ERO Report Confirmed and Now Online. We can all be proud!

Kia Ora Koutou

Congratulations EVERYONE

We have just received our confirmed report from the Education Review Office. It is a very good report and students, parents, staff and Board of Trustees can be very proud because we did it together! Three next steps have been identified. and these are listed below. However, the report contains a number of very strong, positive judgments which relate to students, staff, parents and board. I have included some of these in the excerpts below. The full report can be found at http://www.ero.govt.nz/Early-Childhood-School-Reports/School-Reports/Amesbury-School-05-08-2013. In particular, the report highlights our very effective curriculum and the way it promotes student learning and our very strong self-review processes which ensure ongoing improvement. 

The use of the term "genuine" with regard to students being involved in co-constructing and shaping their learning is a strong judgment and significant. This is an attempt by ERO to capture the fact that we are not just going through the motions or paying lipservice to 21st century personalisation of learning, but are genuinely involved in making Amesbury School's vision of putting "PERSON" back into learning a reality. Our thinking about "personalisation of learning" has continued to grow and develop and I will share more about this in a separate blog post.

The Education Review Office review was a very collaborative and open process. We appreciated the ERO reviewers openness and willingness to engage deeply in a dialogue about learning at Amesbury School. As a result, it was a very useful process for us and, also, for the reviewers. We are pleased the review is now behind us for the moment, but we will look forward (and look towards) a further review in three year's time. 

As part of the report, ERO advises the school of their return time. Three years is normal. ERO returns to some schools in 1 - 2 years and about 10% of schools have a return time of 4-5 years. All new schools have a return time of 3 years. This makes sense because one year after opening is very early in a school's life and too soon to push out the next review to 5 years. From my perspective, an ERO review is an opportunity to stop, take stock and to really clarify where the school's thinking has got to. When you have to articulate what you are doing for outsiders (such as review officers), it forces clarity. This review was really timely for us.

Excerpts....

“The curriculum very effectively promotes and supports student learning.”

"The school vision of 'learning for life, learning to live; joy for learning, joyful living' is meaningfully reflected. There is a clear rationale for the choices made in designing the school curriculum and selecting areas of emphasis to 'create connected, confident, actively involved, life-long learners'. 

“High quality teaching, reflective of the school’s priorities, effectively promotes student engagement and achievement.”

“Strong, respectful relationships between teachers and students are evident. A calm, cooperative, positive climate prevails.”

 “Personalised learning is well embedded. Teachers are responsive to each student’s strengths and needs and develop individual programmes based on the curriculum and their knowledge of students.”

“Students are well engaged, motivated, successful learners. They talk confidently about their learning and why it is important. Students are genuinely involved in co-constructing and shaping their learning.”

"Students are provided with a wide range of learning experiences."

“Parents are well informed and very involved in their child’s learning. Partnership between home and school is given priority and parents and students feel a strong sense of belonging.”

“The appraisal process is very improvement focused. It includes comprehensive self-reflection…..Robust feedback, following observations of teaching, acknowledge teachers’ strengths and ask searching questions that guide improved practice.”

“High quality self-review reflects a genuine focus on improvement."

"The board is focused on positive outcomes for students. Trustees consult widely with the community to inform policy development and the strategic direction of the school. They monitor progress towards strategic goals and school targets. Board members have reviewed their performance and used this information to plan the future. Trustees recognize the importance of ongoing development for the future."

Next steps:

1. Success for Maori as Maori: Build on established partnerships with whanau, seeking their input into planning the curriculum and helping set future strategic direction.
2. Increase the involvement of teachers in the analysis of schoolwide student achievement data.
3. Regarding hub reviews: record progress more consistently and evaluate outcomes for students.