Goldfields School (Cromwell)

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 

Goldfields School (Cromwell) is a contributing primary school located in the Central Otago Lakes area. Its vision is ‘Learning and growing together’ and ‘Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai - Nurture the seed and it will blossom’.

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 report in December 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the integration of the Goldfields’ learner profile and pathways (Te Huarahi Tipuranga) into classroom practice.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

A consistent, coherent language of learning based on Te Huarahi Tipuranga

• The language of the expectations from Te Huarahi Tipuranga is used with students across the school including for setting goals and reporting on achievement for improved consistency and clarity.
• Students understand themselves as learners and can confidently set goals to promote their ongoing progress and achievement.
• Teachers confidently use Te Huarahi Tipuranga to unpack ideas and expectations for teaching and wellbeing to inform responsive termly planning and learning. 

Te Huarahi Tipuranga embedded into everyday use for planning and assessment.

• Te Huarahi Tipuranga now includes clear expectations for Kāhui Kaimahi (the staff team) and are used effectively to inform parents and whānau of their child’s learning journey.
• Programme planning and teacher goals for ongoing improvement and reporting to parents uses Te Huarahi Tipuranga well, supporting increased clarity and consistency of teaching and learning.

Strengthened engagement with the school’s community through the development of a community engagement plan.

• Leaders and teachers have identified that the increase in community engagement has further strengthened children’s engagement in learning. 
• The Goldfields community engagement plan increasingly provides opportunities for parents and whānau to be involved in children’s learning.
• Strong community support for the Goldfields values, vision, and learner pathways approach has been clearly communicated through consultation and engagement.

Other Findings 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been the use of the language of the learner profile through every aspect of school life. Learner progressions are known and used well by students and teachers to extend outcomes for learners. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Most learners, including Māori students, achieve curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Analysis of attendance, engagement and achievement information shows no inequities for groups of learners.
• The school is meeting the 2024 Ministry of Education target for regular attendance at school, most students attend school regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

• Teachers and leaders systematically gather and analyse student engagement and achievement data to evaluate the effectiveness of planning, teaching and assessment.
• Leaders use well considered evidence to coherently plan and monitor the school’s strategic improvement and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learning and wellbeing.
• Leadership actively mentor teachers to strengthen their practice, build leadership capabilities and extend opportunities for professional growth. 

• Students participate in a range of meaningful learning opportunities, well-planned curriculum contexts and engaging experiences; students confidently make decisions about their learning. 
• Staff involvement in targeted professional learning, clearly aligned to relevant school priorities, has established shared approaches to school curriculum delivery.
• Regular opportunities for staff to collaborate and share practice promotes increasingly consistent delivery of agreed expectations for effective teaching and learning.

• Strong community consultation practices guide the development of the school’s vision and values and inform improvement actions. 
• A systematic and comprehensive approach to self-review clearly identifies strengths and highlights aspects for ongoing improvements.
• The school board is well informed by teachers and leaders about students’ progress, achievement and learning and effectively scrutinise this information to prioritise resourcing for learning and attendance.
• Systems, processes and guidance for effective governance, leadership and teaching are well-embedded to support sustainable change and improvement.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to continue to: 

• embed shared practices across reading, writing and mathematics to ensure consistency of practice for continuous improvement in student progress and achievement 
• continue to strengthen assessment moderation processes to embed teacher knowledge of learning progressions and achievement levels 
• consolidate formative assessment practices to inform planning and programmes to meet learner needs.

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

Every six months:

• evaluate teaching strategies for core curriculum programmes to ensure consistency of practice across the school
• moderate assessments for reading, writing and mathematics to ensure teacher understanding of progress and achievement is consistent
• provide professional learning opportunities for extending teaching practice and use of responsive assessment to inform planning.

Annually:

• review and report on school initiatives and actions with a focus on how these raised achievement in reading, writing and mathematics, to inform ongoing improvement
• review moderation practices to ensure these are strengthening teacher’s understanding of progress and achievement to identify where to next
• evaluate the impact of professional learning on assessment and planning to meet student needs.

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

• sustained high levels of attendance, achievement, progress and engagement
• consistent, coherent practice in reading, writing and mathematics that ensures continuous improvement in student progress and achievement 
• children’s progress and achievement are accurately informed by evidence-based practice 
• teachers using assessment information to inform planning and teaching. 

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

16 September 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