Shotover 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

Shotover Primary School, in the Whakatipu Basin, opened in 2015 and serves the local community for children in Years 1 to 8. The school values excellence, innovation and curiosity.

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 in December 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate effective teaching practices in reading.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Shared understanding of expectations across the teaching staff in the learning design of reading.

• Teachers and learning assistants are involved in ongoing professional learning; this has embedded the understanding of learning design and the agreed sequence for learning.
• The school continues to have a robust induction process that supports the coherent structured approach to the teaching of literacy.

A shared understanding of assessment of progress and achievement in reading.

• Teachers increased knowledge and understanding of expected levels of achievement across the year levels informs the meaningful use of assessments.
• Teacher capability has strengthened enabling them to formatively assess and respond to learners’ needs.

The schoolwide understanding of measuring progress and assessing learning against The New Zealand Curriculum using a range of tools and strategies.

• Schoolwide systems have been put in place to support consistency of assessment and progress and achievement.
• Reporting to the board has illustrated that staff have a clearer understanding of measuring progress in reading.
• Positive shifts in reading outcomes are evident across the school.

Other Findings 

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been the overall consistency and intentional use of clear sequences for teaching and learning in reading to strengthen outcomes for learners.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Outcomes for learners are increasingly equitable; the large majority of learners achieve at and above expected curriculum levels in reading and writing with a small majority achieving these in mathematics.
• Learners needing additional support benefit from effective systems that ensure their learning needs are identified, closely monitored and specifically addressed, contributing to improved engagement and learning outcomes.
• Levels of attendance are approaching but not yet at the Ministry of Education’s national target, with the large majority of learners attending regularly.

Conditions to support learner success 

• Leaders use a wide range of evidence to coherently plan and monitor progress of strategic improvement goals to improve learning and wellbeing.
• Leadership effectively fosters professional collaboration across staff and prioritises schoolwide consistency of teaching practice.
• Leaders engage with, learn through, and use evaluation appropriately to assist decision-making for improvement, effectively setting high expectations for teaching and learning.

• Teacher and student feedback informs teaching and learning practice and an increasing use of relevant learning contexts.
• Teachers consistently use agreed teaching and learning strategies that support the many different needs of learners.
• Targeted professional learning builds the capability of teachers to implement evidence-based and responsive strategies that improve outcomes for learners.

• Effective communication between the board, leaders and teachers supports collaboration, resourcing and contributes to a successful teaching and learning environment.
• Leaders and staff are highly reflective and make good use of wellbeing and learning information to improve school systems and practices.
• Partnerships with parents and whānau continue to grow; these include identifying strategies to improve students’ progress and achievement.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen the rate of progress and achievement of mathematics across the year levels
• strengthen staff understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and what that means for leading, teaching and learning
• design and implement strategies that increase whānau involvement in informing the school’s vision, goals and priorities
• develop a plan to improve regular attendance.

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

Within six months:

• engage with parents and whānau to address the issues for regular attendance and develop a plan for improvement.

Every six months:

• monitor the effectiveness and consistency of teaching practice, through presentation of data, observation and regular checks, to ensure ongoing improvement in learner outcomes
• evaluate the strategies and initiatives used in the teaching of structured mathematics to inform where to next for accelerating progress and achievement for learners
• review the initiatives and strategies to improve attendance and adjust the plan accordingly
• provide professional learning opportunities for all staff to grow confidence and capability in their understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Annually:

• systematically gather student achievement data to track progress over time to inform curriculum review and report to the board to inform improvement priorities
• analyse and evaluate the impact of the implementation of the strategic priorities to inform next steps
• use a range of strategies to engage with whānau to gather feedback and ideas to strengthen school decision-making for continuous improvement.

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

• students engaged, confident and achieving well in mathematics
• improved levels of whānau engagement in school decision making
• more students attending regularly
• increased staff understanding of the principles of Te Tiriti of Waitangi and how these impact Shotover Primary School.

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

3 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