Hornby 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 

Hornby Primary School is located in Christchurch and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s core values are Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Manawaroa, Auaha. There are two te reo Māori bilingual classes. A new principal began at the school in 2023. 

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 August 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the school is raising the achievement of mathematics for all learners, through consistent schoolwide approaches.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

A consistent approach and confidence in mathematics teaching across the teaching teams. 

• Teachers’ implementation of the mathematics programme is now consistent across the teaching teams; raising achievement in mathematics remains a priority.
• Staff are well supported to extend their knowledge and understanding of the teaching of mathematics through ongoing professional learning.
• Leaders have begun to evaluate the current mathematics programme to determine how effectively it is supporting positive outcomes for all learners.

Teaching approaches that are culturally appropriate.

• Teachers know their students and understand their student’s backgrounds within their classes; they ensure that inclusive approaches are evident within their teaching practices.
• Learning programmes are increasingly adjusted to ensure they meet specific cultural needs of all learners. 

Teachers having a greater understanding of what best supports Māori and Pacific learners.

• Teachers are well supported by internal and external expertise and regular professional learning opportunities; these support their growing understanding of and capacity to include te ao Māori and Pacific cultures in their classroom practices and environment. 
• Learners and teachers benefit from the development of high quality, practical resources to support schoolwide consistency in culturally appropriate teaching programmes. 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was increased teacher understanding and consistency of mathematics teaching practices schoolwide. 

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• A small majority of learners achieve at expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics; improving achievement, particularly for Māori, remains a priority for leaders and teachers. 
• Learners’ express a sense of positive wellbeing and belonging; leaders and teachers intentionally use a wide range of initiatives and interventions.
• The majority of learners attend regularly and significant improvement in attendance is evident in the past two years; the school has not yet met the Ministry of Education attendance target.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders foster a culture of high expectations for learner engagement, achievement and wellbeing to support positive outcomes for all learners.
• Leaders appropriately prioritise areas for professional growth, provide effective support to extend teacher capacity and ensure consistency of quality teaching across the school.
• Leadership opportunities across the school increasingly promote collaboration and collective ownership for school improvement; this is strengthening consistency in teaching and learning.

• Teachers’ shared understanding of effective practice is strengthening strategies and approaches to meet learner need.
• Useful and appropriate progressions for learning support teachers in progress and achievement decision making; extending teachers’ effective use of assessment practice has been prioritised.
• Learners with additional needs are provided with targeted support through well-considered individual and small group learning opportunities to meet their specific needs.

• For those learners most at risk of not achieving successful outcomes, a responsive initiative that increases engagement and attendance has been established; this supports learners’ confidence to make learning decisions and extends their ability to self-regulate.
• The board uses a wide range of information to inform improvement focused resourcing decisions; targeted resourcing for teaching and learning strengthens learner engagement and success.
• Leaders are increasing the ways in which they engage meaningfully with the school community to inform future direction; they have prioritised extending connections with whānau, hapū and iwi to strengthen te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori schoolwide. 

Rumaki/Bilingual Outcomes and Condition to Support Learner Success

Tamariki success and wellbeing

• Tamariki are building their knowledge of the local iwi tikanga, history and pūrākau.
• Tamariki learning and aspirations are supported and guided through regular whānau engagement.
• Tamariki are actively involved in a wide range of cultural events that builds confidence as Māori learners.

Conditions to support tamariki success

• Whānau aspirations guide mātauranga Māori learning experiences.
• Leadership practices in Te Puna o te Reo are beginning to improve relational trust.

Te Puna o te Reo are building positive learning partnerships with Māori agencies and local schools.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to continue to: 

• increase teaching capability to improve learner wellbeing, attendance, engagement and readiness for learning
• grow cultural capacity of staff, including increasing partnerships with parents and whānau
• build high quality teaching and learning across the teaching teams to raise achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• strengthen the analysis and reporting of Te Puna o te Reo data to drive improvements in the performance of the unit.

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

Within three months:

• consolidate understanding and embed the framework to guide practices for expected behaviours and learning at all levels of the school
• develop plans for increasing attendance to meet the Ministry of Education target.

Within six months:

• use findings from the evaluation of the mathematics programme to inform changes to teaching and learning 
• gather learner feedback and ideas to evaluate how well supported they are with their learning collect data and use internal moderation processes for a deeper analysis of attendance, wellbeing and achievement information in Te Puna o te Reo.

Every six months:

• review the effectiveness of strategies in raising attendance and make improvements to teaching and learning 
• evaluate how effectively teaching practices are improving learner progress and achievement, particularly for Māori and Pacific and all identified learners at risk of not achieving and modify strategies for improvement.

Annually:

• review and report to the board on schoolwide learner attendance, progress and achievement and prioritise ongoing improvements 
• consult with the school’s community and whānau to develop meaningful learning partnerships to inform future planning and direction for the school
• use the analysed data to inform targeted change for improvement in Te Puna o te Reo.

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

• increased learner wellbeing and improved attendance 
• improved literacy and numeracy learning outcomes for tamariki in Te Puna o te Reo. strengthened partnerships with whānau to allow for increased learner involvement in learning and next steps.

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

5 December 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