Hiwinui School

The same report — the board assurance report of 20 February 2025 — also sets out actions for compliance: the non-compliance ERO identified during that process. This is that section of the report in full, in ERO’s words.

ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

in consultation with the school’s Māori community, developed and made known to the school’s community policies, plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students [Section 127(1)(d) of the Education and Training Act 2020]

complies with the guidelines around the supervised presence and use of firearms on and off school premises, which supports Boards to understand their roles and responsibilities, and ensure compliance with the appropriate legislation. [Guidelines for schools developing a firearms policy]

The board has since addressed the areas of non-compliance identified.

Read this board assurance report on ero.govt.nz →

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 131 — 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. February 2019

   147

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 23 May 2019

2. March 2016

   112

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 17 May 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 20 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

Hiwinui School provides education for students in Years 1 to 8 and is located near Palmerston North. The school’s values encourage every learner to ‘Reach their PEAK’ by being pathfinders , energised, showing awhi and acting as kaitiaki .

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

Most learners make sustained progress and achieve well at the appropriate curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics.

Achievement information shows that most learners are meeting curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; Māori and Pacific learners achieve at similar levels to their peers.

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

A large majority of students attend school regularly; school attendance rates do not yet meet the Government’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

School leadership increasingly strengthens relational trust and collaboration to deliver improvements in learning.

Leaders effectively build relational trust within the teaching team and support staff, resulting in collaborative approaches to professional growth and responsive teaching programmes that meet the needs of all learners.

School leaders effectively collaborate and plan for continuous improvement; evidence-informed decisions prioritise positive outcomes for all learners.

To further support student success, leaders increasingly build staff evaluative capabilities to understand the impact of initiatives and strategies on learner outcomes.

Teaching is becoming increasingly intentional and responsive to the diverse needs and strengths of learners.

Staff know learners well and use inclusive practices to promote a collaborative learning environment that fosters increased student participation and engagement in learning.

Teachers demonstrate a growing culture of learning and reflection to inform responsive teaching practice and improve learner progress and achievement.

Student information is regularly collated, analysed and discussed by leaders, teachers and the board, to develop and drive improvement priorities for raising achievement.

Organisational conditions establish a culture of shared responsibility and strategic improvement.

The board, leaders and staff promote a positive, inclusive school culture that fosters student wellbeing and active participation in learning through the school’s ‘PEAK’ values.

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

The board, leaders and teachers undertake regular review of achievement information, learning programmes and initiatives to inform decision-making; evaluating the impact of these practices on learner progress and improvement is developing.

The board, leaders and staff continue to strengthen partnerships with whānau and the wider community including local iwi and hapū , to ensure the curriculum reflects local contexts and te ao Māori.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

continue to strengthen use of achievement information to enable teachers to refine and tailor learning programmes for improved progress and achievement of all learners

further modify the school’s evaluation process to focus on the most significant initiatives for improving learning and attendance outcomes

continue to build and strengthen partnerships with whānau and the wider community, including local iwi and hapū, using the skills and knowledge they bring to enhance student learning and build on current practice.

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

Within six months:

review and refine a systematic way to monitor and report the impact of key improvement actions on attendance and achievement

Every six months:

moderate, monitor and continue to use assessment information to adjust programmes and practice to achieve accelerated progress for target groups of learners, particularly students at risk of not meeting curriculum expectation

gather and use evaluative evidence to review the effectiveness of selected school initiatives designed to improve learner attendance and outcomes, including learner voice

continue to work alongside whānau, hapū, iwi and to engage and share aspirations for all learners and to sustain active participation in the planning and decision-making of the school

Annually:

collectively analyse, evaluate and report attendance and achievement information to the board, identifying initiatives that have been most successful in improving attendance and accelerating progress and to inform next steps for strategic planning

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

gather and review whānau, hapū, iwi voice on the success of partnerships with the school, to assist with developing next steps for strategic planning and strengthening responsive practices to further engage learners.

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

improved and sustained progress, achievement and attendance for all students

embedded, systematic evaluation practice that effectively uses multiple sources of evidence to determine the impact of actions and deliberate decision making on the outcomes for learners

improved and sustained levels of engagement between the school and its community, including iwi and hapū , that contribute to the depth and breadth of teaching and learning programmes.

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

20 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 →