Seatoun 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

Seatoun School is located in Wellington and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school reflects Seatoun’s multicultural and international community. The school’s values of manaakitanga, perseverance, responsibility and akoranga (learning) reflect the community’s vision of ‘learning to know, to do, to live and to be.’

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation. 

Part B: 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 C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the previous ERO report of August 2022, ERO and the school worked together to evaluate how effectively interventions and programmes enhanced and contributed to learners’ hauora and learning for continuous and sustained improvement. 

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expects to see:

Sustained and increased rates of achievement for all learners through effective learning interventions and hauora programmes. 

• Well analysed achievement information shows excellent achievement at all levels of the school, with equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners.
• Deliberate, targeted and responsive learning interventions resulted in accelerated progress for identified groups of learners. 

Culturally responsive approaches to teacher practice and learning, and increased staff, student and whānau knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori, contribute to learners’ hauora. 

• Knowledge and use of te reo Māori has increased through the school’s commitment to ongoing learning and implementation of programmes.
• The development of a rich, localised curriculum that is designed to enhance learners’ sense of belonging, knowledge and understanding. 

A comprehensive hauora curriculum guides teaching and supports learners’ wellbeing.

• A thoughtfully designed hauora curriculum has been developed, trialled and in use.
• Aligned appropriate programmes responsively support learners’ hauora at all levels of the school.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, the school found that the focus on wellbeing was essential for learners to enable them to access the wider curriculum at the highest level.

The greatest shift in school practices that improved learner outcomes resulted from the upskilling of staff in te reo Māori; this led to increased engagement and positive feedback from whānau.

Part B: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Overall school achievement information for the past three years shows that almost all learners are meeting or exceeding curriculum expectations. 
• Inclusive and responsive teaching practices and programmes of learning strongly support students with additional needs lead to improved progress. 
• Learners report a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing, know that their cultures are valued and are able to confidently participate and make contributions in a range of contexts. 
• Attendance for all groups of students exceeds the Ministry of Education’s attendance targets with almost all students attending school regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders use a suitable range of quality evidence about learners to evaluate the implementation of strategic targets.
• Leaders and teachers collaboratively plan well-aligned next steps to improve learners’ achievement and hauora. 
• Excellent and equitable student outcomes are fostered through high quality professional leadership practices that continuously improve teaching. 

• Teachers work collaboratively to deliver high quality learning programmes that challenge and get students to apply new knowledge in a range of innovative ways.
• Well targeted schoolwide professional learning and development deepens teachers’ knowledge, strengthens practice and improves students’ outcomes.
• Teachers meaningfully demonstrate commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by purposefully integrating te reo Māori, tikanga and mātauranga Māori throughout the curriculum to improve learning outcomes.

• The board effectively represents and works strategically with the school community, including mana whenua, to collaboratively establish improvement priorities for student achievement and hauora. 
• Leaders and teachers draw on community resources to effectively develop a rich local curriculum to support and improve learners’ outcomes.
• Parents and whānau are respected partners in learning; they are well informed and provided with many opportunities to support and actively collaborate in their child’s learning. 

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• plan and implement a schoolwide professional learning focus on sustaining high levels of student engagement and achievement in writing 
• implement a responsive literacy support programme for students from Years 3 to 8
• continue to strengthen student use of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning across the school with a focus on increasing student and teacher capability.

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

Within six months:

• develop an implementation plan to guide teacher professional learning focused on further strengthening student engagement, achievement and accelerated progress in writing
• undertake a review of literacy in the middle and senior school; prioritise and plan for students who require broad learning support 
• review the delivery of te reo, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning across the school; develop a plan that will continue to strengthen and sustain the capability of staff and students.

Every six months:

• review professional practice through teachers’ observation and learner outcomes in writing to analyse and report progress and planned future actions to the board
• monitor and report the progress of targeted groups who are receiving specialised support in both structured literacy and broader literacy interventions to their whānau and the board 
• continue to measure and monitor progress with the improved use and capability of staff and learners in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori though observations and teacher and student reflections.

Annually:

• analyse and report schoolwide progress and achievement in writing, including that of identified learners; use this data to report to the board, and to strategically plan further improvement actions 
• review the progress of students identified as needing literacy support; identify initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating progress and include these in strategic planning 
• assess staff and students to measure capability and capacity in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning across the school; review and strategically plan next steps. 

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

• improved and sustained student achievement outcomes and accelerated progress in writing 
• learners who confidently and successfully apply literacy strategies in their learning
• strengthened capability of staff and learners in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning.

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

28 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