Wellington S D A 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 

Wellington S D A School is located in Tawa, Wellington. The state integrated school provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The current principal was appointed at the beginning of 2024. The school vision, Growing lifelong learners who are spiritually connected, emotionally strong and socially skilled are underpinned by their values, Godliness, Relationships, Ownership and Wisdom. 

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 

• Most students achieve at or above curriculum levels in mathematics and reading with a large majority in writing; Māori and Pacific students are achieving as well as their peers.
• Students’ express a strong sense of wellbeing; this is supported by an inclusive culture and responsive teaching practices.
• The school is below the Ministry of Education 2024 attendance targets; the school has a community plan to improve attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders are developing clear, shared expectations for teaching and learning to improve student engagement and outcomes.
• Leadership initiatives are encouraged to promote growth in teacher capacity to promote learning and wellbeing experiences.
• Leaders deliberately collect whānau feedback and ideas to set strategic initiatives and inform the local curriculum. 

• Teachers collaborate with each other to build their knowledge of evidenced-based teaching practice in reading, writing and mathematics to accelerate student progress.
• Assessments are used to plan teaching and learning experiences, track progress and achievement, and improve student outcomes; students’ ability to discuss their learning is inconsistent.
• Professional learning is facilitated well by leadership to support and develop teaching practice to improves outcomes for students.

• Students with additional learning needs are well supported to make progress; teachers and whānau work together to identify strengths and individual needs.
• Leaders recognise the diverse school community, and they are developing schoolwide culturally responsive practices to strengthen partnerships in learning and extending curriculum development.
• Positive and respectful learning relationships between teachers and students support student wellbeing and success in learning.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen the consistency of evidenced-based approaches to teaching and learning to meet the needs of all learners and improve outcomes
• develop leadership capacity across the school to support improvement initiatives for students learning and wellbeing
• deepen assessment practices to support teachers and students to evaluate ongoing progress and achievement gather student feedback and ideas to support evaluating the impact of evidence-based teaching to improve outcomes
• strengthen systems and processes for monitoring and improving student attendance.

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

Within six months:

• review and clarify evidenced-based approaches to teaching and learning to develop consistency across the school using observations and student voice
• identify leadership opportunities which focus on improvement initiatives, clarify roles and responsibilities
• broaden assessment systems and processes to include student knowledge of current learning and next steps
• use attendance data to identify and implement targeted strategies.

Every six months:

• evaluate the impact of evidenced-based teaching and learning on student achievement using classroom observations, student voice and progress information to improve student outcomes
• report the impact of leadership initiatives on student learning and wellbeing to the board and review impact to develop further initiatives and adjust roles and expectations accordingly
• analyse assessment information and plan learning initiatives and interventions to improve learning outcomes
• track and monitor mid-year attendance information; review and adjust targeted strategies.

Annually:

• analyse the impact of evidenced-based teaching, including interventions for accelerated progress and achievement to inform improvement initiatives
• track, analyse and report on achievement, progress and attendance information to the board to identify and plan priority actions.

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

• improved student progress and achievement; assessment practice which includes students articulating learning and next steps for learning
• consistent, evidenced-based approach to teaching, learning and assessment
• confident leaders with defined leadership roles and responsibilities targeted to improvement initiatives
• improved levels of attendance that meet or exceed the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance.

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

13 December 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