Kaipaki School 687 Kaipaki Rd RD3 Cambridge Kaipaki School Bringing Learning to Life Whakatinanahia te mātauranga Ph: (07) 823 6653 e-mail: principal@kaipaki.school.nz www.kaipaki.school.nz 25 May 2015 Principal s Annual Report for 2015 This report is intended as a summary of activity during 2015 in support of Kaipaki School s learning programme. Full details of monthly progress in specific areas can be found in the monthly Principal Reports to the BoT and Target Data/Analysis of Variance supplied to MoE. I can confirm that Kaipaki School continues to strive to be a good employer in accordance with school policies and in line with Section 77a of the State Sector Act, 1988. School Roll Kaipaki School had a thriving roll that has grown from 77 at the start of the school year to finish at 87 in December 2015. Our roll forecast indicated that this was a continuing trend, indicative of our success as a school but also presenting the Board with ongoing challenges. The large increase in roll over a short time period gave particular challenges in relation to school property. Our fourth teaching position was firmly embedded in the school teaching structure. The children enjoyed relatively small class sizes and were spread over 4 good sized teaching spaces. This was significantly more attractive to parents than 8 year ranges squeezed into 3 rooms. With only 3 official teaching spaces plus a library, discussions began with MoE to explore controlling of the school roll by introducing and enrolment scheme. At the outset the school and MoE differed in outlook as to whether the school roll should be reduced by a zone to under cap. (75) or allowed to expand further and generate an entitlement to a 4 th teaching space. These discussions continued for some time. An agreement was finally made to develop an enrolment scheme together with a recommendation from MoE that the school was now entitled to a fourth teaching space. We expect the roll to climb to almost 100 in line with the demographic report from MoE through 2016. Curriculum The Education Review Office conducted a review in early 2015. The review was generally very positive, given the short length of time allocated to the visit and the breadth of coverage. The Board and school staff thought that ERO failed to identify some key characteristics critical to the 1
success of the learning programme at Kaipaki School. strengthening were accepted and were be acted upon. Nevertheless, the areas for National Standards The National Standards benchmarks remained embedded at the school with good use being made of the formal testing and formative assessment throughout the school to make OTJs as meaningful as possible. Moderation took place across the school and within the Cambridge Rural Cluster of schools. Given the high rate of roll growth and transient population all National Standards data from Kaipaki School should be viewed judiciously. Making high-stakes judgments based on this data would be reckless at best. Student Achievement The students at Kaipaki School made significant progress across the curriculum in areas other than those covered by OTJs. As stated in previous Annual reports the learning community values a broad curriculum which emphasised values and competencies in addition to leadership opportunities and wider holistic development. Many parents valued these essential elements above simplistic measures of attainment. This approach remains the cornerstone of our approach to learning at Kaipaki School. Summary Table of Whole School Student Achievement 2015 OTJs in Accordance with National Standards Aggregated results for whole school assessment are below. Given the growth and changes in the school roll it is highly likely that use of the data for high-stakes decision-making would be unsafe. At best, use of the results of total numbers for 87 children might be misleading. More pertinent data is presented for children who have been at Kaipaki School for more than 2 years (only 32 out of 87). In addition, data for children who have identified as Maori has been collated (13 out of 87). Comparison to national achievement data provided by MoE was very favourable. Data for individual children can be isolated from collated data and shows accelerated progress in many cases. 2
School OTJ Data 2015 - -Summary Well Below Below At Above Number Whole School 6-7% 9-10% 51-59% 21-24% Reading 6-7% 20-23% 49-56% 12-14% 87 Writing 4-5% 18-21% 40-46% 25-29% Maths Boys Reading 5-10% 6-12% 30-58% 11-21% Writing 6-12% 14-27% 28-54% 4-8% 52 Maths 3-6% 9-17% 26-50% 14-27% Girls Reading 1-3% 3-9% 21-60% 10-29% Writing 0 6-17% 21-60% 8-23% 35 Maths 1-3% 9-26% 14-40% 11-31% Maori Reading 1-8% 0 10-77% 2-15% Writing 0 4-31% 8-62% 1-8% 13 Maths 1-8% 3-23% 3-23% 6-46% >2yrs Reading 1-3% 0 22-69% 9-28% Writing 2-6% 4-12% 20-63% 6-19% 32 Maths 1-3% 4-12% 18-56% 9-28% Groups Achieveing Accelerated Progress 3
Second Language Teaching Mandarin was offered again for Y6 pupils. This proved very popular with the children and attended to the wider need to recognise the rise of Asia as the most significant trading partner for NZ enterprise. The Board concluded that this must be continued and expanded with the proposal to establish an ALLiS Cluster in 2016. In addition, the school benefitted from work undertaken within the local rural cluster of Cambridge country schools, extending the use of Te Reo through shared PL from the Jeanne Gilbert Consultancy. EOTC Experiences for 2015 included: School Camp at Te Kauri Lodge, Kawhia, Ag and Flower Days, Life Education Trust, Regular Swimming Programme at St Peter s School Swimming Academy and Rural Cluster interschool sports dates throughout the year, Cambridge Christmas Festival. Project Energise Throughout the year the school worked closely with the Project Energise team. The close relationship built up in recent years allows the Energisers to better relate to the needs of the children as well as up skill school staff. By assisting with classroom programmes we also managed to integrate golf, cricket and cycle awareness days and team building days into the programme. All the children enjoyed the opportunities afforded them. The expertise, equipment and leadership of the Project Energise team was of great benefit to the school. Personnel The school bus driver was summarily dismissed for a serious road traffic offence. A replacement driver was immediately instated and there was minimal disruption to the DR bus service. Property and Finance The new building project to replace a leaky building was completed in early 2015 and was seen as an immediate success buy pupils, school staff and parents. It proved to be a warm, inviting space that allowed flexibility for teachers and was an excellent learning environment for children. Owing to a shortage of teaching spaces the library element of the building had been co-opted as a Y2/3 classroom. PTA The Kaipaki School PT remained an active presence in the school. An active committee continued to undertake fundraising at the direction of the Board and raised around $10,000 towards enhancing opportunities for Kaipaki students and for the bus replacement fund. Major events included the annual Fieldays Courier run which remained a popular option for those wishing to contribute. 4
The PTA s plans, activities and news items were communicated to the school community regularly via the Kaipaki PTA News Publication and the Kaipaki School Website. Whānau Group There was no interest from the community for establishing a whanau group at Kaipaki School. In conjunction with other local schools which have similar challenges establishing links with small Māori communities, the school decided to investigate a joint approach in conjunction with Vinnie at Cambridge Community marae. Board of Trustees Our experienced Board continued to provide strategic oversight for the school. The complexities and challenges of balancing the governance role with those of parents at the school was well recognised by all Board members. The Board remained well briefed on Community of Learning in Cambridge and was well placed to make an informed decision should the go-ahead from MoE be given to the proposed Cambridge cluster. The Board also endorsed the school s participation in an ALLiS Cluster lead by Cambridge Primary School. This foresight is part of the process of preparing our NZ school children for the uncertainties of living in a dynamic, Asian-dominated century. Steve Dunsmore Principal 5