Otonga Road 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

Otonga Road School - Te Kura o Tihiōtonga is located in Springfield, Rotorua. It caters for students in Years 1 to 6. A new principal and leadership team has been appointed since the previous ERO review. The school’s whakatauki is ‘Mā te kōtahitanga e ngā hau e whā, ka kaha, whakatupu ngātahi tātoa, united by the four winds, we grow stronger together.’

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 achieve at or beyond the expected curriculum level in reading and writing with some variance in achievement for Māori and Pacific boys in writing and girls in mathematics.
• Almost all students achieve at or beyond the expected curriculum level in mathematics; strategies to accelerate the progress of a small number of students to reach these expectations are in place.
• Students and families report a strong sense of belonging in a positive and welcoming school environment.
• The school has exceeded the Ministry of Education attendance target and continues to develop strategies to improve attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders use a wide range of research informed evidence to coherently plan and successfully monitor the school’s strategic priorities.
• Schoolwide leadership ensures effective planning, coordination and evaluation of the school’s curriculum and teaching.
• Leaders identify and respond to teacher professional development needs; this successfully supports the implementation of the school’s strategic plan.

• The localised curriculum is well planned to offer a wide variety of rich learning opportunities in response to student needs and interests.
• Students have a collaboratively developed individualised progress plan that supports their learning at school and strengthens home school partnerships; additional learning needs are supported. 
• Teachers create respectful and caring learning environments that enhance student participation and engagement.

• Leaders and teachers affirm, value and cater for diverse identities, languages and cultures of students, parents, whānau and families.
• Staff engage with and contribute to professional education networks to build and share their knowledge and expertise.
• The school is strengthening and embedding authentic partnerships with mana whenua.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• further extend the reporting of progress and achievement data to more fully understand learning trends and patterns of specific groups of students to enable more targeted responses
• strengthen the quality of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities 
• evaluate the use of learning dispositions in line with the school’s graduate student profile to determine the impact on student achievement and wellbeing. 

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

Every six months:

• report trends and patterns of achievement for all groups, including learners of English language and Pacific students and identify specific responses to any gaps in achievement 
• gather student voice about experiences of te ao Māori in the school environment and plan an agreed response to the feedback to inform teaching programmes
• gather student voice in relation to learning dispositions to understand how well the shared language of learning is embedded and useful; plan an agreed response to the feedback.

Annually:

• continue to monitor achievement data against school goals to inform improvement priorities, particularly for those students who are not yet at the expected curriculum level
• use an agreed monitoring process to review and report on how effectively teachers are integrating te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori in the classroom
• review the use of learning disposition strategies and the contribution their use has made to active involvement in their learning and improving outcomes.

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

• a refined understanding of student achievement trends and patterns to inform and support targeted responses to the needs of particular individuals and groups of learners 
• increasing parity in outcomes for Māori and Pacific boys in writing and girls in mathematics 
• classroom environments rich in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori, to support the growth in language, culture and identity of all students
• enhanced levels of student engagement and active involvement in their learning. 
• sustained levels of regular attendance.

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

17 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