Cheviot Area 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 

Cheviot Area School is in Cheviot, North Canterbury, and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 13. The school’s vision statement for its learners is: ‘Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu | Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar’.

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 majority of learners in Years 1 to 5 are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; a small majority in Year 6 are at or above in reading with less than half in writing and mathematics.
• The majority of learners in Years 7 to 8 are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics with lesser numbers at or above in writing; in Years 9 to 10 a majority of learners are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading with less than half in writing and mathematics.
• Years 11 to 13 achievement in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and University Entrance (UE) varies significantly year to year, partly due to the small number of students; school leadership has prioritised more consistent learner achievement of qualifications.
• The school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance with less than half of learners regularly attending, and attendance has dropped further in the last year; attendance is a priority for school leaders.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders value a culture of staff professional growth across all areas of the school and are at the initial stage of aligning staff professional learning to the school’s strategic priorities to meet the diverse needs of learners.
• Leaders recognise the need to establish systems for closely reviewing school programmes and initiatives to inform decision-making for increased learner engagement.
• Leaders are highly visible in the local community to foster school-community engagement and connections.

• The school is taking initial steps to develop a schoolwide curriculum that is embedding te reo Māori and tikanga Māori, and consistent learning and behaviour expectations and practices; the Years 11 to 13 curriculum is a particular focus.
• Teaching effectiveness is variable because of inconsistency in staff use of specific learning strategies that support learners and involve whānau to know progress and achievement and identify next learning steps; addressing this inconsistency is a priority going forward.
• Learners with diverse needs are effectively monitored and supported to progress through the school’s learning support processes.

• The board is committed to specific improvement priorities, including learner wellbeing and engagement, progress and achievement, and property. 
• Teacher planning and assessment require strengthening for greater learning consistency across the school; leaders and teachers are beginning to establish processes for this.
• Staff know their learners well; leaders are taking initial steps to create a cohesive, positive culture across the school and the tracking and reporting on learner wellbeing, progress and achievement is a priority.
• Leaders and teachers are beginning to establish professional networks to strengthen staff capability to support and grow learner wellbeing, progress and achievement.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• develop and implement a schoolwide curriculum and pastoral framework for consistent teaching and behaviour management practices that support the range of learner wellbeing, engagement, progress and achievement across Years 1 to 13
• develop and implement assessment for learning guidelines which have a specific emphasis on learners understanding and acting on their next learning steps 
• implement effective schoolwide reporting systems to parents with a particular focus on progress to attaining NCEA through face-to-face and on-line learning
• weave te reo Māori and tikanga Māori throughout the curriculum to increase bicultural understandings and practices
• develop school systems to increase regular attendance in line with Ministry of Education’s targets.

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

Within three months:

• implement school systems to monitor and respond to absences to increase regular learner attendance 
• collaboratively develop a framework for effective personalised teaching and learning for the range of learners across Years 1 to 13 to achieve success
• collaboratively use the school’s wellbeing information to clarify and implement positive behaviour systems and strategies for schoolwide consistency
• report the impact of the above actions to the board

Every six months:

• evaluate the impact of the implementation of the positive behaviour systems and strategies for increased learner wellbeing across the range of learners 
• evaluate the provision of the school’s NCEA pathways and teaching practices for its senior learners
• evaluate the progress of the implementation of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori initiatives
• regularly report the impacts of the above evaluations to the board and use this information to identify the further improvement priorities and actions

Annually:

• evaluate the extent of the impact of the responsive curriculum and effective teaching practices on all learners’ wellbeing, engagement and achievement 
• evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s reporting systems for whānau to understand progress, achievement and next learning steps
• evaluate the effectiveness of strategies implemented to increase regular attendance
• regularly report the impacts of the above evaluations to the board to inform annual planning.

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

• increased regular attendance and increased learner engagement and achievement 
• learners experiencing consistency in teacher practices schoolwide for learner-centred wellbeing and behaviour strategies
• learners and whānau having a clear understanding of the current levels of engagement, learning and the next steps to progress and achieve.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education 

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education provide tailored support for the implementation of:

• schoolwide systems and processes that support high quality teaching and learning
• a curriculum that is responsive to the range of learners as they progress through the school, Years 1 to 13
• a framework for teaching and behaviour practices that are responsive to the range of learners as they progress through the school, Years 1 to 13.

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

20 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