Carisbrook 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 

Carisbrook School is a full primary school, located in Dunedin. It provides education for learners in 
Years 1 to 8. A new principal began in February 2023. Some changes in the senior leadership team occurred at the same time. Carisbrook School’s mission is to seek excellence together to foster confident, inquiring, active, lifelong learners. Its values are for students to be respectful, responsible and resilient.

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 2021, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the effectiveness of staff professional learning and development (PLD) and its positive impact on outcomes for students.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Further development in teachers’ thinking (growth mindset), and pedagogy (teaching practice).

• Teachers’ participation in ongoing professional learning and development (PLD) has strengthened teaching practice and given students greater opportunities to succeed in all areas across the curriculum.
• Teachers have applied PLD learning in the teaching of mathematics so improved student achievement in mathematics is evident. 

Increased staff capability in evaluating what is/is not working well and what they can do to improve.

• An October 2022 survey of teacher and teacher aides showed most found PLD opportunities over the previous 18 months to be valuable in improving their teaching practice and students’ learning.
• Learning information for 2022 and midyear 2023 indicates significant improvement in student achievement in mathematics overall, but little change in reading and writing compared with 2021.
• Teachers reflect on the impact of their practice and programmes to improve students’ learning. This process needs to be strengthened and more evaluative.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions has been seen in the embedding of a new school-wide strategy for the teaching of mathematics. Students’ attitude to mathematics is particularly favourable with improved achievement levels.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

The school is working towards equitable and excellent outcomes for learners.

• Following professional learning and development, student achievement has increased, and the majority of students are achieving at or above expected levels in mathematics.
• Students’ achievement in mathematics is higher than in literacy.
• Māori students are achieving at similar levels to other groups.
• Students with additional needs are making very good progress in their academic learning and social development.
• The significant disparity in literacy achievement for boys, particularly in writing, is a priority.

Conditions to support learner success

New school leadership is taking steps to pursue improvement goals and targets.

• Leaders are establishing relationships of trust and collaboration across the school community.
• School leaders scrutinise achievement data to identify the students needing to make accelerated progress and set targets.
• Systems and processes for consultation are progressing to create learning partnerships with the school’s community.

The school is working towards providing consistently effective teaching and learning for all students. 

• Teachers are provided with useful professional learning and development that is enhancing their teaching practice. 
• Teachers demonstrate a culture of learning, reflection and collaborative inquiry.
• Most teachers reported they valued the professional learning and development offered which has helped grow understanding and practice.

Key conditions to support student success are well established.

• An inclusive learning environment has a focus on equity for all.
• The close monitoring of learners with diverse and high needs informs the provision of increasingly integrated and effective supports.
• Students in the mathematics intervention programme made steady progress. While still achieving below their peers, they have grown in confidence and in their attitudes towards mathematics.
• Resourcing decisions by the board are increasingly aligned with addressing students’ needs.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• substantially improve overall student achievement in writing, with a particular focus on boys
• raise student achievement in literacy, including through strengthened learning partnerships with parents | whānau
• evaluate the impact of the restructured school day on students’ engagement and achievement in literacy.

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

Within three months:

• The board will be presented with a strategy to raise student achievement in literacy.
• The school and parents | whānau will begin to partner to enhance students’ learning, particularly in literacy.
• The board and senior leaders will consult with the school community about the structure of the learning day.

Every six months:

• Teachers and senior leaders will monitor student achievement in reading and writing in an ongoing way. Once a term they will identify and respond to overall progress challenge for learners who might be falling behind and those who need extending.
• The principal will report to the board on progress and achievement in literacy.
• Leaders and teachers will continue to evaluate the strategies used to support improved achievement in literacy in an ongoing way.

Annually:

• Senior leaders will review student progress and achievement alongside the effectiveness of the strategies used to ensure the most effective strategies are being used.
• The school will gather parents | whānau voice on the success of the partnership and involvement with their children’s learning.
• The board, principal and teachers will evaluate the effectiveness of the changed structure to the learning day to see if better student engagement is being achieved.

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

• improved student engagement, defined by positive attitudes to their learning, and improved progress and achievement
• strengthened collaboration and engagement with parents | whānau for more informed decision making about all students’ learning.

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

21 May 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