EDUCATION REVIEW REPORT:
LEAMINGTON SCHOOL
September 2011
To the Parents / Caregivers / Community of Leamington School.
We have received our 2011 ERO report. The Board of Trustees is extremely proud of the report and its findings. The report is overwhelmingly positive towards the school, its children, and the teachers. We have pulled out some of the phrases used in the report as a summary for our parents.
Key phrases in the report
There is a strong sense of pride, belonging and guardianship among staff, students, parents and members of the wider community.
Students learn and play in a safe and inclusive school environment.
The Leamington School Curriculum effectively promotes and supports student learning. Strong features of curriculum design are:
- extensive consultation with the community about school development
- a school philosophy that integrates core goals and virtues
- effective plans that guide curriculum implementation, particularly in aspects of literacy and mathematics
- clear expectations that provide guidance for the teachers
- many opportunities for students to participate in a wide range of academic, cultural and sporting experiences.
School leaders and teachers have high expectations for learning and behaviour.
Committed and hard working teachers ensure students learn in well-resourced, print-rich classrooms that reflect the school’s priorities for learning and teaching.
Positive relationships among staff and students contribute to student engagement in learning in a settled and affirming environment.
The highly effective school transition programme ensures that new students are familiar with the school learning environment and are well settled.
The principal has built a strong and cohesive senior leadership team focused on raising student achievement.
Teachers use achievement information to inform classroom teaching practices and monitor how well students progress during their time at school.
Most students are achieving at and above national expectations in reading, writing and numeracy.
Students identified with special abilities, specific needs and at risk of underachieving are monitored, make progress and are well catered for by a range of high quality internal and external support interventions.
Students enjoy many learning opportunities in which they can achieve success in the school and wider community.
Meaningful relationships are fostered with the Māori community through the whānau group.
Māori students have many opportunities to participate as tangata whenua in a range of activities and events that include kapa haka, pōwhiri and te reo Māori language opportunities.
The school is well placed to sustain ongoing developments and improvements that contribute to the learning and educational outcomes for students.
A cohesive and dedicated board are led by an experienced chairperson and together have a wide range of knowledge and skills that contribute to the strategic governance and direction of the school.
The board is well informed by established effective self-review systems and processes that include community surveys and school-wide student assessment information.
This community school is set in extensive and well-kept grounds.
The school has identified that teachers should now further consider strategies that increase students' understanding, knowledge and ownership of their learning, achievement and progress. The inclusion in school implementation plans of expectations for learning is likely to assist teachers to focus on increasing student participation in the learning process.
|
ERO Recommendation |
What this means in layman's terms |
What we as a school are doing about it |
| The school has identified that
teachers should now further consider strategies that increase students'
understanding, knowledge and ownership of their learning, achievement and
progress. The inclusion in school implementation plans of expectations for
learning is likely to assist teachers to focus on increasing student
participation in the learning process. |
As a school we had identified that we want all of our children to be constantly aware of what skills, knowledge or understanding they are trying to develop. We want them to be able to be aware of what they have to do for their next step, and be able to talk to their peers, teacher and parent about what they are focusing on now, and what they will be focusing on next. |
This was already a next step for the school. We are already a long way down this track, but want to take this to the cutting edge. ERO applauded this self identified next step as being a high level goal, but one that was appropriate for a high performing school. |