows a scope and sequence throughout the school in order to improve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners
• schoolwide consistency in the delivery of an inclusive, culturally responsive local curriculum
• te ao Māori being seen, heard and evident in the school environment.

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

4 September 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