Gorge Road 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 

Gorge Road School is located in Southland and provides education for students in Year 1 to 8. The values of respect, responsibility, resourcefulness and resilience guide and underpin school activities, curriculum and partnerships with parents.

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 

• A large majority of students achieve at or above curriculum level expectations in reading and mathematics, less than half achieve in writing. 
• Māori students achieve higher than their school peers in all areas; all Māori students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, most achieve in writing, and almost all achieve this in mathematics. 
• Improving equity for groups of students’ achievement remains a priority, including for boys in literacy and girls in mathematics. 
• The majority of students attend school regularly, the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance; strong partnerships with outside agencies support the wellbeing and attendance for those learners at risk of not achieving.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders, teachers and the school board analyse and use a wide range of achievement information to inform improvement priorities and implement responsive changes to teaching and learning. 
• Targeted learning opportunities for staff are strategically aligned to improvement priorities to ensure ongoing improvements in teaching and learning. 
• Well established relationships within the educational community are used to grow teacher capability and improve outcomes for learners. 

• Community collaborations, based on the rural environment are well-established; these enrich opportunities for students to learn from and about their local community. 
• Learners’ engagement and outcomes are improved through the delivery of a curriculum that increasingly makes links to student’s identity language and culture; teaching and use of te reo Māori has been identified as an area for ongoing improvement.  
• Teachers know their students well; they identify the learning needs of students and increasingly plan and use responsive teaching strategies. 

• Relationships between staff and students are founded on mutual trust and practices that promote student wellbeing, inclusion, and engagement in learning. 
• The Board and Principal are working towards a high-quality, evidence-based culture of successful teaching and learning, supported by effective professional development.
• Teachers show their commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by engaging in appropriate professional learning to improve understanding and capability in tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori. 
• Leaders support teachers to inquire into their teaching practice and outcomes for students, to better understand what is working well and inform where to next. 

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen teaching practice to improve outcomes in literacy 
• review and refine teaching practice to improve equity between groups of students, particularly for boys in writing and reading and girls in mathematics
• strengthen initiatives and strategies to improve attendance.

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

Within six months:

• engage in focused professional development in literacy and mathematics to build teacher capability and raise achievement 
• leaders and teachers review current strategies in use for addressing achievement and attendance concerns to identify what is working and what is not

Every six months:

• ensure teachers set explicit targets for improvement, regularly discuss and reflect on the impact deliberate strategies have on improving attendance, accelerating progress and achievement
• schoolwide student progress and achievement data is collated and analysed to inform teaching and learning and ensure improved equity between groups of students 

Annually:

• report on student outcomes in literacy and mathematics to the board and community to inform progress towards achieving annual targets and identify strategies for ongoing improvement
• undertake evaluation of the impact of professional development and improvement strategies on attendance and engagement outcomes and plan for continuing improvements.

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

• improved outcomes in literacy
• improved equity between groups of students particularly boys in literacy and girls in mathematics
• increased student engagement in learning and more students attending school regularly.

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

24 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