Omakere 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 

Omakere School, a rural school located in Central Hawkes Bay, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision Growing Empowered Learners is underpinned by the values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and hauora, and supported by focus on environmental awareness.

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 effective teaching practices are consistent with culturally responsive and relational practices to improve outcomes for priority learners

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Effective culturally responsive practices that engages and promotes student learning and a sense of belonging. 

• Leaders and teachers have individually and collectively engaged in professional development to normalise and are beginning to grow the use of te reo and tikanga Māori across the school; this continues to be an area for ongoing development. 

Acceleration of progress and achievement of all priority learners particularly Māori. 

• A relentless focus on improving equity for priority learners has improved outcomes for most learners. 
• Māori student achievement continues to improve over time; these learners achieve and progress at similar rates to their peers.

Strengthened student wellbeing, agency and leadership. 

• A wellbeing framework underpins student goal setting; students are increasingly supported to actively monitor their own learning and wellbeing. 

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Outcomes are increasingly equitable for most learners.

• Most learners achieve at or greater than the expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; mid-year achievement information for 2024 indicates a continued trajectory of improvement for all learners. 
• Groups of learners make accelerated progress through a wide range of effective programmes and individualised approaches. 
• Students benefit from an inclusive school environment; they are well supported through practices that values their feedback and contribution to decisions taken by the school. 
• Most students attend school regularly in relation to the Ministry of Education target; strategies that improve attendance have been developed and implemented, including building positive relationships with parents and whānau. 

Conditions to support learner success

Well established leadership practices support ongoing improvement in teaching and learning. 

• Leaders have and communicate high expectations for quality teaching and learning with a relentless focus on accelerating progress of learners at risk of not achieving. 
• Well-analysed achievement information effectively informs leaders’ decision making that improves student outcomes, including the development of coherent mathematics and structured literacy approaches across the school.
• Leadership fosters a culture of relational trust at all levels of the school that provides conditions for collaboration that contribute to positive student outcomes. 

Teaching is intentional and responsive to the many different needs of learners.

• Learners are effectively supported to engage, inquire, problem-solve and apply new learning within a positive and supportive learning environment.
• Teachers know learners well and work together to provide purposeful, well-paced evidence-based learning programmes; they use a range of effective strategies to support access to learning.
• Teaching and learning is guided by a coherent, well aligned curriculum; students access a wide range of learning opportunities increasingly responsive to their needs, strengths and interests.

Systematic and well aligned school conditions support a carefully planned approach to school improvement.

• Internal evaluation systems and processes use evidence from a range of sources to support strategic decision-making and to know where improvement is needed.
• Students with additional learning needs are identified, closely monitored and well supported through schoolwide systems and processes, and positive relationships with external agencies; they make good progress in their learning. 
• The board represents and works well with the school community to develop the school’s vision and strategic direction, community aspirations are valued and inform student outcomes.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to continue: 

• the relentless focus on accelerating the achievement of identified learners at risk of not achieving
• to further integrate and strengthen te reo and tikanga Māori across the school and in everyday classroom practices
• to monitor interventions and actions for impact to know what is working for whom and why; strengthen communication with parents and whānau about the outcome of these actions
• to monitor the impact of strategies to increase and sustain regular attendance. 

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

Every six months:

• monitor the progress of learners at risk of not achieving and the impact of key initiatives on learner outcomes; meet with parents to share outcomes and strengthen learning partnerships
• monitor the impact of te reo and tikanga Māori professional development to strengthen integration into classroom programmes
• review and evaluate progress against targets and actions in the school’s annual plan, including attendance targets, to inform next steps to improve learner achievement, success and engagement.

Annually:

• analyse achievement data to evaluate the impact of learning programmes on accelerating progress for identified learners at risk of not achieving and report the outcomes to the board
• evaluate the impact of professional development of te reo and tikanga in strengthening in the integration Māori in classroom programme 
• evaluate the impact of strategies used to improve attendance and engagement to inform next steps.

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

• high levels of student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics sustained overtime
• te reo Māori and tikanga Māori embedded consistently across the school 
• accelerated progress and achievement of identified priority learners 
• the school meeting or better than meeting, the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance. 

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

23 October 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