Boulcott School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 7 February 2025 — “School Evaluation Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

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

Boulcott School is located in Lower Hutt and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s CHEER values of confidence, honesty, enthusiasm, excellence and respect, support the vision of nurturing students to stand tall, fly high, together – Kia tū kaha, kia māia, kia rere ki te ao.

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 August 2022, the school has evaluated the impact a structured literacy approach has had on improving outcomes for learners in Years 1 and 2.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Consistently higher outcomes for all junior children in literacy that is sustained as children move through the school.

Delivery of structured literacy has had a beneficial effect on student outcomes; achievement information shows significant improvement in reading and writing made over time; however, some disparity remains for Māori and Pacific learners.

Purposeful, well-planned professional development of structured literacy has strengthened consistency of teaching and learning in literacy.

Significant improvement in learner engagement with reading and writing and student confidence to ‘give things a go’ is evident.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that learners have grown in confidence and are increasingly engaged in reading and writing. The school continues to implement and refine structured literacy programmes throughout the school that increasingly impact positively on the 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 most learners are increasingly equitable and excellent.

Achievement information shows that most learners meet the expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; improving outcomes for Māori and Pacific students remains a focus for the school.

Students know and express the school values and show a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school.

Attendance information shows the majority of students attend school regularly but is not quite meeting the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance; leaders and teachers continue to take actions to improve regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders work collaboratively and strategically to improve the outcomes and opportunities for learners.

Leaders set and pursue evidence-based improvement goals and targets with a focus on increasing the achievement of learners at risk of not achieving; further developing evaluative capabilities to know and understand the impact of these initiatives is a next step for the school.

Leaders purposefully support and facilitate well-aligned professional learning opportunities for ongoing improvement and development of teacher capabilities focused on improving learner outcomes.

Leaders and staff promote a positive school culture with a clear focus on improving learner engagement and wellbeing.

Teachers increasingly refine, adapt and use consistent teaching practices to support students’ engagement in meaningful learning activities.

Established expectations for high-quality, teaching and learning practices are shared and increasingly consistent across the school; including structured learning programmes that help individual students and groups of learners make progress, particularly those with additional learning needs.

Teachers and leaders regularly, collectively and systematically inquire into aspects of teaching practice that support learner progress and achievement.

Teachers work collaboratively to maintain positive learning environments that reflect the school’s vision, values and culture of improvement.

The school has well-aligned systems, structures and support to bring about success and improvement for learners.

The board, leaders and teachers prioritise a relational and inclusive culture that fosters student wellbeing and active participation in learning, through the school’s CHEER values.

Parents and whānau are respected for what they bring to their child’s learning; their views about school improvement are encouraged and valued.

The board is well informed and acts on evidence in relation to learner progress, attendance and wellbeing to bring about school improvement.

Evaluation capability is growing across the school; leaders continue to embed this practice so that strategic planning and schoolwide decision making are well informed.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

further modify the school’s evaluation process to monitor and review the impact of improvement strategies on learner progress and achievement outcomes, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners

strengthen teachers’ shared understanding of effective strategies to enable learners to identify what their next learning steps are and how to go about achieving these

continue to monitor and evaluate student attendance and adjust strategies as necessary to improve on and sustain high levels of attendance.

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

Every six months:

review and develop a schoolwide evaluation approach that identifies the extent to which professional learning, and other initiatives, impact on improved learner outcomes and attendance

evaluate progress and achievement data with a particular focus for the ongoing impact of professional development on student achievement outcomes

track, monitor, analyse and report attendance to the board and community

Annually:

to inform school improvement, continue to review, analyse and report on the effectiveness of professional learning and the impact of teaching and learning programmes on student attendance, progress and equity of achievement, particularly for Māori and Pacific learners

conduct a wellbeing survey with learners to assist with evaluating the extent of engagement and participation in learning.

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

enhanced internal evaluative practices that effectively assess the impact of actions and inform deliberate decision making for improving student outcomes

all students can talk about their learning, next steps and what they have achieved, resulting in improved learner engagement and equity of outcomes for all learners

improved and sustained levels of 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

Sharon Kelly Acting Director of Schools

7 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

Read this report on ero.govt.nz →