St John's School (Mairangi Bay)

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 303 — 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. October 2017

   330

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 5 December 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 6 December 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

St John’s School ( Mairangi Bay) is on the North Shore of Auckland. It provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. A new senior leadership team was established in 2023. The school’s values of Pono /Faith, Manawanui /Resilience, Whanaungatanga /Community and relationships, and Manaakitanga /Respect underpin its vision of preparing learners to take their places as responsible, well-rounded members of society.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

Part B: 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 C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Expected Improvements and Findings

Since the previous ERO report in December 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the implementation of the school’s learning progression framework and a structured literacy approach has impacted outcomes for all learners in writing.

The school expected to see:

Accelerated progress and continuous improvement in outcomes for all learners.

An increased number of learners are achieving at or above the expected curriculum level in writing.

Learners demonstrate a greater understanding of the writing process.

Teachers consistently using effective teaching strategies and practices in adaptive ways to promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

The school has refined its learning progression framework with a common language for school wide consistency supporting learning.

A structured literacy approach has been embedded and extended throughout the school to benefit learners.

Reciprocal and collaborative learning centred partnerships with families/ whānau .

Information about the learning progression framework has been created and shared with families and whānau to strengthened learning centred partnerships.

Regular learning conversations with families provide useful information about each child’s learning progress and next steps.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the achievement of learners accelerated due to structured literacy teaching approaches. Teachers have increased their understanding of the writing process and identifying how student build and demonstrate their skills in writing.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action of implementing a structured approach to literacy is the increase in student engagement in writing.

Part B: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Learners make sustained progress and achievement throughout their schooling.

Almost all learners achieve at or above the appropriate curriculum level for reading, writing and mathematics.

Learners needing additional support benefit from systems that ensure their learning needs are identified and addressed, contributing to improved engagement and learning outcomes.

Learners report a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing; they have opportunities to confidently participate and contribute across a range of contexts.

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

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic and effective leadership sets positive conditions to improve learner outcomes.

Leaders build and sustain high levels of relational trust, collaboration and communication to create a positive environment that is inclusive, values diversity and promotes student wellbeing for learning.

Leaders use a suitable range of quality evidence about learners’ progress and achievement to evaluate the implementation of strategic targets and inform future priorities.

Leadership facilitates meaningful professional development opportunities to ensure effective implementation of quality teaching.

A rich curriculum and well-considered teaching strategies provide engaging opportunities for student learning.

Learners benefit from a well-considered curriculum reflecting the school’s special character and local context that promotes engagement in learning.

Teachers use a range of appropriate strategies that support and reinforce knowledge and skill-building and respond to learner strengths and needs.

Learners experience well-established daily routines and positive and respectful relationships in settled and inclusive classrooms.

Well-developed school conditions promote learners’ wellbeing and engagement in learning.

The board collaborates strategically with school leadership to support and implement the school’s vision and values and achieve agreed goals and targets; it appropriately aligns resourcing to support learner-focused improvement strategies.

Systematic approaches to wellbeing create an inclusive environment that is physically, emotionally and culturally sustaining for learners.

Parents and whānau work in partnership with the school to support their children’s success; achievement information in shared, and they have regular opportunities to discuss goals and next steps.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

consolidate cohesive and consistent structured approaches to literacy and mathematics teaching that sustain high levels of learner progress and achievement

further refine assessment tools, strategies and processes to monitor and report the progress and achievement of learners, including those identified with additional needs

continue to focus on raising regular attendance rates for all students to meet Ministry of Education targets.

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

Within six months:

evaluate current literacy and mathematics teaching approaches to inform next steps

review assessment tools, strategies and processes to ensure clarity and cohesion for teachers and learners

develop an implementation plan to guide teacher professional learning focused on building consistent and cohesive approaches to literacy and mathematics teaching, data literacy and assessment practices.

Every six months:

continue to analyse and monitor learner progress, achievement and attendance information to inform next steps in teaching and learning.

Annually:

use learner progress and achievement data and evidence from a range of sources to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learning, attendance and engagement, and report the outcomes to the board to inform strategic decision making

review and evaluate the impact of professional development on consistency of teacher practice and learner outcomes.

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

consistent literacy and numeracy teaching and learning practices across all year levels

effective use of data that informs responsive teaching and learning

sustained excellent progress and achievement outcomes for all learners

improved levels of regular attendance.

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

6 December 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 →