Rere 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 

Rere School is a rural school located west of Gisborne that provides education for children in Years 1 to 8. A new principal was appointed in 2023. The school’s vision is to develop the whole child; enabling personal excellence. Supporting this vision are the values of respect, resilience, confidence, self-management and manaakitanga.

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 

The school is working towards achieving equitable learning outcomes for all students.

• Most learners achieve well in reading and writing and almost all achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in mathematics; for improved equity in outcomes, attention is needed to Māori students’ outcomes and for boys in writing.
• Students learn within an inclusive school culture and have a strong sense of belonging.
• Attendance information shows that the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance has been achieved; strong attendance is valued and supported by close relationships between the school, parents and whānau.

Conditions to support learner success

School leadership works collaboratively and strategically with staff and community to set and pursue improvement goals focused on learner outcomes.

• Leadership effectively uses a range of evidence, including from community consultation, to identify, pursue, and monitor improvement goals.
• Leadership fosters a culture committed to high quality teaching, supported by professional learning opportunities aligned to school goals that are learner focused.
• Leadership increasingly forges educationally powerful connections and trusting relationships with the wider school community, including iwi, to enhance the delivery of the local curriculum.

The school’s curriculum and teaching practices are increasingly responsive to students’ learning needs, interests, and cultural identities.

• Learning takes place in collaborative, respectful and affirming environments; ensuring consistency of literacy teaching practices as students move between classrooms and levels is an identified next step.
• Assessment information is increasingly used to plan for, evaluate and report the progress of learners and to adapt teaching practice; teachers are strengthening the use of success criteria in supporting students to reflect on their learning progress. 
• Students have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of The New Zealand Curriculum with many opportunities to engage, within and beyond the school, in a range of learning, cultural, sporting and wellbeing activities.

School conditions increasingly align and support successful outcomes for learners. 

• The school has effective systems for data collection and is embedding the ability to analyse data to track and monitor the progress of all students.
• The school is progressing partnerships with iwi and mana whenua to build the capacity of staff and the board to undertake culturally responsive practices.
• The curriculum increasingly reflects local contexts and the aspirations of the community for their children.
• Leaders and teachers use increasingly effective strategies to reduce barriers to education and support access of learning for all students.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• embed literacy practices school-wide to improve outcomes in literacy for Māori students and for boys in writing, and to ensure consistency of teaching and assessment practices as students transition between classrooms 
• strengthen assessment for learning practices to inform teaching and to support student ownership of their learning 
• review the local curriculum, including monitoring the implementation of the te reo Māori programme
• collaborate with the school community to develop a Rere Learner Profile, and to ensure that meaningful and useful information about student progress, in relation to national expectations, is reported to parents and whānau.

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

Within six months:

• undertake school-wide professional development in structured literacy 
• continue professional development in assessment for learning, with a focus on quality feedback and feedforward, especially in writing, that supports student ownership of their learning
• implement a te reo Māori programme that is integrated with the local curriculum
• commence consultation with parents, whānau and iwi regarding future school direction, including reporting options and the development of a Rere Learner Profile.

Every six months:

• report attendance, progress and achievement information to parents, whānau and the board, to influence decision making about teaching and learning going forward
• inquire into the impact of teaching on the achievement of Māori students in literacy, and boys in writing so that successful initiatives are identified and practice adjusted if required, to accelerate student progress
• critically review the implementation and outcomes of the local curriculum for all learners, including progress made in te reo Māori teaching and learning to ensure consistency of quality practices school-wide.

Annually:

• use a range of data to analyse, evaluate and report on learner progress towards achieving school improvement priorities
• collaborate with students, parents, whānau, iwi, staff and board to celebrate success, and identify strategic goals.

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

• consistently high-quality teaching and assessment practices across all classrooms and improvement in the achievement of Māori students in literacy, and boys in writing
• learners who experience success across the curriculum and who can explain their learning and their next steps 
• shared understanding between home and school of what student progress looks like and how learning goals can be enhanced by collaboration
• students participating in an integrated te reo Māori programme and building their te reo Māori capability.

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

16 July 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