Victory Primary 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

Victory Primary School​ is in Nelson and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school has a dual curriculum, with Māori medium and English medium pathways. The school’s values of Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Rangatiratanga, Kaitiakitanga, Kotahitanga, and Whakapapa, and their guiding principles of Biculturalism, Equity, and Sustainability underpin and guide the curriculum. 

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

Learners are engaged and their achievement outcomes continue to improve.

• The majority of students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Improving equity for groups of students, including Māori students in reading, writing and mathematics and boys in writing, remains a priority for the school.
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic and collaborative leadership foster a learning culture committed to high quality teaching. 

• Leaders and staff have a strong focus on improving culturally responsive practices across the school.
• Leaders and teachers use analysed student progress and achievement information well to identify and inform improvements in teaching and learning.
• Leaders set targets and use evidence-based interventions to facilitate ongoing innovation, improvement and development of teacher capabilities for improved outcomes for learners.

Teaching and learning are increasingly responsive to students’ language, culture and identity.

• Teachers use comprehensive guidelines for curriculum delivery; consequently consistent and cohesive practices across the school support learner engagement.
• Leaders and teachers plan to strengthen assessment practices to ensure they are purposeful and directly linked to improved outcomes for learners; ERO’s evaluation affirms this improvement.
• Students with additional learning needs are well supported to access the school curriculum and experience success.

Key organisational conditions that support learner success are being embedded.

• The board and leaders consult the school’s diverse community, using well-established partnerships; this informs strategic priorities.
• Teachers and leaders proactively identify and draw on community resources to enhance student learning opportunities, achievement and wellbeing.
• Leadership identifies and develops internal expertise, with the support of external expertise as appropriate, to ensure that improvement goals are met.
• Teaching and learning programmes increasingly include te ao Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• accelerate the progress and achievement of individual and groups of students who need this, particularly Māori students in reading, writing and mathematics, and boys in writing
• strengthen assessment practices to ensure it is purposeful and links directly to improved student outcomes
• embed Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) practices to support continued improvement in engagement and attendance.

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

Within six months:

• design and implement the schoolwide assessment for learning framework

Every six months:

• ensure teachers set explicit targets for improvement, regularly discuss and reflect on the impact deliberate strategies have on improving attendance, accelerating progress and achievement
• moderate assessment schoolwide to monitor improvements in teaching practice and decision making
• monitor impact of strategies used to improve attendance

Annually:

• analyse student and staff wellbeing survey results to inform PB4L priorities
• use indicators of effective practice to evaluate the impact of initiatives for continued improvements in attendance, engagement, wellbeing and achievement. 

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

• improved student achievement outcomes, particularly for Māori and boys
• consistent assessment practices inform responsive programmes for learning
• more students are engaged and attending regularly.

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

6 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