One Tree Hill College

Education institution number:

School type:

Secondary (Year 9-15)

School gender:

Co-Educational

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

1408

Website:

http://www.onetreehillcollege.school.nz

Telephone:

09 579 5049

Address:

421 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland

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One Tree Hill College - 31/01/2020

31 Jan 2020

School Context

One Tree Hill College is a co-educational school for students in Years 9 to 13. The roll is ethnically diverse with approximately one-third of the students having Pacific heritage. Māori students make up 12 percent of the student population. The college has experienced a steady roll increase and this trend is likely to continue given local housing developments. The board of trustees is working with the Ministry of Education to prepare the property and facilities for this expected growth.

The school’s vision is to support students to achieve excellence, within a positive learning environment, so that they develop as lifelong learners who are motivated, respectful and caring citizens. The values of aspiration, responsibility, excellence, respect and innovation underpin the college’s curriculum and practices.

The college’s 2019 target is that every student will achieve a minimum of 14 credits in each National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) course. The board’s strategic goals for improving students’ learning outcomes include:

developing high quality teaching practices consistent with the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC)
enhancing literacy and numeracy learning opportunities
developing the skills and experiences that will enable lifelong learning
strengthening partnerships between the community, families and school.

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

tracking of NCEA achievement
achievement in relation to the college’s annual NCEA target
students’ success in sports and the arts
student wellbeing, engagement and attendance.

One Tree Hill College is a part of the Maungakiekie Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

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 college is becoming increasingly effective in working towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students. NCEA achievement information over the last four years at all levels shows the college’s steady upward trend and is now above national achievement in Levels 1 to 3.

NCEA data for 2018 show that overall, most students achieved in Levels 1, 2 or 3, and a little less than half attained University Entrance (UE).

NCEA data for 2018 show that the majority of Māori students working at NCEA Levels 1, 2 or 3 achieved these qualifications. There is a positive trend in Māori achievement in Level 3 and UE. Leaders recognise that addressing in-school disparity for Māori students across all NCEA levels and school leaver data is a priority.

NCEA data show that in 2018 most Pacific students achieved in Levels 1 and 2. The majority achieved Level 3. This is a significant upward shift from previous years, and data also indicate a positive lift in UE. There is an increasing parity trend for Pacific achievement across NCEA levels.

Leaders continue to develop plans for Māori and Pacific Year 13 students to achieve more equitably with other students in the college in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Almost half of students at NCEA Level 1 achieve with endorsement, and a third at Level 2. Raising NCEA merit and excellence endorsements for Māori and Pacific students remains a priority.

Achievement disparities between genders are reducing in NCEA and school leaver data. The school’s data indicate that literacy and mathematics achievement in Years 9 and 10 are below expected curriculum levels. Many students entering the school in Year 9 or 10 are below expected curriculum levels.

Students develop and achieve valued outcomes that include:

a sense of belonging and inclusion in an environment that values diverse cultures
developing wellbeing and self-management towards self-efficacy
confident engagement in learning through positive supportive relationships with staff and peers
effective transitions into the college’s environment and expectations.

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

The college continues to focus on raising student achievement in NCEA, and data show some positive trends. In particular there have been significant upward shifts for Pacific learners. NCEA data also show shifts in achievement at all NCEA levels each year during 2015 to 2018. The college’s data indicate that NCEA credit attainment is tracking higher in 2019 than previous years. The introduction of credit achievement milestones during the year is a likely factor in this increase.

Documented examples of individual students’ accelerated progress from Year 9 to NCEA course achievement were shared with ERO. Evidence of accelerated learning is also indicated in progress data for Year 9 students working in the Rotary Enrichment Programme. This programme, facilitated by community tutors, is aimed at developing students’ oral and reading skills.

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?

Leadership capability guides a teaching culture that demonstrates an openness to learning. Leaders and teachers evaluate and adapt systems, structures and practices to relevant learning pathways and improved student outcomes. This commitment is underpinned by a strong belief that students can achieve their potential and accelerate their progress when they can access meaningful opportunities, resources and programmes. Student perspectives are sought in the evaluation and shaping of curriculum programmes and practices.

The college’s inclusive, collaborative culture promotes a sense of collective responsibility for student wellbeing and academic achievement. Students are known by, and connected with, many key adults who believe in their potential and support their progress and pathways. Pastoral care and learning support services assist students with additional learning and behavioural needs to succeed in their learning. Well-established partnerships with external organisations help to resource and support curriculum opportunities. Parents appreciate teachers’ and leaders’ timely and responsive communication about their children’s wellbeing, engagement and achievement.

Leaders continue to build and sustain leadership and teaching capability. Professional learning is relevant and is coherently linked with teachers’ appraisal and the college’s strategic planning. Teaching inquiry and professional learning groups are focused on adapting practices and programmes to enable greater student engagement and achievement. The board funds resourcing for professional learning and for initiatives to trial and innovate in response to students’ learning strengths, needs and interests.

Leaders and teachers continue to develop strategies to promote students’ learning self-efficacy and progress. The curriculum and school practices emphasise the college values, and the key competencies and principles of the New Zealand Curriculum. Year 9 transition practices and the citizenship programme are aimed at supporting students to quickly gain confidence and familiarity with college life and expectations. The whānau structure enables strong relationships between students, and with their teachers and leaders in each whānau. This structure also benefits families.

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

Senior leaders have identified the need to develop targets to promote greater achievement for Māori students. As noted in the 2015 ERO report, the board and senior leaders should ensure that strategic planning includes measurable and accountable goals for Māori success, including academic success. This greater scrutiny would help leaders and teachers to increase parity in outcomes for Māori learners.

Good work is underway in evaluating and redesigning the junior school curriculum. Senior leaders have identified the need to implement acceleration strategies to support Years 9 and 10 students to make more rapid progress. ERO recommends that such strategies include:

strategic oversight of Years 9 and 10 progress across learning areas
systematic scrutiny and evaluation of the progress of students at risk of not achieving sufficiently similar to the college’s effective scrutiny of NCEA tracking
professional learning for teachers regarding accelerating learning in programmes
setting annual acceleration targets in English and mathematics for Years 9 and 10.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

The 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. At the time of this review there were 28 international students attending the school.

ERO’s investigations confirm that the college’s internal evaluation process for international students is thorough. The school provides international students with a high quality standard of education and care and they make good progress overall. Students receive personalised language support, achieve academic success and enjoy many opportunities to participate in school activities. They benefit from the school’s strong pastoral care systems and the inclusive relationships evident throughout 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 Children’s Act 2014.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of One Tree Hill College’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success 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:

capable leadership that guides ongoing evaluation and adaption of practices and systems for better student outcomes
an inclusive and collaborative school culture
a coherent approach to building professional capability
growing students’ self-efficacy and confidence as learners.

Next steps

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

ensuring that strategic planning includes the setting and evaluating of measurable and accountable goals for Māori success to ensure equitable academic outcomes for Māori learners
implementing acceleration strategies to support Years 9 and 10 students to make more rapid progress in English and mathematics.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

31 January 2020

7 About the school

Location	Penrose, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	85
School type	Secondary (Years 9 to 15)
School roll	1106
Gender composition	Boys 50% Girls 50%
Ethnic composition	Māori 12% NZ European/Pākehā 14% Tongan 16% Samoan 12% Filipino 11% Indian 11% Cook Island Māori 5% Asian 8% other Pacific 4% other ethnic groups 7%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	Yes
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	October 2019
Date of this report	31 January 2020
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review May 2015 Education Review June 2012 Education Review May 2009

One Tree Hill College - 08/05/2015

08 May 2015

Findings

One Tree Hill College successfully places high value on students becoming connected and engaged with their learning. The school roll is ethnically diverse and growing rapidly. One of the current prioritised goals is to raise the achievement levels of Māori students through a range of initiatives supported by whānau.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

1 Context

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

One Tree Hill College is a co-educational secondary school catering for students from Year 9 to 13. It is situated near the commercial hub of Penrose in Auckland. The student population is diverse, close to 38% are Pacific students and 20% are Māori. Twenty international students currently attend the school.

The school roll has grown rapidly since the ERO review in 2012, and an enrolment scheme has been introduced from the start of 2015. This growth has resulted in a number of new staff being employed over the last three years. Roll expansion is a challenge for the board of trustees’ property plans. However, the school environment continues to be successfully developed, well managed and attractively maintained.

The college is the lead school in a Learning Change Network (LCN). It is also part of the newly established Community of Schools (COS) initiative and will work with a group of schools in the Maungakiekie area to promote educational success for students living in the surrounding areas. One Tree Hill College has developed positive and useful relationships with local primary schools. Leaders share strategies to promote best teaching practice, arrange professional learning for staff and exchange achievement information to benefit student transitions into the school. This initiative is a way of strengthening the learning confidence of junior students entering the college at Year 9.

Junior students adjust to secondary school learning systems through a strong sense of belonging to the school. When entering Year 9, students are placed in a whānau, with a permanent group of teachers assigned to each house. This smaller structure effectively supports the wellbeing of Years 9 and 10 students.

The generous support of community groups and local businesses continues to benefit successful learning initiatives in the school. The school's Māori Advisory Group is an example of a highly effective learning partnership working to lift student engagement and academic performance.

High expectations for student achievement and good quality learning programmes were strengths reported on in the school's 2012 ERO report. These strengths continue to be evident and have been advanced further at all levels in the school.

2 Learning

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

One Tree Hill College is using achievement information very well to make positive changes to learners’ progress and engagement.

The school’s achievement information is analysed and evaluated by senior leaders, faculty departments and by teachers at class level. Recent student achievement in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is showing a substantial lift at Year 12, Level 2 NCEA, which clearly indicates that strategies to support students’ learning are positively influencing their progress.

The college makes very good use of achievement data to improve students’ engagement and connection with their learning. Good rates of accelerated progress are evident in the robust data collection that tracks the completion and quality of students’ assessments in NCEA. This system is supported by intensive academic counselling for students.

NCEA achievement of Māori students is below that of other students in the school. Leaders and teachers continue to address this issue with robust thinking and actions. They are implementing effective strategies that should reduce this trend over time. A strategically appointed group of Māori teachers act as mentors and academic coaches for Māori students. The leader of this group contributes to the senior leadership’s strategic thinking about success-oriented goals for Māori progress.

Achievement information for Years 9 and 10 indicates that students make good progress in literacy and numeracy during the junior college years. Students now have the opportunity to achieve NCEA achievement standards in Year 10 to give them a confident start to achievement in Year 11. Data is indicating success across the whole Year 10 cohort and should boost future performance at Level 1 NCEA.

A key intervention for Years 9 and 10 students, to promote accelerated progress, is the reading enrichment programme for the Year 9 group who enter college achieving at just below the National Standards in reading. The programme promotes reading and speaking capability, and confidence in communication skills. It is an example of community engagement in learning processes within the school.

Key competencies and values education, alongside achievement, continue to be emphasised as important outcomes in the school’s learning processes. Students learn how to make informed decisions in relation to future pathways into tertiary training or employment.

The school's pathways focus is very strong and capably led so that student subject choices are relevant and purposeful. ERO and school leaders agree that the college should continue to develop teaching practices that increase students' capability to self manage their own learning progress.

3 Curriculum

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

One Tree Hill College’s curriculum supports and enables students to learn effectively. It is aligned closely to The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and to Pathways opportunities for vocational awards. The school curriculum is relevant and authentic, and in keeping with NZC principles.

School leaders and faculty heads strategically drive the curriculum towards student–centred choices. The curriculum is being broadened in innovative ways that help students to select a learning pathway to suit their strengths, interests, abilities or needs.

Self review of curriculum delivery is effective and thorough within departments. Teachers, in many subject areas, use a variety of teaching approaches and strategies to engage students in their programmes. Very good quality relationships are acknowledged as the basis for effective learning. Students talk positively and meaningfully about their learning experiences.

The school has a well-managed professional learning programme for staff. Teachers are encouraged to be reflective and search out best evidence to improve their practice.

Within the high quality pastoral care systems, whānau leaders track the learning profiles of their students and offer students wider support networks if needed. The whānau teacher’s role is expanding in order to monitor student progress throughout the academic year. Good provision is made to resource and support students with additional learning needs.

Pacific students have their learning enhanced with a strong focus on Pacific pride that fosters positive connections to Pacific languages, identity and culture. Pacific parents are supporting learning partnerships initiated by the school.

Student leadership has been a major focus in the curriculum over recent years. There are extensive opportunities for students at all levels to develop their leadership skills in purposeful and meaningful ways. This provision ensures that student voice can positively impact school life.

In ERO’s discussions with school leaders, areas for future curriculum development were considered. Considerations included further development of the junior curriculum and further promoting student success in national qualifications.

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

The school is effectively promoting educational success for Māori students.

Māori students are supported through a number of school systems that are specifically designed to promote educational success. Parent and whānau involvement through the Māori Advisory Group is ensuring their aspirations are part of future thinking for school leadership and the board of trustees.

A Māori teaching group, capably led by a specialist classroom teacher, has responsibility for strategic thinking around success for Māori. A guiding document based on tikanga Māori has been developed by this team to equip all teachers in the school to improve Māori student achievement.

Students have the opportunity to study te reo me ōna tikanga Māori from Year 9 to Year 13. Māori cultural events occur regularly within the school calendar to support and strengthen Māori identity.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is very well placed to sustain and improve its performance. Effective self review processes are functioning at all levels of school systems and bring about appropriate, cyclical change.

The board is informed by the principal about progress being made in relation to charter goals. The board is working effectively with its community and is planning for wide consultation in the next phase of strategic planning.

Middle managers and teaching staff are effective, professional practitioners. The concept of akonga is evident in teachers’ practice and creates a work culture based on reflection and the sharing of ideas.

Pastoral care is highly effective. The school tone is supportive of all students who report high levels of connection and engagement with their learning programmes.

Agreed next steps for the board of trustees include:

continuing to extend strategic thinking and planning for the next phase of school development that includes more measurable and accountable annual goals for Māori success
setting charter targets that focus more specifically on groups of students who continue to need accelerated progress.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. At the time of this review there were 20 international students attending the school.

The school provides high quality care systems for international students. Staff involved with international students have regular contact with home-stay families and they network with a number of other schools and agencies to keep school practices up to date.

Students have opportunities to learn through their own language as well as to become proficient with the English language. Suitable reports are prepared each term to assure the board and school leaders of international students’ academic progress, involvement in school life, and integration into the wider school community.

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

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in four-to-five years.

Dale Bailey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Northern

8 May 2015

School Statistics

Location	Penrose, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	85
School type	Secondary (Years 9 to 13)
School roll	1009
Number of international students	20
Gender composition	Boys 56% Girls 44%
Ethnic composition	Māori Pākehā Tongan Indian Samoan Cook Island Filipino Fijian Niue Other	20% 11% 15% 14% 11% 5% 5% 4% 3% 12%
Review team on site	February 2015
Date of this report	8 May 2015
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	June 2012 May 2009 November 2005