Cloverlea 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 

Cloverlea School in Palmerston North, provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision ‘A nurturing environment where children strive to succeed’ is supported through its LEGEND values of Lead - Ārahi, Excellence – Kairangi, Organised – Nahanaha, Resilience – Manawaroa, Inclusive – Kotahitanga, and Determined – Rae Pakari.

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

The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

• The majority of students are achieving curriculum expectations in reading and mathematics; less than half are achieving expectations in writing.
• Disparity for boys is evident in reading and writing; addressing this is an identified priority by the school.
• Students know and express the school values and have a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing, promoted through well-established restorative practices.
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school is working towards achieving the Government’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is collaborative and strategic for continuous improvement.

• Leadership values and nurtures a professional culture committed to high quality teaching and professional growth and development that supports ongoing improvement in teaching and learning.
• Leadership promotes clear expectations for teaching and learning through regular professional learning that is tailored to the needs of staff and students and aligns to the priorities of the school.
• Leaders have high expectations for staff and students and communicate in clear and supportive ways that ensure a positive school experience for all.

Curriculum design and teaching practices are increasingly responsive to learner’s needs, interests and cultural identities.

• Innovative curriculum design, including intentional teaching and learning approaches, responds to learners’ strengths, interests and needs.
• Expectations for high quality teaching are clearly outlined in the curriculum; expectations increasingly guide consistent teaching practices and promote engagement in learning.
• Staff increasingly integrate te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori through the curriculum, providing learners with a broad range of learning opportunities; learners successfully lead schoolwide mihi whakatau and pae korero.

Key conditions are increasingly embedded and aligned to support learner success.

• Connections with whānau and iwi promote close partnership between the school and families and a strong sense of belonging.
• Leaders work systematically and collaboratively with teachers to regularly evaluate learning programmes and initiatives that inform planning and decision making.
• Learners with additional needs are well supported through tailored programmes; their progress and achievement are closely monitored against personalised learning goals.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• further embed agreed school teaching practices into the writing curriculum to improve progress and achievement for all learners in writing, particularly boys
• continue to embed te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori schoolwide in partnership with mana whenua
• continue to engage with the school community to identify and implement strategies to improve regular attendance.

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

Within six months:

• teachers develop and implement agreed teaching practices focused on improving learning outcomes in writing, especially for boys
• leaders and teachers continue reviewing current strategies in use for addressing attendance concerns to identify what is working and what is not.

Every six months:

• continue professional learning, especially in writing, to engage students in their learning and to improve their learning outcomes
• implement agreed teaching, learning and assessment approaches across the school to further improve the consistency of teaching and learning in writing
• review the impact of initiatives on student attendance to inform and implement further actions.

Annually:

• analyse student attendance, progress and achievement information; report to the board and the community and use findings to adapt strategies for ongoing improvement
• trustees scrutinise achievement and engagement reporting to inform improvement priorities and resourcing decisions
• teachers share best teaching practice in writing across the school, to promote excellent and equitable outcomes for students.

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

• improved outcomes for all students in writing with reduced disparity for boys
• teachers consistently using effective strategies in writing
• students attending regularly.

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

Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools (Acting)

4 April 2025

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