Taoroa 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

Taoroa School is a rural primary school, located in the Rangitikei district. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is for learners to be connected, engaged and empowered and for them to be at the centre of learning, having barrier free to learning that is supported by quality teaching and leadership.

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 majority of students make sustained progress over time.

• A large majority of learners achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics, the majority in writing; focus remains on ensuring equity and improving writing outcomes for all learners.
• Learners needing extra support are identified and provided with successful additional support to learn and make progress towards achieving their goals.
• Many target students have made accelerated progress in reading and writing.
• Most learners attend school regularly, almost meeting levels expected by the Ministry of Education; staff work closely with families to encourage regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is effectively embedding improvement strategies aligned with school priorities and works collaboratively with staff towards improving learner outcomes.

• Leaders have set specific improvement goals and targets to support acceleration of progress for those learners at risk of underachievement.
• Learners’ engagement, progress, achievement and wellbeing are monitored regularly and 
  well-supported to continually improve by school-wide systems.
• Leaders’ consistent focus on building positive partnerships with whānau, hapū, iwi, and the local schools’ network supports students to access an increasing range of learning opportunities.

Learners experience a meaningful curriculum, supported by explicit and responsive teaching.

• Local contexts and mātauranga Māori are increasingly reflected throughout the curriculum; education outside the classroom is meaningfully incorporated. 
• Teachers provide students with a wide range of authentic and culturally responsive learning opportunities within an inclusive environment.
• Consistent and effective teaching practice is well-supported by professional development, aligned to the school’s strategic goals that promote student wellbeing and achievement.

Well established systems and processes support continuous improvement for learners.

• Relational trust across the school and its community increasingly supports whānau to be valued and respected partners in their children’s learning.
• Trustees are involved in comprehensive strategic planning that prioritises positive learning and wellbeing outcomes; they seek high levels of parent and community voice to support this process.
• Staff are strengthening the ways that they collect, analyse and interpret achievement and wellbeing data that supports a timely response to students’ learning and wellbeing needs.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• review and evaluate current assessment tools and schedule, to determine the effectiveness for teaching and learning
• continue strengthening teaching capability through professional development that supports improved learning and wellbeing outcomes for all 
• continue to accelerate learning for all, particularly those who are underachieving
• continue to work with mana whenua to develop the local curriculum.

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

Within six months:

• review and evaluate assessment tools used currently to determine their usefulness
• use the learnings from writing professional learning and development in teacher practice and class programmes
• work with mana whenua and Kāhui Ako to further develop and implement the localised curriculum
• investigate programmes that will further enhance the achievement of extension learners.

Every six months:

• leaders and teachers track and monitor student wellbeing, attendance, progress and achievement outcomes to know the impact of improvement programmes
• report to parents their child’s progress, achievement and wellbeing outcomes
• report to the Board outcome information for attendance, wellbeing and achievement. 

Annually:

• student achievement and progress information are analysed for trends and patterns, reported to the community and used to inform progress towards improving learning and wellbeing outcomes for all students
• evaluate to what extent key priorities and goals have been met to inform forward planning.

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

• accelerated learning in writing and improved equitable outcomes for all
• revised and streamlined assessment schedule that supports overall teacher judgements
• localised curriculum documentation being further developed to guide teaching practice and learning programmes.

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

10 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