Review 28 April 2025
LatestSchool 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.
About the School
Arthur Miller School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school has approximately 300 learners, with close to 70% identifying as European and Pākehā and 17% of learners of Māori descent. The school’s vision of Towards Excellence is underpinned by three core values of Kia Manaakitanga | Be Caring, Kia Mahitahi | Be Collaborative, Kia Pākiki | Be Curious.
Part A – Parent Summary
How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. |
| How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
| How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | School planning and conditions to support high quality education for learners are driving excellent school performance. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
| How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range of information gathered through community consultation, to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
| Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
Achievement in Years 0 to 8
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
| Reading | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners. |
Attendance
The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is reducing over time.
Assessment
The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
Progress
The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.
An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Guide to ERO school reports
Part B - Findings for the school
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Areas of Strength
- Learners have a strong sense of belonging, wellbeing and pride in their school; they experience a positive and inclusive learning environment that supports their interests and cultures.
- Learners who are not yet meeting curriculum expectations are well known and raising their achievement is a key priority for leaders and teachers.
- Teachers use a range of relevant achievement and wellbeing information to inform their planning and teaching, responding effectively to learner needs.
- Senior leadership builds and sustains high levels of relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school community that supports progress against strategic goals and improvement priorities.
- Leaders and teachers are embedding a structured approach to literacy schoolwide; the implementation of structured mathematics is a focus for 2025.
- Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the curriculum and engage with contexts that are meaningful to the local area, fostering their strong sense of belonging.
- Professional development is well aligned to the school’s strategic priorities and effective in growing teacher knowledge and skills, enabling improved outcomes for learners.
Key priorities and actions for improvement
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
- embed structured literacy and mathematics approaches schoolwide, continuing to build teacher knowledge and practice to enhance and improve achievement outcomes for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics
- refine the school’s best practice approaches to teaching and learning to align with the new curriculum and assessment developments
- monitor strategies to sustain and further improve regular attendance.
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within six months:
- provide professional development for teachers to strengthen their knowledge and skills in teaching structured literacy and mathematics approaches
- further inquire into student achievement information to understand the barriers for groups of learners who are not yet achieving at curriculum expectation, planning for accelerated progress and achievement.
Every six months:
- gather and analyse student voice and a range achievement information to measure the impact of targeted teaching on the progress of learners who are at risk of not achieving
- review the alignment of teaching and learning approaches in mathematics with the new curriculum and assessment developments, identifying next steps
- evaluate the impact of strategies used to further improve students’ regular attendance and report to the board, collaborating on where to next.
Annually:
- review and report to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement information of all learners to inform ongoing strategic decision making and planning
- evaluate progress with embedding structured teaching approaches in literacy and mathematics to identify ongoing staff professional development and resourcing.
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
- equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics
- effective high quality teaching practices in literacy and mathematics embedded schoolwide
- sustained and improved regular student attendance.
Part C: Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Board Administration
Yes
Curriculum
Yes
Management of Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Personnel Management
Yes
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 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
Director of Schools (Acting)
28 April 2025
Education Counts
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home