Cashmere High School

Education institution number:
340
School type:
Secondary (Year 9-15)
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
2351
Telephone:
Address:

172 Rose Street, Somerfield, Christchurch

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Cashmere High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Cashmere 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 

Cashmere High School is a large state co-educational secondary school in Christchurch and caters for students in Years 9-13.

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

  • provide the opportunity for all students to identify, seek out and achieve personal excellence in learning

  • teach a curriculum that is responsive, purposeful and focused on equipping students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to empower school communities

  • create and sustain an extensive range of diverse opportunities that inspire, engage, build confidence and lead to personal growth

  • develop the knowledge, skills and open-mindedness necessary for students to navigate and engage with a bicultural New Zealand.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which culturally responsive teaching practice, and the monitoring and tracking of student achievement contribute to equity and excellence for all students. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • focus on students who are at risk of not meeting their potential, and on addressing disparity for all learners

  • accelerate the achievement and progress of students who identify as Māori and are at risk of not meeting their potential

  • strengthen the consistency of culturally responsive practices

  • sustain a high level of merit and excellence endorsements at NCEA Level 1 and Level 2.

The school expects to see

  • improved academic outcomes for Māori students

  • improved academic outcomes for students identified as priority learners

  • sustained level of excellence and merit endorsements at NCEA Level 1 and Level 2.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to accelerate the achievement of students who are at risk of not meeting their potential, and on addressing disparity for all learners.

  • Teachers share high, clear and equitable expectations for student learning, achievement, progress and wellbeing.

  • Internal evaluation practices support the gathering, analysis and use of evidence of student learning and outcomes to improve individual and collective practice.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • consistently tracking and monitoring the achievement and progress of students at risk of not meeting their potential, to inform ongoing internal evaluation

  • eliminating disparity in achievement

  • progressing te ao Māori learning for all staff and all learners, about tikanga Māori, te reo Māori and broader mātauranga Māori.

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

21 July 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

Cashmere High School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of June 2022, the Cashmere 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 Cashmere 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

21 July 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

Cashmere 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 

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The 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 were 23 international students attending the school.

The school has well-established processes to effectively review its provision for international students and compliance with the Code. School governance and leadership make good use of regular information about the quality of provision that supports student wellbeing, learning and engagement. This information is used to inform decision making, determine any actions needed and assure the board that students’ wellbeing and learning needs are being responded to appropriately.

Students are supported to settle into the school and to be actively involved in the life of the school and community. Regular communication with caregivers, families and students enables identified needs to be addressed in a timely way.

Academic progress is closely monitored, and any concerns are followed up to enable students to receive the individual assistance they need. Many students continue on to tertiary education in New Zealand, having been supported to make the appropriate choices for their learning pathways.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

21 July 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

Cashmere High School - 06/06/2019

School Context

Cashmere High School is a Years 9 to 13 state coeducational secondary school in Christchurch.

The school’s mission is: ‘Developing both the intellect and character of our students’. Its vision is: ‘Crafting good citizens through our vibrant opportunities in order to inspire personal and collective excellence’. The school aims to encourage all students to demonstrate the COVE values of: citizenship, opportunity, vibrancy and excellence.

To support these outcomes, the board’s current strategic goals are: high academic achievement for all students; for Māori students to fulfil their personal and educational aspirations; to strengthen the wellbeing of students and staff; and, for the school environment to continue to be enhanced and equipped for modern learning.

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

  • achievement in relation to levels of The New Zealand Curriculum
  • achievement within the New Zealand Qualifications Framework
  • attendance and engagement.

The school’s roll has increased due to in zone growth since the 2013 ERO review. The school now has an approved policy to help manage enrolments. The site is currently undergoing significant building redevelopment.

The school is a member of the Mana Raupō Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL).

ERO acknowledges that the tragic events of Friday 15th March 2019 in Christchurch have had a significant impact on the school. The positive support, compassion and effective manner in which staff and students managed and responded to this situation reflects the quality of leadership and strong values of the school and community.

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 results for the majority of its students.

Over the past four years, almost all Year 12 students have achieved the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2. The school consistently meets national expectations for at least 85% of students to leave with NCEA Level 2 or above. Around three quarters of students achieve NCEA Level 3 in Year 13. More than half of the students achieve NCEA merit or excellence endorsements.

From 2015 to 2017, almost all Year 9 students were at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, and most students were at or above the expected level in writing and numeracy. Most Year 10 students were at or above the expected levels in reading, writing and numeracy.

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

The school has a range of strategies and individual tracking systems to accelerate the learning of those Māori and other students who need it.

Leaders and teachers have put in place a wide range of initiatives to address disparity for some students. This includes an academic Māori mentor programme.

Students in learning support are very well supported to accelerate their learning. Over the last few years, school data shows that these students have achieved strategic goals by Year 11 with over 80% gaining NCEA literacy and numeracy credits and 70% achieving the full NCEA Level 1 qualification.

The school analyses the achievement of Māori students compared to Māori students in similar schools and across the country. The board needs to further explore how equitable the outcomes are for Māori and other priority groups when compared to NZ European/Pākehā students within the school. ERO’s evaluation found that that were areas of in-school disparity.

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?

Students participate and learn in caring, collaborative learning communities. Relationships among teachers and students are respectful and productive. The strong focus on wellbeing supports students in their learning. The recently developed three-year plan identified specific actions to support the wellbeing of students and staff, and prepare students for their future. School leaders and teachers have developed structures and processes to enable them to work collaboratively to support priority learners.

School leaders and teachers are highly responsive to the learning and aspirational needs of the students. Students have many opportunities for success in academic, cultural, sporting and other aspects of school life. Priority learners are carefully monitored, and individual pathways planned. All students benefit from an individualised response to their aspirations and learning.

School leaders are building collective capacity within the staff. There is a deliberate effort to grow leadership through providing opportunities for many staff. Teachers are involved in the Kāhui Ako with many taking on a leadership role. The continuous improvement focus supports staff to reflect on their teaching strategies.

Teachers’ inquiries into their teaching support them to continue to improve their practice. Teachers’ professional inquiries provide a very useful model of internal evaluation to identify expected outcomes for students and determine how well they are achieved.

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

Trustees and leaders need to refine the evaluation process so that the impact of strategic initiatives on valued student outcomes is more evident.

The board receives comprehensive reports on strategic goals such as wellbeing, BYOD, and developing culturally responsive practice. As part of the ongoing culture of improvement leaders and the board should further explore approaches for promoting equitable outcomes across all groups within the school.

School leaders have identified, and ERO agrees that there needs to be greater consistency of culturally responsive practices. While there are good examples in some faculties, this is not yet embedded across the school. The strong focus in recent years on improving bicultural practice has resulted in good progress in this area. Leaders and teachers now need to give greater consideration to culturally responsive practices for other ethnicities and diverse groups within the school.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

Cashmere High School is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. ERO’s investigations confirmed that the school’s processes for reviewing compliance against the code are robust, well documented and lead to change where needed.

At the time of this review there were 65 international students attending the school.

International students are welcomed and supported to be integrated into the life of the school. Key staff members work with the students to identify their goals. Teachers support students to improve their English language skills where necessary and achieve their learning goals. Pastoral support staff members monitor students’ wellbeing and help them to have a positive experience at the school.

4 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.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO‘s overall evaluation judgement of Cashmere High School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

6 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • strong collaborative leadership across the school
  • sustained high levels of achievement over several years
  • a responsive culture to support the aspirations of all students
  • a caring and collaborative focus for positive learning and wellbeing
  • the building of collective capacity in all staff.

Next steps

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

  • refining internal evaluation practices so they are more clearly focused on reviewing the effectiveness of school strategies aimed at providing equity and excellence for all students
  • greater consistency in culturally responsive practices across the school and throughout the staff.

Alan Wynyard

Director Review and Improvement Services

Southern Region

6 June 2019

About the school

Location

Christchurch

Ministry of Education profile number

340

School type

Secondary (Years 9 to 13)

School roll

2032

Gender composition

Boys 51%, Girls 49%

Ethnic composition

Māori 11%

NZ European/Pākehā 78%

Asian 8%

Pacific 2%

Other ethnic groups 1%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

March 2019

Date of this report

6 June 2019

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review November 2013

Education Review August 2010