Mission Heights Primary 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 

Mission Heights Primary School caters for students from Years 1 to 6 and shares a site with Mission Heights Junior College in Flatbush, Auckland. Most students and staff speak additional languages. The school’s values, Courage, Action, Respect, Empathy (CARE), underpin teaching and learning.

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 ERO report of February 2023, ERO and the school worked together to evaluate how well the school is lifting learners’ achievement in mathematics through professional learning programmes and effective teaching.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:  

School wide lifts in mathematics achievement and greater equity for priority learners. 

• Student achievement in mathematics has increased significantly; the majority of students achieve at or above curriculum expectation.
• Increased equity for priority learners is evident.
• The number of students achieving beyond curriculum level expectations in mathematics has also increased. 

Greater consistency of school wide collaborative teacher practice.

• Professional development programmes have resulted in effective continuity of learning across the school.
• A specialist mathematics teacher works across the school, providing assistive with collaborative planning and assessment practices creating more consistency for students. 
• A higher level of mathematics terminology and language is used by students and teachers across the school.
• Priority learners and all students at risk of not achieving in mathematics are clearly identified, receive additional teaching and many make accelerated progress.
• Leaders monitor progress closely and regularly evaluate the effectiveness of support programmes.

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, a designated mathematics specialist teacher position was established. The specialist works with, and alongside teachers to build teachers’ knowledge; this is strengthening mathematics assessment and moderation processes.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was the enhanced confidence and capability that teachers now have to teach all mathematics concepts to higher levels and provide increased challenge for students. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• The majority of learners achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading and writing, with significant progress made in mathematics; a small disparity for Māori and Pacific students is evident in mathematics and for Māori in reading.
• Leaders have planned to align the mathematics quality teaching practices with literacy approaches to increase equitable and excellent outcomes for students.
• The majority of students attend school regularly; the school does not yet meet the Ministry of Education’s 2024 target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Quality leadership is evident at all levels of the school; leaders work to create a positive environment that is inclusive, values diversity and promotes student wellbeing for learning. Appropriate and well considered professional learning opportunities grow effective teacher practice and collaboration to lift in student achievement.
• Team leaders and teacher strengths are used effectively to build and develop successful teaching teams to meet student needs.

• Teaching programmes have a strong focus on foundation skills in reading, writing and mathematics; in addition, students are provided with engaging and authentic learning opportunities through the school’s Abilities, Curiosities and Essentials (ACE) programme.
• Consistent school wide planning and tracking of student progress through strong assessment practices that include cross-school checks of teacher judgements. 
• Students with additional learning needs are well supported through inclusive teaching to make progress and achieve success.

• Strategic planning and investment in resourcing effectively support curriculum implementation, teaching, and student’s learning opportunities.
• Effective communication channels are used to engage well with a multilingual community invested in their children’s progress and achievement.
• Regular school wide learning celebrations provide parents with opportunities to share and celebrate student’s progress and success.
• leaders and teachers continue to strengthen the integration of te Reo Māori, and tikanga Māori through the school.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to implement and evaluate how well current school strategies are lifting overall student attendance
• continue mathematics professional learning to further embed quality practice and enhance equitable and excellent outcomes for all students
• align mathematics teaching approaches with new literacy approaches and build teacher capability in literacy 
• continue to provide professional learning to increase teachers’ capability to independently teach te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

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

Every six months:

• evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve levels of regular attendance to lift the attendance of students who are not attending regularly

Annually:

• monitor the rates of student attendance and report trends and patterns to the board and parent community to determine any further action
• continue to evaluate and report to the board on how well teacher capability in literacy is lifting student achievement and resulting is equitable and excellent outcomes for all students
• evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to increase teachers’ ability to independently teach te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

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

• improved rates of attendance 
• equitable and excellent outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics
• te reo Māori and tikanga Māori is embedded into the school culture.

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
Acting Director of Schools

19 February 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