ERO Report 2008

Carlson School provides high quality specialised care and education programmes for students with Cerebral Palsy.

The students all have high or very high needs and are funded by the Ministry of Education through ORRS (Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme).  The Board and school community supplement this funding with extensive fundraising to meet the educational and physical needs of each student.

The school is well resourced with high quality equipment to meet the needs of the students.  It provides a tranquil learning environment featuring Pacific themes and sensory experiences in the outdoors.  In this setting, students experience a sense of belonging and celebration of their achievements.

Three satellite classes at two nearby schools provide opportunities for the most able students to participate in mainstream environments.  Because of transport constraints, Carlson School is experiencing a reducing roll, and is catering increasingly for students with very high needs.  The Board is investigating opportunities to establish further satellite classes at more remote schools to meet the needs of families who are not close to Auckland City.

Students are happy and settled at the school, and show high levels of self esteem and, with teacher support, are becoming increasingly interactive with their peers.  Older students are being challenged by key competency goals under the newly accredited SPEC (South Pacific Educational Courses) initiative.  Programmes for all students are guided by individual education plans (IEPs), which are regularly monitored. Senior managers have begun analysing students' achievement of gaols with a view to reporting to the board and developing targets for Ministry of Education reports.

Staff are skilful practitioners with a strong commitment to professional growth.  Staff are gentle, respectful and dedicated to their management of children and young adults and their work is student-centred.  Staff expect students to strive to achieve their potential.  The use of differentiated teaching strategies facilitates this outcome.  Classrooms are calm and well managed by teachers, who provide good leadership for teacher aides and multidisciplinary therapists.  Current emphasis on music therapy and interactions are integrated into learning tasks to support students to achieve their IEP goals.

The principal is an enthusiastic school leader and is an advocate for students, teachers, staff and families.  She understands the challenges that the school faces and, with the support of the board, is building leadership and management capacity within the school.  The senior management team provides strong support for staff and has developed effective appraisal processess to enhance practices and to identify professional and developmental needs.  The team should now strengthen the framework for record keeping and forward planning of management tasks.

The board of trustees works well with the senior management team and governs the school effectively.  Trustees have a good understanding of the complexities of providing for students with high needs and take pride in ensuring that the school reflects relevant current theories on best practice.  The board is a good employer, providing generously for staff professional development and modern, sophisticated equipment to support innovative teaching and to minimise the risk of adult injuries.

This review focuses on the impact of staff professional learning and development (PLD) on outcomes for children.  Further matters relating to the management and administration of professional development are explored as an area of national interest.  The progress in Maori and Pacific students' achievement is evaluated and the report comments on the extent to which the board meets its legal requirements.  The report identifies many areas of good performance and includes some suggestions for improvement.  ERO recommends that the management team continue to develop systems that will facilitate regular, formal self review and that teachers collate and analyse school-wide achievement information thta can be used to inform the board's strategic decisions.

Future Action

ERO is confident that the board of trustees can manage the school in the interests of the students and the Crown and bring about the improvements outlined in this report

For the full report click on the link below

  www.ero.govt.nz