Trustees and community ticked off in Ohakune Primary School review

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 15, Issue 694, 8 July 1997, Page 1

Trustees and community ticked off in Ohakune Primary School review

Ohakune Primary School has a problem of "disharmony between board of trustees and community", according to the Education Review Office. That disharmony "impacts negatively on the teachers' ability to concentrate on their teaching", concludes the ERO team in their 'Discretionary Assurance Audit Report, Ohakune Primary School', released last week. "This situation has a significant impact on students' learning. Under these conditions the students are being disadvantaged by the constant negative reactions between the board and community," writes area manager Diana Anderson in the review report. She says the board's energies are being directed to resolving issues rather than governance and management and its "confidence is constantly undermined by misinformation within the community" and that more open communications from the board would help, as would "unqualified support from the community". A major problem appears to be dissension about the school's multilevel class structure. "Full and open communications justifying multilevel classes including school-wide achievement information and formalised review processes would help the school to allay parents' concerns," advise the reviewers. "Until parents are assured school organisation effectively meets students' needs issues related to multilevel classes will continue to be challenged. The report states that differences in opinions among trustees have been too diverse for good governance.

"Board members have not been honest about their intentions and purposes when accepting the position of a trustee. The lack of recognition of individual responsibility under the board of trustees code of conduct has deflected from sound governance and management practices. "The board's failure to retain confidentiality, to be fully supportive of the school and to abide by the code of conduct has impacted negatively on the community and the students. Teachers loyal This problem is in contrast to the performance of the staff of the school. "The teachers of the school are extremely loyal and demonstrate they have the best interests of the students at heart. The school feels it is under siege. Staff work hard to do the best for the students but are being undermined by the community's' dissent and criticism," states ERO, which said positive and supportive assistance was provided by staff for the processes of reviewing curriculum management and delivery at classroom level. "Staff harmony is a positive feature of the school. The use of groups for collegial support has a positive effect on staff morale. The lack of community recognition of the professionalism of staff is of concern to the school," the report finds. BoT obligations The report specifically looked at the Board of Trustees' obligations and undertakings to the Crown, in particular those requirements identified in the previous assurance Turn to Page 19

Trustees and community ticked off in school review

From Page 1 audit, which identified "a significant number of non-compliance issues" which were "exacerbated by a number of concerns expressed by members of the community". The review looked at: • The quality of relationships within the board of trustees. • Understanding of the respective governance and management roles of the board and the school management. • Curriculum management. • The effect of school organisation on the delivery of education to students. The quality of the board's responses to community concerns. • Aetions taken in response to the previous assurance audit. • Any other matters which are impinging on the quality of education being provided for students. "Dissension among the BoT, groups within the community and principal is deflecting people from their respective tasks and statutory responsibilities," states the report, adding that the board has accepted training through the school support programme, which should "empower the board to make the appropriate behavioural changes and bring about a more harmonious school community". "While the board of trustees responded to the aetions required from the previous report it was difficult to confirm these aetions with evidential support. Delays caused by the board, and the

school managers' failure to provide the necessary information, made the process of verification difficult," states ERO. Structure The school's class structure, which has long been a topic of debate at the school, is mentioned but not directly criticised. "Until parents can be assured school organisation effectively meets students' needs, issues related to multilevel classes will continue to be a challenge for the school," states the report. "Systems should be implemented to measure student progress across the curriculum. The school has useful achievement and progress information on reading which could be analysed. If the board could demonstrate the difference the school is making to students' learning this would assist in allaying parents' concerns." Teachers are managing the challenges of the multilevel class structure well, ERO finds. The challenges are the delivery of established and new curricula. Suggestions include making more use of evaluation strategies to determine students' needs to ensure challenging programmes, and regular professional development. The effectiveness of the multilevel system can't be determined, states the report, because no schoolwide achievement analysis is done. Some parents perceive the structure as inappropriate while others feel their children "gain selfesteem and a caring attitude through class relationships".

Compliance Areas reviewed where the school is complying with their obligations included: • Curriculum management: "School scheme and long term planning format are of good quality" although ERO suggests more consistent planning for art, music and science. • Monitoring student progress. • The BoT properly filled trustee vacancies. • Smoke-free areas were identified. • Equal opportunities in employment and Human Rights Act requirements have been met. • School expenditure has been properly monitored and controlled and the board's finances are in a healthy state as a result of prudent management. • The school's emergency evacuation plan has been approved and its health and safety requirements met. Problems Areas where compliance has not been achieved : • Reporting on student progress — "The school has yet to understand and recognise the importance of evaluation as a process to determine student progress." • The BoT's 'policy portfolio' has not been extended to provide comprehensive governance guidelines. • The BoT has not maintained an "on-going programme of self-review". • The BoT has not conducted meetings in accordance with the legislation, mainly in the area of meeting minutes and annual accounts, which had not been presented for two years.

• The school has not finished its health education programme. • The maintenance programme should be linked to a reserve fund. Other criticisms ERO finds that the principal is "too closely occupied with the governance of the school" (BoT), taking her away from her role of educational leader. "The decision by the board to employ a secretary is a positive move," states ERO, and that communication between parents and the board should then improve. Communication between the professional staff and the board also needs to improve, accordirtg to ERO.