Taita Central School

The same report — the board assurance report of 31 July 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:

on the basis of good quality assessment information, reported to the school’s community on the progress and achievement of students as a whole, identified groups of students who are not progressing or are at risk of not progressing, including the progress and achievement of Māori students [Education and Training Act 2020, Regulation 21 of Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

reported every incident of physical restraint to the Ministry of Education [Education and Training Act 2020, Section 100]

has documents showing that suitable human resource management practices are implemented. [Education and Training Act 2020, Section 599]

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 116 — 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 2018

   141

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 2 May 2018

2. June 2014

   164

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 28 July 2014

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 31 July 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

Taita Central School is in Lower Hutt and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. A new leadership team is in place, with the appointment of a new principal mid-2022 and a new deputy principal mid-2023. The school’s shared values of perseverance, outstanding excellence, whakawhanaungatanga , empathy and respect, are integral to the school’s culture and curriculum.

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

Improvements are required to ensure learners are engaged, making sufficient progress and achieving well.

Achievement information shows less than half of all learners achieve at or above the curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics; improvement in learner progress and achievement is required.

Improving equity for groups of learners, including Māori and Pacific learners, remains a priority.

Attendance information shows a small majority of learners attend school more than 90% of the time; leaders and teachers closely monitor and support whānau to improve the attendance rates of all learners.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders foster a collaborative teaching culture and work towards high quality teaching for equitable outcomes for learners.

Leaders and staff promote a positive school culture with a clear focus on improving learner engagement and wellbeing.

A system to monitor and analyse student progress and achievement data is newly in place to inform strategic priorities; leaders and staff are taking steps to purposefully plan to address barriers to learning.

Leaders purposefully support and facilitate ongoing improvement and development of teacher capabilities for improved learner outcomes.

Teachers are working towards establishing responsive teaching and learning practices school wide.

In the junior school, staff know learners well, work together and provide purposeful, well-paced learning experiences for all learners; this practice is developing in the senior school.

Teachers are strengthening capability in using data to inform responsive practices that support improved learner outcomes and address barriers to learning.

Leaders and teachers are improving the way they collect, analyse and interpret data to better inform teaching and learning.

Leaders and staff are refining and strengthening school conditions, actions and practices to promote improved learner wellbeing, attendance and achievement.

The board and leaders are building and aligning key school practices and processes focused on learner wellbeing, achievement and engagement.

The board, leaders and teachers use information from a range of sources to plan for ongoing improvement.

Leaders and staff seek and engage in ongoing professional development, including through the local Kāhui Ako , to support learner progress and wellbeing.

The board, leaders and staff continue to build partnerships with parents and whānau ; their views are actively sought to guide ongoing development and strategic improvement.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

strengthen use of attendance and achievement information to inform responsive teaching practice and improve achievement outcomes for all learners

support teachers to further develop consistent, responsive teaching and learning practices with a focus meeting the many different learning needs and interests of students

build teachers’ shared understanding of effective strategies to enable learners to identify what their next learning steps are and how to go about achieving these

increase whānau engagement in their child’s learning and partnerships with the school to improve attendance and achievement outcomes.

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

Within six months:

review planning, learning and assessment practices to support and promote improved attendance and achievement outcomes for all learners

use research informed teaching and learning practices to purposefully address barriers to learning and build teacher, student and whānau understanding of how children learn best

work with whānau about how they would like to be involved in their child’s learning and assist understanding about the importance of regular attendance, and the correlation between attendance and academic progress and achievement

Every six months:

collect, moderate, analyse and use data to report on the progress, attendance and achievement of all learners

review and report on the effectiveness of changes to teaching practice, through teacher observation, collection of learner voice and learner outcomes

meet with whānau to sustain active participation in the planning and decision-making of the school

Annually:

analyse and report schoolwide achievement data to the board, to strategically plan actions that will improve attendance, achievement and learner outcomes

conduct a wellbeing survey that includes aspects of responsive practices with staff, learners and families, to assist with strengthening responsive classroom practices and further engage learners

gather and review parent and whānau voice on the success of partnerships with the school and engagement with their children’s learning.

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

consistently effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide, resulting in improved achievement outcomes for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics

all learners being active participants in their own learning and able to talk about their next steps and what they have achieved

improved levels of learner attendance and whānau engagement; with a shared understanding of how to support their child’s learning, 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

31 July 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 →