Te Komanawa Rowley 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 

Te Kōmanawa Rowley School is located in Christchurch and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s three values are Whanaungatanga | Feso'ota'iga |Tauhi Va | Relationships; Tuakiritanga | Fa’asinomaga |‘Ilo’i kita |Identity; and Mana | Fa’aaloalogia | Ngeia | Dignity.

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 

• Learner achievement has improved over the last three years; less than half of all learners are achieving at or above curriculum levels in reading and writing, and a small majority are achieving at or above curriculum level in mathematics.
• There is little disparity by ethnicity; however, boys are not achieving as well as girls in reading and writing.
• Systematic wellbeing approaches are resulting in students recognising they have value and are increasingly proud of their learning.
• Less than half of all learners are attending school regularly; the school is yet to meet Ministry of Education target for regular attendance, this is an area of strategic focus for the school.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders set and pursue specific improvement goals and targets, including prioritising the acceleration of learners at risk of underachievement.
• Leaders ensure planning and implementation of the school’s curriculum and teaching; expectations for high quality teaching are clear, shared and monitored to consistently support learner progress and achievement.
• Leaders build effective relationships with other education providers and community groups to support learner transitions and increase opportunities for learner success and wellbeing.

• Meaningful learning experiences support learners to be engaged, experience success and progress in their learning.
• Leaders and teachers have high expectations for learning and behaviour, supporting learners’ wellbeing needs so they can engage in learning and experience success.
• Cultures within the school community are affirmed, valued and increasingly reflected in teaching and learning across the curriculum by teachers and leaders.

• Leaders provide targeted professional learning opportunities for staff that are aligned with school’s improvement goals and learner needs.
• A focus on relationships and relational trust are evident; the cultures of all learners, whānau and the community are affirmed and valued.
• Leaders and teachers engage and actively promote the learning that is happening within the school with the community.
• The board uses data and evidence well to make informed strategic decisions within the school.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue to prioritise improving regular attendance, accelerating progress, and raising achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• further develop the leadership skills of team leaders, including their data analysis and evaluation capability, to grow their skills leading others and to enable them to support continued accelerated progress for learners
• review and refine the literacy and mathematics programmes, assessment and teaching practices in response to professional learning, and to align with the national curriculum changes
• strengthen learning focused partnerships with whānau.

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

Within three months:

• gather and respond to student and whānau feedback and ideas about cultural inclusion and learning engagement
• evaluate the actions implemented to improve attendance to inform future planning
• review national curriculum changes and alignment with current practice and school expectations in literacy and mathematics and support staff with any professional learning needed.

Every six months:

• team leaders analyse learner progress and achievement to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to accelerate learning towards expected curriculum levels to inform planning
• evaluate professional learning in literacy and mathematics for its impact on teaching practices to improve learner outcomes to know what is working best
• review how well learning partnerships with whānau increase engagement, wellbeing and achievement outcomes for learners.

Annually:

• collect, analyse and respond to learner and whānau feedback to plan for and maintain an inclusive environment
• evaluate the impact of strategies used to improve regular attendance and to accelerate learner progress and achievement 
• continue to develop the schools’ curriculum to align with curriculum changes and to maintain relevant local learning opportunities
• report the above findings to the Board to inform strategic direction decision making.

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

• continued improvement in attendance, progress, achievement and wellbeing for all learners
• effective school wide systems in place that inform teaching practice and continue to increase successful outcomes for all.

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

3 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