Merrin School Nga Whetu Kohara

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 

Merrin School Ngā Whetū Kohara is situated in Avonhead, Christchurch and provides education for students in Year 1 to 8. Their vision is for all children to shine, by purposefully providing a learning environment that nurtures and grows every child.

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 school is achieving increasingly equitable and excellent outcomes for most learners.

• Most students are achieving at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics with increasing equity between groups of learners.
• Improving equity in achievement for groups of students remains a priority, including Māori and Pacific students in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Inclusion and wellbeing practices support children to have a strong sense of belonging. 
• A large majority of students attend school regularly; the school is yet to achieve the Ministry of Education 2024 attendance target. 

Conditions to support learner success

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

• The school board is well informed by leaders about progress and achievement for all students across curriculum areas; this supports effective decision making to prioritise resourcing.
• Leaders ensure professional development is effective and aligned to improvement priorities and strengthens the quality and consistency of teaching practice. 
• Leaders and teachers deliberately set appropriate expectations for high quality, evidence-based teaching approaches that are collaboratively developed, implemented, and monitored.

Students experience a broad and responsive curriculum.

• Leaders support teachers to inquire into their practice to better understand what is working well and inform where to next for learners. 
• Teachers and leaders know students well and implement learning programmes deliberately aligned to individual student needs and interests; this is increasing learners’ engagement in learning.
• Teachers use comprehensive guidelines for curriculum delivery, consequently consistent and cohesive practices across the school support student achievement and wellbeing. 

Key organisational conditions that support learner success are well established.

• Student wellbeing is enhanced through deliberately planned and monitored actions undertaken by teachers and leaders in response to identified needs.
• Leaders, teachers and the school board engage in a robust consultation process with students, whānau and staff; this gathers aspirations that inform improvement priorities.
• Students increasingly see their language and identity represented in the curriculum; teachers engage in professional learning that improves their understanding and capability in tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori. 
• The board, leaders and teachers undertake well considered review and reflection to identify areas of strength and to target areas for ongoing improvement.

Part B: Where to next? 

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

• continue to strengthen teaching practice for equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific students' achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• teachers and leaders to prioritise the development of initiatives and implementation of strategies to improve attendance.

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

Within six months:

• review intentional strategies used to improve attendance, acknowledge what is working well and identify where to next
• teachers undertake professional development to extend the range of strategies and approaches used to support learners at risk of underachievement.

Every six months:

• collate and analyse student progress and achievement data for trends and patterns, and use this to inform next improvement priorities
• reflect on and review the implementation of effective teaching strategies for attendance, progress and achievement particularly for Māori and Pacific students.

Annually:

• continue to use and report to the board student wellbeing, engagement, progress and achievement data to inform responsive decision making, and effective strategies for improving attendance, teaching and learning
• evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to improve equitable outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics and make changes where needed.

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

• improved outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics particularly for Māori and Pacific students
• increased student engagement in learning and more students 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

5 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