Waikanae 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 of all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context 

Waikanae School is located on the Kāpiti Coast and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. A new leadership team is in place, with the principal appointed in 2022 and assistant principal in 2024. The school’s vision is to develop the value of whanaungatanga within all their learners and to ‘inspire the leaders of tomorrow’.

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 2023 achievement information for Years 1 to 8, shows that most learners achieved at or greater than the expected levels in reading and mathematics; across year levels, equity and improved outcomes for some learners in writing remains a focus.
• Strengthening the use of achievement information to inform teaching practice and improve equitable outcomes for all learners has been identified by the school, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners in writing. 
• Leaders have a comprehensive attendance strategy to reach the Ministry target for all learners to attend school more than 90% of the time; close tracking and monitoring is part of their ongoing commitment to improve education outcomes and attendance for all students.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leading learning to improve student outcomes is coordinated, well supported and resourced. 
• Collaboratively set expectations for high quality, evidence-based teaching is regularly monitored for progress and improvement and comprehensively reported on. 
• Leaders increasingly build positive partnerships with whānau, hapū and iwi with the purpose of responding to the aspirations and educational outcomes for their children. 

• Learners are supported to engage, inquire and apply new learning within a supportive, positive learning environment.
• Teachers access a range of resources and effective teaching strategies to support and meet the needs of their learners.
• Staff know learners well and work together to provide purposeful, well-paced learning opportunities for all learners.

• Leaders and teachers confidently collect, analyse and interpret data from a range of sources, including seeking Māori learner and whānau voices to make evidence-based decisions for school improvement.
• Leaders act on the evidence gathered through evaluation to make improvements, including regular monitoring and reporting of student progress and achievement.
• The school continues to strengthen partnerships with mana whenua to enhance learners’ connectedness to the local community. 
• Relationships between staff and learners, founded on mutual trust, promote wellbeing and inclusion.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• build on teachers’ shared understanding of learner agency, to cohesively foster responsive practices for active participation in learning
• continue to support teachers to further develop consistent and effective teaching, learning and assessment practices to equip learners for ongoing success, particularly in writing
• continue to strengthen culturally responsive practices and partnerships with whānau and mana whenua
• improve the percentage of learners attending school more than 90% of the time.

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

Within six months: 

• investigate how teachers can use learner voice to strengthen responsive classroom practices and further engage learners
• implement actions to purposefully address barriers to learner progress and success in writing, by undertaking a review of writing data and improving the planning for priority learners accordingly 
• establish a Waikanae Whānau group to engage and share aspirations for all learners
• work with parents to assist understanding about the importance of regular attendance and the correlation between attendance and academic progress and achievement.

Every six months:

• review and report the effectiveness of responsive practices, through teacher observation, collection of learner voice and learner outcomes to plan future actions
• moderate, monitor and report on the progress of target groups, with a particular focus on writing progress and achievement
• regularly meet with whānau and learner focus groups to sustain active participation in the planning and decision-making of the school.

Annually:

• conduct a wellbeing survey that includes aspects of culturally responsive practices with staff, learners, and families, to assist with evaluating agency, engagement and sense of belonging
• analyse and report schoolwide achievement data to the board, to strategically plan actions that will improve attendance, achievement and learner outcomes, particularly in writing.

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

• learners developing a strong sense of their own identity, culture and learning needs, leading to enhanced agency and engagement
• consistency of effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide, resulting in improved and equitable achievement outcomes for all learners, particularly in writing 
• improved and sustained levels of whānau and mana whenua engagement, with increased active participation in the decision-making process of the school.

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

15 May 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