Porirua College

Porirua College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within fourteen months of the Education Review Office and Porirua College 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 

Porirua College is a year 9 to 13, state, co-educational secondary school located in Porirua East, Wellington. The school describes its key priority as “empowering ākonga to strengthen their voices, actions and identities to make a difference in their communities”.

Porirua College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • Ako (effective learning and pedagogy) in a bicultural environment to create Voice, Action and Identity.
  • Curriculum development to create Voice, Action and Identity.
  • Ākonga ownership of pathways and school evaluation around student’s individualised goals.
  • Developing Culturally sustaining, trauma-informed, and mana-enhancing practices.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Porirua College’s website.

ERO and the school are working together with a focus on continuing to grow student voice and learning partnerships between the school, whānau and community, to achieve improved and equitable student outcomes against a range of indicators, including goals and aspirations, VAI, engagement, attendance and learning. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

  • maintaining a focus on an evaluative culture led by student voice to make the best use of student information and survey feedback to support strategic priorities
  • building on the development of an engaging and student-centred curriculum to improve outcomes for students, including enabling students to meet their goals within and across a range of outcomes
  • developing relationships with local communities where students can learn within their cultures including whānau/aiga and iwi as part of educationally significant partnerships and a localised curriculum. 

The school expects to see:

  • ākonga ownership of goals, progress and achievement, in collaboration with whānau
  • improved junior student progress, measured, tracked and communicated across the junior school as a result of identification and response to literacy and numeracy needs
  • embedded co-construction of school change reflecting partnerships in learning.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its work with students and whānau to identify goals, lead meaningful change and provide support and intervention for students to meet their aspirations:

  • established links across the contributing schools as part of the Porirua East Kahui Ako leading to a shared graduate profile, shared values and an openness and commitment to innovation and initiatives that promote positive learning and well-being outcomes
  • an established and evaluative leadership structure to empower voice, action and identity to co-construct pathways with students
  • a culturally sustaining curriculum that seeks to engage learners and connect with the community
  • effective wellbeing structures within the school with whānau-based houses, wellbeing support systems facilitated by specialist staff who are responsive to needs of learners and provide a wide range of support for wellbeing using trauma-informed, restorative practices.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

  • continuing to grow students learning through new approaches to cross curricular learning and a visually multi-cultural environment
  • increasing understanding of student aspirations and learning priorities including implementing targeted interventions for students in need of additional support
  • evaluation and extension of the first stage of intervention in which Literacy and Numeracy Coordinators have identified learning priorities for students and shared this information with staff alongside a planned programme of professional development
  • developing teaching practice to create an Effective Teacher Profile for Porirua College particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy and localised curriculum.

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

5 December 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

Porirua College

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026 

As of June 2023, the Porirua College 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 Porirua College, 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

5 December 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

The school has access to Alternative Education provision hosted by Praxis in Porirua.

Porirua College - 25/05/2020

School Context

Porirua College is a Years 9 to 13, state co-educational secondary school located in Porirua East, Wellington. The roll has grown since ERO’s May 2017 review, with 554 students currently enrolled. The roll is culturally diverse with 60% of students identifying as Pacific and 29% as Māori.

The school’s mission, P.C Pride, is to develop powerful learners who are willing and able to use this quality in service to their communities. Other aspects of P.C Pride include being responsible (manaakitanga), building positive relationships (whanaungatanga) and being engaged (tū maia).

To support these outcomes, the board’s current strategic themes focus on tangatawhenuatanga and connecting the learning between schools and homes in Porirua East through:

  • voice – everyone has a voice that can change the way things are
  • action – learners make a difference
  • identity – know who you are, be who you are and show who you are.

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 (NZC)
  • achievement within the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF)
  • attendance, wellbeing and engagement.

School leaders and teachers are active participants in the Porirua East Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning (CoL). Strategic priorities have been purposefully aligned to reflect the CoL goals of voice, action and identity. This has strengthened the school’s focus and priorities of addressing social and learning disparities identified within the CoL.

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 working strategically towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students. The school is committed to accelerating students through curriculum levels during Years 9 and 10, to address current lower rates of achievement in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 1.

School information from the past three years (2017-2019) shows that:

  • the majority of students achieve the school’s broad achievement outcome targets in relation to levels of the NZC, attendance, wellbeing and engagement, in Years 9 and 10
  • a small majority of students achieve at or above expected NZQF levels over a period of two years.

NCEA information shows:

  • most students achieve literacy over time (Years 11 to 13)
  • almost all students achieve numeracy over time (Years 11 to 13)
  • a small majority of Level 1 students achieve NCEA Level 1 (but trending downwards)
  • a large majority of Level 2 students achieve NCEA Level 2
  • a small majority of Level 3 students achieve NCEA Level 3 (improved results from 2017)
  • a significant disparity for Māori students in relation to Pacific student achievement
  • a disparity for boys, at all levels of NCEA, in relation to girls’ achievement.

Junior school information from 2016 to 2019 indicates some progress in achievement, in mathematics and English, for a large majority of Year 9 and 10 students. Māori students showed slightly accelerated progress in Year 10 mathematics and English. Most students achieve numeracy and literacy at expected curriculum levels by the end of Year 10. The whole-school information is insufficient to show progress over time.

Students are well supported to achieve other valued outcomes such as being responsible (manaakitanga), building positive relationships (whanaungatanga) and being engaged (tū maia). Recent school surveys in relation to students’ wellbeing shows that most students feel their culture, language and identity are valued in the school. Overall, students feel safe, supported and positive about their school.

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

The limited school information about rates of progress over time means that it is difficult for ERO or the school to know how well it is accelerating learning for these students.

However, available information indicates that some students make accelerated progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has identified the need to further strengthen the analysis of their achievement data to more clearly show acceleration of learning and progress for groups of 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?

Students learn and progress in a calm, collaborative and inclusive school. Diverse opportunities are provided for all students to demonstrate leadership. Students support and work alongside their peers in multilevel house groups. These house groups include sport, cultural activities and programmes of academic learning and wellbeing.

Long-established connections and links within the wider community and with external organisations enrich learning opportunities for students. The school continues to develop and strengthen learning-centred partnerships with parents and whānau. Their contributions are increasingly sought, valued and considered in strategic and curriculum decisions.

The recently reviewed curriculum is culturally responsive and provides diverse learning opportunities for most students. Recent curriculum developments and programmes such as Kō te Hāpori, have contributed positively to increased student engagement across most year levels. Students who need to make accelerated progress in their learning are increasingly identified, individually planned for and regularly monitored by teachers using personalised learning initiatives. Culturally appropriate transitions into, within and beyond the school have contributed to improving student retention rates through to Year 13.

A well-developed pastoral system supports students’ wellbeing, engagement and learning. The needs of diverse groups of students, including Māori and students for whom English is a second language, are valued and supported by staff. Pastoral leaders, year-level learning coaches and Kānohi ki te Kānohi (K2K) mentors effectively use agreed school restorative practices and processes to increase students’ wellbeing. These processes contribute to students’ readiness to learn.

School leaders are improvement focused and work collaboratively to strengthen systems and processes for effective functioning of the school. An open-door policy provides for positive and professional relationships across all levels of the school. Leaders and staff model and enact the school’s vision and values and provide holistic support to all students.

School leaders have high expectations of all teachers to continue to inquire, reflect and build on their practice. There is a deliberate focus on strengthening teachers’ practice and capability to improve outcomes for students. This helps promote engagement across a range of curriculum learning areas.

The board sets the strategic direction underpinned by clear priorities. Trustees work closely with school leaders to progress strategic goals and targets. Reporting to the board is used by trustees to set future priorities. Trustees and school leaders are responsive and supportive of improving staff and students’ wellbeing and promoting positive relationships across the school.

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

The school’s strategic priorities and overarching goals and plans focus on achieving equitable outcomes for all groups of students. Recently developed systems and processes designed to track and monitor acceleration and rates of progress for all students are yet to be embedded.

The school now needs to refine and use these systems to track the progress and achievement of all students in Year 9 and 10 to make better use of this information. Currently, leaders and teachers are using the system well to identify individual students who may be at risk with their learning. The school is now well placed to extend the analysis of information to know how well all students are progressing in their learning from Year 9 to Year 10. This should help teachers, leaders and trustees to better evaluate the effectiveness of junior programmes and learning support interventions in ensuring all students make sufficient progress across these years.

Leaders have begun to extend their analysis of a range of information to know more about how well different groups of students are achieving the school’s valued outcomes, over time, including those promoting wellbeing and pathways to work and further learning. The school has identified the need to strengthen the analysis of achievement and progress data throughout the school to clarify the picture of acceleration and rates of progress for groups at risk of not achieving curriculum expectations, and to identify and report on progress of all students against school outcome expectations.

Strengthening teacher practice and capability has been identified as an area for ongoing development. Continued participation in professional learning opportunities should help to build effective teaching practice and support improved outcomes for students.

Useful processes are in place for gathering and making sense of information about the impact of teaching and learning, student wellbeing and other relevant aspects of the curriculum and school processes that are designed to contribute to equity and excellence. However, leaders have identified internal evaluation practices as an area that needs ongoing development school wide. Improving these practices should support trustees, leaders and teachers to more effectively evaluate the effectiveness of plans and strategies to improve equitable outcomes for all students.

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 Porirua College’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Developing.

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.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • redeveloped curriculum provision that is culturally responsive to meet the diverse range of students’ interests and needs and provides coherent pathways for further learning
  • useful systems for monitoring all students’ learning and wellbeing and supporting collaborative approaches to improving outcomes for students
  • caring, inclusive and culturally diverse school culture providing a positive environment for students to engage in and lead their learning.

Next steps

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

  • embedding current systems to monitor and regularly report on the progress of students who require acceleration in their learning
  • extending the analysis and evaluation of learning information for students in Years 9 and 10 and of outcomes from learning support interventions
  • strengthening evaluation processes and practices to know more about how well the school is supporting equitable outcomes for all groups of learners and to show the impact of initiatives and programmes supporting student engagement, achievement and progress
  • continuing to build and strengthen the capability of teachers to promote improved student engagement and achievement.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Southern

Southern Region

25 May 2020

About the school

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.