Putorino 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 

Putorino School is a Years 0 to 8 country school north of Napier. The school’s vision is to develop ākonga to show respect, act with integrity, and achieve excellence in all they do.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: 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 B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• In 2023, achievement information shows less than half of students achieve at or above curriculum expectations for reading and writing and half in mathematics.
• School collected data shows learners clearly progress; moderation of students’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics is a priority, to ensure levels of achievement are more accurately gauged.
• Learners have a strong sense of belonging, promoted by positive teaching and learning relationships.
• The school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education target for regular student attendance; absence is closely monitored, areas of concern identified and students and their whānau are supported by to engage.

Conditions to support learner success

• Strategic planning and improvement goals, developed in collaboration with the community, board and staff are focused on equitable and excellent outcomes.
• Professional learning and development for the principal and staff aligns well with the school’s improvement focus and makes a positive difference to practice; the impact on learning is adequately reported to the board.
• Students at risk of not achieving are clearly identified, have targets set, well monitored and their progress is regularly checked.

• Students have a curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts and provides a range of activities, so they see themselves in their learning; reviewing the local curriculum to include more local knowledge is a planned next step, affirmed by ERO’s evaluation.
• Teachers’ capacity in using structured literacy and mathematics approaches is growing and supporting learners’ academic achievement.
• Assessment information is used to plan for, adapt teaching practice and report the progress and achievement of each learner; moderating with colleagues in other schools for the accuracy of data about learner achievement is a next step.

• The principal, teachers and board seek and use input from the school community in setting future goals and priorities that clearly guide ongoing school improvement and learner success.
• Strategic planning sets appropriate goals to guide ongoing development aligned to strengthening curriculum delivery and continuing to foster successful outcomes for learners.
• Sufficient information is provided by the principal to the board so that resourcing decisions are aligned to their well-established priorities for learner success.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• monitor and analyse patterns of attendance and work with the community to understand the impact of absences on progress and achievement
• strengthen assessment practices, including moderation, and data analysis for more in-depth understanding of the progress and achievement of all students
• evaluate the impact of improvement strategies on learner progress and achievement outcomes and the ongoing effectiveness of professional develop programmes.

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

Within three months:

• set and analyse achievement targets focused on improving regular attendance and accelerating the progress of students in reading, writing and mathematics
• implement schoolwide systems and processes to track and monitor accelerated progress and achievement of students

Every six months:

• use appropriate tools and assessment procedures, including moderation practices, and check data is accurate and valid; using this data ensure students at risk of not achieving are identified and plan specific responses to support their progress
• report to the board the progress and achievement of students in relation to accelerated progress and strategies that improve regular school attendance
• evaluate progress and achievement data with a particular focus on the ongoing impact to reading, writing and mathematics programmes
• continue to encourage the involvement of the community in the local curriculum review

Annually:

• evaluate and report attendance, progress and achievement to the board to inform future strategic improvement priorities
• evaluate and report to the community the effectiveness of strategies and approaches to improve high levels of attendance
• the principal and staff review and evaluate the impact of teaching programmes and assessment practices to ensure they are fit for purpose, effective and achieve ongoing learner success 
• evaluate the progress in implementing its local curriculum and the extent to which the community have been involved.

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

• improved levels of learner achievement and attendance
• increased community input into the local curriculum
• effective evaluation, using evidence gathered from a range of sources and aligned to the school’s identified goals and targets to sustain and improve rates of learner progress and achievement.

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

11 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