Churton 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

Churton School, located in Whanganui, provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision ‘our Churton values ensure our Churton future’ are underpinned by the values of ‘Manaakitanga (respect), Manawanui (resilience) and Whanaungatanga (relationships)’. A new principal was appointed in Term 1, 2024 and a newly established board is in place.

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

• Achievement information shows that most students in reading and writing, and a majority of students in mathematics achieve at or above the expected curriculum level.
• Students know and express the school values and show a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school.
• Attendance information shows a majority of students attend school regularly, the school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education’s 2024 target; leaders and teachers work alongside and support whānau to improve the attendance rates of all learners.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders and teachers are taking steps to review and improve how they collect, analyse and interpret assessment information to gain more accurate insights into whole school progress and improving equitable outcomes for all learners.
• Leaders have implemented focused observations of classroom practice and collective inquiry into aspects of teaching and learning programmes to better support learner progress and achievement.
• Leaders and teachers increasingly use evaluative capabilities to better know and understand the impact of initiatives and strategies for improving learner outcomes.

• Staff know learners well; students requiring additional in-class learning support are identified and provided with effective assistance to progress learning.
• Learning environments have well-established routines; respectful relationships and clear expectations result in calm learning-focused classes.
• Teachers and leaders demonstrate a culture of learning and reflection that informs effective teaching and learning practices to meet the needs and interests of all learners.

• Leaders and staff promote a positive school culture with a clear focus on improving learner engagement and wellbeing.
• The board, leaders and teachers act on evidence in relation to learner progress, attendance and wellbeing.
• Parents and whānau are respected for what they bring to their child’s learning; their views about school improvement are encouraged and valued.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• strengthen use of achievement information to effectively inform teaching practice and improve achievement outcomes for all learners, particularly in mathematics
• increase whānau engagement in their child’s learning and partnerships with the school to improve attendance
• revise the school's assessment and self-evaluation procedures to enhance continuous improvement and ensure equitable outcomes for every student.

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

Within six months:

• review planning, learning and assessment practices to support and promote greater consistency across the school
• work with whānau to assist understanding about the importance of regular attendance, and the correlation between attendance and academic progress and achievement
• review and develop a systematic way to monitor the progress and impact of key improvement actions

Every six months:

• further monitor and use assessment information to refine teaching practice and programmes to achieve accelerated learner outcomes, particularly in mathematics
• continue to track, monitor, analyse and report on attendance, progress and achievement for groups of learners at risk of not achieving

Annually:

• analyse, evaluate and report on schoolwide achievement data to the board to strategically plan actions that will continue to improve attendance and learner outcomes
• collectively review and analyse achievement information of target learners to identify initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating progress and achievement, particularly in mathematics.

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

• consistency of effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide
• improved achievement for all learners, particularly in mathematics, with improved equity of outcomes
• improved and sustained levels of attendance
• enhanced internal evaluative practice that effectively use multiple sources of evidence to assess the impact of actions.

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

3 December 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