Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
The Educational Review Office (ERO) prepared the following assessment of a state Catholic elementary school
This accountability report is based on an evaluation of student achievement and the impact of the teaching services and management
practices within a school on that achievement. This report is concerned with the extent to which the school knows about student achievement and uses that information to impact positively on students’ learning.
The 1995 Assurance Audit indicated that the quality of teaching programmes was sound in the junior and senior syndicates. In those areas of the school, students were receiving a balanced curriculum and were well managed by teachers. This was not the case in the middle syndicate. As a result, the school was required to ensure that a balanced curriculum in accordance with the national curriculum statements was delivered to all students and that student progress was monitored against the national achievement objectives. The principal had begun to list areas for school development and identify barriers to learning. This was deemed to be a positive step in establishing an effective school development plan.
Location:
Type:
Special features:
Teaching staff:
Roll generated entitlement: 11.3
Other: 0.2
Number of teachers 12.0
Teacher salary funding
Roll number
Number of foreign (fee-paying) students
Ethnic composition:
Gender composition:
Previous reports and confirmation dates: Assurance Audit, March 1992;
Assurance Audit, April 1995; Date of this report, November 1997
The school is well governed and managed in many respects. The school has established clear expectations for student achievement that are documented in a comprehensive achievement statement. Expectations fall into three distinct areas relating to the special character of the school, the expectations of the parent community and national education requirements.
A range of sound curriculum implementation practices contributes to effective student learning across the school. These include:
· warm and positive relationships between teachers and students;
· well organised and positively managed classrooms;
· attractive and colourful displays of student work in many classrooms;
· use of some effective small group and individualised teaching strategies.
Such sound curriculum implementation practices contribute significantly to the settled and positive learning tone that prevails throughout the school.
The school places a strong emphasis on effective pastoral care of its students, as perpetuated by its Catholic ethos. Its caring tone is a
significant strength of the school. The school ensures that its students receive programmes that take into account their backgrounds
and experiences and parents’ aspirations for student learning. School-wide programmes in religious education, te reo Mäori, Samoan
language and education outside the classroom are amongst the most noteworthy of these programmes.
The principal and senior management team have worked hard to establish systems for effective curriculum delivery. These include development of curriculum implementation schemes for some curriculum areas and a move toward school-wide consistency in assessment of student achievement. This marks an advance from the time of the previous report. Refinement of these systems,
particularly with regard to teacher planning, must be continued to ensure that sequenced and developmental instruction according to the
national achievement objectives is delivered consistently by all teachers. Such refinement must also ensure that student progress is
monitored against national achievement objectives by all teachers. Programmes in English, mathematics, art and music would benefit
particularly from such attention.
Clear understandings exist between the Board of Trustees and school management about their respective roles. The board provides
good support to the principal and staff and all interactions are respectful, harmonious and encouraging of full participation. The principal is supportive of his staff. His warm, relaxed and thoughtful style helps to foster an inclusive atmosphere across the school.
Expectations for student achievement have been developed as a result of consultation with the school community. They are expressed in a range of documentation that sets the purpose and direction for the daily operation of the school. This documentation includes a comprehensive achievement statement. The expectations are shared in different ways with community members, depending on their respective levels of involvement in school operations.
Expectations fall into three distinct areas relating to the special character of the school, the expectations of the parent community and
national education requirements. During their eight years at school, students will:
· learn the Christian Catholic values through the provision of appropriate role models and regular instruction in the historical developments and
traditions of the faith;
· demonstrate their understandings through caring attitudes for others in their daily actions;
· take these values with them into other aspects of their lives;
· show tolerance, respect and appreciation for difference by mixing confidently and courteously with a wide range of people;
· develop the self-esteem and discipline necessary for managing their own behaviours in a range of situations;
· participate with enthusiasm and confidence in a variety of outdoor pursuits, including sports and physical challenges;
· develop computer skills sufficient for education needs;
· achieve at specified levels of the curriculum statements and draft statements and attain a balance of the aims expressed in syllabuses.
The school expectations place particular emphasis on preparation for secondary school. This is expressed in the expectations that students will:
read at or above their chronological age; write fluently with correct grammatical construction, punctuation and spelling; express their thoughts orally with confidence and fluency, especially in situations of frustration or anger.
The board and the parent community receive regular feedback on aspects of student achievement through a good range of communication systems. These include newsletters, tabled reports at the monthly board meetings and analysed achievement information that monitors a school-wide sample of student achievement against the set standards. The principal provides this
achievement information annually. It is recommended that the principal refine his monthly reports to provide explicit information on major teaching and learning inputs and the results of these efforts. As a result, the board is likely to have greater assurance that the school is meeting the requirements of National Administration Guideline 1 and ongoing knowledge of how students are progressing against the school expectations. The board conscientiously uses any information that it is receiving to improve teaching and learning opportunities for students. The impact of this information can be seen in the principal’s identification of areas of weakness or need and the strategies implemented to address barriers to learning. The board responds by providing support through review of school goals, policy and planning, professional training and development, and appropriate curriculum resources.
During 1997 the school has moved towards school-wide consistency in assessment of student achievement. This has been facilitated by the introduction of an assessment and evaluation book for the middle and senior school. All curriculum areas except art and music are included in this record. This introduction has been a sound start to standardising assessment across the school. However, further development is needed for application of this record to be totally useful in assessing student achievement against
national achievement objectives and identifying individual learning needs and achievement trends. At present the assessment book is used in a variety of ways. Some teachers are using it to assess and record against achievement objectives set in programme planning. Others are recording anecdotal information of limited value. It is recommended that the school develops an assessment policy and establishes specific teacher requirements for assessment of student progress in all curriculum areas. The policy must emphasise the requirement to monitor and assess student progress against national achievement objectives. Specified requirements should assist in
the promotion of school-wide consistency. Not all teachers are monitoring and assessing student progress in art and music. This
requires the school’s attention.
Assessment of student progress is regular and effective in the junior school. Teachers in this area are becoming skilled at monitoring
and assessing student achievement against national achievement objectives. Regular recording of language and mathematical skill
acquisition and running record information assists teachers to meet the specific learning needs of students.
All students have a portfolio that provides useful information on attainment. Portfolios contain examples of completed work, learning and development goals set by students and some records of achievement levels. The school has specified the content of each
portfolio, ensuring that a range of appropriate work is included. These provide a useful means of communicating with parents on the
achievement and quality of their child’s work. The proposed addition of information on expected standards of work for each class
level is likely to increase the usefulness of portfolios.
The school has undertaken some useful aggregation of student achievement information. Information from a sample of students in each class has been graphed. This information indicates attainment across levels of the mathematics and English curriculum. The school
plans to use this information as baseline data to assist it identify trends and patterns in student achievement in the future.
Aggregated achievement information in mathematics has been used well to improve attainment of students on level one of the national
mathematics curriculum. The time spent on this level and the number of students at level one was a concern to the school. As a result, advisers were asked to assist the school in providing mathematics programmes in the junior school. The school is monitoring the success of this intervention.
An analysis of graphed reading attainment levels indicates that most students achieve at or above their age level. A small group of students in each class read below the level expected for their age. Continued monitoring of this group, as proposed by the school, is likely to provide continual and useful information on reading achievement.
A range of sound curriculum implementation practices is evident throughout the school. Most classrooms are interesting places of learning in which a variety of effective teaching strategies is used to deliver many aspects of the curriculum. This is particularly evident in the junior and senior school. Extensive use of teacher modelling, small group and investigative learning are amongst the most effective of these strategies. An ongoing simulated ‘city living’ project in the senior school and buddy reading across the school are examples of sound teaching practice promoted by teachers. Attractive and colourful displays of student work feature in many classrooms. These indicate some examples of high quality student achievement. They also model high level expectations for presentation of student work. Such modelling is particularly important in that standards of work presentation are variable across the school. Teachers have set guidelines for meeting these standards but some teachers do not consistently ensure that students follow these guidelines. Improved consistency should raise the standard of student work presentation across the school.
Warm and positive relationships between teachers and students are evident in all classrooms. These well reflect the strong emphasis that the school places on pastoral care of its students, as perpetuated by its Catholic ethos. Classrooms are well organised and positively managed. This contributes significantly to the settled and positive learning tone that prevails throughout the school.
Teachers have undertaken an extensive range of professional development projects over recent years. This has ensured that many teachers have gained a firm understanding of new curriculum initiatives and how to implement them effectively in the classroom. Programmes in social studies and technology have been especially strengthened by teacher participation in these projects.
Teacher participation in professional development projects has also generated development of curriculum implementation schemes for some curriculum areas, notably science, social studies and technology.
The school should now establish a timetable for completing implementation schemes in other curriculum areas. It should ensure that all curriculum implementation schemes indicate:
- what learning topics and strands are to be covered at each year level;
· what learning outcomes should be expected of students;
· what approaches to learning should be promoted by teachers;
· what resources are available for programme implementation; >br>
· how student progress should be monitored and assessed.
Teacher planning at the school is of variable quality. All teachers long term plan effectively. The highest quality short term planning clearly demonstrates that programmes are developed from national achievement objectives and that explicit links are apparent between these objectives, specific learning outcomes and clear learning experiences for students. Unit plans for science, social studies, technology, health and physical education demonstrate these links particularly well. However, it is difficult to identify the links from the planning of a significant number of teachers, especially for English, mathematics, art and music. This makes it difficult to ensure that sequenced and developmental instruction according to the national achievement objectives is being consistently delivered in these
curriculum areas. It also makes it difficult to ensure that student progress is being monitored against the national achievement objectives in these areas.
Strengthening of school requirements for teacher planning, extended use of school-wide planning formats, completion of implementation schemes for all curriculum areas and adoption of curriculum coverage sheets could do much to assist teacher planning. The principal monitors all teacher planning thoroughly but the strengthening of school requirements will give him an opportunity to give more specific feedback to teachers.
The school has done much to identify barriers to learning and establish appropriate strategies that minimise the impact of these barriers. Such strategies include well-documented special needs programmes for a wide range of students and astute use of staff resources to support these programmes. Students with intellectual and physical disabilities and students from non-English speaking backgrounds benefit particularly from these programmes.
The school has also developed some successful programmes that take into account students’ backgrounds and experiences and parents’ aspirations for student learning. School-wide programmes in religious education, te reo Mäori and Samoan language are amongst the most significant of these programmes. Students also get an opportunity to develop a range of social skills through peer mediation and education outside the classroom programmes. The school works hard at meeting the varied social, cultural and spiritual
needs of students.
Curriculum delivery is supported by a range of generally sound resources. Of special note is the attractive and well stocked library, the variety of computers throughout the school and well maintained instructional reading material. Such teaching resources contribute significantly to effective curriculum delivery across the school.
