Waerenga-O-Kuri 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

Waerenga-O-Kuri School is a Years 1 to 8 country primary school west of Gisborne. The school’s vision is to foster learning within a community that protects, cares for and develops the whole child.

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, the majority of learners achieved at or above curriculum expectations for reading, writing and mathematics.
• Student wellbeing data and information shows a strong sense of belonging for all learners; an identified next step is to continue to encourage students to take ownership of their learning by providing more opportunities to set goals, make choices and reflect on their progress.
• Regular attendance is higher than the Ministry of Education target for 2024.

Conditions to support learner success

• The principal and staff actively promote a positive culture, with a clear focus on ensuring learners are engaged and know what is expected of them.
• The principal and staff adapt and change the school’s curriculum to best meet students’ needs; a next step is to review and evaluate teaching programmes for ongoing effectiveness and impact on student success.
• The principal and staff regularly monitor and analyse student progress and achievement data for increased equitable learner outcomes and working towards excellence.

• Students learn in a collaborative, well-resourced learning environment that provides multiple opportunities for them to practise literacy and numeracy skills. 
• Learners have a curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts and provides a range of activities, so they see themselves in their learning.
• A range of appropriate and good quality assessment information is used to plan for and report the progress and achievement of each learner, and increasingly to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching.

• The principal, teachers and board seek and use input from the school community in setting strategic priorities that clearly guide ongoing school improvement and learner success.
• Well considered strategic planning by the board and principal sets appropriate goals to guide ongoing development and strengthen curriculum delivery, to foster successful outcomes for all learners and their parents. 
• Information provided by the principal to the board ensures resourcing decisions are aligned to their established priorities for learner success.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• evaluate and review the current teaching programmes on a regular basis to enhance their effectiveness and ensure ongoing student success   
• encourage students to take ownership of their learning by providing opportunities to set goals, make choices and reflect on their progress
• maintain vigilance about attendance to sustain high levels currently evident.

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

Within six months:

• staff gather relevant information from learners to evaluate the impact of explicit instruction of learning strategies, so learners increasingly take ownership of their learning 
• use teaching and learning data to review curriculum content, delivery and assessment practices to ensure these align with the school’s strategic direction

Every six months:

• significant information about students’ attendance, wellbeing, progress and achievement is analysed to indicate the impact of changes to teaching and learning on making a difference for all learners, particularly those at risk of not achieving

Annually:

• 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 how effectively teachers respond to the needs of students, particularly those students whose progress needs accelerating, including a range of teacher, student and family voice.

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

• all learners demonstrate ownership of their learning and achieve success
• teachers’ adapting and refining their programmes and practices to meet the individual needs of all students in their classrooms
• effective evaluation, gathered from a range of sources and aligned to school’s identified goals and targets to sustain and improve learner attendance, rates of 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 November 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