Chisnallwood Intermediate

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 

Chisnallwood Intermediate is located in east Christchurch and provides education for learners in Years 7 and 8. The school’s values, Relationships, Respect, Responsibilities and Resilience, underpin teaching and learning practices and programmes. 

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

Part B: 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 C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the previous ERO report of July 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the Progress and Consistency Tool (PACT) contributed to improved writing achievement for students.

Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Increased levels of engagement and learners taking greater ownership for their own learning, particularly for identified groups.

• Learner engagement has increased and is reflected in the improved attendance of some identified groups.

Accelerated levels of achievement in writing.

• Tracking of learner progress and achievement indicates that many learners have increased progress towards the level they need to be in writing, over the time they are at the school.

Greater capability of teachers to evaluate the impact of their current teaching practices and identify what needed to change.

• Targeted professional learning and development for teachers has created a shared understanding of good practice, especially in the teaching of literacy. 
• Teachers are highly reflective of what is working well and what needs to change to improve outcomes for learners. 

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was increased learner progress and achievement, consistency and reliability of data, and embedding an approach to literacy teaching that has resulted in improved outcomes for learners.

Part B: Current State 

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Most learners achieve at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics, and those who are at risk of not achieving by the time they leave the school are closely monitored and supported to make increased progress. 
• Māori and Pacific learner achievement has improved, the majority of Māori are achieving at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; raising their achievement is still an ongoing priority for the school. 
• In relation to the Ministry of Education’s targets most students attend school regularly; a small group of students are not attending as regularly, and they are well supported through a wide range of effective programmes and targeted approaches.

Conditions to support learner success

• Shared leadership is well supported by the board and provides clear guidance and expectations for teaching and learning that improves outcomes for all learners.
• Teachers’ individual strengths and skills are effectively used across the school, with ongoing opportunities for staff to develop leadership skills, so that change is well led and sustainable.
• A strong culture of care and wellbeing for learners, their families and staff contributes to building a positive school environment that promotes engagement and improved progress and achievement.

• Learners are well known and supported through specialised programmes and effective teaching practices that focus on responding to individual needs. 
• Te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are evident throughout the school environment; close working relationships with iwi and local schools build practices that support culturally responsive approaches to teaching and learning and enable learners to have a strong sense of belonging.
• Teachers have clearly defined expectations for positive learning and wellbeing that help learners to experience success.

• Through ongoing and in-depth consultation with the school’s Māori and Pacific community, a bilingual class was recently established to enable students to experience learning within a Māori setting that enhances their sense of belonging.
• Pastoral care is strongly evident throughout the school, with multiple ways and personnel to check in and connect with learners and their families that ensures ongoing positive relationships with the school.
• Learner transitions into and beyond the school are carefully managed, especially for those learners who may be at risk of not achieving positive outcomes; close working relationships with other schools ensures that suitable support is in place as they arrive or leave the school.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• embed structured literacy practices across the school that become part of the regular approach to teaching literacy to improve outcomes for all learners
• develop clear expectations and guidance for teachers that ensures shared understanding of best assessment practices to support learner outcomes
• continue to promote teaching practices that support improved learning and achievement outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners
• continue to implement the wellbeing focus, Te Whare Mauri Ora, so that all learners experience positive learning and wellbeing outcomes, including meeting national attendance expectations.

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

Every six months:

• use an agreed monitoring process to review and report on how well teachers are integrating te reo Māori and tikanga Māori within their classrooms and to know where improvements are needed
• review progress towards using Te Whare Mauri Ora to show how effectively learner wellbeing needs are being met.

Annually:

• review and evaluate the impact of teacher practice for improving learner outcomes
• track, monitor and report to the board on all learner progress, achievement, and attendance, with a particular focus on improving outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners.

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

• teachers using high quality assessment practices that improve knowing about learners’ progress and achievement and that meet their individual needs
• teacher practice that increasingly reflects te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in meaningful ways, supporting learners’ sense of belonging and identity
• improved attendance across the school for all groups, particularly for Pacific learners, ensuring better opportunities to access learning.

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

1 August 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