Mt Somers Springburn School

The same report — the board assurance report of 27 September 2024 — 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, the school must develop and make known to the school’s community policies, plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students [Section 127 (1)(d) Education Act and Training Act 2020]

the board must receive regular and useful information about the achievement of Māori students in the school [Regulation 21 Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

the board has a duty to report to the school’s community on the progress and achievement of students as a whole, of groups, and of Māori students against plans and targets [Regulation 21 Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

evidence is needed that teachers and authorised staff members have completed training on the physical restraint guidelines [Sections 99, 100, 101 Education and Training Act 2020; Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2023]

the school must have documents showing that suitable human resource management practices are implemented [Sections 599 and 600 Education and Training Act 2020]

the school needs to check a primary identity document and a secondary identity document, required for safety checking of workforce [Children’s Act 2014]

the school must design and implement a professional growth cycle for teachers [Section 599 Education and Training Act 2020; Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2023-2025]

The board has since taken steps to address 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 78 — 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. March 2017

   90

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 30 June 2017

This is one count taken for one report. It says what the roll was on that day, and nothing about how the roll has moved.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 27 September 2024 — “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

Mt Somers Springburn School is a Year 1 to 8 school located in rural mid-Canterbury. The school has a vision of educated, confident, lifelong learners who show their MOUNT values of Motivation | Ako , Outgoing | Wanaka , United | Whanaungataka , Navigator | Kaihautu , Thoughtful | Manaakitaka . A beginning principal began at the school in 2023. The school is a member of the Ōpuke Kahui Ako .

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

The school is working towards knowing about outcomes for learners.

At the time of review, the school was not confident its achievement information reliably indicated students’ progress and achievement.

Leaders recognise the need to ensure better consistency and coherence of assessment processes across the school so that achievement data is valid, reliable and is reported in a way that parents know where their child is at in relation to national curriculum expectations; ERO’s evaluation affirms this needs to improve.

Assessment data has yet to be analysed in ways that can show how equitable progress and achievement is for different groups of learners.

The school is meeting the 2024 Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders are establishing conditions to build relational trust and communication across all staff, whānau and board.

The principal is working towards building positive, learning-focused relationships with whānau , staff and the board to improve conditions for learning.

The principal and the board use community feedback to inform recent strategic and annual planning and professional development for teachers to meet the needs of the learners.

A professional growth cycle for teaching staff is yet to be implemented to advance teachers’ understanding of the relationship between their professional practice and outcomes for learners.

Leaders are taking steps towards developing processes and systems to improve consistency of teaching, learning and assessment across the school.

Effective teaching strategies to support learning are used in most classrooms, including structured literacy practices.

Students are provided with a range of learning experiences and opportunities; the school curriculum is beginning to reflect local contexts and te ao Māori .

Teachers and leaders are undertaking professional development to develop consistent schoolwide assessment practices to support teaching and learning.

Schoolwide systems for teaching, learning and assessment need to be established and effectively implemented to support improved student outcomes.

Learners with additional needs are supported by staff to participate inclusively in learning.

The school has a new student management system; strengthening the use of this system is a next step, to support leaders and teachers effectively monitor and report student progress and achievement, and plan next steps for learners.

The actions from the school’s previous ERO report require doing; these include improving achievement data analysis, using internal evaluation, strengthening professional growth cycles for teachers; and ensuring the board understands compliance responsibilities.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

develop and implement schoolwide teaching and assessment expectations and practices

improve analysis, use and reporting of schoolwide achievement information to identify disparity and promote equity and valued achievement outcomes

use internal evaluation to identify the impact of the curriculum on improving student outcomes

implement professional growth cycle for teachers to meet school and New Zealand Aotearoa Teaching Council expectations.

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

Within three months:

develop a cohesive schoolwide assessment plan and reporting system

review and document schoolwide teaching expectations in literacy and mathematics to ensure consistency of teaching practice across the school

identify target learners who are at risk of underachieving and implement a plan to identify, monitor, and accelerate their progress and achievement

implement professional growth cycle processes for all teachers

Every six months:

report schoolwide student progress and achievement to the board including by gender, ethnicity, and year level and target learner to respond to emerging needs as required

report to parents on the progress and achievement of their child in a way that enables them to know where their child is at and their next steps

Annually:

identify target learners who are at risk of underachieving and implement and monitor plans to accelerate their progress and achievement, report on this to the board and take action to respond to emerging needs

monitor and evaluate the impact of the interventions to lift achievement target learners and adjust teaching practices in response

report to the board and school community on the progress and achievement of all students in reading, writing and maths and respond to emerging needs as required.

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

teachers, leaders and board working together for improved equity and excellence in learner outcomes

sustained student engagement and attendance

consistent teaching, learning and assessment practices across the school to ensure valid, reliable schoolwide data on progress and achievement.

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

Shelley Booysen Director of Schools

27 September 2024

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 →