Waikoikoi School

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 22 September 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.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the School

Waikoikoi School is a small rural primary school for children in Years 1 to 6 located in West Otago. Children learn together in one multi-level classroom. The school’s strategic goals are to improve outcomes for all students, accelerate progress through strong relationships with whānau and community and to develop responsive and engaging curriculum that meets the needs of learners and embeds the school’s environmental philosophy.

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

Improvement and progress

This section is about the progress the school has made since the October 2022 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings .

Expected improvements and findings

The school evaluated how well assessment information is used to inform teaching and learning practices.

The school has strengthened their use pf assessment information. Teachers have deepened their understanding and use of learning progressions in reading, writing, and mathematics. They have used this knowledge to plan and adjust teaching to support student progress. By sharing learning intentions and success criteria, they have helped students understand their progress, identify next steps, and build self-assessment skills.

Structured approaches to teaching literacy and mathematics have led to more consistent teaching routines; deeper curriculum knowledge; improved understanding of the scope and sequence of learning and more explicit teaching.

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

How well are learners succeeding? Success and progress for all learners is increasing.

What is the quality of teaching and learning? Learners benefit from high quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? Learners have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in foundational 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? School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established.

How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? The school successfully 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 is improving its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school is improving its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and Safety The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Less than a third Less than half Small majority Large majority Most Almost all

0 to 33% 34 to 49% 50 to 65% 65 to 79% 80 to 90% Over 90%

Reading Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners.

Writing A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners.

Mathematics Most learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

Less than half of students attend school regularly.

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

The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.

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

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

The school is developing 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 to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.

The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of Strength

Students learn together in flexible, multi-age groupings that support all students to experience appropriate challenge.

Teachers monitor students’ learning and adapt teaching programmes to respond to their interests and needs. They continually build their curriculum knowledge and reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching practice.

Leadership has high expectations for quality teaching and student learning; school systems are sound and orderly and there is a caring and friendly learning environment.

Leadership and teachers have productive partnerships in the community and with other schools. Staff use these to enhance learning opportunities and to support successful transitions into and on from school for students.

Key priorities

Implement the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) to ensure students have sufficient and equitable opportunities to learn.

Embed structured approaches to teaching reading, writing and mathematics to help all students develop foundational skills.

Align assessment practices with new curriculum requirements to support effective monitoring of progress and achievement and reporting to parents.

Improve regular attendance to maximise students’ opportunities to succeed.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within six months:

leaders and teachers align long term curriculum planning with the year level expectations of the refreshed NZC

leaders and teachers review, implement and moderate assessment practices that align with the refreshed curriculum and track students’ progress over time

Every six months:

leaders and teachers review the effectiveness of structured teaching programmes for improving progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics

leaders and teachers use new assessment tools assess students’ achievement and progress and identify next steps in teaching and learning, reporting these to parents and the School Board

leaders and the School Board monitor the impact of attendance initiatives and report to the school community on attendance

Annually:

leaders and the School Board evaluate the impact of curriculum initiatives on learner progress and achievement and use for strategic planning

leaders revise and refine assessment practices to ensure that the School Board, teachers, parents and learners have a clear understanding of achievement and progress

leaders and the School Board evaluate the impact of attendance initiatives and plan next steps.

Expected outcomes

Students having sufficient and equitable opportunities to learn the foundation skills of literacy and numeracy.

Students making expected to accelerated rates of progress against the expectations in the NZC in reading, writing and mathematics.

Schoolwide assessments provide students, parents, teachers and Board with good quality information about achievement, progress, next learning steps and the effectiveness of teaching and learning programmes.

Most students attending regularly, maximising their opportunity of educational success.

Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

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

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within four 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

22 September 2025

Read this report on ero.govt.nz →