Fernlea School

The roll ERO recorded, and when

ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 198 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.

1. June 2019

   227

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 16 August 2019

2. June 2016

   230

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 10 August 2016

We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 5 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

Fernlea School is a multicultural school in Wainuiomata , Wellington that provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school vision, Learning, Achieving, Succeeding, Together, is underpinned by the school values of Whakaaro , Tūhonohono , Tae , and Manaaki .

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, including any education in Rumaki /bilingual settings.

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

Students are engaged and achieve well.

A large majority of students achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; results are equitable for all groups of learners.

Learners express a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school; wellbeing information shows that students are well supported to succeed.

Students, including those with additional needs, successfully achieve their individual goals within inclusive learning environments.

Regular attendance is lower than the Ministry of Education 2024 attendance target; the school is working with parents and whānau and other agencies to support the regular attendance of students.

Conditions to support learner success

Collaborative leadership creates positive conditions that strengthen outcomes for learners.

Leaders have a deliberate, well considered approach to school improvement that strengthens outcomes for learners.

Leaders and teachers deliberately gather and use information from a wide variety of sources to plan for ongoing improvement for students' achievement and wellbeing.

Leaders are focused on providing and developing leadership capability across the school to continue to raise levels of student engagement and achievement.

Respectful, inclusive and collaborative learning environments consistently support student engagement in learning.

Teachers use a variety of learning experiences to provide purposeful and well considered learning opportunities; school values, which are well understood by students, underpin learning programmes.

Students benefit from an appropriate range of effective teaching practices; a wide range of assessment tools support the gathering of data to track and monitor student progress and achievement.

Learning Assistants provide additional targeted support for all learners; they are an integral part of teaching, learning and wellbeing programmes.

P olicies, programmes and practices promote learners’ wellbeing and engagement in learning.

Well considered strategic goals and actions impact positively on students' wellbeing and learning.

Trustees, leaders and teachers increasingly giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through partnerships with Māori whanau and local iwi and integrate quality te reo Māori , tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori throughout the curriculum.

The board appropriately align resourcing to learner-focused goals and strategies; it acts on evidence and input for the school community to make improvements for learners.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

embed a culture of teacher inquiry and evidence-based decision making that includes continuing to strengthen capability in analysing professional practice that raises outcomes for learners

develop a plan to implement changes to The New Zealand Curriculum including agreed teaching approaches and practices that are consistent, responsive and engaging for students and their whānau

continue to integrate te reo Māori , te ao Māori , tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori into classroom programmes

continue to strengthen school-wide assessment systems, processes and data analysis capability to deepen teacher understanding of next steps for learning and further lift learner outcomes.

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

Every six months:

continue to analyse learners’ attendance, progress and achievement information to inform the next steps and respond with targeted interventions for identified groups of students

evaluate the impact of professional learning initiatives on student outcomes to inform strategic improvement goals and direction.

Annually:

review and report to the board the impact of teaching and learning programmes on achievement outcomes, to know what has been successful and what needs further improvement

continue to build whānau engagement, with a particular focus on their involvement in their childrens learning.

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

improved attendance, engagement and achievement outcomes for all learners, including an increased number of students achieving at curriculum expectations

consistent use of responsive teaching practices to meet the varied needs of learners

embedded te reo Māori and tikanga Māori practices throughout the school

strengthened evaluation capability.

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

5 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 →