Alexandra 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

Alexandra Primary School is a state school for learners from Years 1 to 8 in Alexandra. It places an emphasis on all learners, whānau, community and staff feeling that they belong, which is reinforced by its vision, “deep learning in a safe and diverse environment where everyone belongs”.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) published report and subsequent evaluation.

Part B: An evaluative summary of learner outcomes and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including 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 report in October 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the impact of the development of a responsive and inclusive local curriculum, designed to ensure all learners’ achievement and progress is reflective of their individual needs, strengths and interests.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

That teachers know their learners well and hold high expectations about their achievement.

• Teachers respect and show understanding of each learner’s cultures, wellbeing, strengths and needs and are developing productive learning relationships to accelerate learner progress.
• Teachers increasingly hold high expectations about each student’s learning potential; engagement and achievement have improved.
• Teachers and leaders analyse the effectiveness of strategies to accelerate learning and use this information to inform planning.

Effective assessment for learning is embedded so that teachers notice, recognise and respond to learning needs and aspirations.

• Teachers share snapshots of progress and achievement information with learners, parents and whānau that clearly identify next steps in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Improved understandings about teaching practices that make the greatest impact on learner progress practices enable teachers to more systematically support learners to achieve intended learning outcomes.
• Teachers’ more deliberate use of exemplars, shared learning intentions and success criteria has increased learners’ understandings about what they are learning and when they have achieved their learning goals.

Ākonga who know themselves as learners and are excited about their learning. 

• Teachers increasingly effective use of learner feedback is resulting in teaching and learning that is better aligned with learners’ strengths, interests and needs.
• Sharing learning snapshots between learners, parents and whānau has increased learners’ understanding of their own learning strengths, progress and next steps in reading, writing and mathematics.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is teachers’ increased capacity to build strong learner focused relationships is leading to better understanding for planning each learner’s next steps in learning.

Part B: Current state

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Achievement in reading and writing is improving; the large majority of learners are achieving at or above curriculum expectations, with equitable achievement for Māori learners.
• The majority of learners are achieving at or above curriculum expectations in mathematics; leaders are initiating steps to improve achievement in mathematics.
• Most learners identified as needing to make accelerated progress make consistent progress supported by teachers’ effective use of personalised learning strategies.
• Learner attendance is approaching but not yet at the Government’s target; the large majority of learners attend regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders successfully develop collective responsibility for teachers to use of data and inquiry to understand and respond to learners’ strengths and needs.
• Leaders develop cohesive professional learning for teachers increasing their confidence and understandings about effective practice; improved learning outcomes are evident as a result of improved practice.
• Leaders prioritise the development of leadership of curriculum initiatives that increase learner achievement.

• Teachers are collectively taking steps to improve teaching, assessment practice and curriculum design to benefit student learning, progress and achievement.
• Teachers use the school’s curriculum to increasingly respond to the community’s languages, cultures and identities; outcomes are improved through learners exploring this connection to the local area.
• Teachers systematically compare and analyse achievement data across the school to ensure consistency of achievement judgements and inform the planning of next steps in learning.

• The school provides an inclusive environment affirming and supporting learners with opportunities to develop their differing strengths, interests and identities as learners.
• The board and school leadership have established clear strategic goals that are increasingly linked to the community’s aspirations, learners’ needs, and to enact its vision.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• develop cohesive teaching and learning strategies which raise learner achievement
• continue to embed assessment for learning practices
• increase connections to learners’ home and community contexts to enrich the local curriculum
• embed strategies to improve and sustain regular attendance.

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

Within six months

• leaders provide individualised teacher professional learning to develop teaching practices that improve equitable outcomes for all learners
• leaders develop a teaching, learning and assessment schedule to provide clear guidance to teaching consistency and lift expectations about all students’ learning progress and next steps

Every six months

• leaders and teachers collect and review achievement information to develop an ongoing and accurate picture of each learner’s progress across the year and inform next learning steps
• leaders and teachers identify and monitor learners who have not made expected levels of progress, then take steps to accelerate their achievement
• leaders and teachers partner with parents, whānau and the community to continue to refine a relevant curriculum that engages learners

Annually

• leaders provide evaluative reports to the board on the impact of developments on learner attendance and achievement and use findings to inform strategic and annual planning
• leaders evaluate the effectiveness of community partnerships to ensure that the curriculum continues to meet all learners’ needs and increases learner engagement.

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

• equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners
• learners recognise their own progress and gain confidence in themselves as learners
• increased connections with the community, resulting in an enhanced local curriculum that engages learners
• improved and sustained levels of regular 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.

Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools

27 February 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