Elmwood Normal School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 14 March 2025 — “School Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School 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.

About the School

Elmwood Normal School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s roll is 510, with a range of ethnicities including 7% of learners of Māori descent and 33% who identify as Asian. The school vision ‘ Inspiring Today’s Learners to Be Successful in Tomorrow’s World – Kia whakahihiko ngā akonga ki te whi angitu mō te ao ei to heke mai ’ is underpinned by the values: Hiranga - Excellence, Motu hake - Independence, Mahi tahi - Collaboration, Auahatanga - Creativity, Aroha – Respect .

Progress since August 2022 ERO report

ERO and the school were working together to evaluate how effectively all learners accessed a responsive curriculum.

The school expected all learners to have equitable access to a culturally responsive curriculum that responded to their identified strengths, needs and prior learning. Teachers and leaders aimed to effectively communicate with and support the positive engagement of all learners and whānau . A wide range of strategies are supporting increased engagement and attendance. The leaders have identified that this remains a priority.

Leaders and teachers have undertaken a wide range of professional learning development (PLD) to build a shared understanding and consistent approach to the implementation of new curriculum initiatives. There has been wide consultation with learners and whānau to support the development of curriculum programmes.

How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?

How well are learners succeeding? Success and progress for all learners is increasing.

What is the quality of teaching and learning? Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals.

How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? School planning and conditions to support high quality education for learners are driving excellent school performance.

How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion.

How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range of information gathered through community consultation, to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and Safety The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.

Foundation Skills

Reading A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners.

Writing Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners.

Mathematics Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners.

Attendance

The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.

The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is not yet improving towards or beyond the target.

Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.

Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

The school has a high number of priority learners whose achievement and progress are reflected in the overall school achievement information.

The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.

The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.

The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.

The school is meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets set for 2030.

Part B - Findings for the school

This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Areas of Strength

Learners achieve best in writing; school leaders have identified that there is a need to continue to accelerate progress for some priority learners, particularly in reading and mathematics.

All learners benefit from high expectations for learning and teaching; they experience a strong sense of belonging through positive relationships with staff.

Highly effective school leadership provides clear strategic direction, is supportive, and fosters leadership across the school; the culture of high relational trust and support ensures shared understanding and collaborative practices.

Structured literacy approaches are well-embedded at all levels of the school; there is a focus on implementing a structured mathematics programme across all levels.

Learners benefit from a well-considered curriculum that provides meaningful learning opportunities, across a wide range of contexts to support their interests and needs.

The school has as strong commitment to staff PLD, which is well-aligned to student learning priorities and reflected in high levels of consistent teaching and learning across the school.

Leaders and teachers effectively use a wide range of information and feedback to inform decision making for school improvement.

Key priorities and actions for improvement

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

embed strategies to accelerate the literacy achievement and progress of identified priority learners

implement the attendance plan based on the Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) approach

build teacher capability to implement The New Zealand Curriculum changes to Mathematics and Statistics.

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

Within six months

use external expertise to support teachers to accelerate the literacy achievement and progress of identified priority learners

develop a shared understanding of the school’s attendance plan to increase regular attendance

Every six months:

undertake a mid-year review of school wide literacy data to inform next steps for priority learners

regularly inform the community about the importance of attendance, and use community personnel to share this message

review progress of mathematics and statistics implementation to determine the effectiveness of initiatives to inform consistency of the structured mathematics approach schoolwide

Annually:

review and embed literacy practices to ensure the progress and achievement of priority learners

analyse numeracy and literacy data and set learner achievement targets to ensure a continued focus on accelerated progress

evaluate and refine the effectiveness of the school’s attendance plan to increase regular rates of attendance.

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

accelerated progress of priority learners in literacy

improved attendance of all learners

increased teacher professional capability and collective efficacy in teaching structured mathematics and statistics.

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there were five international students attending the school.

International students experience high quality education with the opportunity to participate in a wide range of curricular and co-curricular activities. They have full access to the individualised pastoral care and wellbeing systems that operate across the school.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

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 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

14 March 2025

Education Counts

This 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 →