Bellevue School (Newlands)

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

Bellevue School (Newlands) in Wellington, provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. It is community-centred, with close links to its neighbouring kindergarten and schools. It aspires to be a school where learners grow. 

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 

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Most learners are engaged, make good progress and achieve at expected curriculum level. 

• Achievement in reading for most learners has improved over time; achievement in mathematics for most has been sustained over time, including for Māori learners.
• Most Year 1 and 2 students make accelerated progress in early literacy development.
• The school has yet to have Pacific learners achieving at the same levels as other learners in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Student attendance is higher than the Ministry of Education 2024 target.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is increasingly using evidence to set learning priorities and targets.

• Leadership pulls together a wide range of data (standardised assessments, observational, wellbeing) to set improvement targets and goals, that include acceleration for learners at risk of underachievement. 
• Leadership uses best-practice evidence to plan and coordinate the school’s curriculum and teaching; expectations for high-quality teaching are shared and learner outcomes are tracked and monitored.
• Leaders increasingly use multiple sources of feedback, aligned with the school’s strategic goals and identify teachers’ professional learning and development needs. 

Teachers provide a curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts and learner aspirations.

• Teachers are designing curriculum where learners can see themselves, their identity and culture;  teaching is progressively more evidence-based and culturally responsive. 
• Learners have sufficient opportunities to gain sound foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics. 
• A range of appropriate and good quality assessment information is increasingly used to plan for, evaluate and report the progress and achievement of each learner. 

The school is strengthening its systems, structures and practices that underpin successful schooling for its learners. 

• Teachers regularly work together to inquire into aspects of their teaching practice to support learner progress and achievement.
• Leaders and teachers are taking steps towards providing for diverse identities, languages and cultures of learners, parents, whānau and community. 
• Leadership and teachers are increasingly integrating te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities throughout implementation of the curriculum.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• increase the number of students achieving at and above curriculum expectations in reading and writing and reduce disparity for groups of learners
• establish and embed a consistent school-wide approach to the teaching of reading and writing
• build teacher capability for high-quality, evidenced- informed teaching to improve learner outcomes.

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

Within six months:

• school leaders support teachers to closely analyse achievement, progress and attendance for groups of students who are at risk of underachievement, to have programmes to address the needs of these learners
• leaders and teachers review existing progressional framework (Poutama) for reading and writing so teachers know and implement the non-negotiable practices in their teaching
• school leaders and teachers engage in professional learning about the Science of Learning, so that teachers know what students need to be able to do to build the skills and competencies as a reader and a writer

Within a year:

• professional learning has an impact on teaching and learning; teachers demonstrate confident, consistent practice in the teaching of literacy and progressions for learning in reading and writing are explicitly taught at each year level
• teachers engage in professional learning and discussions about assessment for learning, making and moderating assessment judgements; achievement and tracking progress of learners is embedded in school meeting routines
• school leaders and teachers engage in conversations about learning with parents and whānau to strengthen shared understanding of how their child learns to read and write, enabling them to actively support their learning.

Annually:

• use the analysis of attendance, achievement and progress data, and other evidence, to know the impact of initiatives (parent engagement, progressional framework) and professional learning (Science of Learning and assessment) on learner outcomes and to know what is working for who and make adjustments to planned action
• gather parent and whānau voice about the quality of the learning partnerships with teachers and school leadership and the support they receive to be active in their child’s learning.

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

• improved learner achievement outcomes, with an increased number of students achieving at or above curriculum expectation in reading and writing, and equity for groups of learners 
• high-quality, evidenced-informed teaching to improve learner outcomes. 

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

25 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