St Bernard's College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 11 months of St Bernard’s 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 

St Bernard’s College is an integrated Catholic Year 7 to 13 School for boys in Lower Hutt, Wellington. The College provides and education in an environment generated by Gospel values which sees the sanctity and the dignity of the individual person as paramount.

St Bernard’s College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• grow a strong learning culture that inspires success in all students in partnership with whanau and community

• explore ways of embedding integrated learning across subjects in years 7-10.

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

ERO and the school are working together to support the school’s own evaluation of progress towards growing a strong learning culture that reflects relational integrated pedagogies and educationally powerful relationships.  

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• evaluative work undertaken with Poutama Pounamu and Kāhui Waiako to support the development of a Year 9 and 10 curriculum aligned with responsive pedagogical and relational practices in Year 7 and 8

• embedding the college’s model that identifies effective collaborative and responsive practice across the curriculum as essential for student engagement

• continued evaluation of the symbols and practices of the College in line with its Gospel values and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The school expects to see a continuity of responsive practice leading to increased student engagement evident across observations and in wellbeing indicators for Years 9 and 10.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths in its goal of developing the Year 9 and 10 curriculum further to ‘grow a strong learning culture that inspires success’:

• equitable and excellent outcomes for learners across the curriculum and effective, targeted support in place for learners who need it

• a school wide culture of review and improvement underpinned by values of respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration, and safety

• extensive work already underway within the school gathering the voices of parents, whānau and lesson observation data

• a developed vision statement and continuum of cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• gathering information from a representative group of Year 8 students, parents and whānau to describe the characteristics of an engaging lesson

• strengthening existing partnerships with whānau and parents to form more educationally powerful connections

• supporting teachers to embed creative and innovative approaches to blended learning.

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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

1 September 2022 

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

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of September 2021, the St Bernard’s College 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 St Bernard’s College Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements is due in December 2024.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

23 December 2021 

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

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

St Bernard’s College 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 was one international student attending the school, and no exchange students.

Sound processes and practices support students to settle into the school, develop a sense of belonging, and to be active participants in school life and the wider community. Students are encouraged and supported to take part in a wide range of sports, recreational and cultural activities. 

Care is taken to support international students’ health and wellbeing. The school keeps enrolment numbers of international students small and offers a high standard of personalised pastoral care, academic tracking, and monitoring. The International Student Programme Manager facilitates regular discussion of the progress of international students between relevant teaching staff. These meetings then inform planning and differentiation to meet the needs of students. The International Manager also speaks regularly with parents of international students about their progress. In this way the school is continuously reviewing its provision for international students and compliance with the Code. 

The school’s Board and leadership maintain a focus on cultural inclusiveness. The special character of the school includes a commitment to Christian values including developing strong and respectful relationships that foster understanding, support, and growth. The school places itself as part of the wider community and is welcoming and inclusive. This is reflected in the support provided for the families of international students who live locally to settle into the community, including care taken for the wellbeing of families during covid lockdowns.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

1 September 2022 

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