Karori Normal 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

Karori Normal School, located in Karori, Wellington, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. 

Two permanent deputy principals have shared the principal’s role since July 2023. The board is in the process of appointing a permanent principal. There has been a significant increase in the number of English Language Learners enrolled in the school in 2024.

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

Learners make sustained progress and achievement throughout their schooling.

• In 2023, almost all learners achieved at or above the expected curriculum level in reading and mathematics, and most learners achieved at this level in writing; almost all 2023 Year 8 students left the school achieving at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school has yet to get Māori learners achieving as well as Pākehā learners in reading, writing and mathematics; most Māori learners achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading and mathematics, with the majority at the expected level in writing.
• Almost all learners of Pacific heritage achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Most students attend school regularly; attendance exceeds the 2024 Ministry of Education target.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is improvement focused and appropriately pursues a small number of strategically selected improvement goals and targets.

• Leaders work together to create a positive environment that is inclusive, values diversity and promotes student wellbeing for learning.
• Leadership across the school is supported and deliberately developed, with a strong focus on growing teachers’ leadership capability to achieve the school’s vision, values, goals, and targets.
• Shared leadership responsibility ensures that systems, practices, and processes are well known and sustainable when school circumstances change.

Respectful, collaborative learning environments encourage students to be engaged, make progress, and achieve. 

• Teachers use an appropriate range of strategies that engage students in learning and increase their understanding and knowledge.
• Students learn in an environment where they are encouraged to be independent and take risks that allow them to make the most of all learning opportunities.
• Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are increasingly woven through all aspects of the school’s curriculum, reflecting the school’s strategic commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and promoting success for Māori learners.

Policies, programmes and practices are in place that promote learners’ wellbeing and engagement in learning.

• The board collaborates strategically with school leadership to support and implement the school’s vision and values and achieve agreed goals and targets; it appropriately aligns resourcing to support learner-focused improvement goals and strategies.
• Regular parent and whānau engagement and participation in the life of the school, encouraged by leaders, contributes to the school’s strategic direction; a range of strategies are used to communicate and engage with parents, whānau and the community.
• Leaders and teachers affirm and cater for the significant number of English Language Learners in the school, appropriately supporting them to learn and progress.
• A systematic approach to planning for school improvement is informed by quality evidence and evaluation.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• finalise, introduce, and embed the school’s draft Māori achievement plan in the current school year
• continue to strengthen the collaborative response by all staff to support positive outcomes for English Language Learners in the school.

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

Every six months:

• continue to analyse learners’ attendance, progress and achievement information to inform their next steps and respond to any differences amongst groups of learners.

Annually:

• review and report on the impact of teaching and learning programmes on students’ progress and achievement to know what has been successful and what needs further improvement.

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

• increasing equity in wellbeing, engagement, and achievement outcomes for all learners, especially for Māori and English Language Learners.

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

5 August 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