Central Takaka 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  

​​Central Takaka School​ is a small semi-rural primary school located in Golden Bay. The school caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision ‘Where everyone can shine’, aligns with embedded ‘SHINE’ values that foster respect, responsibility, creativity, perseverance, and ako for adults and students alike. The shine metaphor is at the heart of the school’s cultural narrative, which has been developed with Mana Whenua ki Mohua. 

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.  

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 

• Most students experience success in reading, writing and mathematics; the school’s analysis of achievement data identifies the need to further raise boys’ achievement, particularly in writing. 
• Students with specific learning needs are identified and well-supported through individualised plans and well-targeted resourcing. 
• Most students attend regularly and engage in meaningful learning; the school has developed an attendance plan to collaborate with parents to further promote the importance of full attendance. 

Conditions to support learner success 

• The principal and board prioritise a relational and inclusive culture that fosters student wellbeing through the school’s lived values. 
• A strong partnership with iwi is developing a culturally responsive, place-based curriculum. 
• Strategic and annual planning are coherent with identified, student-centred priorities and build on community perspectives.  

• An enhanced localised curriculum increasingly engages students in place-based learning experiences that value te ao Māori and a localised cultural narrative. 
• Classroom routines and teaching practices promote learners’ self-management skills, and they are assisted to set explicit social goals aligned to the school’s values.  
• Targeted teacher professional development, designed for the junior classroom programme, has positively influenced literacy achievement data and training is now extending to the senior classroom. 

• Staff seek to personalise teaching and learning to students’ individual interests and strengths, valuing identity, language and culture, to promote wellbeing for all. 
• Friendship, family and community connections are embraced, underpinning an embedded ethic of care, based on collaboration and positive relationships. 
• The school is highly involved with the local Kāhui Ako, working in partnership with other schools and educators to enhance outcomes for students across the wider Mohua community. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:  

• further embed the school's evidence-based teaching as inquiry approach into staff professional growth conversations, and incorporate student perspectives on wellbeing, teaching and learning 
• engage purposefully with whānau Māori as a group within the wider parent community in relation to curriculum and learning developments 
• develop a coherent pathway of structured literacy teaching expectations from Years 1 to 6, with a particular focus on supporting greater success for boys. 

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

Within six months: 

• gather student voice through an initial wellbeing survey 
• initiate whānau hui to discuss the localised curriculum developments, and outcomes for Māori 
• explore structured literacy approaches for Years 3 to 6 and professional development opportunities to continue to grow cohesive literacy approaches across the school 

Every six months: 

• monitor teachers’ inquiry using collaborative discussion about the impacts of teaching practices on underachieving students, including for structured literacy developments 
• staff undertake collaborative data analysis to identify shifts in engagement, wellbeing and achievement, pinpointing opportunities for further adaptations to teaching practice for boys’ success 
• regular hui established, and community involvement in further curriculum developments 

Annually: 

• expand data analysis to track comparative achievement, engagement, and wellbeing for groups of students over time, including by gender and ethnicity and reported to the community as appropriate 
• evaluate the impact of improved literacy practices, and of the enhanced localised curriculum, on outcomes for students 
• the board takes steps to review its own practice, aligned to its strategic priorities. 

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

• evidence-informed and deliberately adapted teaching practices that support enhanced progress for students who are persistently achieving below expectations 
• whānau Māori engaged in curriculum and wider school decision making that promotes Māori students enjoying and achieving success, as Māori 
• a progressive learning programme that provides for enhanced achievement, and equitable and excellent outcomes in literacy.  

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 

​​21 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