Monrad - Te Kura Waenga o Tirohanga

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

Monrad - Te Kura Waenga o Tirohanga in Palmerston North, provides education for students in Years 7 and 8. The school endeavours to be a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led school and to grow successful young people. Tahuna-a-Rua (the school’s rumaki) and the Pacific language class are an integral part of the school.  

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

• Slightly more than half of the learners achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; slightly fewer Year 8, than Year 7 students, achieve at or above curriculum expectations in these areas.
• The school closely monitors attendance and data for 2023 shows most students attended school regularly; at the start of 2024 attendance is slightly below the Ministry of Education 2024 target for regular attendance at school.
• A wide range of school initiatives and collaboration with agencies support student wellbeing and readiness for learning. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders set and relentlessly pursue significant improvement goals and targets, with focus on target students who are identified as being at risk of underachievement; these students progress as expected, with some acceleration evident. 
• Leaders develop teaching teams, providing targeted support and professional growth opportunities in line with the school’s strategic goals.
• Leaders ensure planning, coordination and evaluation of the school's curriculum, teaching, and pastoral care, so that expectations for school-wide, high-quality teaching are clear and monitored. 

• Leaders and teachers are increasingly focused on supporting learners to gain sound foundational skills.
• Learners see themselves, their identity and culture in the curriculum; teaching practice and curriculum priorities reflect those of iwi and a genuine commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Leaders and teachers authentically demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership by understanding, recognising and celebrating the unique status of tangata whenua.

• Professional learning opportunities are well aligned with the school’s improvement goals and learner needs.
• Leaders and teachers use a wide range of effective strategies to reduce barriers to education and support access to learning for all.
• Leaders and teachers authentically and actively build trusting and respectful partnerships with Māori and mana whenua, parents and whānau, encouraging and valuing their contribution to board decision making for school improvement.
• Leaders and teachers are strengthening the ways they collect, analyse and interpret data to report to the board and inform decision making for school improvement, focused on learner outcomes. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• increase the number of students attending school regularly and showing accelerated progress so they achieve at and above curriculum expectations in reading and mathematics, and particularly in writing
• build teacher capability for high-quality, evidence-informed teaching to improve learner outcomes
• ensure teachers are consistently implementing professional learning about the effective teaching of writing, using agreed teaching tools and providing writing opportunities aligned with the school’s local curriculum. 

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

Within six months:

• school leaders and teachers closely analyse achievement and progress information for all learners, to implement differentiated programmes to accelerate progress of identified learners 
• as per the school’s 2024 Implementation Plan, leaders analyse and monitor attendance on a weekly basis, work with the learners and whānau to identify solutions, and use internal and external resources and services in a targeted and deliberate way
• teachers engage in targeted professional development about writing; and from this clear expectations are set for consistency in the teaching of writing and knowing the impact of practice on learner outcomes
• school leaders observe classroom practice and provide feedback and coaching through teachers’ professional growth cycle conversations

Every six months:

• analyse school-wide achievement and progress data and report to the board; strategically plan actions based on this information to improve the achievement outcomes for all students, with focus on those at risk of underachievement
• as per the 2024 Implementation Plan, leaders and teachers continue to monitor, track and use interventions and agencies to improve the attendance of learners who are chronically absent from school
• teachers engage in collaborative planning, and making and moderating assessment judgements
• gather and respond to student voice about attitudes towards writing 

Within a year:

• progressions for learning in writing by teachers are used to make and moderate assessment judgements
• teachers are implementing the school’s writing action plan to ensure explicit teaching of writing is embedded in teaching programmes
• professional learning about writing is having an impact on teaching and learning; student attitudes towards writing are more positive
• a literacy team is established; this team closely analyses and responds to literacy data, and leads school-wide professional learning

Annually:

• use the analysis of achievement and progress data, and other evidence, to know and report on the impact of professional learning on learner outcomes and know what is working for who, and make necessary adjustments
• review attendance data and interventions, analyse the impact of actions on students whose attendance was 50% or less, and make necessary changes to the school approach to attendance issues.
• gather teacher voice about the quality of the professional learning, feedback on observations and how this has impacted teacher confidence and skill.

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

• improved learner achievement outcomes, with an increased number of students achieving at or above curriculum expectations in writing, and sustained equity for groups of learners
• the percentage of students attending school regularly, according to the Ministry of Education targets, is met and sustained
• the agreed teaching tools and methods of assessment are consistently used by all teachers; high-quality, evidence-informed teaching for improved learner outcomes.

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

9 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