Mt Somers Springburn 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

Mt Somers Springburn School is a Year 1 to 8 school located in rural mid-Canterbury. The school has a vision of educated, confident, lifelong learners who show their MOUNT values of Motivation | Ako, Outgoing | Wanaka, United | Whanaungataka, Navigator | Kaihautu, Thoughtful | Manaakitaka. A beginning principal began at the school in 2023.  The school is a member of the Ōpuke Kahui Ako.

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

• At the time of review, the school was not confident its achievement information reliably indicated students’ progress and achievement.
• Leaders recognise the need to ensure better consistency and coherence of assessment processes across the school so that achievement data is valid, reliable and is reported in a way that parents know where their child is at in relation to national curriculum expectations; ERO’s evaluation affirms this needs to improve.
• Assessment data has yet to be analysed in ways that can show how equitable progress and achievement is for different groups of learners.
• The school is meeting the 2024 Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• The principal is working towards building positive, learning-focused relationships with whānau, staff and the board to improve conditions for learning.
• The principal and the board use community feedback to inform recent strategic and annual planning and professional development for teachers to meet the needs of the learners.
• A professional growth cycle for teaching staff is yet to be implemented to advance teachers’ understanding of the relationship between their professional practice and outcomes for learners.

• Effective teaching strategies to support learning are used in most classrooms, including structured literacy practices. 
• Students are provided with a range of learning experiences and opportunities; the school curriculum is beginning to reflect local contexts and te ao Māori.
• Teachers and leaders are undertaking professional development to develop consistent schoolwide assessment practices to support teaching and learning.

• Learners with additional needs are supported by staff to participate inclusively in learning. 
• The school has a new student management system; strengthening the use of this system is a next step, to support leaders and teachers effectively monitor and report student progress and achievement, and plan next steps for learners. 
• The actions from the school’s previous ERO report require doing; these include improving achievement data analysis, using internal evaluation, strengthening professional growth cycles for teachers; and ensuring the board understands compliance responsibilities.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• develop and implement schoolwide teaching and assessment expectations and practices 
• improve analysis, use and reporting of schoolwide achievement information to identify disparity and promote equity and valued achievement outcomes 
• use internal evaluation to identify the impact of the curriculum on improving student outcomes 
• implement professional growth cycle for teachers to meet school and New Zealand Aotearoa Teaching Council expectations.

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

Within three months:

• develop a cohesive schoolwide assessment plan and reporting system
• review and document schoolwide teaching expectations in literacy and mathematics to ensure consistency of teaching practice across the school
• identify target learners who are at risk of underachieving and implement a plan to identify, monitor, and accelerate their progress and achievement 
• implement professional growth cycle processes for all teachers

Every six months:

• report schoolwide student progress and achievement to the board including by gender, ethnicity, and year level and target learner to respond to emerging needs as required
• report to parents on the progress and achievement of their child in a way that enables them to know where their child is at and their next steps

Annually:

• identify target learners who are at risk of underachieving and implement and monitor plans to accelerate their progress and achievement, report on this to the board and take action to respond to emerging needs
• monitor and evaluate the impact of the interventions to lift achievement target learners and adjust teaching practices in response  
• report to the board and school community on the progress and achievement of all students in reading, writing and maths and respond to emerging needs as required.

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

• teachers, leaders and board working together for improved equity and excellence in learner outcomes
• sustained student engagement and attendance
• consistent teaching, learning and assessment practices across the school to ensure valid, reliable schoolwide data on progress and achievement.

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

27 September 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