Holy Family School (Porirua)

Education institution number:
2859
School type:
Contributing
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
173
Telephone:
Address:

169 Mungavin Avenue, Cannons Creek, Porirua

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Holy Family School (Porirua)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Holy Family School (Porirua) 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 

Holy Family School is a state integrated Catholic primary school in Porirua East. Community partnerships and Catholic Gospel values are promoted in school practices.

Holy Family School (Porirua)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • facilitate a genuine and ongoing encounter with Christ

  • raise student achievement through continued development of teaching practice

  • keep the wellbeing of students and the staff at the forefront of all that we do.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Holy Family School (Porirua)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate to what extent improved evaluation practices can more effectively help staff meet the needs of students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

  • to respond effectively to known trends in achievement data

  • a newly created leadership structure focused on continuing to strengthen conditions for inquiry and evaluation throughout the school

  • to support staff to evaluate impacts of teaching practices.

The school expects to see increased equity in outcomes for students currently working below expected levels of achievement, particularly in number and reading skills.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate to what extent improved evaluation practices can more effectively help staff meet the needs of students.

  • Learners experience a school climate that recognises, embraces and nurtures their sense of cultural identity which provides strong foundations for engagement in learning.

  • The learning culture is well established and consistently characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy and collaboration, underpinned by Catholic values that supports meaningful learning relationships across the school and community.

  • Staff who focus on the fundamentals of effective teaching by continually questioning what students need and how best to meet those needs.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • creating a shared schoolwide plan for leaders, teachers and support staff to use data to identify, share and implement changes focused on what is working best for learners

  • evaluating strategies that accelerate progress for all learners including groups of learners not currently working at expected levels

  • clearly documenting effective assessment practices throughout the curriculum and using these to support learning progress.

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

27 June 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

Holy Family School (Porirua)

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026

As of April 2023, the Holy Family School (Porirua) Board 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 Holy Family School (Porirua), School Board.

The next School Board 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

27 June 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

Holy Family School (Porirua) - 29/06/2018

School Context

Holy Family School is a state integrated Catholic primary school in Porirua East. Since 2015, the roll has grown by nearly 40% to 234 students. Three quarters of students identify with Pacific heritages, with half of the roll Samoan learners. Over 19% of students identify as Māori.

Community partnerships and Catholic Gospel values are promoted in the school practices. These include living the values of: respect, excellence, love, and integrity - R.E.L.I. Lifelong learning, critical thinking and the Phenomenals competencies are incorporated in all programmes that reflect students’ cultures.

In 2015 the development of a vision for change involved consultation with the community which defined key elements of classroom practice to support student success. These include connection, collaboration, clarity, student agency, reflection, questioning and content knowledge.

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

  • achievement in reading, writing and mathematics in relation to curriculum expectations
  • progress and achievement in relation to student outcome goals, school and national targets
  • student outcomes related to attendance and engagement
  • learning partnerships and connections.

In 2016, the school and the parent community commenced the Family So’otaga initiative which focusses on building and sustaining strong learning and cultural partnerships and reflecting family aspirations. This is reinforced by valuing a positive Va, relational space, between teachers, students and parents.

In 2017 teachers commenced involvement in a mathematics professional learning and development (PLD) programme including strategies that better reflect responsiveness to learners’ cultural contexts. The school is involved in the Porirua East Kāhui Ako.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – valued outcomes for students

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

School achievement information shows the majority of students achieve at or above expectations for their year levels in mathematics, reading and writing. By the time students leave school in Year 6, the majority achieve at or above expected levels in literacy and mathematics.

Over time, Māori students as a group achieve at lower levels than their peers in reading, writing and mathematics. Students of Pacific heritages achieve at higher levels than most of their peers.

In the last three years, overall achievement in literacy and mathematics has improved slightly. Since 2015, boys’ achievement has improved to be higher in mathematics in 2017, but remains lower than girls in literacy.

1.2 How effectively does this school respond to those Māori and other students whose learning and achievement need acceleration?

The school is developing its picture of acceleration of learning and achievement over time for those Māori and other students to better respond to those who need it. School information from 2016 and 2017 shows that some targeted students make accelerated progress. This is also evident in reading, mathematics and particularly in writing, during the first half of 2018.

The school identifies a large number of students with additional learning needs. Some of these make accelerated progress over time.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence

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

Leadership and governance practices and processes provide clear direction, resourcing and high expectations for achieving equity and excellence across the school. A strategic framework prioritises well-considered strategies that focus on improving achievement and valued outcomes for all students. Leaders work closely with the community and value their contributions and expertise.

Students participate and learn in caring, collaborative and inclusive learning communities. Programmes are authentic and very responsive to students’ interests, cultures and needs. Lessons are deliberately designed to provide rich and engaging experiences and maximise student involvement in their own learning. This is shown in initiatives and programmes such as the daily targeted writing sessions, learning through play in the new entrants’ room, and the promotion of key competencies and values in the Phenomenals programme.

Leaders effectively promote a culture of reflection, inquiry, and evaluation to determine the impact of key strategies to increase equity and excellence. Internal evaluation is modelled by leaders and informs decisions and future planning. Good use of parent and student voice contributes to relevant and inclusive strategies for schoolwide improvement. The recent vision for change consultation, and changes to teaching and learning strategies are well aligned to the school’s strategic vision, goals and high expectations for learner success.

Strong community links and relationships promote reciprocal and positive learning partnerships between families and school. The family So’otaga connections initiative supports meaningful and sustained communication. This includes a strong commitment to the talanoa process and growing educationally powerful connections with and for its community. Learning at home is actively promoted and supported through appropriate, respectful and two way communication using a variety of tools and processes.

Provision for those with additional teaching and learning needs is well supported by the board which provides significant staffing resources and programmes for these learners. Useful processes assist staff to monitor and report progress against students’ goals in their individual plans.

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

Further developing systems and processes schoolwide that show an ongoing and clearer picture of how effectively the range of initiatives, interventions and programmes are accelerating achievement of those students who need this, is a next step. This should enable trustees and leaders to better measure the impact of strategies on student outcomes and better inform decisions and plans to sustain ongoing school improvement.

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.

To improve compliance practice, the board of trustees should:

  • strengthen documentation of some school policies and procedures to provide clearer guidance and expectations in such areas as appraisal, staff appointments and handling of critical incidents
  • develop a policy and procedure on the surrender and retention of property and searches of students [The Education Act 139AAA to 139AAF].

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • positive connections with parents that strengthen learning partnerships
  • successful leadership of innovations that are culturally responsive and inclusive
  • governance resourcing and strategic priorities that enable improved opportunities for student success
  • responsive programmes and teaching strategies to address learners’ needs and aspirations.

Next steps

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

  • extending the use and understanding of evaluation across the school to more clearly identify what is and is not working, and for who and to determine what changes are needed. [The school has requested, and ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders.]

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

29 June 2018

About the school

Location

Porirua

Ministry of Education profile number

2859

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

234

Gender composition

Female 50%, Male 50%

Ethnic composition

Māori 19%

Samoan 50%

Kiribati 8%

Tokelauan 6%

Cook Island Māori 8%

Tongan 1%

Niue 1%

Burmese 5%

Other ethnic groups 2%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Provision of Māori medium education

No

Review team on site

May 2018

Date of this report

29 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review, May 2015
Education Review, June 2012
Education Review, April 2009

Holy Family School (Porirua) - 14/05/2015

Findings

Students can be confident that adults focus on providing them with support to learn. Accelerating student achievement is now a high priority. The recently-appointed principal and senior management team, along with school trustees are developing strategies to improve student learning.

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

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Holy Family School (Porirua) is a state integrated primary school. The majority of students are Pacific, with most being Samoan. Approximately 13% of students identify as Māori.

Community partnerships and Catholic values are fostered. Parent engagement in learning is fostered through the Mutukaroa reading initiative. A number of wrap-around services and programmes support students to have positive school experiences.

A new first-time principal started in October 2014. The experienced deputy principal is on external secondment for 2015 and the acting deputy principal is new to her role. The board has been working with an external adviser to improve school governance during 2014. This arrangement will continue during 2015.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

The school is working positively to ensure achievement information is used effectively to make changes to learners’ progress and achievement.

The 2014 school achievement information shows, and the board and senior leaders acknowledge, the school did not make substantial progress in addressing student achievement needs during the year. There is a determined attitude to improve outcomes for students through ongoing monitoring, high expectations and accountability practices.

Māori students are the most underserved group in the school. While Pacific students achieved slightly better there is also considerable underachievement across this group. The school has a number of initiatives and interventions in place to assist students to achieve success. Given the high numbers of students not achieving, the board and senior leaders must review the effectiveness of all school interventions and initiatives, including withdrawal programmes, to determine their impact on raising student achievement.

Students with high learning needs are well supported to experience success. Teacher aides work closely with classroom teachers to develop a programme of learning relevant to their needs. They have undertaken considerable professional learning and development to implement strategies to guide their work. A strong sense of belonging and wellbeing supports these students in the school.

Students benefit from the close relationships between the school and home. A number of strategies are in place that show an increasing understanding by school personnel of the strengths that Pacific and Māori children and their families bring with them.

Mutukaroa is a school and community learning partnership where families and teachers share students’ learning, particularly reading, in a range of ways. This is having a positive impact on the links between home and school. The recent development of learning maps assist teachers to know about how individual children learn.

The school’s commitment to acknowledging and improving learning for Pacific students is evident through the Holy Family School Pasifika Education Plan 2015. This plan identifies a number of actions to achieve the targets. Further consultation is to take place before the plan is confirmed. The board and staff should consider how a similar plan could be developed for Māori. There are explicit actions aimed at raising teachers’ performance in relation to Pacific students.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

The updated school curriculum promotes and supports student learning. The mathematics curriculum was recently reviewed. The key competencies, values and principles of The New Zealand Curriculum have been effectively interpreted within the Holy Family School context. It is reflective of its community of learners. Te ao Māori review is strong across the curriculum. Implementation of Māori and Pacific concepts throughout the school is key now.

School organisation, including changes to the way the senior management team operates, is focused on improving student learning. The key role of the deputy principal is to be the curriculum delivery coach and this includes teaching as inquiry. Ongoing professional development and coaching are supporting practice. The links to teachers’ appraisal and attestation are clear.

Although in the early stages of implementation, positive moves have taken place to identify teaching strategies that may have a positive impact on student learning. Teachers are inquiring into their practice.

External moderation of National Standards' assessment, through the Porirua East Cluster of schools, is assisting teachers to increase the reliability of their ongoing judgements about students' achievement.

Each teacher has a target group of students who are monitored and tracked. The expectation is that there will be explicit strategies to accelerate student progress. Regular monitoring and reporting of student learning allows senior leaders to make data-driven decisions.

Senior leaders and ERO agree that ongoing review is needed to gauge how well school practices reflect and acknowledge the aspirations of Pacific and Māori students and their families. This review should include the classroom environments within which students learn.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

Identity, language and culture of Māori students are valued, celebrated and accepted. A number of positive strategies have been implemented to raise the profile of Māori in the school and promote educational success for Māori, as Māori. Through these strategies staff are gaining knowledge of the strengths students have and bring with them to the school.

Mutukaroa, the Heritage programme and noho marae effectively engage whānau in their children’s learning. A sense of unity is engendered and whānau share their knowledge with the school. As mana tangata, Māori students take an active role in leading ngā pōwhiri.

The board and staff accept that raising Māori students’ achievement is a priority. Teachers, leaders and the board should explore further how they can use Ka Hikitia - Accelerating Success 2013-2017 and Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners to strengthen their understanding of cultural competence and responsive teaching.

4 Sustainable Performance

How well placed is the school to sustain and improve its performance?

Holy Family School (Porirua) is well placed to improve its performance. Trustees demonstrate a commitment to improving outcomes for students. They are open to ongoing support to assist them improve their knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The board, along with the principal, have developed a model of accountability that commits them to improving the school’s performance.

Teachers are well supported by school leaders and the board. The senior management team demonstrates a clear focus on accountability and improving teacher performance. Teacher appraisal and attestation have been strengthened. Professional development and coaching focus on building a reflective learning community to benefit students.

Evaluation for improvement is a major area for ongoing development. Considerable work has been done to identify where changes need to happen to improve student achievement. The next step is to strengthen the evaluative component of self review to identify how successfully change has impacted on students' learning. The aspect of ‘what next’ is likely to be clearer.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees 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:

  • board administration
  • 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 student 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

Students can be confident that adults focus on providing them with support to learn. Accelerating student achievement is now a high priority. The recently-appointed principal and senior management team, along with school trustees are developing strategies to improve student learning.

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

Joyce Gebbie

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

14 May 2015

About the School

Location

Porirua City

Ministry of Education profile number

2859

School type

Contributing (Years 1 to 6)

School roll

163

Gender composition

Male 53%, Female 47%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Samoan

Tokelauan

Cook Island Māori

Tongan

Niue

Other Pacific

Asian

Colombian

Other ethnic groups

15%

61%

4%

2%

2%

2%

6%

4%

2%

2%

Review team on site

March 2015

Date of this report

14 May 2015

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

June 2012
April 2009
May 2006