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The Owairoa Primary School Family

“Creating a safe and supportive environment for your child”

“Top Performing School” – ERO

Owairoa Primary School has a lot to be proud of with its on-going positive ERO reviews and having twice been described by the Education Review Office as a “Top Performing School” and obtaining a STRONG Review in the latest report.

Read the full ERO Report

ERO’s Overall Judgement

Key strengths of the school

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Owairoa Primary School’sperformance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is:

STRONG
  • ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

  • Education Review Office Owairoa Primary School – PN 1413

  • ERO External Evaluation October 2019

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • a rich, broad, localised and inclusive curriculum which is well monitored and tracked for consistency and high quality
  • family/whānau partnerships together with a strong focus on student wellbeing and teacher’s deep knowledge of students and their families
  • students’ high achievement and the individualised strategies teachers implement to support and accelerate their learning progress.

A summary of comments from the latest ERO Report are as follows:

  • “Owairoa Primary School achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for students. Most achieve at or above the school’s expectations in reading and mathematics, and a large majority in writing.

  • Student achievement information is closely analysed, monitored, and regularly reported to the board. The information is robust and reliable and is broken down to show achievement by year level, ethnicity and gender. The principal is considering how to report to the board the overall achievement of cohorts over their time at the school.

  • The board sets measurable and appropriate school wide targets for student achievement, and identify and support useful strategies and initiatives to address these targets.

  • The Senior Leadership Team reports to the board evidence of student progress in relation to the school’s valued outcomes. Processes and systems are in place to identify the impact that a school wide teaching focus on the school values is having on students and school culture.”

  • “The school is accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need it.

  • School-based information indicates that the small cohort of Māori and Pacific students achieve very well in reading, writing and mathematics, and by Year 6 there is parity in achievement across all groups of students.

  • The achievement of children with additional learning needs is closely monitored, and their ongoing progress is tracked. Appropriate external support is accessed where appropriate. Senior leaders identify other students who are achieving below expectations and appropriate strategies are implemented to accelerate their learning. These students are making good and, in many cases, accelerated progress.”

  • “Partnership with parents, prioritising student wellbeing, effective leadership, and a rich curriculum and responsive teaching are the key processes and practices enabling the school to achieve equity and excellence.

  • The board, leaders and teachers appropriately prioritise catering for the whole child and value highly close parent partnership in children’s learning. Information about children is shared between leaders, teachers and parents and used to ensure students make individual and positive progress. The board respects the community’s and students’ perspectives and regularly surveys them to inform strategic planning and ongoing improvement.

  • Promoting student, staff and family’s positive wellbeing is a feature of the school culture. This significantly supports students and their learning. Senior leaders implement very useful strategies for new families, and families who have English as an additional language, to support their successful integration into the community.”

  • “The long-serving principal is an effective chief executive and leader of the school. He is ably supported by the senior leadership team. They work collaboratively with all the leaders of the school and provide many opportunities to grow leadership school wide. Students participate in a variety of valuable leadership activities.

  • Children work in settled, attractive and supportive learning environments characterised by respectful teacher-student relationships. Teachers implement well-planned and richly-resourced learning programmes that respond to students’ strengths and needs. Students are building their capacity to monitor and manage their own learning.

  • The school’s localised broad curriculum encompasses the breadth of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). It is well designed to be flexible and responsive to students’ needs. There is a focus on programmes that support students to become independent and inquiring. A recently introduced programme integrates several learning areas. This is proving highly engaging and motivating for students. The Board also funds additional resourcing to extend and challenge students’ interests. The board would benefit from evidence-based evaluation of the outcomes for students of these initiatives.

  • Teachers professional learning and development (PLD) and growth is highly valued. The board has significant investment in PLD offered both internally and externally. The PLD programme is well aligned to the board’s strategic aims.

  • Te ao Māori is increasingly evident in the curriculum. The programme is well led, and teachers are gaining confidence integrating Māori perspectives into classroom programmes. Students confidently lead pōwhiri and are gaining a greater understanding of tikanga Māori. There are strategic plans to increase the visibility of te ao Māori in the school.

  • The board is effective and strategic, and values staff and community voice. Trustees have separate portfolios of responsibility, including a newly implemented and useful portfolio focusing on cultural inclusiveness. The board manages school finances well and meets its statutory responsibilities.”

  • “The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

  • At the time of this review there were 24 international students attending the school.

  • International students are integrated well within the school community. They can access quality pastoral care and education. The school monitors and supports their wellbeing, progress and achievement, and reports this to the board of trustees. Parents of international students participate well in the school’s ‘Parent Class’ programme which further supports their children’s integration into the school.”