School Charter
Strategic and Annual Plan for
Forrest Hill School
2017 -2020
Principals’ endorsement: |
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Board of Trustees’ endorsement: |
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Submission date to Ministry of Education: |
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©AucklandUniServices Ltd, 2014
Forrest Hill School 2017 - 20
Introductory Section - Strategic Intentions
Mission Statement | At Forrest Hill School learners show respect make connections and accept challenge. |
Vision | Nurturing growth for a lifetime of learning |
Values | We respect ourselves, others and our environment. We connect with our past, present and future. We connect to our whanau, school and our world. We challenge ourselves to be the best we can be. |
Principles | Our Students see Forrest Hill School as a place where: Students are respectful and want to learn and have fun. Students are encouraged and given leadership opportunities. Resources are available to help students learn. Teachers show they value children’s opinions and recognise achievement. Staff are lifelong learners and provide the best role models for students. Our students’ whanau see Forrest Hill School as a place where: The curriculum is delivered to a consistently high level. A respectful approach is evident in a nurturing environment. A safe and challenging environment encourages student to learn how to learn with a high degree of integrity and self confidence. Students’ learning is extended and students who need assistance are identified and receive appropriate learning. Students are helped and encouraged to develop fully as citizens of the world Our staff members see Forrest Hill School as a place where: Students demonstrate a passion for learning. Students are happy to share their successes with the school community. Students acquire the skills and attitude for lifelong learning and are encouraged to take risks. Feedback is encouraged and stimulates growth. Staff enjoy working and continue to grow as professionals. |
Māori Dimensions and Cultural Diversity | All persons are treated with respect as New Zealanders, no matter their race, religious or cultural background. Forrest Hill School encompasses the notion of inclusiveness. The school is in an area with a decile rating of 8. The ethnicity of the students is mainly New Zealand born European/Pakeha 32.6%, Chinese 24.3%, Korean 12.3%, Other Asian 13.2% (Asian 60%). The school has 4.3% NZ Maori and 3.2% Pasifika and a range of other minorities. The unique position of Maori Culture The special place of maori in the community is recognised and valued through Kapa Haka and maori language. The school recognises and values the unique position of Maori in New Zealand and the importance of the treaty partnership. The school acknowledges and respects the values, traditions and histories of all New Zealanders but explicitly recognises the culture, language and history of Maori. Teachers are developed in Maori competencies -Taitakio Students and teachers are given integrated instructions in Maori through the Tuatahi Te Reo programme. |
Special Character | The community is actively involved in the school and has high expectations of the school’s performance. We have a high number of migrant families that have moved into our area. One third of our school population have English as a second language. Forrest Hill School is characterised by its commitment to promote: The Enviroschools Guiding Principles Transition to school programme Innovative learning environments Catering for future learning by encouraging the use of digital learning tools Supporting the learning of English for our second language speakers Providing opportunities for students to learn music The Waterwise programme for building water safety Provide opportunities for education outside the classroom. Character Education A strong relationship with North Harbour sport. Provide Leadership roles for students through a Student Government. House captains and roles of responsibility. The Garden to Table Programme. |
The Legislated National Administration Guidelines (NAG) Legislated National Administration Guidelines (stated) underpin the Forrest Hill School Board of Trustees Strategic Goals | |
NAG 1 Teaching and Learning | Develop and implement teaching and learning programmes with opportunities to achieve for success in all in areas of the National Curriculum. Give priority to student achievement in literacy and numeracy. Give priority to regular quality physical activity that develops movement skills for all students. Collect sufficiently comprehensive assessment data to enable the progress and achievement of students to be evaluated. Then on the basis of quality assessment information, identify and support students who are not achieving or have who have special needs, including gifted and talented students. In consultation with the school's Māori community, develop and make known to the school's community policies, plans, and targets for improving the achievement of Māori students. |
NAG 2 & 2A School Review | Maintain an on-going programme of self-review in relation to policies, plans and programmes, including evaluation of information on student achievement for all students. Use National Standards to report to the Board, to students and their parents on the student’s progress and achievement in plain language at least twice a year. The Board annual report to include school strengths, identified areas for improvement and must include the numbers and proportions of students at, above, below or well below National Standards, including by Māori, Pacifica, gender, and by year level (where this does not breach an individual’s privacy) in the format prescribed by the Secretary for Education |
NAG 3 Human Resources | Develop and implement personnel and industrial policies, within a policy and procedural frameworks (set by the Government from time to time), which promotes high levels of staff performance, uses educational resources effectively and recognises the needs of students. As well the Board (State Sector Act 1988) complies with the conditions contained in employment contracts applying to teaching and non-teaching staff. |
NAG 4 Finance and Property | Allocate funds to reflect the school's priorities as stated in the charter; monitor and control school expenditure. Ensure that annual accounts are prepared and audited as required by the Public Finance Act 1989 and the Education Act 1989; and comply with the negotiated conditions of any current asset management agreement. Implement a maintenance programme to ensure that the school's buildings and facilities provide a safe, healthy learning environment for students. |
NAG 5 Health and Safety | Provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students; promote student well-being as a priority to include healthy food and nutrition guidance for all students; and comply in full with any legislation currently in force or that may be developed to ensure the safety of students and employees |
NAGS 6/7/8 Compliance | Comply with all general legislation including an annual update of the school charter and an analysis of any variance between the school's performance and the relevant aims, objectives, directions, priorities, or targets set out in the school’s Charter. (6 legislation/7 Charter requirements/8 \National Standards reporting. |
Strategic Section
Strategic Goals
| Core Strategies for Achieving Goals 2017 - 2020 | |
Teaching and Learning
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Embed assessment and leadership professional development. Embed the development of the practices known to make a difference to student learning outcomes. Develop the assessment literacy of our learning leaders. Staff to actively participate in Practice Analysis Conversations (PAC) and classroom observations (OBS).
Develop a school wide understanding of our ELLS programme and policies. Complete ongoing reflections of how we support our ELLS each term to meet their needs and the needs of new students to the school. Review the transition to an English school for our newest migrants to ensure that they have the best start to their schooling at Forrest Hill School. Support our ELLS learners in mainstream classrooms. Bridge the gap between the Stage 2 ELPS and their cohort. | |
Student Engagement
| Develop a FHS curriculum that reflects our vision and values. The design of the FHS curriculum will be organised around the key competencies with the NZC values and learning areas deliberately weaving through the document. Review our current broader curriculum practices and systems Make available the resources and support to have a ICT environment that supports students and teachers using technology to explore, create and communicate authentic learning. A clear digital learning strategy throughout the school based on GAFE and 2 lead teachers supporting the growth of e-learning pedagogy. The Garden to Table programme Develop classrooms that have learning spaces that are vibrant, flexible and encourage and support many different types of learning. In the junior school promote learning through play to support the transition to school of our foundation students and the growth of our Year 1 and 2 students. | |
School Organisation and Structures
| Provide specialist teachers to support the growth of digital learning and the development of The Arts school wide. Budget and fund resources to release Learning Leaders to grow teachers and work with students in classrooms. Budget and fund learning assistants to support learning needs of students in specialised programmes. | |
Personnel
| The appraisal process will reflect the New Zealand Teachers Council PTC’s and teacher professional standards for attestation. Appraisal procedure and policy is in place. The appraisal process will be active throughout the year for teaching staff in order to support student progress and achievement. Teachers will engage in cycles of inquiry throughout the year to ensure best teaching practice. Support staff will be involved in the appraisal process according to the different positions held. | |
Property
| To provide a safe physical environment for the school community. To follow the 10 year Property Management Plan and repair and upgrade roofing as required. Employ a property manager to oversee tendering, construction and completion of ongoing projects. As we grow provide effective learning spaces to meet the needs of our learners. Budget and resource for effective learning spaces for staff and outside agencies. Provide for day to day maintenance of buildings and property. | |
Finance
| Employ an Accounts Manager to oversee payments and account management including financial reports and audits. Budget to reflect the learning needs of Maori, Pacifica, ESOL and special needs in addition to all other students. Operate effective internal procedures that monitor finance and expenditure. Allocate funds to achieve the aspirations of the Strategic Plan. |
Annual Improvement Plan.
Improvement Plan - Domain: Teaching and Learning | |||
Strategic Goal 2 All of our English Language Learner students are able to access the New Zealand National Curriculum successfully. | |||
Annual Goal By the end of the year (2017), teachers have developed the skills and knowledge to support their ELL’s learners in class. | Annual Target
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Baseline data The ethnicity of the students is mainly New Zealand born European/Pakeha 32.6%, Chinese 24.3%, Korean 12.3%, Other Asian 13.2% (Asian 60%). The school has 4.3% NZ Maori and 3.2% Pasifika and a range of other minorities. For period two of the ESOL funding we had 40 students (ESOL) funded from a migrant background and 23 who were New Zealand born. | |||
Key Improvement Strategies
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When | What (examples) | Who | Indicators of Progress |
Term 1 | Teacher Only Days and Learning Assistant training. | MOE and ELLs Leadership team | Clear understanding by all teachers in using the ELP’s as an assessment tool. Define social and academic language. Strategies used for inclusion of use of first language in the classroom. Learning assistant training;
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Ongoing throughout the year | DP and ESOL lead teacher to engage in post graduate study | DP and ESOL teacher | Transfer of knowledge to learning leaders and whole staff as and when appropriate. Develop an understand migrant cultures in New Zealand. Develop an understanding of teaching and learning |
Ongoing throughout the years | Lead Teacher to attend cluster ESOL meetings. | Lead teacher | Collaboration and sharing of best practice across local schools. Keeping up to date with new initiatives. |
Termly | Allocation of Learning Assistant funding and specialist programmes | Principal Lead Teacher DP | Learning Assistant timetable reflects students needs. Specialists programmes designed to reflect student needs. Learning Assistant hours reviewed as per students needs. |
Ongoing throughout the year | Present progress and findings to the Board of Trustees. | ELLs Team | Report progress to the BOT in alignment with the work plan. |
Mid and End of year | Share findings with the staff.
| All teaching staff Learning Leaders | Staff meetings |
Term 3 | Share information and gather input from our migrant community. | AP, DP and ESOL Lead Teacher | Parent afternoon tea/picnic evening to gather information with the support of translater. Analyse and summarise parent feedback Attestation of pastoral care of International Students |
Term 3 | Guest speaker to speak to staff on the Asian perspective and its impact on our community | Principal | Staff meeting / teacher only day. |
Term 2 and 3 | Parent Education | Principal and Leadership Team | Parent education for Chinese and Korean parents. |
Monitoring Teacher Inquiry, Data Stories, Moderation meetings, Staff meetings, Leadership Meetings, ELP ongoing review, Parent and Student Voice | |||
Resourcing MOE funded courses. $5000 teacher release. Ongoing applications for Professional Development funding. |
Improvement Plan - Domain: Students Engagement | |||
Strategic Goal 3 Students are engaging in learning that is relevant, engaging, authentic and life long. | |||
Annual Goal By the end of 2017 we have reviewed our current FHS curriculum and updated the document to reflect our vision and values. | Annual Target As part of the review process we will analyse the key competencies and how they are reflected in our school curriculum. | ||
Baseline data The current Forrest Hill School curriculum was reviewed in 2013. This framework will be our starting point as we review how the document connects and reflects our current practice. We are working towards a concept based curriculum that focuses on the key competencies and deliberately weaves the NZC values and learning areas into the school programmes. As part of the process we will develop process to gather data on Key Competencies, Well being - Students, Teachers, Families and Community Engagements | |||
Key Improvement Strategies
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When | What (examples) | Who | Indicators of Progress |
Term 1 | Senior leadership team work on the FHS curriculum framework reflecting on our present documentation and school values | Principal, Deputy Principals and Lead Teacher |
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Term 1 and ongoing | Staff meetings sharing the visual of the FHS curriculum framework and getting input from the teaching staff. | Senior Leadership team |
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Term 1 | Teachers are able to plan for and engage students in authentic learning contexts. | Staff |
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Ongoing | The Principal drives the vision and values of the school so they are visible and clear | Principal |
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Ongoing | Implementation of the Garden to Table Programme in year 5 | Deputy Principal and Year 5 Learning Team |
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Ongoing | Develop Learning Through Play in Year 1 and 2 | Deputy Principal And Junior Learning Teams |
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Monitoring Reports to BOT twice a year. Learning Leaders discussion, staff meetings, signage around the school. | |||
Resourcing $5,000 for release for working parties, school visits. $3,000 vision branding |