News from the BOT, Term 2 2021

Tēnā koutou katoa

Our Board is two years into a three-year term. The Governance role is a fulfilling and rewarding experience and with the elections only a year away, we welcome your attendance at our meetings. Current board members will be attending the upcoming School disco and be available in Te Pātaka Ako if you are interested in learning more about what the role involves.

We're nearing the end of Term 2, and our learning spaces are really humming with activity. It is wonderful to see the learners visibly enjoying the new building and witnessing deep learning in action. Significant funding has been set aside to spruce up the furnishings across the school; table legs have been re-dipped, table tops replaced where necessary and additional furniture has been ordered to ensure quality learning for all learners. This work has already been completed in years 1-6 and will continue into the year 7 & 8 over the next few months.

Read on below for a few highlights of the year so far from the Board.

Ngā mihi nui,

Matt, Margaret, Marie, Bryan, Jai, Amanda and Sarah

Stonefields School Board of Trustees

ERO Review

We recently welcomed our ERO (Education Review Office) evaluation partner who will work alongside the School over the next three years. This year the ERO process has changed significantly, from a one-off evaluation and assessment at a particular point in time to an on-going, collaborative process with a focus on the specific needs of the school according to its culture and context. This new approach will see ERO visiting multiple times over the 3 year period and working closely with key members of the school and community to gain a deeper understanding of our strategic goals and operations. It has been some time since our last ERO review, which took place in 2016, and we are excited to work in partnership with ERO as they evaluate our effectiveness and evaluative capability as an organisation.

Health & Safety Review

Over the course of the last year we enlisted the help of an external provider to review our health and safety policies. The aim was to test our assumptions and benchmark our policies against other, similar schools. The review gave us confidence in our policies and existing practices but also highlighted some minor opportunities for improvement. Along with our annual in-house review schedule of policies, an external review is likely to be an exercise that we repeat every 3-4 years to test if our policies remain fit for purpose.

We are also inviting parent feedback on the way we implement our health and sexuality education programmes. You can read our Health Statement here and provide feedback to the Board.

Masterplan - turf/shade solution

The demolition of the temporary relocatable buildings signals the commencement of designing our artificial turf areas. The board has decided to utilise capital funding to extend our usable physical education areas with all-terrain turf. With limited funding we are challenging our designers to create a space that considers size, usability as a learning space, and some protection from the sun. We are optimistic this work will get underway before the end of the year.

Emerging Data

Gathering information and data to inform our decision making continues to be a priority. We strive to show a broad, balanced and holistic picture of our learners, demonstrating our impact in areas that haven’t traditionally been measured, such as childrens’ Hauora (Wellbeing), learner agency and parent engagement.

On a journey to find the most effective learning opportunities for students, we’ve invested in the development of two tools: the Hauora (learner wellbeing) and the Agency (learner self efficacy) tool. Both give deep insight into what learners enjoy and absorb, and can dial into where the most effective learning takes place. Developed and piloted at Stonefields School, these tools are now being shared amongst other schools.

It’s still early days, but these tools have the ability to help staff and learners make rapid adjustments to increase their effectiveness for individual learners. We are excited and encouraged by the early indications that these tools will help us achieve the school’s strategic goals around learner achievement and teacher effectiveness. We look forward to sharing our data and insights with you over the coming weeks.