Lemonwood Grove 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 

Lemonwood Grove School, located in Rolleston on the southern outskirts of Christchurch, provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll has grown significantly in recent years. The school’s vision is “the best of you as you” and has four connected values: Grit, Responsibility, Integrity and Thinking.  

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.

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 

• A large majority of learners are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading and mathematics, and a small majority in writing.
• The school is yet to ensure Māori learners’ achievement is at the same level as non-Māori.
• Evidence shows that learners have a strong sense of belonging, wellbeing and engagement and enjoy a wide variety of learning opportunities.
• A large majority of learners attend regularly although the school is yet to meet the Government’s target for regular attendance; attendance is a school priority. 

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders and teachers effectively use research about responsive practices to support high-quality teaching and learning for all learners to experience success as the school continues to expand.
• Improvement goals and actions are carefully chosen and monitored to effectively meet the specific needs of learners.
• Strong leadership provides a clear vision that ensures consistent implementation of effective systems and practices schoolwide. 

• Leaders at all levels are refining the design and delivery of an inclusive curriculum and consistent teaching across all classes which supports success for all learners.
• Learner progress is supported by purposeful teaching strategies that effectively respond to individual learner's needs across a diverse school community.
• Classroom environments are welcoming with positive teacher-learner relationships and clear expectations and routines for learning. 

• The board and leaders have a clear focus on strategic and annual planning based on strong community consultation and centred on furthering learners’ wellbeing, engagement and achievement.
• A collaborative culture assists leaders and staff to reflect on their practice, evaluate impacts on learner outcomes, and respond to the results.
• Learners who require extra support to make progress receive effective, individualised assistance to improve outcomes for learning.
• Leaders and teachers affirm and value the diversity of learners providing inclusive opportunities and programmes to support all learners to experience individualised success. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to focus on the sustainability of reading, writing and mathematics programmes when updating the school’s curriculum in line with national curriculum developments and as the school continues to expand
• continue to develop and consolidate the school’s learning programmes in which learners and their families see their own and the community’s identities reflected
• leaders and teachers further develop their understanding and application of te reo Maōri, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori to extend and embed te ao Māori learning opportunities across the school
• sustain wellbeing initiatives to foster learners’ sense of belonging and engagement as the school continues to expand, and to increase regular attendance. 

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

Within six months:

• develop a schoolwide process to gather learner and staff voice on their wellbeing to help plan future initiatives
• strengthen teachers’ and leaders’ skills in the collection of and response to learning data, with a particular focus of understanding learning progress across the diverse school community
• develop a regular parent focus group to ensure community voice helps guide decision making as the school continues to expand
• further the school’s strategy for extending teacher confidence and capability in te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori, and for integrating te ao Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum and in daily life of the school 

Every six months:

• collect, analyse and report on progress data and respond to any emerging trends
• review and respond to teachers’ design and delivery of an inclusive curriculum and inclusive teaching across all classes to ensure consistency across the school
• review and respond to teachers’ knowledge and implementation of assessment practices to ensure consistency across the school

Annually:

• review, evaluate and respond to learner and staff wellbeing data
• review, evaluate and respond to progress and achievement data to ensure the sustainability of outcomes and the wider curriculum
• review the development of the school’s curriculum to reflect the diverse nature of the school community, so learners and their whānau see their own and the wider community’s identities reflected in learning
• continue to monitor the impact of strategies to improve learner attendance.  

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

• consistent use of high-quality assessment information that identifies the next learning steps for each learner to support and improves achievement across the school
• a strongly engaging, learning programme  extending learner engagement and achievement
• highly effective inclusive teaching practices that respond to learners’ cultures and identities,and support the achievement of all learners.  

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

27 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