Hillview Christian School

School Context

Hillview Christian School is a state integrated, special character school providing education for students in Years 1 to 10, and has a roll of 537. The school operates over two adjacent sites: Years 1 to 4 on one site and Years 5 to 10 on the other.

The school vision is: ‘To grow young people who love God and impact on others through service and leadership.’ The vision is supported by the mission statement: ‘To provide a quality education in a Christian environment where children can develop their God-given abilities.’

The school’s values of whānau, excellence, humility, respect, compassion and innovation underpin the culture of the school.

Strategic goals for 2019 are to:

• provide quality programmes and high achievement in a Christian context
• provide an environment which promotes the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of students
• encourage co-curricular activities which enhance student development, and fosters individual and team excellence and cooperation.

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

• achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• engagement and wellbeing
• transitions in and out of the school
• achievement in science and other learning areas
• Christian special character.

Staffing has remained consistent since the 2013 ERO review. All teaching positions are tagged to the special character of the school. The school board is made up of four proprietor’s representatives and five elected parent representatives. Since the last review, teachers and leaders have participated in professional learning for digital technologies, English language learning and cultural responsiveness.

The school is an active participant in the Christian Education Network Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning.

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 effective in achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for most students.

Achievement information for 2016, 2017 and 2018 shows that:

• most students achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics
• overall achievement patterns in reading, writing and mathematics show improvement over time
• Pacific students achieve slightly better than others, with almost all at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics in 2018
• almost all Year 7 and 8 and most Year 9 and 10 students achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in science
• there has been an ongoing disparity for Māori students in reading, writing and mathematics; this disparity is reducing in reading and mathematics.
• there has been a small, reducing disparity for boys in reading and mathematics, and a larger, ongoing disparity for boys in writing.

Wellbeing survey information from 2019 indicates that almost all students believe their school is welcoming to their parents, family and whanau, and that teachers think all students can do well at school.

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

Teachers accelerate the achievement of some Māori and other students who need this. Priority students are effectively identified, supported with interventions, and their ongoing progress is monitored. Learning information from these programmes shows that some students make accelerated progress, and also prevents the achievement gap from widening for many other students.

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 provides a positive, caring and welcoming learning culture. The special character and values are highly evident and well enacted. Positive and respectful relationships amongst students and teachers enhance students’ sense of belonging and readiness to learn. A wide range of communication strategies effectively support the involvement of parents, whānau and the wider community in school events and activities.

Learning environments are settled, calm and purposeful. There is a schoolwide emphasis on recognising and developing individual students’ strengths and abilities. Teachers know students well and work collaboratively to respond to their needs and then provide a variety of relevant and meaningful learning opportunities. Teaching and learning programmes are well matched to learners to provide appropriate support and challenge. The school’s learning centre provides effective support programmes for students, and has a particular focus on early intervention programmes.

School leaders have built relational trust and effective collaboration at all levels of the school. They have high expectations for teaching and learning throughout the school. Leaders have developed an environment that is mindful and supportive of student and staff wellbeing. They make good use of internal and external expertise and support networks to sustain focused professional learning and encourage innovation.

Trustees and leaders are improvement-focused. They make strategic resourcing decisions that are designed to support equitable learning outcomes for students. Trustees are well informed about school priorities and carry out regular consultation with parents, staff and students to inform decision-making. They have established a regular cycle of self-review. A recent focus on building relationships with Māori and Pacific whānau through hui and fono is enabling the advancement of culturally responsive practices in the school.

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

Leaders and teachers need to strengthen data management practices and the setting of student achievement targets. This includes further identification and monitoring of rates of progress for priority students to better show the impact of strategies on reducing disparity for those Māori and other students who need this.

Leaders and the board should continue to develop internal evaluation processes. This would better enable the identifying of priorities and measuring the impact of learning programmes and approaches on outcomes for students.

The school recognises the need to continue developing culturally responsive practices. Further development should include:

• continued authentic and focused consultation with whānau and iwi to support success for Māori
• professional learning and development so as to continue to support leaders’ and teachers’ understanding and capability to integrate te ao Māori throughout all levels of the school.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Hillview Christian 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.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• a positive and welcoming learning culture that provides students, staff, parents and community with a strong sense of belonging
• a culture of collaboration and relational trust among leaders, teachers, parents and whānau that maintains high expectations for teaching and learning
• calm, purposeful learning environments that provide students with a range of opportunities to learn.

Next steps

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

• improving data management systems to better show, monitor and promote equity for all groups and raise levels of achievement
• strengthening knowledge and capability in internal evaluation to more clearly identify the impact of actions on student outcomes, particularly for identified groups of students
• further developing culturally responsive practices to strengthen programmes in te ao and te reo Māori, and provide improved support for Māori success as Māori.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region

16 October 2019

About the school