Clendon Teen Parent Unit

Context

The July 2017 ERO external evaluation of Clendon Teen Parent Unit acknowledges some of the positive aspects covered in this report. It also identified a number of areas that required improvement regarding the educational outcomes and opportunities for students.

These included governance and management processes to formalise the three-way working partnership between the TPU, James Cook High School Board of Trustees and Taonga Trust (Trust). Other areas for development were reviewing the philosophy of the TPU, linking TPU and high school strategic and annual plans and building internal evaluation capacity and implementing a rigorous appraisal performance management system.

Since that report, the school has appointed a new director in charge of the unit. Support from the Ministry of Education, TPU networks and the wider community has been accessed and utilised.

This report is intended to inform the Teen Parent Unit, James Cook High School board, Taonga Trust and school community of the positive progress made to date. It summarises ERO’s midpoint evaluation of the school’ TPU’s progress and development, and the ongoing areas of focus for improvement.

ERO Judgement

The Clendon Teen Parent Unit has improved its overall effectiveness in promoting positive outcomes for students. It is now operating at a much improved level and has reached the mostly effective standard.

Significant improvement has been well led by the teacher in charge and the school’s principal since 2017. The most significant areas of progress and development include:

• enhanced relationships between students and staff within the unit and between the TPU and the high school, the Taonga Trust and a wider range of external partners
• empowerment of students through increased use of their views to inform ongoing improvements in the unit
• comprehensive wrap-around support services for students from the TPU staff, Taonga Trust, high school and other community resources
• higher expectations for successful learning, pathways and positive student outcomes
• improved use of data, reflection, inquiry and review to inform ongoing developments
• increases in the quality of areas of good practice previously identified in the 2017 ERO report.

Students have a strong sense of belonging and purpose. The TPU helps them to develop their self-esteem, through raising their aspirations for their future and empowering them as individuals. This is evident in the way students support each other, interact with visitors, talk about their learning and their pathways, and their keenness to take on responsibilities within the unit.

Key areas of progress and development

Quality of individual support for students Positive teaching practices have been strengthened through:

• individual learning plans (ILP) that promote successful learning

• students regularly focus on their goals and reflect on their progress, providing them with motivation and an ongoing sense of achievement

• improving aspirations and opportunities for their future

• past students returning to be mentors, lifting individual aspirations for future career and life pathways
• increasingly strategic professional and community networking that contributes to a wider range of learning pathways for students
• continuing to develop a broader, personalised curriculum, leadership opportunities, sports and career pathways

• proactive and respectful pastoral care from staff onsite and close links with services from the Taonga Trust and the high school
• an ongoing focus on increasing culturally-responsive learning programmes that include te reo Māori, tikanga and other opportunities to affirm individual student identities and cultures.

Next steps for ongoing development include:

• developing individual wellbeing learning goals, linked to the strategic goal in this area
• strengthening the use of the key competencies and learners’ understanding of themselves as learners within individual learning plans and the goal-setting process
• continuing to build culturally-responsive practices, and breadth in learning programmes and experiences for students.

Educational and social outcomes for students (including the quality of teaching and the TPU’s internal evaluation)

Positive teaching and support practices have been strengthened to include:

• student-centred professional leadership of the TPU by the director and principal of James Cook High School, underpinned by well-targeted action planning
• a shared TPU philosophy linked to the Taonga Trust that guides curriculum developments
• higher expectations for students to achieve well, and take ownership for meeting their personal learning goals
• more regular and in-depth analysis, tracking and monitoring of students’ progress and readiness for learning
• students regularly expressing their views and opinions, which inform teaching and learning opportunities and TPU events
• a focus on increasing whānau involvement and support for students
• a tuakana/teina model that reinforces a sense of belonging and support for peers
• a clear focus on increasing attendance and participation that assists students’ wellbeing and readiness for learning
• an open-door policy for students who wish to return to the TPU
• increased use of data, reflection, inquiry and internal evaluation processes to better target teaching and learning opportunities for individual students
• the establishment of a suitable teacher appraisal system
• the board of trustees regularly receiving reports about TPU student achievement and participation in education.

Next steps for ongoing development include:

• continuing to refine reporting of student outcomes, including academic, wellbeing and other valued outcomes to inform strategic priorities and resourcing decisions at the TPU and the high school
• continuing to build partnerships with whānau to support learning
• strengthening teacher reflection, inquiry, appraisal and use of internal evaluation for improvement.

Relationships with the base school (including governance and management of the TPU)

Progress is evident in:

• strengthened positive working relationships between students, TPU staff, Taonga Trust and James Cook High School providing a platform for formalising a working partnership agreement
• students participating in an increased range of school-based events and community-based opportunities and support services
• TPU teachers’ participation in high school staff professional learning and development in culturally-responsive practices and restorative practices
• regular visits by the high school principal to the TPU to strengthen relationships and understandings of how all parties work together to promote students’ success
• resourcing decisions that increase students’ access to digital technology, with planning underway to enhance this and the physical learning environment.

The next step is to formalise the working partnership agreement between the Clendon TPU, the Taonga Trust and James Cook High School.

Transitions of students into and out of the TPU

Progress is evident in:

• a strengthened focus on transitioning processes for enrolling students, including more considered approaches for a smooth start-of-year transition to the TPU
• improved student destination data to celebrate success and understandings about individual pathways after students graduate from the TPU
• a sustained focus on planning future career and study pathways, and enabling work-based learning and training
• continued positive working partnership with the adjoining early learning service staff, operated by the Taonga Trust.

The next step is to continue to build and strengthen positive careers and transition developments to enhance student outcomes.

Clendon TPU will be reviewed as part of ERO’s national cycle of review of Teen Parent Units.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Northern

Northern Region

8 April 2019

About the school

Location

Clendon, South Auckland

Ministry of Education profile number

2762

School roll

19

Gender composition

Female 19

Ethnic composition

Māori 14
Pacific 5

Review team on site

February 2019

Date of this report

8 April 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Special Review July 2017
Special Review November 2013
Special Review June 2010