Papakaio 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

Papakaio School is a rural primary school providing education for students in Years 1 to 8. It is located in the lower Waitaki Valley. The school’s vision for learners is that they will realise their potential through developing the skills and attitudes for working with people, purpose and passion.

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, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings.

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

Learning outcomes for most learners are positive and well sustained over time.

• Most learners make sustained progress and achieve at the appropriate curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics throughout their schooling; the school continues to focus on improving outcomes for boys in writing and for Māori learners in writing and mathematics.
• Most learners progress and meet learning goals relevant to them and set in partnership with their whānau and teachers.
• The majority of learners attend school regularly, although not yet consistently at levels encouraged by the Ministry of Education; school leaders and teachers work with families to encourage regular attendance and ameliorate the impact of absences on learning.

Conditions to support learner success

School leadership fosters and sustains a culture committed to quality teaching and equity and excellence in learner outcomes.

• Leadership uses a range of evidence to plan and monitor the school’s strategic improvement cycle and to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learner outcomes.
• Expectations for high-quality, evidence-informed teaching are clear, shared, systematically monitored and supported with relevant professional learning.
• To achieve the school’s vision for learners and improvement goals, leadership builds and sustains high levels of relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school community.

The school curriculum and teaching practice are highly responsive to the interests and needs of learners.

• Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth of The New Zealand Curriculum within the school and in the local environment.
• Teachers create a collaborative and orderly learning environment that fosters inclusive participation; positive and respectful teacher-learner relationships are embedded in classrooms; curriculum and teaching are increasingly well structured and coordinated providing learners with well-paced exposures to concepts, ideas, skills and examples with timely and specific feedback.
• Assessment information is effectively used to plan for, evaluate and report the progress and achievement of each learner and to adapt teaching practice to respond to learners’ strengths and needs; those needing additional support are identified promptly and are provided with relevant, individualised and effective support to learn and progress at an appropriate pace. 

Stewardship, a range of partnerships and teacher capability development effectively support school operation and the realisation of strategic goals.

• Teacher professional learning is strategically aligned with the school’s improvement goals and learner needs; leaders and teachers monitor and evaluate anticipated changes in practice and learner outcomes.
• Educationally focused relationships with parents, other education providers, specialists and community groups support learner transitions to and from school and increase opportunities for learning and success.
• The school board closely scrutinises a range of high-quality learner data and evaluative information to identify strategic improvement priorities, plan and make appropriate resourcing decisions.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• review and strengthen the curriculum, and teaching of writing, and embed in practice recent professional learning for the teaching of reading
• evaluate the impact of changes in teaching practice on learners’ progress and achievement in literacy
• continue to develop the school’s local curriculum, including a strengthened focus on sustainability and bicultural understandings, and to evaluate how well it is fostering the school’s new graduate outcomes.

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

Within six months

• implement the school’s professional development plan for the teaching of writing
• develop and confirm the school’s intended graduate outcomes

Every six months

• ongoing monitoring of learners’ progress and achievement in reading and writing, with a particular focus on outcomes for boys and Māori learners
• evaluate the impact of professional development on teacher confidence and practice for teaching writing

Annually

• review curriculum planning to ensure learners have sufficient opportunities to learn about and develop the school’s identified graduate outcomes
• increasingly involve learners in reflecting on their own progress in developing and demonstrating the graduate outcomes.

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

• more equitable progress and achievement in writing for boys and Māori learners
• all learners being supported to make appropriate progress in literacy learning
• consistency and coherence in the teaching of literacy across the school
• learners having sufficient opportunities to develop the school’s graduate outcomes.

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

12 June 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