Point View School - Dannemora

Point View School is a contributing primary school that opened in 1997. It is situated in the east Auckland suburb of Botany. The school is extremely well resourced in terms of its gymnasium/hall complex, library and research centre, technology room, performing arts centre, learning centre, environmental education area and its digital equipment and infrastructure. More importantly, our staff members bring a wealth of expertise to the school and are highly committed to supporting student learning, in partnership with our very supportive families.

School Organisation
Point View has over 780 students, organised into three syndicates: Junior Syndicate Year 1, 2 students, Middle Syndicate Year 3, 4 students and Senior Syndicate Year 5 and 6 students. This structure allows a gradual transition through the school and enables a focus at each level on the academic, social and physical needs of that particular age group.  Each team is run by one of the three Deputy Principals who, with the Principal, make up the senior leadership team. Other leadership roles and responsibilities are distributed across a large number of teachers. The school employs around seventy-five people, including thirty-four classroom teachers, five specialist teachers and numerous part-time teachers, and learning support staff, supported by a team of administrative and property personnel. Teachers also work in curriculum teams, which lead curriculum review and development, resource management and professional development, and we have project teams managing specific projects and events, both short and long term.

School Planning and Self Review
The Point View School Charter encompasses the school vision, aims and objectives, strategic priorities, annual plan and student achievement data and targets.  Self-review procedures are in place and the Board of Trustees and community are given regular feedback on administrative and curriculum matters including our key focus, student achievement.  Point View School has a full portfolio of policies and procedures that underpin all facets of school life and clarify the processes and accountabilities of board and staff members. The school’s development and self-review processes are supported by an extensive professional development programme and review schedules that cover curriculum delivery and administration. The high level of effectiveness of our self-review processes was noted in our recent Education Review Office reports.

Curriculum Delivery
Point View School’s charter goals prioritise the teaching of reading, writing, mathematics and information literacy. An inquiry learning model is used at all levels of the school, supported by the teacher librarian. Programmes cater for individual student needs and learning styles. Specialist programmes support our children with special needs and our gifted and talented children. There is a high level of expertise on the staff to support a vibrant arts programme covering music, dance, drama and visual arts. A specialist music teacher works three days a week with classes and with instrumental and vocal groups. Physical education and sports are taught in weekly class skill development lessons, in syndicate sports sessions and in lunchtime coaching sessions.  We hold school sports events in athletics, cross-country and swimming and teams participate in local area events, with excellent outcomes.  Our digital technology and infrastructure is fully supported and we encourage students to bring their own digital devices to school.

Evaluation and Reporting to Parents
Regular assessment and evaluation is an integral part of the teaching and learning cycle. Students complete a wide range of assessment tasks throughout the year and the accumulated data allows analysis of individual achievement levels and progress, and the analysis of aggregated student achievement data across the school. Student achievement outcomes are monitored against national data and student achievement targets are set annually in reading, writing and mathematics. Such analysis guides both teaching programmes and the allocation of resources.  The student management system provides a cumulative record of each child’s achievement levels and progress. This assessment data also supports formal reporting to parents. Individual student work is shared with parents and written reports are issued at the middle and end of the year. We have three-way conferences twice a year, involving the parent, teacher and child, and ongoing informal dialogue with parents. Our assessment and reporting practices are aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum. We also implement formative assessment practices where clarity of learning intentions and success criteria, and detailed feed-back and feed-forward, ensure quality learning for all students. 

Performance Management and Professional Development
The performance management cycle involves all staff members and covers all stages of employment from recruitment, appointment and induction through to staff exit procedures. It is an ongoing process aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning outcomes for students. It integrates fully with individual and whole staff professional development. We are part of the Botany Science Learning and Change Network, a collaborative project aimed at improving student outcomes in science. Other professional development areas are decided annually, based on analysis of student data and teacher needs. We also work to sustain teacher awareness of the different learning styles of boys and girls. This development links to current research and to findings from our boys only classes. 

The School Community
Involvement with the local community is an integral part of Point View School. Parents have high expectations of the school and are very supportive, assisting with classroom programmes and trips. Our Family and Friends parent association makes significant contributions to the school in terms of fundraising and community events. The Board of Trustees is a governing body that is elected every three years.

A significant part of Point View’s special character is its multi-cultural community. In addition to the New Zealand European students, there are students from Korea, Taiwan, China, India, South Africa and the Middle East, as well as Maori, Samoan, Nuiean and Tongan students. This rich cultural diversity is celebrated through dance, music, food, language and festive occasions.

At Point View School we encourage families to have a high level of involvement in their child’s learning.  It is a happy place for the children and for those of us who work here.