Te Kura o Wairau

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 

Te Kura o Wairau is a school located in Palmerston North and provides education for students in 
Years 1 to 6. The school’s whakatauaki Ma matou te Wairautanga e whakaoti is underpinned by the values of Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, and Kaitiakitanga.

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 achieving equitable learning outcomes for all learners. 

• Achievement information for 2023, shows the majority of learners achieved at expected curriculum levels in mathematics, with less than half in reading and writing; Pacific learners achieve above their peers in mathematics.
• The school recognises, and ERO’s evaluation affirms, that improving students’ progress and achievement in reading and writing is a priority, particularly for Māori learners in reading and mathematics and boys in writing.
• Less than half of students attend regularly and attendance is well below the current Ministry of Education target; an attendance target has been set, an action plan to support a relentless focus on improving attendance is a next step. 

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership sets and actively pursues relevant improvement goals and targets aligned with school priorities that reflect the community’s aspirations for children.

• Leadership has well established partnerships with whānau and iwi; collaboration informs the school’s strategic direction.
• Leadership is strengthening relational trust and effective collaboration at all levels of the school to achieve improvement goals, with focus on learner outcomes.
• Leadership is aligning policies, programmes and practices to promote learners’ wellbeing, engagement in learning, and confidence in their identity, language and culture.

Leadership and teachers are establishing a responsive cohesive curriculum and setting clear expectations for teaching and learning.

• Te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori are increasingly woven through learning programmes to support learners’ culture, language and identity.
• Learners in Years 1 to 6 are well supported to develop sound foundation skills in mathematics; strengthening effective, evidence based, literacy teaching practices is a key area to improve learner outcomes. 
• Appropriate assessment information is beginning to be used to plan and adapt teaching practice and report the progress and achievement of each learner; this continues to be an area for further development. 

School conditions to support change priorities and sustainable practices are being established.

• Schoolwide professional learning and development in mathematics is building teacher capability and consistency of practice across the school, to support improvement of outcomes for students. 
• The board works collaboratively, is improvement focused and supporting leaders to improve outcomes for learners.
• Leaders and teachers are strengthening effective strategies to reduce barriers to education and to support access to learning for all.
• Parents and whānau are increasingly provided with a range of opportunities to be involved in their child’s learning.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• develop and implement an action plan and seek support for relentless focus on improving attendance
• develop a responsive localised curriculum that provides clear guidance and expectations for planning, assessment, teaching and learning
• build teacher capability and capacity in effective, evidence based, teaching practices to improve learner outcomes for all students in reading and writing
• continue to strengthen the use of relevant assessment information to inform responses to learner needs, plan for targeted interventions, adapt teaching practices and measure the impact of these practices on learner outcomes.

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

Within three months:

• strengthen strategies and approaches that support attendance and assist the school community to understand the link between regular attendance and academic progress and achievement
• identify target groups of students at risk of not achieving in reading and writing, and plan specific interventions to support their progress; staff monitor and evaluate the progress of these learners.

Within six months:

• analyse attendance data and measure progress towards improving regular attendance at school
• use data to review targets and improvement actions and have measures to gauge the progress of learners at risk of not achieving
• prioritise professional learning and development in structured literacy for teachers
• continue the development of a local curriculum framework, including key statements for reading, writing and mathematics.

Every six months:

• monitor the effectiveness of strategies to increase and sustain regular attendance
• track, monitor, analyse and report progress and achievement of all students, with a particular focus on Māori learners, and adjust approaches accordingly
• review assessment practices and moderation for appropriateness and identify the impact of teacher practices on learner outcomes
• continue to engage and monitor the impact of professional development for teachers on raising student achievement in reading and writing.

Annually:

• use the analysis of progress, achievement and attendance information to know the impact of initiatives and professional learning on learner outcomes; know what is working or not and for who and make adjustments
• set annual targets using good quality baseline data to address the needs of those at risk of not achieving
• gather student, teachers and whānau voice and use this to evaluate how effectively teachers respond to the needs of students, particularly those students whose progress needs accelerating 
• evaluate the extent to which a responsive localised curriculum meets the needs and aspirations of learners and their whānau; continue to strengthen reciprocal relationships with iwi.

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

• growth in regular student attendance, leading to improved and sustained engagement in learning and progress and achievement
• clear guidance for schoolwide responsive planning, assessment, teaching and learning for a diverse range of learners through a cohesive curriculum 
• consistent and effective teaching, learning and assessment practices and improved outcomes for all learners, particularly in reading and writing
• data and evidence- based evaluation practices that inform school and classroom decision making.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education 

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education convenes a conference meeting to discuss the options for providing tailored support for raising attendance and student achievement. 

This will include:

• further growth in teaching capability to raise student achievement in reading and writing
• assisting the school to identify and put in place strategies that will improve attendance. 

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
Acting Director of Schools

3 February 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