Lyall Bay 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

Lyall Bay School, located in Wellington, provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s purpose, “Waihangatia ngā Ākonga Tino Pai; Building the Best Learners to achieve educational excellence for each child through a partnership between the home, the school and community”, is underpinned by the values of Manaaki (Respect), Whakapono (Integrity), Pākiki (Curiosity) and Hiranga (Excellence).

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 large majority of learners meet curriculum level expectations for reading and writing, with most learners achieving at the appropriate curriculum level in mathematics.
• The school is working to improve equity in outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Learners at risk of not achieving are closely monitored with a focus on improving learning to reach curriculum levels; a number of these learners make accelerated progress.
• The majority of learners attend school regularly, however, the school is yet to achieve the Ministry of Education 2024 attendance target; leadership is focused on increasing the rates of regular attendance using a range of initiatives and working with individual learners and whānau.

Conditions to support learner success

• Collaborative leadership ensures that systems, processes, and practices are well established and sustainable.
• Leaders work together to create a positive environment that is inclusive, values diversity and promotes student wellbeing for learning.
• Leaders and teachers are aware of the need to improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners with useful action plans in place to strengthen the school’s response; evaluation of the effectiveness of these is ongoing.

• The school’s curriculum reflects the local context and offers students relevant learning opportunities.
• Well-considered assessment and moderation practices ensure the gathering of reliable assessment information.
• Learners with additional learning needs are well supported to access the school curriculum and experience success; external agencies are involved when appropriate.

• Deliberate actions are in place to strengthen positive relationships with whānau and the school community; whānau feedback and ideas are gathered to support learning partnerships.
• An appropriate range of professional learning is in place to support and grow teacher capability in key teaching and learning areas; this is aligned to learner need and school strategic priorities.
• Teachers are beginning to integrate te reo Māori and tikanga Māori into classroom programmes to better reflect Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Board members know their roles and responsibilities well; they appropriately scrutinise achievement data to inform strategic decisions for improvement.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• sharpen the focus on increasing the regular attendance of learners by including this in strategic planning for the school
• continue to track, monitor and respond to information on the impact of initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners in reading, writing and mathematics
• strengthen the school-wide understanding and use of data to inform teaching and learning practices to accelerate the progress of learners who require it.

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

Every six months:

• continue to analyse attendance and achievement information to know the impact of strategic planning and resourcing to inform next steps for learners and to respond to any areas that require acceleration
• ensure that the regular attendance of students is a priority in upcoming strategic planning and continue to work with families to promote the regular attendance of learners

Annually:

• continue to review the impact of teaching and learning programmes on achievement outcomes, with a focus on Māori and Pacific learners, to know what has been successful and what needs further improvement to inform ongoing strategic direction
• analyse and report attendance patterns and trends to inform the ongoing planning for improving the regular attendance of learners.

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

• improved learner achievement outcomes, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners, in reading, writing and mathematics 
• more learners attending school regularly.

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

12 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