Hastings Central 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 

Hastings Central School provides education for students in Years 1 to 6 and is in Hastings. The school’s vision’ Inspiring our Tamariki to Succeed and Grow’ is supported through the values of manaakitanga, kotahitanga, mana motuhake and piringatanga.

The school hosts two attached units for Kowhai Specialist School.

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 March 2022, the school has focused on evaluating how effectively the school’s approach to learner agency is supporting students to be active participants in their own learning.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Students understand the purpose of their learning goals; able to articulate them and know what to do to improve their achievement outcome.

• Students know their learning goals and are increasingly able to monitor their learning through data walls and share their progress with parents and whānau; this continues to be a strategic priority.

Focused and purposeful interactions with teachers.

• Teacher’s interactions with students have become increasingly learning focused and purposeful. 
• The importance of developing positive relationships and using effective teaching strategies to engage students in the learning process is prioritised. 

Other Findings  

During the course of the evaluation, leaders acknowledged that their own thinking about learner agency and how learners can actively lead their own learning continued to evolve. It remains a strategic priority. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

• The majority of students achieve at curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; improving equity for boys, and Pacific students remains a priority.
• Student achievement information requires further analysis to establish a school-wide picture of achievement and to identify how well groups of learners are achieving. 
• Students speak positively about their school, display a sense of belonging and are supportive of each other. 
• Less than half of students attend school regularly and the school is yet to meet Ministry of Education 2024 national attendance target; strategic actions have improved regular attendance and continue to be a priority. 

Conditions to support learner success

Well established leadership supports ongoing improvement in teaching and learning. 

• The senior leadership team works collaboratively to set and pursue well aligned improvement goals focused on improving equity in outcomes for learners.   
• Annual planning is accompanied by clear outcome statements to provide the board and staff with guidance and measures to support school improvement.
• Targeted professional learning for teachers is aligned to the school’s strategic priority and working well to improve outcomes for learners. 

Curriculum, teaching and learning are strongly underpinned by the school values.

• Learners see themselves, their identity and culture reflected throughout the local curriculum; they regularly and enthusiastically use a digital platform to share and involve their families in real-time learning. 
• Teachers continue to embed agreed teaching and learning strategies consistently that support the many different needs of learners. 
• Staff know learners well and work together to provide a wide range of purposeful curriculum experiences that broaden students' learning. 

Key conditions including organisational systems and processes are aligned and embedded.  

• Productive relationships with agencies and professional networks including Kāhui Ako promote effective approaches to enhancing positive behaviour, learning and wellbeing outcomes. 
• Professional learning opportunities, and monitoring of planned changes in teacher practice and student outcomes, are deliberate and aligned to strategic priorities. 
• School leadership is responsive and focused on developing positive partnerships for learning with students and whānau.
• Learners’ wellbeing is promoted through respectful relationships, the school values and well-established restorative practices.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen the analysis and use of student achievement information to inform teaching and learning and increase equity for all learners
• continue to embed agreed teaching and learning strategies consistently in reading, writing and mathematics that support the different needs of learners
• continue to support students to have ownership of their learning and develop the skills necessary to become independent learners 
• monitor and continue to work towards meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance. 

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

Every six months: 

• analyse student achievement information to understand how well groups of students are progressing across the school 
• monitor how well agreed teaching and learning strategies are being embedded across the school with a focus on literacy in years 4 to 6.

Every six months:

• evaluate the impact of actions taken to increase percentage of students attending school regularly.

Annually:

• report to the board about progress of target learners and schoolwide progress and achievement
• analyse achievement data and report to the board about progress of target learners and schoolwide progress and achievement
• regularly gather student feedback and ideas to evaluate effectiveness of strategies used to sustain active participation in their own learning
• review and report the effectiveness of agreed teaching and learning strategies and the impact on learner outcomes.

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

• dependable achievement information that contributes to a schoolwide picture of achievement
• improved equity for identified groups of learners through embedded teaching and learning strategies in literacy and mathematics
• students able to monitor their own learning progress and contribute to key decisions taken by the school 
• an increase in the percentage of students attending school regularly.

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

17 December 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