Rotokauri 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 

Rotokauri School is located in Hamilton and provides education for students in years 1 – 8. The school vision is articulated as: together we grow; together we learn.

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 experience positive learning outcomes.

• The large majority of students achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics, with Māori students achieving at comparable levels to their Pākehā peers.
• Senior students have lower levels of achievement in mathematics and writing than junior students.
• The school is almost meeting Ministry of Education attendance targets overall; however, senior students have significantly lower rates of attendance than junior students.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is increasingly well-placed to bring about the key improvements to enhance and sustain positive learning outcomes.

• Leadership has developed a useful foundation to guide effective teaching practice to support equitable outcomes for learners.
• Clear schoolwide systems and processes for planning, and for identifying and responding to target students has been developed.
• Student achievement data is regularly analysed, and student progress is monitored.
• Areas for individual and schoolwide professional development are identified and are beginning to be addressed.

Aspects of the school’s curriculum and teaching practices are inclusive and supportive of diverse student learning and wellbeing needs.

• Classroom routines and expectations for positive behaviour are well-established and relationships among teachers and students are respectful.
• Students with additional needs are supported to learn alongside their peers.
• Further development is needed to integrate te ao Māori into the curriculum.
• Assessment is not yet being consistently and effectively used to support students’ knowledge about their learning.

Evaluation processes are beginning to be used to identify areas for school improvement and to drive decision-making about action plans.

• Regular surveys of students and parents help school leaders identify improvement priorities.
• A range of achievement and pastoral care data is regularly collected and analysed.
• Evaluation processes need to include systematic monitoring of programmes, interventions, and practices to understand their effectiveness on improving student outcomes.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• review the school’s curriculum to recognise the unique position of Māori within New Zealand society, and build teacher capability to integrate te ao Māori, including te reo, into teaching practices
• increase schoolwide knowledge, understanding and use of effective assessment, including high-quality formative assessment and feedback
• take action to increase the rate of senior students’ regular attendance
• strengthen evaluation processes to include systematic monitoring of the impact of strategic improvement actions.

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

Within three months:

• identify individual and collective professional development needs related to building capability in te ao Māori and effective assessment-for-learning practices
• identify strategies and plan actions to increase senior student attendance.

Every six months:

• provide a targeted professional development programme for teachers in response to their identified strengths and needs
• review the school’s curriculum to identify where and how to increase meaningful integration of te ao and mātauranga Māori
• monitor and report to the board on the impact of student attendance strategies.

Annually:

• evaluate the impact of strategic improvement actions, including the extent to which:
• teachers are implementing effective practice to respond to students’ needs 
• student understanding of their own learning has increased
• te ao Māori is evident in the enacted curriculum
• senior student rates of attendance have improved.

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

• a curriculum that better reflects the place of Māori in New Zealand
• increased student engagement in and understanding of their learning and next steps to make progress
• improved rates of attendance for senior students.

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

28 May 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