Waikari 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

Waikari School is located in North Canterbury. It provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is to build confident, respectful and curious learners, underpinned by the PRIDE values – Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Difference, and Excellence. A new principal began at the school in Term 3 of 2023.

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.

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

• Most learners, including Māori, achieve at or above expectations in reading and writing, and almost all in mathematics; achievement is well supported and improved by teachers knowing their learners’ needs very well and closely monitoring and sharing progress.
• There is a schoolwide focus to further improve learner outcomes in writing.
• Learners’ regular attendance is well above Ministry of Education target.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leadership prioritises having a culture of productive relationships for consistency in high-quality teaching and ongoing assessment practices so learners experience success.
• The individual strengths of staff are recognised, valued and built upon, creating a positive focus on learner wellbeing and progress.
• Improvement goals and actions are evidenced-based and clearly monitored to effectively meet the specific needs of learners.

• Learners benefit from a broad, rich and engaging curriculum embracing the school’s unique location and community.
• Teachers create collaborative and learning-focused environments that effectively promote positive learner engagement and achievement.
• Teachers use inclusive teaching strategies so students are involved in shaping their own learning to further increase their engagement and progress.

• The school is focusing on deepening home, community and agency partnerships to strengthen learner progress, including with local early childhood centres for smooth transitions into school.
• Ongoing, quality professional learning for staff enables teaching and learning to be evidence-based and relevant to individual learners’ needs.
• Leaders and teachers are working to strengthen the partnership with local iwi to continue the development of the local curriculum, embed te ao Māori learning opportunities across the school and promote learner success.
• The board and leaders have a clear focus on strategic and annual planning based on strong community consultation and centered on furthering learners’ progress and achievement.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to develop the schoolwide framework for ongoing assessment and reporting to whānau
• further develop the use of achievement progressions so learners and their whānau know and understand next steps and can actively contribute to learning
• continue the development of the local curriculum in partnership with local iwi and the wider community.

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

Within six months:

• use a variety of appropriately stepped assessment tasks to develop a progressive mathematics curriculum 
• extend an existing spelling programme across the school to improve writing, particularly for students identified as working below the expected level
• review and embed refreshed assessment practices for consistency of school wide reporting

Every six months:

• use the schoolwide attendance and assessment information to report engagement and progress on student learning and achievement to the board and respond effectively to emerging trends

Annually:

• continue the focus on literacy and mathematics applying current research and good practice
• review the school’s vision and values in partnership with local iwi and the wider community 
• analyse data and report on attendance, progress and achievement to set improvement targets and inform strategic and annual planning.

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

• consistent use of high-quality assessment information to identify the next learning steps for each learner
• a strongly engaging, localised curriculum extending learner engagement and achievement
• increased whānau sense of inclusion, engagement and understanding how to support their child’s learning and sustained high levels of attendance.

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

8 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