Waverley Primary 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 

Waverley Primary School is in South Taranaki. The school caters for students in Years 1 to 8. The school aspires to achieve positive outcomes for all learners and their community.

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 October 2022 ERO report, the school has focused on strengthening teaching practice to ensure parity and excellence for all learners.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

An improved achievement trajectory in reading, writing and mathematics for learners and accelerated progress for students working toward curriculum expectations.

• Achievement outcomes overtime show a positive trajectory in reading, writing and mathematics. Learners targeted in all three areas showed accelerated progress at the end of 2023.

Improved assessment practice that further strengthens teaching, learning, and reporting practices.

• Improved assessment tools and practices have been used. Data is appropriately used by leaders and teachers to plan, report, and progress the achievement of learners.

Effective teacher practice reflects their collective participation in professional learning and development (PLD) and collaborative practice. 

• Teaching practice suitably reflects their collective participation in a range of well-considered PLD. Agreed expectations are increasingly evident in classroom practice.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action, is greater consistency in the delivery of junior literacy and mathematics that has impacted positively on accelerating the progress of targeted learners in 2023. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes for learners are increasingly equitable and excellent.

• Many students achieve curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. 
• A recognised disparity in the achievement and attendance of Māori learners is an identified priority for leaders, teachers, and trustees to address through their planned actions. 
• Learners with additional and complex needs are appropriately identified and programmes and interventions are tailored, to meet their diverse learning and engagement needs.
• Inclusion and wellbeing practices encourage learners to participate positively in learning. 

Conditions to support learner success

Cohesive and collaborative leadership appropriately guides continuous improvement.

• Leaders use relevant internal and external expertise to facilitate ongoing development of their curriculum priorities and build the capability and practice of teachers to improve learner outcomes. 
• Distributive leadership provides sound knowledge in managing and facilitating ongoing improvement of internal systems, processes, and curriculum practice to strengthen outcomes for learners, parents and whānau.

Teaching is increasingly reflective of the school’s agreed expectations for effective classroom practice.

• Teachers know students well: learning opportunities are tailored to meet the specific needs of individuals.
• Teachers and support staff show a commitment to building their capability and practice and implement new learning and approaches, in response to the needs of learners.
• Classroom conditions suitably encourage the positive engagement of students in learning.
• Curriculum design and delivery provide a wide range of experiences and opportunities for learners to meet their interests and support their engagement in learning. 

Planning for improvement uses relevant information from a range of sources to establish strategic goals aligned to achieving equity and excellence for all learners.

• Leaders, teachers, and trustees seek the aspirations of parents and whānau in setting annual and future goals aligned to their shared vision for learner success. 
• Strategic planning sets appropriate goals to guide ongoing development aligned to strengthening curriculum delivery and continuing to foster successful outcomes for learners, parents, whānau and their community.
• Information provided to trustees ensures their resourcing is matched to their identified priorities and clearly focused on achieving their collective vision for learner success. 

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• ensure leaders and teachers identify at risk learners and develop relevant achievement and attendance targets to accelerate progress and raise the attendance of individuals
• increase the schools collective understanding of barriers to regular attendance, establish and share practices and solutions with parents and whānau to ensure positive attendance contributes to learner success
• further develop curriculum delivery and practice to strengthen the inclusion of te ao Māori and te reo Māori.

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

Within three months:

• leaders will gather information from parents, whānau and students to determine the barriers for learners identified with poor attendance and respond through planned actions to strengthen engagement outcomes
• use information gathered from self review of Poutama Reo and develop a plan that establishes relevant actions, aligned with expected outcomes, to guide and monitor continuous improvement
• leaders and teachers will review the school’s professional growth cycle for teachers and collaboratively develop goals and targets; these targets to be inclusive of those for Māori learners and to align their curriculum and achievement priorities for successful learner outcomes.

Every six months:

• leaders, teachers, and trustees will review attendance data for learners targeted at risk of poor attendance and evaluate the success of their actions to inform changes that adapt to the emerging needs of learners, parents and whānau
• leaders and teachers will analyse progress, attendance, and engagement of targeted learners to identify learners on track and adapt plans to address the barriers to success: this information will be reported to trustees, parents and whānau of individual learners
• school protocols, actions and practice established to reflect the school’s strategic intent to deliver a culturally responsive curriculum.

Annually:

• leaders will gather relevant attendance and engagement information from stakeholders to evaluate the impact of their actions in addressing the barriers to regular attendance at school
• leaders will review the action plan based on Poutama Reo to determine the outcomes for teachers and learners, aligned to their expected outcomes, and use these findings to plan for continuous improvement
• leaders will gather information in relation to learner progress to evaluate the impact of strategies on achieving learner success; this information is to include analysis of teaching practice, attendance, and student and whānau voice. 

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

• success in promoting positive attendance, accelerating the progress of targeted learners, and achieving equitable and excellent outcomes through intentional targeting of learners and deliberate actions 
• delivery of the Waverley Primary School curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts in ways learners can see themselves, their identity and culture
• effective evaluation, gathered from a range of sources and aligned to schools identified goals and targets, which determines the impact of the school’s intentional actions to address identified disparities for equitable and excellent 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

10 May 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