St Patrick's Catholic School (Te Awamutu)

School Context

St Patrick’s Catholic School, located in Te Awamutu, is a state integrated school which provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The current roll of 275 includes 41 Māori and a number of students from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Since the previous review in 2015 the school has experienced many changes to staffing. This has included new board members in mid-2016, the resignation of the principal in early 2017, changes in the administration and teaching team and the appointment of a new principal at the beginning of 2018. School leaders and trustees recognise that this has been a time of review and change and has had some impact on aspects of school operations. During this time the school roll has remained stable. Staffing is more settled in 2018 and teachers have begun professional development in digital learning and other local school cluster initiatives.

The school is a member of the Waikato Catholic Community of Learning|Kāhui Ako.

The school’s vision is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the traditions of the Catholic Church. Leaders and teachers aim to equip students to be caring and compassionate with a keen sense of social justice. There is a focus on fostering a climate where children take responsibility for their own learning, do their very best and achieve excellence, and become lifelong learners.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

• reading, writing and mathematics.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The school is achieving excellent outcomes for most students. However, there is slight, ongoing disparity for boys and Maori.

The school’s achievement information from 2015 to mid-2018 shows that most students achieved national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. This data shows that girls achieved at higher levels than boys in literacy and that this disparity has remained consistent over time. In mathematics, achievement levels have fluctuated between girls and boys with girls currently outperforming boys. There continues to be disparity in achievement for Māori in comparison to other groups in reading, mathematics and writing.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

The school is yet to collate and analyse school-wide information to show rates of acceleration.

Leaders and teachers track and monitor the achievement and progress of individual at-risk students across the school. They now need to develop systems and processes to regularly track and monitor rates of acceleration for all at-risk learners.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

The school’s culture is collaborative and underpinned by open and trusting relationships. In 2018 there is a strong focus on building teacher capability and strengthening teacher appraisal. Systems and practices have recently been enhanced to help identify and target students whose learning is at risk. Leaders are well supported by hard working trustees. There is a strong focus on strengthening partnerships and communication with the community to enable equity and excellence for all students.

Students participate and learn in caring and inclusive environments. There are respectful and affirming relationships that demonstrate the school values and special character of the school. There is a range of appropriate programmes and initiatives to support students with additional learning needs, and effective input from external support agencies is accessed where appropriate. Pastoral support provided by the school promotes a sense of wellbeing and belonging for students, families and the wider community.

Learning environments are well-managed. Teachers identify students’ learning needs using appropriate assessment tools and practices. They use effective teaching strategies that include using student’s prior knowledge, questioning, adaptive grouping and visual prompts for learning. Students are encouraged to work cooperatively with their peers in ability and social groupings. Teachers provide a range of learning opportunities that support student participation and engagement.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Aspects of internal evaluation need strengthening. Leaders need to:

• continue the development of shared and agreed expectations for teaching and learning
• continue to strengthen assessment practices to support teachers to plan specifically to accelerate student learning
• strengthen the quality of student achievement data to show individual and school-wide rates of acceleration for all at-risk students and regularly report this information to trustees and parents.

Further development is needed to strengthen student ownership of learning, particularly for students whose learning needs acceleration. This includes:

• a more consistent school-wide approach that supports students to understand their progress and specific next learning steps
• continuing to explore ways in which parents and whanau can be involved in their child’s learning.

There is a planned approach to further develop the bicultural dimension in the school, which includes building teacher confidence and capability. This should remain a priority to strengthen the natural integration of Māori language, culture and identity into daily programmes.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed the ERO board assurance statement and self-audit checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to the following:

• board administration
• curriculum
• management of health, safety and welfare
• personnel management
• finance
• asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:

• emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
• physical safety of students
• teacher registration and certification
• processes for appointing staff
• stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
• attendance
• school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

Areas for improved compliance practice

To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:

• maintain regular review of policies and procedures to ensure they are current and guide school operations.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

• leadership that is inclusive and focused on school-wide improvement
• a positive school culture that promotes student wellbeing and belonging
• teaching practice that promotes student participation and engagement.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

• agreed and shared expectations to improve the consistency of teaching and learning
• strengthening practices that enable students to monitor and make decisions about their learning progress
• reporting regularly to the board school-wide rates of acceleration for at-risk learners to better understand what is making the difference to student progress and achievement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Adrienne Fowler

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region

6 December 2018

About the school