Springston 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 

Springston School is situated in Canterbury’s Selwyn District and provides education for learners from Years 1 to 8. The school is a member of a local kāhui ako, Ngā Mātāpūna o Ngā Pakihi. A new principal will lead the school from 2025. 

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. 

Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals

Since the previous ERO report in 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate equity and excellence in schoolwide reading and writing programmes. 

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see: 

Self-motivated learners who strive to achieve and to be their best.

• A consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in reading and writing is evident, and most now achieve at or above curriculum level expectations in these learning areas.
• Learners are motivated by the use of a digital medium and are increasingly sharing their learning with their families.

Confident and consistent teaching practices.

• All staff are now trained in structured teaching and learning approaches and are growing confidence and capability in this area, which supports reading and writing successes for learners. 
• Teacher-led activities show explicit planning and teaching to respond to learner needs and promote strong learner engagement.
• An ongoing area for teacher literacy development is to improve the quality of learners’ independent activities so that they relate more directly to reading and writing.

Active engagement with whānau and parents in literacy developments.

• Well-considered workshops increasingly assist parents to understand the school’s structured reading and writing approaches.
• Digital reporting platforms provide families with regular and relevant posts about their child’s progress and achievement in reading and writing.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the school had trialled a range of structured literacy approaches to determine which best suited the needs of their learners. Leaders continue to review and design a coherent progressive literacy-learning pathway from Years 1 to 8.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was moving from mainly play-based learning in the junior classrooms toward more explicit structured literacy teaching approaches. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Outcomes for learners are equitable, and achievement levels are sustained over time.

• Most learners achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; Māori learners experience parity in achievement outcomes.
• Learners express a sense of belonging and appreciate supportive relationships with staff and peers; 2024 mid-year survey information shows significant improvement in wellbeing over the past two years.
• Learners demonstrate self-management skills and positive behaviours for learning; learners are confident to use the school’s competencies for learning, known as A+ characteristics. 
• A small majority of learners attend regularly; the school has yet to achieve the 2024 Ministry of Education target for regular attendance and set strategic goals and targets to improve attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership work cohesively and deliberately to model a supportive culture for staff and this increasingly fosters a collective focus on improvement.

• Leaders provide targeted professional development for building teacher capability; responsive training in understanding, minimising and managing challenging behaviours has positively impacted on school culture and learner wellbeing in 2024.
• Leaders are taking steps to further review, document and coordinate their expectations for structured teaching and learning approaches in relation to the wider curriculum, including for mathematics.
• Leaders analyse data to monitor learner success and increasingly promote teachers’ use of data, to review how well their planning and programmes foster positive learner outcomes in practice. 

Learners benefit from some good quality teaching practices that sustain engagement, progress and achievement.

• Leaders have recently initiated expectations for teachers to observe each other’s teaching practice and provide feedback to improve consistency and quality of teaching.
• The reliability of assessment information has been strengthened by deliberate moderation training for staff and more regular team discussions focused on targeting learners’ who need additional support. 
• Learning is enriched by opportunities for environmental learning and education outside the classroom; tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori are increasingly woven through these experiences. 

Organisational conditions are being reviewed and refined to promote further improvements.

• Students with complex needs receive planned interventions; these are collaboratively designed with whānau/family and agency supports to develop shared strategies for promoting learner success. 
• A designated coordinator role oversees supports for learners with additional education and/or behaviour needs; systematic monitoring and review practices are evident. 
• The school shares useful information about curriculum, teaching and learning with families; a digital platform also gives regular updates on individual learning experiences, progress and achievement. 
• The school hosts a wide range of events which are well-attended by whānau/families; these celebrate learner successes and further build community relationships.
• The board and school leaders need to set clear and visible school improvement priorities and actions; the board must meet their legislative requirements in regard to strategic and annual planning. 

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• refine and embed consistent structured learning approaches across the school for reading and writing, and explore potential programmes, strategies and tools for a structured mathematics approach
• further develop formal leadership structures and supports for monitoring and growing the consistency and quality of teaching, to include team leaders observing and giving feedback on practice
• strengthen the analysis and use of data for decision-making at schoolwide, team and class levels, including for reporting purposes
• formally evaluate the impact of staff professional development on learner achievement and wellbeing, incorporating student feedback into day-to-day teaching to gauge the success of initiatives in practice
• clearly document and share with the community improvement priorities, this needs to be captured in the strategic and annual planning requirements.

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

Within three months:

• set clear and visible school improvement priorities and actions and share them with the community to meet legislative requirements
• explore opportunities for senior and team leaders to train in coaching and giving feedback to enhance teachers’ professional growth
• review and strengthen the structure of the existing professional growth cycle for teachers, with greater focus on discussing improved learner outcomes
• undertake a schoolwide wellbeing survey and develop a plan for improvement.

Every six months:

• leaders track, analyse and share data with staff and board to discuss trends and patterns in attendance, wellbeing, behaviour and achievement, and refine plans and interventions accordingly
• team leaders observe teaching practice and provide feedback, to grow consistency and capability within and across teams
• the school board connects with whānau/families through the school newsletter and holds whānau hui to gather community perspectives and aspirations for the school’s strategic direction-setting.

Annually:

• survey learners, whānau/parents and staff to monitor satisfaction and wellbeing, and gather information to inform strategic and annual planning
• evaluate the effectiveness of the refinements to teaching and learning practices to ensure they are positively and sufficiently impacting learning and wellbeing 
• board, leaders and teachers monitor attendance patterns and initiate collective strategies with the community to promote greater regular attendance 
• leaders effectively analyse data to report schoolwide progress and achievement to the board and community, including for groups of learners at risk of not achieving.

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

• consistent and responsive teaching practices as a result of leaders explicitly monitoring, reviewing and coaching staff
• strengthened analysis and use of data for decision-making evident at all levels of the school, including for strategic and annual implementation planning, and in target-setting and annual review
• the community involved in decision making, and well-informed about schoolwide learner progress and achievement including for those groups of learners whose needs have not yet been well met
• improved attendance that consistently meets the Ministry of Education target.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education consider action plan intervention listed in section 174 of the Education and Training Act 2020 in order to bring about the following improvements: 

• strategic and annual implementation planning and reporting requirements are met
• address the actions for compliance identified in the school’s Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report. 

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

28 January 2025 

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