Education Review Office Report

ERO’s Findings About The School

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.

School Context

Royal Road School is in Massey, Auckland. It is a multi-cultural school that provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is focused on learners knowing themselves, being active in their community and creating positive changes in the world.

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
Outcomes for the majority of learners are increasingly equitable and excellent.

• The majority of learners achieve at or above their expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics; the school is taking steps to address some disparity evident for Pacific learners in reading and writing and for Māori learners in mathematics.
• A targeted response to accelerate the progress of learners below expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics shows a positive trajectory of improvement for many.
• Consistently promoted wellbeing approaches support learners to become confident, connected, actively involved and successful in their learning.
• Attendance information shows the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s targets; close monitoring and support is provided by leaders and teachers to improve attendance rates.

Conditions to support learner success
School leaders work collaboratively and strategically to improve outcomes for learners.

• Senior leaders prioritise building and sustaining relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school community to achieve the strategic vision and improvement goals.
• Leaders plan for school improvement and for equitable and excellent outcomes, with consistent focus on priority learners.
• Leaders value and nurture a professional culture committed to high quality teaching, professional growth and development to support ongoing improvement in teaching and learning.

Curriculum and teaching practices are increasingly responsive to learners’ needs, interests, and cultural identities.

• The school’s curriculum increasingly reflects local contexts and students’ lives to enable learners to see themselves and that their identity and culture are valued.
• Teachers understand the importance of knowing their learners well and prioritise building relationships that support learners’ language, culture, identity, and sense of belonging.
• Targeted professional learning builds the capability of teachers to implement evidence-based and responsive strategies that improve outcomes for learners.

The school has well-aligned systems, structures and practices to bring about success and improvement over time.

• Leaders and teachers facilitate regular parent and whānau engagement and participation in the life of the school to build collaborative learning-centred partnerships.
• Teachers are increasingly integrating te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori learning opportunities to give effect to the school’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• The school has well-developed policies, programmes and practices that promote learners’ engagement, wellbeing, inclusion, and confidence in their identity, language and culture.
• Learner wellbeing is promoted through respectful relationships and well-established restorative practices.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue the focus on accelerating the progress of priority groups of students at risk of not achieving in reading, writing and mathematics
• continue to raise the number of learners attending school regularly
• embed professional learning that develops effective and cohesive teaching practices and promotes relevant and authentic learning opportunities
• continue to build relationships with parents and whānau to strengthen learning partnerships and support shared understandings of learners’ strengths and learning needs.

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

Every six months:

• continue to refine practices to identify and support learners so that they make accelerated progress
• review and evaluate progress against targets and actions in the school’s annual plan, including attendance targets, to inform next steps to improve learner achievement, success and engagement
• continue to embed teaching and learning practices that improve achievement outcomes for learners by building on their strengths, needs and interests
• meet with parents to create shared understandings of learners’ strengths and learning needs to inform learning partnerships.

Annually:

• analyse achievement data to evaluate the impact of learning programmes on accelerating progress for target learners and report the outcomes to the board
• evaluate the impact of strategies used to improve attendance and engagement
• gather feedback to evaluate the impact of strategies used to strengthen engagement and learning partnerships with parents and whānau.

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

• improved attendance and progress and achievement outcomes that are increasingly equitable and excellent for all learners
• learners having a strong sense of belonging and confidence in their identity, language and culture
• reciprocal learning partnerships between parents, whānau and the school that support learner success.

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

13 August 2024