Waiouru 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 

Waiouru School is a Year 1 to 8 school located on the Waiouru Military Camp in the Ruapehu district. The school’s motto is ‘Ekea tō tāpuhipuhi; Climb to the highest peak, strive for success.’ The Waiouru Way is underpinned by the school’s Mana values; Manaakitanga, Aroha, Ngākau Tapatahi and Ākonga.

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 July 2022, ERO and the school have been working together to evaluate how effectively teaching practices support learners to accelerate their achievement and progress in literacy.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Teachers and leaders knowing what is working, what is not working, who for and what needs to change.

• Teachers, leaders and trustees are increasingly using a range of information to determine what is working and what is not working so that improvements can be made.
• Achievement information is more reliable and available to use to track improvements over time and identify accelerated rates of progress; there is evidence of improved rates of achievement across the school in reading, writing and mathematics are evident.

Curriculum design and delivery ensures every learner makes sufficient progress to achieve curriculum expectations.

• Consistent approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics are in place across the school and guided by relevant documentation; teachers increasingly use reliable assessment information to respond to identified learning needs.
• Assessment information for literacy and mathematics indicates improved achievement levels across the school; targets have not yet been reached but there is increasing progress toward these.

The classroom environment is managed so that learners are supported to participate and engage in their learning.

• Leaders, teachers and learners have embedded the ‘Waiouru Way’ using the school’s Mana values to underpin behaviour expectations; settled, consistent and well managed environments support learning in all classrooms across the school.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the understanding of structured literacy has supported a more consistent approach to teaching reading and writing across the school.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been teachers’ understanding and use of structured literacy approaches and assessment, to enhance the teaching and learning of reading and writing 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 expected levels in literacy and mathematics, with some disparity remaining for boys in writing.
• Learners who need additional support are identified through reliable assessment and responsive intervention is provided through internal and external expertise; progress is evident for these learners.
• Recent wellbeing information shows that most learners feel secure at school.
• Systems to support regular attendance at school have been improved; rates of regular attendance are increasing but are not yet at Government targets.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders make considered decisions for staff development to continually build the capacity of the whole team and foster a positive team culture.
• Leadership is increasingly shared to enrich and build capability across the teaching team.
• Leadership effectively prioritises relationships within and beyond the school; this builds trust, extends networks and increasingly involves whānau in decision making.

• Known systems and processes support the consistency of teaching, particularly for literacy and mathematics; teaching teams work effectively together to improve student outcomes.
• Ongoing curriculum development is enriched by the local and unique environment and expertise; embedding te ao Māori, te reo and mātauranga Māori to further enhance the curriculum experience for learners is a priority.
• Exploring ways to encourage and support learners to be more actively involved in their own learning (learner agency) is a next step.

• The board’s strategic plan is responsive to community needs and feedback; the board receive reliable information from the school to help them know that they are progressing their strategic intent and are meeting their governance responsibilities.
• Whānau appreciate the increased opportunity to be actively involved in the school; both formal and informal opportunities have been increased to encourage whānau partnership in learning.
• Active community engagement in the school is a strategic intent; strengthening existing partnerships, including those with whānau Māori, should enhance decision making.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue to develop teacher capacity for assessment analysis and use, to plan responsive and programmes for learning
• foster greater student agency in learning and promote learning partnerships with whānau
• continue to strengthen and normalise the use of te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori across the school
• refine and strengthen ways to improve regular attendance rates across the school.

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

Every six months:

• leaders analyse and report progress, achievement and attendance data to trustees to support scrutiny of outcomes, decision-making and use of resource.

Annually:

• leaders analyse and report to the board annual outcomes of wellbeing, learner agency and te reo Māori progress
• the board reports progress made against strategic goals to its community
• trustees consult with the school community to ensure that their strategic intent is meeting the needs of the community; the board adjusts priorities where necessary.

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

• measurable improvements in outcomes for all learners in achievement, progress, attendance, engagement, wellbeing, learner agency and te reo Māori
• greater understanding and use of assessment and outcome information to inform teaching and leadership decisions
• improved learner agency and partnerships in learning.

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

19 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