Barton Rural 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 

Barton Rural School is a full primary school located in Timaru and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8.

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 

Since the previous ERO report of July 2022, the school evaluated the impact of the development of the local curriculum and teaching practice for improving student achievement, engagement and wellbeing outcomes.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Excellent and equitable achievement outcomes for all students.

• Some students have made accelerated progress and overall student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has improved.
• More girls achieve at the expected level in literacy than boys.
• Almost all Māori students achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics.

A local curriculum that has a clear focus on meeting the abilities, needs, skills and interests of students.

• The school has consulted families and reviewed its local curriculum to align with the refreshing of ‘The New Zealand Curriculum’ and be more responsive to students’ needs and interests.  

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the greatest shift that occurred was the embedding of structured literacy, the incorporation of local history and contexts and use of coaching to build teacher capability and effectiveness.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Most students achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading and writing; improving student achievement in mathematics is a focus. 
• Teachers use a wide range of effective programmes and individualised approaches that support groups of learners to make accelerated progress. 
• Most students attend school regularly; strategies that improve attendance have been developed and implemented. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders establish and communicate high expectations for quality teaching that support consistency and effectiveness of teaching practice.
• Targeted professional learning for teachers aligns to the school’s strategic priorities and the needs of learners.
• Leaders promote and participate in professional learning that grows the capability of all staff to support and improve student achievement and engagement.

• Well embedded structured literacy approaches support teachers to further improve student achievement in reading and writing.
• Curriculum design, planning and teaching is responsive to student's needs, strengths, and interests.
• Consistent teaching practice in mathematics to improve outcomes has been identified as a school focus.

• Respectful relationships between staff and students promote student wellbeing, inclusion, and engagement in learning. 
• Tikanga Māori and te ao Māori are strengthened through the delivery of the local curriculum.
• Leaders and teachers develop partnerships with parents and whānau to inform learning opportunities within the local curriculum.

• Leaders and teachers use data and evidence to strengthen schoolwide processes and practices for continuous improvement in student outcomes. 
• Leaders promote community collaboration and partnerships to inform the development of strategic planning. 
• Internal evaluation systems and processes use evidence, such as achievement and wellbeing data, to support strategic decision-making.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• embed and evaluate schoolwide structured literacy programmes to continue to respond to students’ identified strengths and needs and improve outcomes
• review the mathematics programme and source professional development to implement a school wide approach to teaching mathematics and improve learner progress and achievement 
• strengthen relationship-based learning, using coaching, that is responsive to staff and student feedback.

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

Within six months:

• all staff will engage in professional development to support the improved teaching of mathematics
• review the mathematics local curriculum and develop a school wide plan for implementation
• all staff will receive coaching to build teacher capability and effective practice

Annually:

• gather and analyse assessment data to inform next steps for learning and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programmes
• evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented strategies to improve attendance
• review the impact of teaching and learning programmes on achievement outcomes to know what has been successful and what needs further improvement to inform ongoing strategic direction. 
• gather staff, student and whānau voice to respond to identified needs and aspirations of stakeholders.

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

• improved achievement in literacy; continuity of structured literacy approaches across the school and increased capability of staff to teach literacy
• improved achievement in mathematics through the development of a consistent approach to deliver a balanced mathematics curriculum tailored to meeting students’ learning needs
• strengthened teachers' capability and confidence to more responsively plan, teach and assess students learning. 

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

5 August 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