Woodlands School (Opotiki)

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 

Woodlands School (Opotiki) is a semi-rural full primary school located near Ōpōtiki and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school vision supports and values students as lifelong learners.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: An evaluative summary of student 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.

Student Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes for learners are increasingly equitable

• 2023 achievement information shows that the majority of learners achieved at or above curriculum expectations in reading and writing; however overall outcomes for learners in mathematics were lower than those for literacy.
• Māori learners achieve as well as their non-Māori peers.
• Improved attendance rates for priority learners have been achieved through a strategic focus resulting in increased whānau engagement for learning.

Conditions to support student success

Leaders foster a culture committed to quality teaching and working towards equity in learner outcomes.

• Leadership is focused on strengthening consistency of teaching programmes to support expectations for quality teaching and learning.
• Leadership builds educationally focused relationships with education providers and community groups to support and increase opportunities for learning and success.
• Leaders are increasingly involving whānau and iwi in school decision making.

Teaching is increasingly intentional and responsive to the diverse needs of learners.

• Teachers are progressively integrating te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum.
• Learners needing additional support are identified and provided with increasingly effective assistance to progress their learning. 
• Teachers and leaders collectively inquire into aspects of teaching practice to support learner progress and achievement.

The school has well established conditions that underpin successful school improvement.

• Leaders and teachers are strengthening the use of information from a range of sources to plan for ongoing improvement. 
• Leaders and teachers facilitate regular opportunities for parents and whānau to engage in school life and to share their aspirations for learner success.
• The school has established programmes and processes to support, and regularly monitor, high expectations for positive behaviour and wellbeing.
• Strengthened partnerships with manawhenua support implementation of the school’s localised curriculum which is guided by Whakatōhea Maurua.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• enhance schoolwide consistency in the planning and delivery of literacy and mathematics
• strengthen understanding and use of assessment information in literacy and mathematics to enable teachers to refine and tailor learning programmes to most effectively meet learner needs
• establish collective and robust processes for teachers to regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of their teaching on learner progress and achievement
• strengthen the use of evaluative evidence and data to inform and enhance schoolwide decision making for improvement
• continue to focus on improving attendance rates for all learners.

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

Within six months:

• develop an action plan for schoolwide mathematics improvement that includes outcomes for success, timelines for monitoring and evaluating progress, and next steps for continued development 
• clearly identify teachers’ strengths and development needs and access professional learning to support consistency of quality mathematics teaching and learning and assessment practices
• establish robust processes to collectively monitor the impact of teaching, learning and assessment on target learner progress and achievement.

Every six months:

• monitor how well teachers’ knowledge and implementation of the mathematics programme is developing and impacting on learners’ progress 
• monitor how well teachers are using assessment information to guide teacher planning to ensure equitable and engaging opportunities for all learners to succeed in mathematics
• monitor the effectiveness of strategies used to improve attendance rates for all.

Annually:

• use progress and achievement data, along with whānau and learner voice, to evaluate the improvement in mathematics programmes for learning and to inform next steps
• evaluate how well collective monitoring processes have supported improvements in the quality of teaching and assessment practices, and improvements in outcomes for learners.

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

• improved levels of engagement, confidence and achievement outcomes for all students in mathematics
• strengthened content and assessment knowledge for teachers that enables them to adapt and refine programmes and practices to meet the needs of all students in their classrooms 
• embedded processes for collective and robust monitoring and evaluation of the impact of teaching and learning on learner progress and achievement
• strengthened systems and processes for gathering and using evaluative evidence to effectively inform and prioritise schoolwide strategic improvement. 

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all students. 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

22 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