This Profile Report was written within 8 months of the Education Review Office and Epsom Normal School working in Te Ara Huarau , an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz
Epsom Normal School is in central Auckland and caters for students from Years 1 to 6. Epsom Normal School continues to work with the University of Auckland, the Auckland Central Community of Schools (ACCoS) Kahui Ako , and the New Zealand Normal and Model Schools Association (NAMSA).
Epsom Normal School ’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Epsom Normal School ’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate its ongoing commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to develop a deeper understanding of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:
The school expects to see:
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to develop a deeper understanding of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand:
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
As of March 2024, the Epsom Normal School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
For further information please contact Epsom Normal School, School Board.
The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.
Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.
The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation of the Code.
At the time of this review there were two international students attending the school.
International students receive a high standard of education. They are successfully supported to actively participate in all aspects of school life. International students benefit from the positive and inclusive relationships evident in the school.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Epsom Normal School provides education for 667 students in Years 1 to 6. Māori students and those with Pacific heritage comprise five percent of the roll.
The school is guided by its whakataukī ‘Together we are strong’. This is underpinned by the school’s vision for students to be:
The school’s values promote an inclusive and respectful school community. Students are encouraged to develop a strong sense of belonging while also valuing their diversity, uniqueness and creativity. The school’s strategic goals are to provide:
The school sets high achievement targets in reading, writing and mathematics for students, including Māori and Pacific students. Goals are also set for groups of students to exceed expectations in each of these areas.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
Strong leadership continues at the school. The new principal, appointed since the 2013 ERO review, has been part of the school’s leadership team for many years. School trustees are relatively new to their roles, and have accessed very good advice and expertise to support them in their governance and stewardship roles.
The school is successfully achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for its students. School information shows very high levels of student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics over time, for all groups of students, including Māori and Pacific. Data from 2014 to 2017 show that almost all students are achieving at or above expectations in mathematics. Most students are also achieving at or above expectations in reading and writing.
Other valued outcomes evident in the school include students who:
Epsom Normal School accelerates student learning very well and has maintained high levels of student achievement.
The school has effective systems and processes to identify students who need to make accelerated progress. Students who are new to the school are carefully assessed, and their progress is tracked and monitored by teachers and leaders. An extensive range of targeted interventions and multi-layered approaches are used to respond to students’ learning needs. These interventions have resulted in positive changes in terms of improving achievement patterns and accelerating children’s progress.
Teachers know children well. Students who enter the school below expected levels are carefully monitored to provide appropriate language programmes and other support. Many of these children build their confidence and learning capabilities to make accelerated progress. The extent and pace of acceleration is sufficient for success. Teachers’ collaborative inquiries have had a positive impact on accelerating students’ learning progress.
Leadership at all levels of the school is highly effective. Leaders collaboratively develop and pursue the school’s vision, goals and targets for equity and excellence. They promote a school culture that nurtures high quality outcomes and wellbeing for all students and staff. The school’s strategic commitment to growing leadership capacity is succeeding. There are high quality professional learning programmes, effective school systems and a good range of leadership opportunities for teachers. These features support teachers to promote student excellence and equity.
The school’s intent to embody the vision, values and principles of the New Zealand Curriculum is highly evident. The underpinning principles of curriculum design, creativity and critical thinking are embedded in teaching and learning. A seamless curriculum that is connected across knowledge and learning activities, and with the local community and wider world, is strongly promoted. The curriculum is highly responsive. It enables students’ individual strengths and talents to flourish. Students excel in a range of learning areas. The learning community is characterised by respect, empathy, relational trust, cooperation and team work.
The school has a strategic and coherent approach to building professional capability. Systematic, collaborative inquiry processes and challenging professional learning opportunities align well with the school’s vision, values, goals and targets. The school’s relevant professional learning programme integrates theory and practice. It promotes innovative and adaptive practice through evidence-informed, collaborative inquiries. Leaders and teachers’ collaborative learning and decision-making are supported by highly effective organisational structures and practices.
The school and community enjoy rich, learning-centred relationships. Leaders and teachers take a strengths-based approach to affirming the diverse languages and cultures of parents, whānau and community. They actively broker parent engagement. This helps to extend and enrich opportunities for all children’s learning. Leaders build education-focused relationships with other educational and community institutions to increase opportunities for student learning and success. These community opportunities are helping students to become ‘confident, connected, actively involved life-long learners’.
To sustain and further support equity and excellence, trustees and leaders should now establish a more strategic approach to using evaluation processes and reasoning for improvement. Using the wealth of information and data available in the school, they could collaborate to:
A more strategic approach should support trustees and leaders to evaluate the extent to which all learners are experiencing success. It should also enable them to determine which improvement initiatives are most effective for learners.
Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed the ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to the following:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
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 11 international students attending the school. International students are well cared for, and experience programmes that are suited to their learning and promote their wellbeing. The school’s monitoring systems for international students is well administered. The board receives reports about the quality of education provided for international students, their care and how well they are progressing and achievement.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in four-to-five years.
Violet Tu’uga Stevenson
Director Review and Improvement Services
Te Tai Raki - Northern Region
6 December 2018
Ministry of Education profile number