Marco 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 

Marco School is a full primary school located in the small rural community of Whangamomona, Eastern Taranaki and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision of providing an environment to support learners achieve and become valued participants in society is guided by the values of respect, communication, participation, confidence and self-management.

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 progress and achieve well.

• Achievement information shows that almost all learners in mathematics and most learners in reading and writing achieve at or above the expected curriculum level; outcomes for learners in reading and writing show some inequity for boys. 
• Regular monitoring and reporting of student progress shows that Māori learners progress and achieve at similar rates to their peers.
• An inclusive and positive school environment supports student wellbeing and sense of belonging.
• Most students attend regularly, and overall attendance is above the Ministry of Education target.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders foster a collaborative teaching culture and continually work towards the provision of high-quality teaching.

• Leaders set evidence-based improvement goals and targets with focus on increasing the progress and achievement of learners at risk of not achieving.
• A system to monitor and analyse student progress and achievement is in place to inform strategic priorities and purposefully address barriers to learning.
• Leaders and teachers build positive relationships with other education providers to increase student opportunities for learning and success.

Teaching is intentional and highly responsive to the needs of learners.

• Teachers use inclusive practices to promote a collaborative learning environment that fosters increased student participation and engagement in learning.
• Learners are encouraged to engage, inquire and apply new learning within a supportive, positive learning environment.
• Teachers developed individualised learning programmes and use effective teaching approaches and resources, to support learner success and achievement.

Key conditions continue to be strengthened to support improved outcomes for learners.

• Leaders and teachers respect and value working in partnership with parents, whānau and the wider school community to improve outcomes and opportunities for learners; their views are actively sought.
• The board and leaders are strengthening self-review processes to ensure alignment between policy, procedures and practice.
• Leaders and staff engage in ongoing professional development to build teacher capability and integration of te reo ona tikanga, mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori knowledge.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• sustain and continue to improve learner achievement in reading and writing, particularly for boys
• adopt an evaluation framework to increase the use of internal evaluation schoolwide to support ongoing improvement
• continue to build leaders and teachers’ capability, responsiveness and confidence in te reo me ōna tikanga Māori (Māori language and its cultural practices).

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

Within six months:

• teachers to review and share best teaching practice to support learner success
• review and develop a systematic way to monitor the progress and impact of key improvement actions
• explore and use a framework to evaluate current teacher practice and collect baseline data for improving te reo me ōna tikanga Māori.

Every six months: 

• moderate, monitor and report on the progress and achievement of all learners, with a particular focus on reading and writing
• use assessment information to adjust programmes and practice to achieve greater progress and achievement for learners
• review and monitor how well teachers are increasingly integrating quality te reo me ōna tikanga Māori throughout the implementation of the curriculum.

Annually:

• review and analyse achievement information, including the perspectives of whānau and learners, to identify initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating progress and achievement for all learners 
• analyse and report schoolwide achievement data to the board, to strategically plan actions that will continue to sustain and improve achievement and learner outcomes.

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

• improved and sustained learner progress and achievement in reading and writing
• strengthened schoolwide systems and embedded internal evaluation practices that effectively use multiple sources of evidence to determine the impact of actions and deliberate decision making on the outcomes for learners
• teachers effectively supporting learners to value, progressively acquire and use te reo me ōna tikanga Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum.

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

30 September 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