Te Kura o Mokihi Spreydon 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 Kura o Mōkihi Spreydon School is located in southwest Christchurch and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s vision ‘Growing the Heart of our Community’ is central to the way the school operates.

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 the extent to which learners, particularly those who were in Years 5 and 6, successfully engaged in learning using digital technologies and supported to improve in their writing. 

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Effective use of digital technology supporting positive learning outcomes for learners in writing, especially in Years 5 and 6 who need additional support.

• School data showed significant improvement in writing achievement for some groups of learners, particularly in Year 5.
• Feedback from learners was that they preferred using bookwork over digital devices, so the purposeful use of technology was carefully considered to ensure meaningful support for learning.
• Through consultation with the local high school, particular skills that learners need as they change schools, were identified and taught specifically to support their transition.

Continued growth in the pedagogical understanding and practice of teachers to use digital technology in meaningful ways.

• Teachers’ knowledge and confidence in using digital technology has increased through targeted and individualised support.
• Clear expectations for how and when technology is to be used contributes to greater consistency and meaningful use within learning programmes.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was clarity for staff about how and when to use digital technology to strengthen purposeful learning opportunities.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Most learners are well engaged, making steady progress and succeed across a wide range of learning opportunities.

• Most learners are meeting expected curriculum achievement levels in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school has yet to have Māori learners’ achievement equitable with other groups; teachers are increasingly using a variety of different ways to support their achievement through targeted programmes.
• The majority of learners attend school regularly however the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance; strong partnerships with outside agencies support the wellbeing and improved attendance for those learners at risk of not achieving.

Conditions to support learner success

Well-considered leadership provides a strong vision for school direction, builds leadership capacity and ensures consistency for ongoing schoolwide improvement.

• Leadership fosters a highly collaborative team culture; the responsive staff are flexible and open to new approaches to improve learner success and wellbeing.
• Targeted learning opportunities for staff are well-considered, resourced and support identified priority areas to ensure ongoing improvements in teaching and learning.
• Learners’ needs are identified, responded to appropriately and ongoing monitoring for progress against individual goals is prioritised for improving engagement.

Learners benefit from well-considered teaching and learning programmes that are designed to address learning needs and reflect their interests and local context.

• Learners’ engagement is strengthened through deliberate connections to the localised curriculum.
• Learners experience meaningful programmes with a strong literacy base, this strengthens consistency of teaching and learning schoolwide.
• Teachers are highly reflective and make appropriate changes to their practices based on, and targeted to, the identified needs of learners.

The school’s focused strategic plan informs the clear direction for improvement across key conditions. 

• The board is highly supportive, and improvement focused; provided, targeted funding supports teaching and learning, particularly in areas of the school that it is most needed.
• To contribute to the school’s direction, families and the local community have regular opportunity to give feedback and ensure aspirations for their children are well reflected.
• Leaders and teachers have identified and give priority to building culturally appropriate practices that promote learners’ sense of belonging.
• Leadership is establishing in depth evaluation processes to better understand what is working and what needs to change to bring about positive outcomes for all learners.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• strengthen consistency of assessment practices and data use to better demonstrate learning progress
• use data effectively to review best practice within teaching and learning programmes to improve progress, attendance, engagement and achievement
• reduce barriers to learning for Māori and Pacific students through continuing to increase culturally appropriate practices 
• further develop processes to provide learners with opportunities to contribute to their learning and know what their next steps are.

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

Within six months:

• use internal and external expertise to continue to build best practice literacy across the school
• gather learner voice to evaluate how well learning programmes are meeting learners’ needs and interests

Every six months:

• review how well learners know and can describe their learning and next steps
• analyse learner voice to inform strategies and approaches to improve attendance

Annually:

• continue to develop school practices that are responsive to Māori language and culture, building on the knowledge and experiences of learners and teachers
• report to the board on literacy developments, the progress and achievement particularly for Māori and Pacific learners, and the alignment of learning programmes with the school’s localised curriculum
• review strategies and approaches to improve attendance to inform ongoing improvement.

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

• consistency of teacher practice in literacy across the school
• leaders and teachers confidently using evaluation to inform improvement
• schoolwide practices that support improved engagement and achievement, particularly for Māori learners.

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

11 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