Concord 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  

Concord School is situated in a suburban area on the outskirts of south Dunedin. It provides education for students in Years 1 – 6. The school vision is ‘together we learn and grow’. At the time of writing the current principal had resigned. 

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 April 2023, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the school’s phonics programmes improved literacy outcomes across the school. 

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:  

Improved literacy outcomes for all learners, particularly those identified as target students. 

• Achievement rates in literacy have improved across the school. 
• Assessment information shows most students are progressing and achieving well and that most of those students requiring additional support have made accelerated progress in literacy.  

Refined teaching strategies to strengthen students’ knowledge, skills and confidence in phonics. 

• Leaders and teachers have developed a better understanding of how to deliver effective, responsive programmes for literacy learning.  
• Teaching evaluations show increasingly consistent and effective teaching strategies are being implemented across the school. 

High quality assessment information is used to inform ongoing improvements in planning, programmes and teaching practice to accelerate progress and achievement for all learners.  

• Literacy assessment information is used effectively by teachers to identify next learning steps for individuals and groups of learners. 
• Leaders and teachers increasingly evaluate together to refine teaching strategies and consider their impact on outcomes for learners.  

Other Findings 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action is the implementation of a coherent approach to literacy teaching across the school. This has improved clarity, consistency and effectiveness of teachers’ professional practice, improved the use of achievement information in response to learners’ needs and led to improved outcomes in literacy.  

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Achievement information shows most students achieve curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; improvements have been sustained over time. 
• Strategies to achieve more equitable outcomes for Māori learners have been successful. 
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leadership uses evidence well to plan and monitor key aspects of the school’s strategic improvement cycle and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies designed to improve learner outcomes. 
• Leaders and teachers are strengthening their analysis and interpretation of data; this is increasingly used schoolwide to inform decision making for school improvement. 
• Leaders and teachers engage in performance management processes that are aligned with strategic curriculum goals.

• Leaders and teachers collaborate effectively to strengthen teacher practice and refine consistent approaches to teaching literacy.  
• Literacy assessments are used well to plan for, evaluate and report the progress and achievement of learners and to adapt teaching practice in response to learners’ strengths and needs. 
• Reading interventions effectively target additional support to those learners who need this.

• Leaders increasingly gather useful evidence to evaluate and report to the board the impact of strategies on school improvement. 
• Leadership is strengthening policies, programmes and practices to promote learners’ wellbeing, inclusion and engagement in learning.  
• Te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori are increasingly integrated into aspects of the school curriculum; this is broadening learners’ experiences.  

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:  

• strengthen schoolwide curriculum planning and teaching practice in mathematics  
• increase the range of strategies used to improve students’ regular attendance. 

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

Within six months: 

• develop curriculum delivery plans for mathematics to strengthen teacher practice and build an increasingly coherent approach to teaching strategies  
• engage with parents and whānau to gather their feedback and ideas for improving rates of attendance 
• implement a range of strategies to bring about improvements to regular attendance rates 

Every six months: 

• scrutinise schoolwide achievement information in mathematics to monitor the impact of changes to the mathematics curriculum 
• evaluate and report to the board and community on the effectiveness of attendance strategies and identify next steps 

Annually: 

• report to the board the impact initiatives and strategies have had on improving outcomes for learners including attendance, engagement, progress and achievement to inform responsive decision making  
• report to the board on improvements in rates of regular attendance and prioritise goals accordingly.

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

• increasingly excellent and equitable learning outcomes for all students in reading, writing and mathematics 
• more students attending regularly 
• consistent approaches to teaching mathematics schoolwide. 

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 

​​23 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