Waverley Park 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 

Waverley Park School is located in the eastern suburbs of Invercargill. The school provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. Their mission statement is: Living the Learning Ora i te ako, Kia Kaha. Kia maia. Kia manawanui Be strong. Be brave. Be steadfast.

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 

Expected Improvements and Findings 

Since the previous ERO report of February 2023, ERO and the school worked together to evaluate how well assessment information was used to inform teaching, accelerate progress and improve parity for groups of learners.

The school expected to see improved assessment practices and high-quality analysis leading to excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners.

• Assessment information shows learning outcomes are equitable and have continued to improve for the majority of learners in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school now has a revised assessment plan that reflects evolving teacher practice as new approaches to teaching literacy and numeracy become embedded.
• Assessment practice is increasingly consistent across the school; useful moderation practices are well established.
• Teachers are developing ways to adapt their practice in response to learners’ strengths and needs based on increasingly regular and purposeful assessment.
• Assessment information for learners whose progress and achievement requires acceleration is closely monitored; leaders and teachers use this information well to identify next learning steps for individuals.
• The school has strengthened systems for data collection and management; leaders and teachers continue to grow their data analysis capability. 

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action is the increasingly collaborative approach to assessment and planning. A team approach has grown teacher knowledge, consolidated good practice and explicitly identified progress markers across the school in reading, writing and mathematics. Assessment practices now more effectively support learner, class and whole-school insights into learner progress during the course of the year and over time.

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Achievement rates are improving across the school; the majority of students achieve curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Students experience a strong sense of belonging; responsive programmes and initiatives support students well being.
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school is yet to meet the Ministry of Education attendance target.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders attract, retain and grow effective teaching teams; leadership roles are distributed to maximise benefits for learners and grow leadership capability across the school.
• Leaders ensure that a comprehensive range of programmes and practices promote learners’ wellbeing, inclusion, confidence in their identity, language and culture and engagement in learning.
• Leaders consistently involve whānau, hapū and iwi in decision making; the school’s vision, goals and priorities reflect those set out by whānau and are anchored in a thoughtful understanding of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

• Teachers effectively use a range of culturally responsive practices; mātauranga Māori is effectively woven through all aspects of the school’s curriculum.
• Learners needing additional support are identified promptly and provided with effective support to learn and progress at an appropriate pace.
• Leaders and teachers are embedding a shared approach to collecting and managing data; evaluation capability is growing across the school.

• The school is authentically and actively giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through building trusting and sustained partnerships with Māori and mana whenua; Māori learners are enjoying and achieving educational success.
• Professional learning opportunities are strategically aligned with the school’s improvement goals; teachers are beginning to work collectively to build an increasingly cohesive approach to teaching strategies across the school.
• Leaders and teachers gather, analyse and act upon learner wellbeing information to ensure that learners are free from harm and their school experiences are mana enhancing.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen strategic planning and reporting by selecting appropriate measures and indicators that show impacts of actions on outcomes for learners
• 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 three months:

• leaders and trustees review strategic planning to ensure appropriate measures and indicators will highlight what is working well and for who and what needs further improvement
• leaders and teachers review current strategies used to improve attendance to identify what is working well and what is not

Every six months:

• leaders, teachers and trustees scrutinise evaluative evidence and use it for collaborative sense-making so that the impact of actions on outcomes for learners is known and reported to the board to inform decision making for continuous improvement
• leaders report to the board on student progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics to show the impact of planned actions to lift achievement rates
• leaders evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to improve attendance and make changes where needed

Annually:

• leaders continue to use and report to the board student wellbeing, engagement, progress and achievement data to inform responsive decision making for continuous improvement
• 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:

• more students attending regularly
• increasingly excellent and equitable learning outcomes for all students
• strategic evaluation that informs decision making for continuous improvement.

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 
Director of Schools (Acting) 

19 May 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