Bell Block 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 

Bell Block School, Te Kura o Mangati is located just outside of New Plymouth. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. A new Deputy Principal joined the leadership team at the beginning of 2024. The school’s vision is known as ’The three A’s: Ability, Attitude and Action’ and is supported by recently revised values and principles.

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 learners are achieving at or above expected levels in reading; the large majority are achieving at or above expectation in writing and mathematics. 
• Achievement outcomes in reading, writing and maths are increasingly equitable; information shows that learners have a strong sense of belonging, have high expectations for behaviour, and engage in meaningful learning.
• Most learners attend regularly; Ministry of Education targets for regular attendance are met.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leadership strengthens professional practice through team inquiry that continually improves the provision for learning; leaders maintain high expectations of each other, their staff and students.
• Leaders take a considered and evidence-based approach when developing schoolwide strategies to improve outcomes for all learners.
• Leadership roles have been expanded and extended, enabling effective progress towards meeting school priorities.

• Teachers know their learners well; useful evidence is collected and increasingly used to respond to learners’ strengths and needs. 
• Students have a wide range of opportunities to engage, experiment and apply new skills; consistent, focused literacy and mathematics teaching, alongside specialist teaching in technology, science and physical education ensures learners experience the full breadth and depth of The New Zealand Curriculum. 
• Learners with additional learning needs have a range of effective interventions in place to help meet identified needs. 

• Parents and whānau opinions are respected and actively sought to guide ongoing development and strategic improvement.
• Regular monitoring and reporting to the board about student attendance, learning and behaviour usefully informs decision making and resourcing.
• Leadership is taking steps to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, increasingly developing partnerships for learning with Māori community. 
• Leaders use internal evaluation processes well; quality evidence and community voice help the school to continually improve.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• further develop coherent schoolwide practices by using the school’s vision, values and principles to enhance learner success 
• strengthen systems and processes to support consistency of understanding and practice in literacy and mathematics across the school
• deeply inquire into what works to support Māori to achieve success as Māori, particularly in writing and mathematics
• further support parents and whānau to be active partners in their children’s learning.

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

Every six months:

• continue to report learner outcomes in achievement and progress, attendance, wellbeing, behaviour, and learning needs to the school’s board for scrutiny 
• evaluate and report progress made on the school’s te reo me ōna tikanga Māori action plan.

Annually:

• report learner outcomes to the school’s community to show progress made against annual goals, inclusive of achievement and progress, attendance, wellbeing, behaviour, learning needs, and te reo me ōna tikanga Māori action plan
• continue to collect, analyse and use relevant community feedback to help prioritise strategic intent.

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

• further improvements in learner achievement, progress, attendance and engagement
• parents and whānau having clearer knowledge of how to support their children in their learning
• te reo me ōna tikanga Māori is normalised across the school and evident in classroom practice.

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

16 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