Wilford 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 

Wilford School is in Petone and provides dual-medium education for students in Years 1 to 8. A new principal and board of trustees have recently been appointed. Over the past year the board has addressed health and safety matters. A Ministry of Education special advisor supports the school with curriculum development in their Rumaki space (Ngā Puawai). The school’s values of Mana, Āwhina, Rangatiratanga and Ako support the kaupapa for students to experience success as they learn together as one.

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 

• Achievement information for Years 1 to 8 shows that a majority of students achieved at or above the expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; increasing equity for groups of learners is required, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners.  
• The majority of learners attend school regularly in relation to the Ministry of Education target, but not consistently for groups of students; the school continues to focus on improving attendance for these groups to reduce inequity of outcome.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders establish expectations for high quality, evidence-based teaching with staff, and support and monitor their implementation.
• Leadership supports and facilitates the ongoing improvement and development of teacher capability for improved learner outcomes. 
• Leaders have identified greater schoolwide consistency in teacher planning and assessment as areas to be further strengthened. 

• Learners are supported to engage, inquire and apply new learning within an inclusive, positive learning environment. 
• Relationships between staff and students are founded on mutual respect and practices promoting student wellbeing, inclusion and engagement in learning.  
• Teachers are working towards addressing barriers to learning, using data to inform responsive practices that support improved learner outcomes.

• Schoolwide planning, assessment and reporting are being aligned to promote improved learner wellbeing.
• The board is strengthening governance practices to improve accountability for improvement actions focused on learner outcomes and has placed the school well to progress its improvement strategies and dual-medium identity.
• Parents and whānau are respected for what they bring to their child’s learning; their views about school improvement are valued; relationships with whānau of children in Ngā Puawai are steadily building to re-engage whānau in school decision-making. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• support teachers to further develop consistent and responsive teaching and learning practices with a focus on affirming and meeting the many different learning needs and interests of students 
• strengthen the use of achievement information to inform responses and teaching practice to improve achievement outcomes for all learners 
• strengthen whānau engagement and partnership with the school to improve attendance and achievement outcomes. 

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

Within six months:

• use research informed teaching and learning practices to build teacher, student and whānau understanding of how children learn best  
• continue to work with whānau to be involved in their child’s learning and assist understanding about the importance of regular attendance and the correlation between attendance and academic progress and achievement.

Every six months:

• collect, moderate, analyse and use data to report on the progress, attendance and achievement of all learners 
• review and report on the effectiveness of changes to teaching practice, through teacher observation, collection of learner voice and learner outcomes 
• meet with whānau to sustain active participation in the planning and decision-making of the school.

Annually:

• analyse and report schoolwide achievement data to the board, to strategically plan actions that will improve attendance, achievement and learner outcomes
• evaluate identified initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating learner progress
• conduct a wellbeing survey with learners to assist with evaluating the extent of engagement and participation in learning. 

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

• consistently effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide, resulting in improved and equitable achievement outcomes for all learners 
• improved levels of learner attendance and whānau engagement
• a shared understanding of how to support learner progress and achievement. 

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

2 September 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