Broadlands 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 

Broadlands School is a rural school situated within the Reporoa Valley, midway between Taupō and Rotorua and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6.

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 the previous report in July 2022, the school and ERO worked together to evaluate how well deliberate and responsive teaching processes in the school contribute to achieving valued outcomes for all learners.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Planned improvements in deliberate and responsive teaching and learning processes schoolwide, resulting in improved outcomes for priority learners. 

• The majority of learners achieve at or above curriculum levels in literacy and mathematics; inequity remains for some groups of learners and has increased for some learners. 
• Continuing to improve the consistency of deliberate and responsive teaching and learning practices to improve student outcomes remains a priority. 
• Positive connections continue to grow with local hapū and iwi, supported through the Kāhui Ako.

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that students are increasingly given opportunities for leadership as they progress through the year levels. Senior students value their leadership roles and responsibilities within the school. 

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

The majority of learners achieve at expected curriculum levels.

• Most learners achieve at and above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; schoolwide assessment information shows variable levels of improvement over time.
• Disparity in achievement is evident for some groups of students and reducing this, particularly for Māori learners, remains a priority for the school.
• Regularly analysed and reported wellbeing survey data is used to further strengthen an inclusive and supportive school environment.
• Student attendance improved during 2023 with a majority attending regularly; the school continues to work towards meeting the Ministry of Education attendance target.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders actively foster a culture committed to quality teaching and improving learner outcomes.

• Leaders continue to involve more whānau in sharing what outcomes they want for their children; this information should be used to inform school strategic planning priorities.
• Positive relationships with education providers and community groups supports students to access a breadth of high interest learning opportunities.
• Leaders are further developing robust systems and processes to strengthen the quality of teaching, learning and assessment practices, including the development of teacher professional growth cycle. 

Teaching is increasingly responsive to the differing needs of learners.

• A structured approach to the teaching and learning of literacy in the junior school is beginning to improve learner success in reading.
• Respectful and collaborative teacher-learner relationships support an inclusive environment and promotes student engagement in learning. 
• Systems enable teachers to work collectively to monitor and support learner progress and achievement and strengthen aspects of teaching practice.

The school continues to strengthen conditions that underpin ongoing school improvement.

• Leaders and teachers provide regular opportunities for parents and whānau to engage in school life; and are increasingly involving them as partners in their child’s learning. 
• Positive learner behaviour and wellbeing is enhanced through established schoolwide values programmes and many student leadership opportunities.
• The board effectively represents, serves and works with the school community to set improvement targets and resourcing decisions that support students’ wellbeing and increase student achievement.
• Leaders identified, and ERO affirms, that strengthening the use of data and evidence to better inform planning, monitoring and evaluation for improvement is a priority. 

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• improve outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics for all learners, with a particular focus on accelerated progress for those who are not yet meeting curriculum level expectations
• strengthen schoolwide consistency in planning and effective teaching and learning in literacy and mathematics
• establish robust processes for teachers and leaders to regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of teaching and learning practices on learner progress and achievement 
• continue to improve rates of regular attendance for all learners.

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

Within three months:

• develop improvement plans for literacy and mathematics that include monitoring and evaluating student progress, and next steps for continued improvement
• establish collective processes to reliably monitor and evaluate the impact of teaching, learning and use of assessment on learner progress and achievement 
• identify teachers' strengths and development needs in literacy and mathematics teaching to inform professional learning requirements.

Every six months:

• monitor the effectiveness of literacy and mathematics programmes and the resulting impact on learners’ progress and achievement
• monitor the effectiveness of additional board-funded initiatives in improving outcomes for learners 
• monitor and report on the impact of strategies used to improve regular attendance rates for all learners.

Annually: 

• evaluate improvements in literacy and mathematics outcomes for all learners and use this information to identify what is having the most impact and where further improvement is needed
• analyse patterns and improvements in attendance for all learners to identify next steps to continue to increase regular attendance rates for all learners
• evaluate how well collective monitoring and evaluation processes improves teaching, learning and assessment practices, and outcomes for at-risk and underachieving learners; to clearly understand strengths and areas of need, to prioritise further improvement
• determine the effectiveness of planned initiatives on positive outcomes for learners to guide strategic resourcing decisions for improvement. 

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

• improved progress, achievement and equitable outcomes for all learners in literacy and mathematics
• increased rates of attendance for all learners
• embedded school systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of teaching strategies on learners’ progress and achievement
• strengthened schoolwide internal evaluation processes to ensure organisational practices, resources 
  and strategic decision-making effectively respond to and improve outcomes for learners.

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

24 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