Tinwald School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 25 March 2025 — “School Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School 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.

About the School

Tinwald School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The total roll in 2023 was 269, a significant increase since 2022. Most learners are European/ Pākehā . Māori learners comprise approximately 16% of the roll and 12% identify with Pacific communities. The school vision is Tinwald BEST – Better Every Single Time .

Progress since August 2023 ERO report

The school expected to see improved progress and achievement in reading, with greater engagement and student voice that promoted increased self-esteem. The school has not analysed its data to verify whether this has been achieved, and so the impact on learner attendance, engagement and wellbeing is unclear. Leaders also wanted to promote reading improvements by engaging with whānau and families, refining the school literacy guidelines, and supporting improved teaching with deliberate and responsive planning and practice. Leaders have initiated deliberate professional development for junior staff in structured reading approaches, and additional training is scheduled for Term 1 2025 for other staff. Leaders update parents on changes in the reading programme using school newsletters and use a digital platform that shares examples of current learning with families, including for reading. Updating curriculum guidelines and growing consistency of teaching and learning remains a priority.

How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?

How well are learners succeeding? Improvements are required to ensure all learners are engaged, making sufficient progress and achieving well.

What is the quality of teaching and learning? The school needs to improve teaching and learning.

How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? Learners have some opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a variable focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals.

How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? The school is establishing planning and conditions that support improvements in the quality of education for learners.

How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? The school reasonably promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion.

How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? The school needs to improve its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school should improve its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and Safety The school needs to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning environment.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.

Foundation Skills

Reading ERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Reliable data was not available.

Writing ERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Reliable data was not available.

Mathematics ERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Reliable data was not available.

Attendance

The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.

The school is yet to have a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is improving towards the target.

Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

The school is not yet using an appropriate approach or reliable practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.

Teachers should improve their use of assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

The school does not have good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.

The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.

The school has not extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.

The school is not making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics and/or pānui , tuhituhi and pāngarau for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Support

During the course of this review ERO had concerns about the leadership of learning and made recommendations for support and/or intervention to the Secretary / Ministry of Education.

Part B - Findings for the school

This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Areas of Strength

The school is further developing the use of Learning Progressions and the associated Progress and Achievement Tool (PACT) for generating more reliable and consistent assessment data.

Learners with complex needs who require additional supports benefit from collaboratively generated planning; a learning support coordinator fosters personalised programmes and training.

Leaders have chosen a structured literacy approach for middle and senior classrooms that will complement the junior approach and give a progression of learning from Years 1 to 6 from 2025.

A review of mathematics teaching has identified a structured learning programme that will be implemented for middle and senior areas of the school in 2025, for greater consistency.

Learners have good access to activities that extend learning outside of the classroom and promote sporting, environmental and cultural aspects of the curriculum in deliberate ways.

Targeted professional development has been sought for further growing leadership capability.

The principal seeks staff feedback on teaching and learning approaches to reflect on areas for improvement; systematic inquiry and evaluation practices are in an early stage of development.

Leaders have initiated an expectation that teachers observe their peers and give feedback on practice, for embedding new learning.

Key priorities and actions for improvement

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

formally and regularly collate, analyse and interpret progress and achievement data to inform decision making at all levels of the school; report progress and achievement to the board, staff and community in timely and appropriate ways

fully implement structured learning approaches, with associated leadership structures and systems for supporting consistent application of these programmes and reviewing their impact on learner success

facilitate leaders’ regular observations and feedback to staff that monitors and grows capability in deliberate ways; provide training to support leaders deliver a coaching model for professional growth

create an explicit strategy that will support achievement of the strategic goal for regular attendance.

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

Within three months:

develop and implement an action plan to address the next steps and compliance actions of this report

survey learners regarding their wellbeing and satisfaction to inform responsive planning and teaching

analyse end-of-year progress and achievement data for 2024 for evidence-informed planning and decision making

establish goals with external advisors for further developing leadership and teaching capability.

Every six months:

provide analysed progress and achievement information for reading, writing and mathematics to staff and board, for decision-making purposes

provide opportunities for whānau hui to discuss Māori success and to engage with whānau Māori to further strengthen partnership in learning

review shifts in attendance data and refine the school’s strategy accordingly

observe teaching practice, give feedback and implement targeted supports for growing consistency.

Annually:

evaluate the impact of structured learning approaches on learner progress and achievement to inform further refinements to teaching practices, and professional development needs for staff

conduct surveys and hui to gather feedback on the success of curriculum, teaching and learning

consult with whānau and the community about strategic and annual implementation planning

report to the community on achievement, progress, engagement, attendance and wellbeing.

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

raised teacher capability and consistency in delivering reading, writing and mathematics programmes

robust data and well-analysed information for guiding planning at all levels of the school

a wider range of perspectives informing strategic decision making, reflecting a culture of improvement

attendance rates that meet Ministry of Education targets.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Actions for Compliance

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, report to the school’s community on the progress and achievement of students [clause 10 School (Planning and Reporting) Regulations 2023]

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

consult and deliver a statement on the Health Curriculum at least every two years [section 91 Education and Training Act 2020]

ensure one hour-per-day of reading, writing and mathematics is provided across the school [section 90 Education and Training Act 2020]

ensure whānau and families receive two student reports on their child’s progress and achievement each year [regulation 21 Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

implement a formalised method for identifying, addressing and monitoring hazards, and regularly reporting hazard management practices to the board [Health and Safety at Work Act 2015; Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016]

initiate regular training for staff in the Child Protection Policy to ensure a consistent approach [sections 18 and 19 Child Protection Act 2014; part 6 Children’s Act 2014]

every safety check of a person must comply with the requirements for safety checks for core or non-core workers. [section 31(1) Children’s Act 2014]

the board must obtain a police vet before any person begins work at the school [schedule 4 clause 9(1) and 9(2) Education and Training Act 2020].

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education consider action plan intervention(s) listed in section 174 of the Education and Training Act 2020 in order to bring about the following improvements:

governance, including self-review

leadership for capability building

assessment practices and data analysis for decision making

strategic and annual implementation planning, and reporting requirements

deliberate monitoring and reporting of health, safety and wellbeing matters.

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 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 Director of Schools (Acting)

25 March 2025

Education Counts

This 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 →