Puketaha 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 

Puketaha School is a semi-rural school located in the northeast outskirts of Hamilton. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is to equip students with the skills and knowledge to thrive and develop a lifelong love for learning. Leaders and teachers focus on supporting students to be confident, curious, creative and courageous learners who aim high and show care and respect to others.

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

Expected Improvements and Findings 

Since the previous report of June 2022, ERO and the school worked together to evaluate how well school conditions sustain equitable outcomes for all learners and support Māori students to achieve success as Māori.

The school expected to see deliberate actions implemented to enable students to have effective and equitable opportunities to learn and succeed as self-determined learners.

• The school’s strengthened approach to targeted action planning effectively addresses the specific needs of identified students and supports equitable opportunities to learn and achieve.
• A deliberate focus on building relationships with local mana whenua and increased communication with parents, families and whānau promotes and sustains positive partnerships for learning.
• A collaborative approach to implementing and evaluating strategic planning enables consistency of actions for continuous learner improvement and sustains high levels of school performance.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was the strengthening of a culturally inclusive curriculum that promotes meaningful learning for all students and enables Māori student success as Māori.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Almost all students are achieving at or above expected levels in reading and most students in writing and mathematics; target learners and students with additional needs make appropriate progress in relation to their individual goals.
• Māori students achieve highly in reading, writing and mathematics and at comparable levels to their non-Māori peers; boys and girls are achieving at similarly high levels in reading and maths and data over time shows boys’ achievement in writing is becoming increasingly equitable.
• Wellbeing data shows almost all students surveyed enjoy learning, have positive relationships with teachers and peers and report feeling safe at school.
• The school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s 2030 target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• High levels of relational trust and collaboration between leaders, teachers and the board enhance shared decision making for continuous school improvement.
• Comprehensive guidelines and expectations for explicit teaching and learning are regularly monitored and enable consistency of high-quality teaching practice across the school.
• A systematic approach to strategic planning for sustained school success is informed by a range of evidence and evaluation including the views of students, parents and whānau.

• Respectful relationships between teachers and students and a consistent approach to growing social and emotional competence contribute to positive school-wide behaviour and settled environments for learning.
• Highly detailed and differentiated planning is well informed through a range of assessment information and effectively responds to learners’ strengths and needs.
• Strengthened learning in te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori supports the holistic and cultural needs of Māori students and enriches authentic learning for all.

• Students at risk of not achieving are clearly identified and individual planning and interventions implemented to support their diverse needs.
• Leaders and teachers consistently analyse and interpret data to inform decision making, adapt teaching practice and celebrate student success.
• The provision of ongoing professional learning, coaching and mentoring strategically aligns to school priorities and enables teachers to effectively support learner progress and achievement.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to sustain high levels of overall achievement and challenge students to excel and achieve excellence
• extend the analysis of progress data to further inform actions for continuous improvement
• continue to enhance opportunities for all students to grow as self-determined learners and experience success.

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

Within six months:

• review the school’s existing curriculum expectations and progressions to align to the new priorities for teaching, learning and assessment
• consider ways to extend the provision of rich opportunities to foster and increase students’ ownership of their own learning

Annually:

• extend annual target setting and planning to include a focus on increasing the number of students achieving above expected levels
• collate, analyse and report on rates of progress for students at risk to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of actions to accelerate their learning.

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

• increased and sustained levels of equity and excellence in outcomes for all learners
• sustained high-quality internal evaluation for continuous improvement.

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

Sharon Kelly 
Acting Director of Schools

14 February 2025

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