Ross Intermediate

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

Ross Intermediate is located in Palmerston North and provides education for students in Years 7 and 8. The school vision is `Connect, Nurture, Grow’- Poipoia te kākano kia puawai’. A new principal was appointed in Term 2, 2024.

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 sustained, equitable outcomes for all learners.

• Achievement information for 2023, shows that a large majority of learners achieved at the appropriate curriculum levels in reading and mathematics with a majority in writing; improving equitable outcomes for Māori learners, and for boys in writing is a priority.
• Most students demonstrate a sense of belonging; all learners are well supported with positive relationships within a caring, inclusive environment that supports their wellbeing.
• A small majority of students attend regularly and the school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education targets for regular attendance; strategies to improve attendance are focused on building positive relationships with students and whānau as well as continuing to work with other agencies.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership deliberately builds a culture committed to quality teaching for improved learner outcomes.  

• Leadership promotes a culture of relational trust at all levels of the school, supporting conditions for collaboration and good quality teaching.
• Leadership is strengthening the collection and use of data to plan, monitor and evaluate the impact of improvement strategies on learner outcomes.
• Leaders support teachers to use their strengths across the school, promoting engagement of students in a wide range of purposeful learning, broadening their experiences and responding to their strengths and interests.

Learners are provided with teaching through a local curriculum that increasingly responds to their needs and whānau aspirations.

• Learners see themselves, their identity and culture reflected throughout the curriculum; te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori are increasingly woven through learning programmes.
• Learners are supported to engage, inquire, problem-solve and apply new learning within a positive and supportive learning environment.
• Teachers use a range of appropriate assessment information to inform teaching and learning; using this information to deliberately plan to respond to learners at risk of not achieving is a key next step.

The school is strengthening and aligning systems, processes and practices to promote positive outcomes for all learners.

• Established, reciprocal partnerships with whānau and iwi contribute to the local curriculum and decision making for improvement priorities.
• Staff engage in professional development that is clearly aligned to strategic priorities and strengthens a collaborative approach to teaching and learning.
• Students with additional learning needs are well identified and supported by schoolwide systems, processes and practices, and external agencies to engage and learn. 
• The board is regularly informed about student achievement, wellbeing, attendance to make improvement and resourcing decisions. 

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue the focus on improving attendance rates for all learners
• strengthen consistency in the quality of assessment and teaching practice across the school to improve equity for Māori learners and boys in writing
• implement a more systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of actions taken to improve learner outcomes
• continue to strengthen te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori across the school and in everyday classroom practices, giving greater effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

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

Within six months:

• evaluate the impact of assessment practices and teaching strategies to know what to continue with and what to change
• identify the extent to which professional development shifts teaching practice and the impact on student outcomes
• measure progress in teaching capacity and capability to integrate te reo me ōna tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori within the local curriculum
• monitor the effectiveness of strategies to improve attendance rates

Every six months:

• monitor the progress of identified target groups and the impact of key initiatives to improve equitable outcomes 
• monitor progress against targets and actions in the school’s annual plan, including for attendance, to inform next steps for learner achievement, wellbeing and engagement
• gather teacher feedback and ideas about the quality of professional learning and the impact on teaching, to identify next steps and to enhance confidence and practice

Annually:

• evaluate and report progress against the school’s annual plan, including attendance targets, to inform the next steps for improving learner achievement, wellbeing, attendance and engagement
• evaluate the impact of professional development to continue to strengthen the integration of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori in the curriculum
• monitor the impact of strategies to increase and sustain regular attendance.

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

• improved and increasingly equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners 
• consistent, effective teaching, learning and assessment practices; this includes data and 
  evidence-based evaluation to adapt and respond to all learners’ needs
• meeting or better than meeting the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance 
• te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and mātauranga Māori are effectively embedded within a responsive curriculum.

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

13 November 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