Durie Hill 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 

Durie Hill School, located in Whanganui, has students in year 1 to 6. The school seeks to inspire learners to be connected, engaged, and empowered, achieving their potential, and motivating their desire for on-going learning. A new principal was appointed in 2023. 

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 July 2022 ERO report, the school has focused on implementing effective teaching and learning in literacy to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for learners. 

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Effective teaching and learning of literacy, reflective of new approaches and strategies, gained through involvement in professional learning and development (PLD).

• Teachers’ implementation of structured literacy approaches, and intentional teaching strategies, are increasingly impacting positively on learner engagement, progress, and achievement. 

The localised curriculum reflects shared expectations for literacy teaching and learning and culturally responsive practice.

• Documentation of the school’s localised curriculum is continually developed overtime to reflect the school’s shared expectations for effective delivery of teaching and learning. 
• Culturally appropriate learning contexts, including accessing resources in the local community, are increasingly included as part of learners’ experiences at school.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action is the implementation of structured literacy approaches achieving increasing progress and achievement outcomes for learners.  

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Many learners, including Māori students, achieve curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Most learners targeted in literacy and mathematics in 2023 achieved positive outcomes with some learners accelerating their progress, particularly evident in the reported outcomes for learners involved in approaches to structured literacy.  
• A range of well-considered attendance strategies, including timely communication with parents, and whānau, ensures regular attendance for most learners. 
• Inclusion and wellbeing practices collectively revised in partnership with parents and whānau further strengthen positive learner engagement for all learners and foster their collective sense of belonging. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders collectively analyse and consider the effectiveness of systems, processes, and practice to inform evidence-based changes and address the needs of learners. 
• Leaders effectively guide teacher practice and facilitate the implementation of approaches aligned to their shared expectations for curriculum delivery that meet the individual needs of learners.
• Leaders implement thorough processes to identify and respond to learners with additional and complex needs, a wide range of well-considered strategies and approaches support learners' individual goals.  

• Learners benefit from highly collaborative staff who regularly share and apply new learning to build their collective practice.  
• Students participate in a range of meaningful learning opportunities through the design and delivery of well-planned curriculum contexts and experiences. 
• Learner engagement is increasingly strengthened by staff affirming positive behaviour and implementing shared expectations to encourage a climate reflective of their shared values.

• Learner outcomes benefit from recently increased opportunities for parents, whānau and their community to meet and share information. 
• Trustees receive relevant and timely information, ensuring their resourcing decisions clearly reflect their collective vision learner success.  
• An established spiral of inquiry process appropriately supports teachers to trial agreed strategies and evaluate outcomes aligned to improved outcomes for learners. 

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen existing partnerships, and build relationships in the school and with the wider community, whānau and iwi, to further promote learner success
• build practice and share strategies to foster positive wellbeing, promote hauroa, and support learners' inclusion in school
• use models of effective practice and ongoing provision of professional learning and development (PLD) to build the collective capability and capacity of staff to further promote improved progress, achievement, and attendance for all learners and those working toward curriculum expectations.  

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

Within six months:

• implement, and increasingly embed, the newly revised professional growth cycle (PGC) to monitor and support staff in achieving key performance outcomes aligned to the teacher standards for professional practice
• continue to provide collaborative opportunities for staff to further strengthen shared approaches in delivery of literacy approaches, engagement strategies, and build their cultural capabilities to benefit outcomes for learners
• team leaders will facilitate development and implementation of a progressional te reo Māori framework, providing a cohesive strategy, in promoting the cultural learning and success of all learners 
• leaders will collate, analyse, and share Wellbeing at School outcomes, and other relevant engagement information with stakeholders, to inform shared expectations to strengthen the engagement, wellbeing, and Hauora for learners.

Annually:

• leaders will monitor and report the progress, achievement, and attendance of all learners and those working toward curriculum expectations
• leaders will use outcomes from the PGC and spiral of inquiry to evaluate the impact of teaching and classroom practice to accelerate the progress of targeted learners and sustain ongoing improvement in reading, writing and mathematics achievement
• leaders, teachers, and trustees will systematically gather relevant information from stakeholders to evaluate the impact of actions for strengthening learner engagement and wellbeing at school
• team leaders will gather evidence to evaluate the impact in delivery of te reo Māori for improving learner outcomes.   

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

• teacher practice reflects agreed strategies and approaches and effectively delivers a student-centred, culturally responsive curriculum, achieving the school collective vision for learner success
• staff, parents, whānau and learners demonstrate consistent knowledge and support for the school’s shared values, fostering a positive school culture, and promoting confident, connected, and engaged learners
• the school, parents, whānau and the community are inclusive partners that contribute their funds of knowledge to their agreed vision for learner success.

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 July 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