Dunsandel School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 17 April 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

Dunsandel School, is a state co-educational, contributing school located in Dunsandel, providing education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s PRIDE values are ‘participation, respect, initiative, determination and empathy.

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 June 2022 ERO report the school has evaluated the impact of wellbeing initiatives in the delivery of the local curriculum on student.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Enhanced student wellbeing and the integration of social and emotional learning throughout the curriculum.

Student wellbeing has been enhanced through a comprehensive wellbeing programme has been implemented at the Kāhui Ako , school and individual student level.

Monitoring the impact of the implementation of wellbeing initiatives on excellence and equity in achievement of all students.

Students’ wellbeing is regularly monitored through fortnightly surveys and needs responded to in a timely way.

Continuing to encourage and support Māori children to succeed as Māori .

The school regularly surveys whānau and responds to their aspirations; tikanga Māori and te reo Māori are now embedded in programmes for learning, further supporting success for Māori children.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was the enhancement of student wellbeing through the implementation and embedding of the wellbeing education programme.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Most students are engaged, make good progress and achieve well.

Most learners achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics.

Improving equity in outcomes for girls in mathematics and boys in reading and writing is a priority for the school.

Students express a strong sense of belonging in an inclusive and supportive school environment.

The majority of students attend school regularly; the school has not yet met the Ministry of Education’s attendance target.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership works collaboratively and strategically to improve outcomes for learners.

Teachers and leaders work effectively to strengthen teaching and learning programmes; this supports student engagement and progress in learning.

Strong professional relationships and shared leadership positively reinforce the school’s values and high expectations for teaching and learning.

Teachers prioritise student wellbeing and holistic development by nurturing social and emotional skills for positive learning behaviours; this supports students’ development of empathy, resilience and self-regulation.

T eaching practices are responsive to students’ learning needs, interests, and cultural identities.

Learners are well known by all staff; those at risk of not making expected progress are closely monitored and specific actions are taken to address their learning needs.

Teachers effectively use research, different teaching approaches and regular evaluation to identify and use the initiatives that have the greatest impact for students whose progress needs to be accelerated.

The school reports usefully and accurately to parents and whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress.

The school has effective systems and practices to continue to bring about success and improvement over time.

The board has a clear understanding of its governance role and supports leadership and staff to prioritise progress towards achieving the strategic goals.

The school effectively collaborates with whānau Māori to develop and implement meaningful opportunities to learn and experience te reo Māori and tikanga Māori within class programmes.

Robust monitoring of and inquiry into student progress, achievement and wellbeing data informs teaching and learning.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

engage with students, parents and whānau to identify strategies to improve regular attendance at school

strengthen leaders’ and teachers’ knowledge and use of effective literacy and numeracy strategies for ongoing improvement of boys in reading and writing and girls in mathematics

further develop the school’s curriculum and design teaching and learning strategies to implement this.

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

Within six months:

consult the community to better understand attendance issues and develop shared processes to support students to regularly attend school

Every six months:

collaborate with the community to monitor attendance trends and modify processes accordingly

evaluate schoolwide practice in literacy and numeracy teaching and use the findings to inform strategies for effectively responding to learner need

continue to implement timely reporting across the curriculum to ensure parents and whānau are well informed about their children's learning

Annually:

review the impact of teaching and learning programmes on achievement outcomes to know what has been successful and what needs further improvement to inform ongoing strategic direction

continue to use and report to the board student progress and achievement and wellbeing data to inform responsive decision making, and effective strategies for improving attendance, teaching and learning

work collaboratively to meet agreed milestones for student wellbeing and cultural competence.

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

students regularly attending school

improved equity in student outcomes, particularly for boys in reading and writing and girls in mathematics

students experience an engaging and relevant curriculum.

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 Director of Schools (Acting)

17 April 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 →