Rototuna Senior High School

Education institution number:
615
School type:
Secondary (Year 11-15)
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
909
Telephone:
Address:

Kimbrae Drive, Rototuna, Hamilton

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Rototuna Senior High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within eleven months of the Education Review Office and Rototuna Senior High School working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

Rototuna Senior High School, located in Hamilton North, provides education for students in Years 11 to 13 on a campus shared with Rototuna Junior High School. The school’s ILE (innovative learning environment) provides a setting for students to ‘connect, inspire and soar’.

Rototuna Senior High School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • provide effective teaching and learning to empower our people to be connected, community-minded learners inspired to soar

  • build strong reciprocal partnerships within and beyond our community to enhance personal and academic success

  • provide a safe, engaging, and effective environment that builds capability and well-being.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Rototuna Senior High School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which a focus on deep learning is resulting in increasing levels of engagement, agency, equity, and excellence for all students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is a commitment to:

  • genuinely pursue the school’s vision of inspiring students to soar

  • equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

The school expects to see increasingly excellent and equitable outcomes resulting from:

  • teachers and leaders developing a shared understanding of deep learning and the conditions and practices which promote this

  • practices and conditions that support students to develop the skills needed for deep learning implemented with increasing consistency

  • student achievement information and voice used to inform ongoing refinements to practices that promote deep learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to make deep learning happen:

  • an innovative curriculum that is highly responsive to the needs, interests, and identities of students

  • leadership that is committed to pursuing a clearly articulated agenda for improvement

  • relationships that support inclusion and connection within and beyond the school.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • developing a shared understanding of deep learning and the conditions and practices that promote this

  • developing the capacity of teachers and leaders to implement practices and systems that successfully foster deep learning

  • using student voice and achievement information at all levels to inform ongoing refinements to deep learning practices that support equity and excellence.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

26 May 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.  educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Rototuna Senior High School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of March 2023, the Rototuna Senior High School Board of Trustees has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Further Information

For further information please contact Rototuna Senior High School Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

26 May 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

 

Rototuna Senior High School

Provision for International Students Report

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

Rototuna Senior High School has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there was one international student attending the school, and no exchange students.

The school is sufficiently prepared to cater for international students who enrol from contributing schools. These students are integrated into the life of the school and receive appropriate language support. Allocated school personnel have oversight of aspects of the provision for international students.

The school is not actively marketing or recruiting overseas. There is a need to more effectively review relevant school systems and processes to ensure there is adequate academic and pastoral provision for international students who enrol from offshore in the future.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

26 May 2023

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Rototuna Senior High School - 19/03/2018

1 Introduction

A New School Assurance Review is a review of particular areas of school performance and is undertaken to specific terms of reference.

New School Assurance Reviews are generally undertaken within the first year of the school’s opening.

Terms of Reference

This review is based on an evaluation of the performance of Rototuna Senior High School. The terms of reference for the review are to provide assurance to the community:

  • that the school is well placed to provide for students
  • that the school is operating in accordance with the vision articulated by the board of trustees.

2 Context

Rototuna Senior High School is located in Hamilton and opened in February 2017 for 90 Year 11 students. The school currently has Year 11 students enrolled and will grow with each year’s new intake to cater for Years 11 to 13 by 2019. The school shares the campus and some facilities with Rototuna Junior High School that opened in February 2016.

3 Background

Rototuna Senior High School’s current roll is 101, including 12 Maori students. The school was established to provide for up to 800 students from the growing northern suburbs of Hamilton. The school buildings are designed to promote innovative teaching and learning. The set-up phase of this new school has been well led by the establishment board, governance facilitator, principal and deputy principals. This included developing governance and management frameworks and comprehensive policies and procedures. The current board is a mixture of trustees from the original establishment board and newly elected representatives. They also have responsibility for the governance of the junior high school, and are committed to providing a coherent pathway for learning across the two schools. There is strong Māori representation on the board that has actively connected the school with local iwi Ngāti Wairere.

The school is an active member of Hamilton North East Community of Learning |Kāhui Ako. 

4 Findings

The senior school has worked collaboratively with the junior school to develop the school’s vision ‘to empower our people to be connected, collaborative, community-minded learners, inspired to soar’. The school values are symbolised by the kaakahu – CLOAK and is an acronym for: Challenging our mindset, Learning is connected, Ourselves as learners, Ako always, Kindness and respect. These values are explicitly taught, promoted and highly visible around the school, and are clearly articulated by students, staff, leaders and trustees. The strong connection with Ngāti Wairere was instrumental in developing the vision and values, integrating local history and symbolism into the school and the naming and design of areas within the school. This knowledge of place names, history and stories of the iwi are explicitly taught to students so they have clear understanding of the place of tangata whenua and their role as citizens respecting the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa. Staff and students participate in a range of culturally enriching opportunities that promote Māori language, culture and identity.

The school has developed an integrated curriculum that provides opportunities for students to follow their interests and passions. Teachers co-construct pathways that cater to individuals learning needs. Literacy and numeracy are integrated within all learning areas. Flexible learning spaces are effectively used to further support the innovative teaching and learning programme. Teachers work collaboratively across subject areas to develop courses that allows students to explore a greater depth of understanding and knowledge. An agreed next step is to continue to build the forums for students to contribute to decision-making in the school.

Students have a high level of learner agency. Teachers actively seek student feedback, and use achievement information to inform planning and course design to better meet the needs and strengths of students. Impact projects provide students the opportunity to lead their own learning and make a difference within their community. A key aspect to this is the student’s inquiry learning process where they develop action research and connect with experts in the field. The learning process is scaffolded, and well-resourced to provide the necessary support for students to develop the skills to execute a successful community project. Community collaborations enrich opportunities for students to become confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners.

The school has developed effective systems for assessment for learning. Assessment activities are timely, authentic and fit for purpose for the integrated nature of the programme. There is a strategic focus to provide opportunities for early success within the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) framework. The school has chosen a two year approach to supporting all students to achieve NCEA Level 2 to allow more time to explore learning. A next step is to continue to keep students and their families informed of the benefits of multi-level course design.

Students with additional learning needs are effectively supported. There are good systems for teachers to share relevant achievement information to support the learning for at-risk learners. Progress in literacy and numeracy is tracked and monitored using nationally referenced tools. Students whose progress requires acceleration are provided with targeted learning time to address their needs. A next step is to continue to refine systems for the early identification of at-risk learners to ensure they are provided with appropriate support to enable them to achieve equitable outcomes.

Effective partnerships between school, parents and whānau ensure strong support for all students. The structure of the pastoral care system - iwi, kaiārahi and kaihautū, provides a multifaceted approach to supporting students. There are extensive opportunities for parents and whānau to engage with the school on the learning and progress of their child.

Senior leaders work actively to support the transition process from the junior to senior school. They provide tuakana/teina and leadership opportunities for seniors to support juniors in course selection, kapa haka and sporting activities. The school has identified the need to continue to build effective processes to support students to transition successfully into the senior school and support current students as they move into Year 12 as the school continues to grow.

The principal and senior leadership team work collaboratively to develop and pursue the school’s vision, goals and targets for equity and excellence. They effectively track and monitor Māori, Pasifika, and students with additional needs to ensure equitable outcomes. Leadership builds relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school and models the school values.

Leaders have developed organisational structures, processes and practices to enable and sustain professional learning groups (PLG). These PLG are focused on ways to engage students and accelerate learning. They provide the basis for teaching as inquiry and building collective capacity of staff. There is an effective process for appraisal that is aligned to the needs of target students and involves observations and professional discussions on practice are focused on the progress of these learners.

The board of trustees has ensured there are coherent organisational conditions that promote internal evaluation. There is a regular review cycle for policies and procedures. Consultation with the community, teachers and students informs strategic direction and contributes to effective internal evaluation processes. The board receives regular reports about the effectiveness of initiatives that they use as the basis for resourcing decisions. Trustees and leaders promote a culture of review and improvement focused on improving student outcomes and providing equity and excellence for all students.

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:

  • school management and reporting
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on students' achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

Conclusion

The school is well placed to provide for students and is operating in accordance with its vision. Students learn through an integrated curriculum designed to meet their interests, passions, needs and strengths. The school maximises flexible learning spaces and digital technology to enhance student engagement.

ERO is likely to carry out the first full review of the school by the end of the third year of the school’s operation. 

Lynda Pura-Watson
National Manager Review Services
Te Tai Miringa - Waikato / Bay of Plenty Region 

About the School 

Location

Hamilton

Ministry of Education profile number

615

School type

Secondary (Years 11 to 13)

School roll

101

Gender composition

Girls                       54%
Boys                      47%

Ethnic composition

Māori
Pākehā
Other European
Chinese
Indian
Other

12%
63%
10%
  6%
  5%
  4%

Review team on site

December 2017

Date of this report

19 March 2018