Roslyn 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

Roslyn School is a full primary located in Palmerston North. The school aspires to achieve positive outcomes for all learners and their community. They seek to develop a sense of pride and progress for learners in their academic, cultural, behavioural, social and developmental learning.

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 previous ERO report of September 2022, the school has focused on evaluating how well delivery of the school’s literacy curriculum achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for learners in Years 1 to 4.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Purposeful student engagement in learning and a positive progress for learners in Years 1 to 4 in literacy.

• Students engage successfully in early literacy learning, make positive progress in reading, and develop sound foundational knowledge.

Robust use of assessment information to meet the many different needs of learners.

• Comprehensive literacy assessments have been implemented over time that provide accurate information for staff to plan, track and report learner progress and achievement.

The schools’ localised curriculum is documented over time to reflect shared expectations for teaching and learning in delivery of the literacy curriculum.

• Comprehensive expectations of teaching and learning of structured literacy ensure learners experience consistent practice matched to their individual needs.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is the implementation of a structured approach to literacy. This approach has strengthened teaching practice and reflected increasingly positive outcomes for learners across the school.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• The majority of learners achieve at curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Māori learners achieve similar outcomes to their non-Māori peers in reading and disparity in mathematics at the beginning of 2024 has reduced mid-year; gaining equitable outcomes for Māori learners in writing is an identified priority for the school to address.
• The school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education’s attendance target for regular attendance; a range of well-considered actions taken by the school has impacted positively; the number of learners identified with chronic or moderate absenteeism in 2024 has reduced.
• Learners’ cultural heritage is acknowledged and celebrated, fostering wellbeing in a highly inclusive learning environment; students have a strong sense of belonging.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders have established sound organisational structures and processes that support a collective response to achieve the school’s strategic goals and targets.
• Learner outcomes, engagement and achievement have improved as the result of senior leaders use of evidence to inform relevant priorities.
• Leaders effectively facilitate professional learning and development (PLD), and guide teaching teams, to strengthen conditions for positive learning and engagement. 

• Positive interactions between teachers, students and their peers to encourage purposeful learner engagement.
• Well considered development of the school’s curriculum priorities has strengthened opportunities for students to engage in purposeful learning.
• The school’s curriculum reflects and values the distinctive cultural heritage of learners; students see, hear, and experience contextual learning, that celebrates mātauranga Māori, value Pacific identity, and is inclusive of the wide range of cultures in the school.

• Strategic goals and targets align relevant priorities to achieve positive outcomes for learners and meet the aspirations of the community.
• Board members reflect and serve their community well in delivery of their key roles and responsibilities; reported information is used appropriately to inform resourcing decisions, reflecting the needs of learners and staff.
• Effective co-ordination and resourcing of learning support ensures a comprehensive response for students identified with additional and complex needs.
• Parents and whānau are welcomed in an inclusive environment; opportunities are suitably provided to give, and receive information, to support learner outcomes.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• leaders, teachers and trustees continue to implement existing strategies and explore further opportunities to strengthen student attendance
• staff continue to embed structured literacy approaches, and monitor and gather individual and team data to evaluate the impact on learner outcomes over time
• curriculum leaders, in conjunction with an external PLD provider, will develop a consistent structured approach in delivery of writing, that raises achievement and addresses the current disparity for Māori learners.

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

Within six months:

• leaders will continue to gather and analyse attendance information to evaluate the impact of their actions on raising attendance
• leaders will gather and analyse progress information in reading and writing to determine the impact of teaching and learning on improving learner outcomes

Annually:  reporting and framing further actions? 

• leader’s statement of variance will report the impact of embedding structured literacy approaches on outcomes for learners
• leaders will gather information from staff and students to evaluate how well changes in delivery of a structure writing approach is reflective of agreed expectations and impacting on reducing disparity and raising achievement.

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

•  improved rates of attendance continue to increase and are sustained over time
• effective teaching and learning in approaches to structured literacy ensures learners develop comprehensive knowledge and skills that achieve positive achievement outcomes
• shared approaches in delivery of the revised writing curriculum ensures effective teaching and learning practices achieve equitable outcomes, raise and sustain overall achievement.

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

16 September 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