Eltham Primary – the ERO hero | Taranaki News | Local News in Taranaki

THE sun is definitely shining around Eltham Primary School, having been given the big tick from the Education Review Office.
In a playground full of both toothy and toothless smiles, no one is smiling more than Liz Malone, principal of the school since 2005.
After a visit from the Education Review Office (ERO) in November 2009, the school received a number of glowing comments; proving to Liz, her staff team and the student body that everything is moving forward in positive leaps and bounds at the school.
“Students learn in well-resourced classrooms and attractive outdoor settings,” comments the ERO report, going on to say that the school’s family-friendly culture is a valued and traditional feature, with the school often providing a venue for community gatherings.
Further comments make it clear that Eltham Primary School definitely is a great place to learn, stating that students enjoy positive relationships with each other and their teachers, while their parents attest to feeling comfortable at school and with the staff.
Communication counts
And for Liz, having pleased, well-informed parents is one of the most critical elements of the school’s formula for success.
“The ERO report makes it very clear that at Eltham Primary, communication both in and out of the school is excellent,” she says.
“Stating that ‘trustees are well-informed about student achievement and use the information to support resourcing and staffing decisions.’”
That quality systems of reporting to parents already exist in the school confirms Liz’ firmly-held view that any Government-led initiatives – like the presently proposed National Standards – simply add unnecessary pressure and paperwork to an already crowded education system
“This just goes to prove to that bringing in a system of national standards is simply not necessary – we, like many schools, have great systems already in place.”
Especially great are the school’s parent education programmes, run for the parents of children in Years 0- 3 of the school.
“Our Early Intervention programmes provide a sound base for future learning.
“Parents who have children in Year 0/1 are invited to participate in a two-session parenting programme called ‘Let’s Go,’ while parents of children in Year 2/3 attend two sessions of ‘Up and Running.’”
During these sessions, parents are given strategies for helping their children with literacy and numeracy at home, with tips on social skills and behaviour management, health and healthy food choices.
“Parents are also given a take-home pack of age-appropriate learning resources. All of this was made possible through Ministry of Education enhanced programme funding from 2005-2008.”
Seeing the worth of the programme, the school’s Board of Trustees agreed to fully fund the programme from 2009 – sustaining the original programme, as well as an additional programme implemented for pre-schoolers in 2008, ‘Getting Ready.’
“As with our more established programmes, parents attend two sessions and are actively involved in supporting their 3-5-year-olds getting ready for school.”The success of these programmes is already being noticed in the school.
“Parents appreciate opportunities to contribute to their children’s education, particularly before they enrol and during the early years,” comments the ERO report.
Up the learning ladder
And while success has been noted at the younger end of the school population, so too has it been seen further up the chain, with the ERO report commenting that most students completing Year 8 read at or above their chronological age; considerable gains have also been noticed in mathematics achievement.
“We’ve really worked on our writing programme over the last few years as well,” says Liz.
“Writing is so difficult for children to learn as it involves so many different skills. Through developing students’ ability to plan and reflect on their writing, our programme has become much stronger and now other schools are interested in what we’ve been doing.
“The ERO commented that student attitudes towards writing have improved as they have become knowledgeable about their learning levels and have used that information to monitor their progress.”
Outside of academics, Liz has been especially pleased with the sense of pride that students now hold their school in, with older children enjoying added leadership responsibilities as school prefects.
“The school always had prefects, but we brought in School Captains a few years ago for those students who have extra special leadership qualities. We like to think of our school captains as inspirational role models for the other students.”
As a ‘Cool School,’ Eltham has a well-monitored peer mediation system in place, which has helped to greatly reduce incidences of bullying.
“As teachers, we also strive for consistency in behaviour management across all levels of the school – I’m very lucky to have a greatly supportive staff.”
Professional pleasure
The togetherness and pride that binds much of the student body has found its mirror in staff attitudes at the school, with the ERO report further commenting that the experienced principal has a strategic vision for the school which, in turn, is enacted by motivated staff; making the statement that ‘teachers work together to make decisions about improving students’ achievement, progress and engagement in learning.’
“The teachers are reflective and have always had confidence in any changes I have made to school systems and operations. We have a great mix of experience on the staff, with some staff having been here for many years.
“The knowledge they all have of the school and of effective teaching practice in general means that students are stimulated and motivated – its great.”
And stimulating too is the school environment - not least of which the relatively new administration facilities that mark the school’s entrance.
“We have interactive whiteboards in all the classes that wanted them, as well as new carpets and heat pumps.
“Rooms are lighter, brighter and more stimulating, as well able to be set to the right temperatures.”
With all that is going into the school, Liz believes that the school’s students have become noticeably more settled, leading to better achievement and happier students.
“All the kids at Eltham Primary School are nice. They all know what to expect and are doing what they can to achieve to the best of their abilities.
“I’m very proud that the school has been given such a positive report from the ERO – everybody is working hard to keep this school a great place to learn,” says Liz.