Potaka School

The same report — the board assurance report of 22 August 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 area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

as part of the regular cycle the board ensures a three yearly review of the Child Protection Policy to ensure they are meeting their legislative and regulatory obligations.

[Sections 19 and 19 of the Children’s Act 2014: School board’s child protection policies]

The board has since taken steps to address the area 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 45 — 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

   15

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

2. October 2013

   13

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 5 December 2013

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 22 August 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

Potaka School is located north of Hicks Bay, East Cape and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is that learners will grow in confidence knowing who they are and where they come from.

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 equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

A small majority of learners achieve at expected curriculum levels for reading and mathematics and all learners are engaged; writing data is yet to be consistently collected, analysed and reported.

Most learners at the school are Māori and whakapapa Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau Āpanui iwi ; it is evident that learners have a strong sense of belonging and are confident in their language, culture and identity.

A majority of learners attend school regularly in line with Ministry of Education attendance targets.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership fosters a professional culture focused on high quality teaching for equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

Leadership sets and intentionally pursues a small number of highly relevant improvement goals with a particular focus on the accelerated progress of those learners most at risk of underachieving.

School leaders are taking steps to strengthen teaching practices through targeted professional learning to improve outcomes for all learners, particularly in literacy.

Leaders actively promote successful whānau engagement in schoolwide activities.

The school is taking steps to provide a responsive curriculum and consistently high-quality teaching practice.

To better understand and meet the needs of each learner, teachers are establishing a shared understanding of consistent and robust assessment practices

Staff are increasingly using a range of learning strategies that support learners to grow their ability to identify, determine and speak about their next steps in learning.

Learners have te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum, fostering a strong sense of identity.

Key systems, processes and practices that further support improved learner outcomes are being established across the school.

With the support of professional learning and development providers, the school has in place collaborative cycles of inquiry aligned to strategic goals and focused on staff understanding the impact of their practice on learner outcomes.

Leaders and teachers are establishing the ways in which they collect, analyse, and respond to a range of data to inform classroom and schoolwide decision making.

School leaders and staff are building educationally-focused relationships with wider community members, to support developing a localised curriculum informed by the mātauranga of local hapū and iwi.

The board understands its statutory obligations and is taking steps to have systems and processes in place to ensure robust review of relevant policies and procedures.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

embed assessment for learning practices across the school, so that staff are increasingly responsive to the needs of all learners and those most at risk of underachievement

grow staff capability in data analysis and evidence-informed practices, so teachers are better able to plan and target teaching and learning, for improved learner outcomes

increase the number of learners achieving at expected curriculum levels for reading, writing and mathematics

complete development and use of a coherent, localised curriculum.

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

Within three months:

regularly gather assessment information across the school in reading, writing and mathematics to track and monitor the progress of all learners, and particularly those learners most at risk of underachievement

embed targeted structured literacy programmes across the school to accelerate the learning of those most at risk of underachieving in literacy

align formative feedback to learners to a schoolwide progression framework so they can identify and speak about their next steps in learning

Every six months:

staff collectively analyse schoolwide data and evaluate the impact of teaching and schoolwide practices on outcomes for all learners, and for those most at risk of underachievement

analysed learner attendance and achievement data is reported to the board and scrutinised to inform decisions and take actions to improve teaching and learning

whānau and learner voice is collected as part of schoolwide evaluation to inform improvement actions

Annually:

all staff reporting on outcomes of teacher inquiry; identifying impact for learners, improvements in teacher practice and further improvement goals

staff collectively analyse schoolwide data to evaluate impact of classroom and schoolwide practices on learner outcomes, and for those most at risk of underachievement

analysed learner attendance and achievement data is reported to the board and scrutinised to inform decisions about teaching and learning.

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

teachers consistently planning and teaching to meet individual needs particularly for those most at risk of underachievement, based on regular assessment and evaluation cycles

students independently setting goals from the school learning progressions and clearly articulating their achievement, learning and progress

sustained high levels of attendance and improved learner outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics, with greater numbers of learners achieving at expected curriculum levels.

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

22 August 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 →