Strath Taieri School enlists LSM
PUPIL achievement and wellbeing at Strath Taieri School are at ‘‘serious risk’’, a statutory intervention scoping report has found.
The Middlemarch school’s board of trustees requested statutory intervention from the Ministry of Education last month because of ‘‘a breakdown between the board, principal and staff’’.
The report, by limited statutory manager Nicola Hornsey, found the teaching staff were well regarded and considered to be excellent practitioners by parents and education officials; and the board was united in its view of the school’s values and engaged in improving their effectiveness as a board.
The board of trustees, teaching staff and many in the parent community had a shared view on the values of the school and how they should be reflected and modelled by the school’s principal.
But it was not a view that was subscribed to by all, she said.
‘‘There is, accordingly, a divide that has arisen within the school community.’’
She said the school had a complaint management procedure, but all parties to recent and present complaints had expressed concerns about the implementation and effectiveness of the process.
‘‘High staff turnover is a feature of Strath Taieri School, staff morale is low and the breakdown in effective communication has had a significant detrimental effect on staff wellbeing.
‘‘The operations of the school and the consequent effect on student achievement and wellbeing are at serious risk.’’
Ms Hornsey said the next step was to develop an outcomes plan that aimed to address the issues.
Progress towards addressing the issues would be monitored monthly, and the intervention would be reviewed by the Ministry of Education within 12 months, she said.
‘‘The Education Review Office is also likely to assess the progress being made.
‘‘Once it can be shown that the issues have been addressed and any changes made are considered to be sustainable, the intervention can be revoked, sometimes with a lower level of support being provided to assist with the transition back to full selfgovernance.’’