Newstead Model 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

Newstead Model School is a semi-rural primary school, located in Hamilton, that provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school has a close association with the Waikato University Faculty of Education, assisting with the training of future teachers. The school values are expressed as Kia mohio, kia whakaaro ai, whaka miharo e | I know, I think, I wonder.

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

• The majority of students are at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Achievement outcomes for Māori students are not yet equitable with their Pākehā peers, and there is significant achievement disparity for boys in reading and writing; nearly half of targeted students made accelerated progress in writing in 2023.
• Student survey data suggests that most students feel safe and respected at school.
• The school is exceeding the Ministry of Education target for regular student attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders set clear, evidence-based goals, and implement action plans that are well aligned to achieving desired improvement outcomes for students.
• Leaders build and sustain strong educational networks that support ongoing professional knowledge and growth.
• Leadership is strengthening the ways in which parents and whānau are consulted with and informed about their children’s learning.

• The school’s curriculum reflects the local environment and New Zealand’s bi-cultural heritage and offers a wide range of positive learning experiences for students.
• Students learn in settled and inclusive classrooms where well-established routines and positive, respectful relationships are evident.
• Teachers use a range of appropriate strategies to support and reinforce knowledge and skill-building, and to encourage students to be active participants in their learning.

• Targeted professional learning opportunities are increasing teachers’ knowledge and skills in strategic improvement areas, including the meaningful integration of tikanga, mātauranga and te reo Māori in the curriculum and strengthening the teaching of literacy.
• The board is strengthening its understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and regularly reviews a range of student achievement, engagement and wellbeing data.
• Data is collected from a range of sources to inform decision-making; a next step is to use achievement data at teacher, leadership and board levels to effectively respond to rates of progress for students at risk of not meeting expected curriculum levels.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• improve the achievement of Māori and boys, particularly in writing
• strengthen internal review in relation to knowing the impact of interventions and teaching strategies on accelerating the progress of at-risk learners
• regularly collect and review student progress data to better understand rates of progress for individual students, particularly at-risk learners
• continue to increase and sustain high levels of regular student attendance.

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

Within three months:

• review current systems to track and monitor student progress and achievement to ensure all at-risk learners are included and longitudinal data can be analysed to know rates of progress over time for individual students
• set and share clear expectations for accelerated progress of all at-risk learners, particularly in writing
• set expectations for teacher self-review in relation to the impact of their teaching on accelerating student progress

Every six months:

• monitor the quality and effectiveness of teaching strategies and targeted interventions in relation to accelerating student progress, particularly in writing
• review student progress and achievement data and adjust targeted teaching and interventions as necessary

Annually:

Report to the board in relation to:

• the annual and over time progress and achievement of Māori students and boys, including the levels of disparity for these groups
• how effectively teachers are responding to the needs of students, particularly those students whose progress needs accelerating
• rates of student attendance and trends and patterns over time.

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

• improved progress and achievement outcomes, and greater equity for Māori students and boys
• teacher practices that are increasingly effective in accelerating the progress of students who are at risk of not achieving expected curriculum levels.

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

13 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