Westlake Boys High School

Education institution number:

School type:

Secondary (Year 9-15)

School gender:

Single Sex (Boys School)

Definition:

Not Applicable

Total roll:

2715

Website:

http://www.westlake.school.nz

Telephone:

09 410 8667

Address:

Forrest Hill Road, Takapuna, Auckland

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Westlake Boys' High School - 30/05/2019

30 May 2019

School Context

Westlake Boys’ High School, on Auckland’s North Shore, caters for boys from Years 9 to 13. The roll of nearly 2400, includes eight percent Māori students and five percent with Pacific heritage. Asian students comprise 39 percent of the roll. The board has an enrolment scheme in place to manage the roll and match student numbers with the capacity of the school site.

The overarching vision is for the school to be characterised by its capacity to cultivate balanced learning for life, celebrate its communities, and demonstrate high performance. The school believes in developing individuals with dedication, honesty and respect; belonging to its communities by cherishing diversity, tradition and manners; and responding to the future through high expectations, challenge and innovation.

The board’s strategic priorities are to improve the wellbeing of students and staff. Strategic action planning includes targets for increasing and maintaining high levels of student achievement in Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA). There are also strategic targets related to student engagement and character development. In addition, the school has specific targets for Māori and Pacific student achievement and success as Māori or Pacific, and for increasing bicultural understandings and environments, in the school’s multicultural setting.

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

achievement in NCEA and CIE qualifications
Māori and Pacific student engagement and achievement
student participation and success in wider school life, including cultural and sporting activities
student engagement and wellbeing trends and patterns
emerging barriers to students’ learning and achievement, with proposed solutions.

The school has committed to moving from a dual pathway (CIE and NCEA) qualification system for senior students, to NCEA only by 2020. As part of an ongoing curriculum review, the school has initiated a ‘character education’ programme. Staff have participated in relevant and useful professional development and learning (PLD). Schoolwide PLD is aligned with school and curriculum priorities, including teaching as inquiry, bicultural understandings and character education.

Since 2014, two new associate principals and two assistant principals have been appointed. The number of teaching staff has increased, partly due to the board’s additional resourcing of staffing to support teaching and learning.

The school is part of the Pupuke (Westlake) 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?

Students are achieving excellent outcomes in all senior school qualifications. Longitudinal tracking shows that high levels of achievement have been sustained over time and that students’ achievement is accelerated as they progress through school.

Students continue to achieve high levels of success in CIE, NCEA and in Scholarship examinations. Achievement information indicates almost all learners in the CIE pathway obtain the qualification. National Certificates of Achievement (NCEA) results show almost all students achieve NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3. These positive results have been sustained over the past three years, and there has been an increase in excellence endorsements across all NCEA levels.

Retention rates and success levels for Māori and Pacific students are very high. Most Māori students achieve very well in NCEA Levels 1 to 3 and University Entrance (UE). Most Pacific students achieve very well in NCEA Levels 1 to 3. The school continues to prioritise increasing the equity of outcomes for all students.

Achievement and pastoral information is used well to identify Year 9 entrants’ learning needs and support their transition into the school. Leaders and teachers use data from the school’s entrance test and midyear and end-of-year exams to gather information about Year 9 and 10 students’ progress and achievement. This data shows that after two years almost all junior students reach the levels required to successfully access NCEA Level 1.

Students’ level of participation and success in a wide range of sporting and cultural activities is very high and contributes to their development in the broad achievement areas valued by the school.

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

The school successfully supports students to achieve equitable outcomes. It is accelerating learning for those Māori, Pacific and other students who need this, so that they are increasingly successful in national qualifications.

While there is some disparity in achievement for Māori and Pacific students in Years 9 to 10, the school is using effective strategies to accelerate their learning. As a result, most make sufficient progress to achieve well in senior school qualifications.

Learning support for students with additional needs is very well coordinated. There is effective communication and sharing of knowledge between parents, specialists, classroom teachers and Deans of House. Students are actively involved in the identification and implementation of individualised strategies to support their learning. Students with additional learning needs make accelerated progress, achieve well in NCEA, and participate widely across all aspects of school life.

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?

Trustees, leaders and staff are committed to the provision of high quality education for all students.

The school is well governed by trustees who have experience, capability and specialist expertise that supports strong governance. They work strategically and collaboratively. Trustees are prepared to make, or support school leaders to make, decisions that are well aligned with the school’s vision, values and strategic priorities.

The board and senior leaders form a strong partnership in stewarding the school. The board receives and robustly scrutinises good quality information provided by school leaders. Board strategic resourcing is well directed at improving student achievement and wellbeing.

School leaders ensure that learning takes place in a supportive and orderly environment that is conducive to student wellbeing, character building and academic excellence. They use a wide range of good quality evidence. This supports strategic decision making that is considered and purposeful, with managed risk, to drive change that improves outcomes for students.

Leaders identify and develop internal and external expertise to support school development and increase opportunities for students to experience success. This includes providing opportunities for middle leaders and teachers to build expertise in leadership and specific curriculum areas.

The school has high expectations for student achievement across the breadth and depth of The New Zealand Curriculum and senior school qualifications. Ongoing curriculum review and strategic changes to programmes, structures and teaching approaches, are helping to increase equity in students’ learning experiences.

Curriculum development is responsive and forward thinking, and continually progresses initiatives that increase engagement, pathways and opportunities for students. Very good use is made of data and internal evaluation to inform curriculum developments that promote equity and excellence in outcomes for students.

Students are actively engaged in learning. They participate in caring and collaborative learning environments where positive and respectful relationships are evident. Comprehensive, well-coordinated pastoral care systems are focused on supporting students’ learning and wellbeing.

Teachers have high expectations of students and encourage them as capable and competent learners. High quality teaching practices are evident across the school. Teachers are developing and refining assessment practices that effectively scaffold students’ learning and develop their independent learning capabilities.

The school is continually building ways to engage effectively with diverse groups within the community. Highly engaged parents and whānau participate in discussions about learning and school activities. Māori whānau, staff and students are increasingly empowered as valued partners in learning and in the school’s future direction. Parents and families of other cultures are actively engaged, with the support of staff who are their home language speakers.

Educational connections and collaboration with the wider educational community are mutually beneficial. Collaboration with the well-established Pupuke Kāhui Ako is impacting positively on outcomes for students. School leaders and teachers are contributors to local and national educational practice and policy forums.

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

As part of the continual building of parents’ and whānau engagement and the strengthening of community partnerships, it would be useful for the school to continue extending the range of ways for stakeholders to have input into curriculum and structure reviews. This development could sit alongside developing ways to enhance student input into curriculum development and reviews of teaching and learning to further promote students’ agency and ownership of their education.

School and curriculum review and development is guided by the inquiry and internal evaluation of trustees, leaders and staff. High quality examples of these practices clearly lead to effectively prioritising development steps. It would be useful to use this internal expertise to continue building schoolwide capability and capacity in inquiry and internal evaluation that focuses on improving outcomes for students.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to theEducation (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016(the Code) established undersection 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 192 international students attending the school.

International students are provided with high levels of pastoral care. They are supported effectively to achieve educational success. Students’ progress and achievement is monitored well and their course selections are personalised. They are involved in a range of co-curricular opportunities, leadership roles, and participate in the wider life of the school. Very effective systems are in place to monitor compliance with the Code.

The school is continuing to respond positively to recommendations from an external evaluation carried out since the last ERO review. Further developments are intended in co-curricular opportunities, and as a result of schoolwide reviews in curriculum design.

4 Board Assurance on Legal Requirements

Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed theERO 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.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Westlake Boys’ High School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Strong.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance 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:

stewardship, with experienced, capable governors and leaders working together in an effective partnership
responsive, forward-thinking curriculum review and implementation of change
effective teaching and learning practices
connections with parents, whānau and the wider education community.

Next steps

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

continuing to build schoolwide capability in inquiry, and internal evaluation that focuses on improving outcomes for students
continuing to develop student agency in learning and partnerships with parents and whānau, through extending their contributions to curriculum evaluation.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

30 May 2019

About the school

Location	Takapuna, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	37
School type	Secondary (Year 9 – 13)
School roll	2375
Gender composition	Boys 100%
Ethnic composition	Māori 8% NZ European/Pākehā 45% Asian 39% Pacific 5% other ethnic groups 3%
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)	Yes
Provision of Māori medium education	No
Review team on site	March 2019
Date of this report	30 May 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review June 2014 Education Review May 2011 Education Review October 2007

Westlake Boys' High School - 27/06/2014

27 Jun 2014

Findings

Westlake Boys’ High School continues to be a high performing school. It provides young men with a broad range of curriculum and co-curricular opportunities. The school is well led and student wellbeing is increasingly a key priority for trustees, school leaders and teachers. School values clearly underpin a positive and settled school environment. Students are proud of their school and benefit from teaching that promotes high standards of achievement and increasing levels of success in qualifications.

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?

Over the past 51 years, Westlake Boys’ High School on Auckland’s North Shore has aspired to provide high quality education for young men in Years 9 to 15.

The school’s clearly articulated vision and traditional values underpin a positive school culture. High expectations for achievement and behaviour promote the settled environment. Students demonstrate a sense of belonging and pride in their school.

Significant growth in the school is continuing to pose a challenge for the board. Recent property improvements and upgrades of some classroom spaces have improved teaching and learning environments. The whare Ako has also been renovated as the board works towards providing students with more modern facilities.

School leaders have promoted a culture of professional development and inquiry. Staff are benefiting from professional development focussed on supporting Māori success and on other priority learner groups. A school focus on developing middle leadership and promoting a more inclusive educational approach is benefitting students.

At the time of the last ERO review in 2011, the recently appointed headmaster and associate headmaster had begun a number of new initiatives. After three years, these initiatives are proving successful in:

accelerating outcomes for Māori, Pacific and special learning needs students in Year 11 – 13
creating a more respectful school tone and collegial staff culture
building stronger relationships between school governance and leadership.

2 Learning

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

School leaders use achievement information very effectively to make positive changes to learners’ progress and achievement, particularly in Years 11-13.

The school continues to operate a dual assessment pathway in Years 11 to 13. The majority of the top group of Year 9 and 10 students pursue qualifications through the Cambridge International examinations (CIE) pathway. The remainder of the students, with a few exceptions, enter the National Certificates in Educational Achievement (NCEA) pathways. In both pathways, students achieve very well. Most noticeable are the increased levels of achievement for students in NCEA.

In NCEA, school information shows increased numbers and levels of endorsed certificates, highlighting more students are achieving and at higher levels. More students are also gaining University Entrance across both pathways. Scholarship success has continued to increase and sustainable programmes are in place to help students better manage the challenging demands of Scholarship, NCEA and/or CIE assessments. The very positive results in the NCEA pathway indicate the learning interests and needs of students are well catered for. School leaders have identified further self review is a priority to evaluate the sustainability and suitability of the dual assessment pathway.

In Years 11 to 13, achievement information is well analysed and evaluated to make changes to teaching programmes that better support learners, including Māori and Pacific students. The majority of these students access the NCEA pathway. They are achieving above national levels for Māori and Pacific students. They are well known by teachers and their learning is well supported and monitored.

Students with additional and individual learning requirements receive good support. There is good evidence to show the reduced gap between the school’s priority learners and their peers. To continue to enhance outcomes for these students, further self review is now required to determine the best way to promote accelerated learning for these students in Years 9 and 10. This review should include the best way to group students, minimise transitions throughout the year and maximise learning.

With the high levels of success in the senior school, ERO and school leaders agree it is appropriate to focus on strengthening assessment and reporting in Years 9 and 10. Key developments to monitor and evaluate student progress in Years 9 and 10 should include the use of:

specific and measurable achievement targets in literacy and mathematics
robust and reliable assessment tools to report student progress and achievement to the board
department reports to the board that consistently include the evaluation of junior programmes, including student achievement results and successful teaching and learning approaches.

To further promote student ownership of their learning and help parents and whānau monitor progress over time, the school should:

report to families on their son’s progress and achievement against The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) levels , this may include particular reference to literacy and mathematics learning areas
use students’ National Standards information to better inform teaching programmes.

The board makes very good use of senior school achievement information. It is well informed and reviews its resourcing requirements effectively. Trustees are well placed to now consider setting more targets that are specific to student wellbeing and achievement, enhancing the quality of student learning, and other types of outcomes.

3 Curriculum

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

The school’s curriculum is very effective in promoting and supporting student learning. The design of the curriculum is significantly influenced by the assessment pathways students enter. The overall curriculum is therefore partially aligned to the NZC and partially aligned to the CIE. In most Year 9 and 10 programmes, the focus is mostly on NZC values, key competencies and learning objectives.

Subject options in Year 11-13 have expanded to cater for students’ interests. There is more choice for learners and more opportunity to pursue a variety of pathways to tertiary and employment. Careers education and pastoral care have been strengthened. Academic counselling and additional staffing have been well used to provide more helpful advice and guidance to students.

Students experience wide co-curricular opportunities and demonstrate high performance in sport, the arts, culture and leadership. Global experiences and opportunities are part of the Westlake experience for some students. This wide range of activities and opportunities engages many students and helps promote positive outcomes for student wellbeing.

The curriculum has a strong focus on supporting second language learning. This is a well considered strategy to prepare young men for global citizenship. Continuing to engage with the language, culture and identity of all students should remain a high priority of all staff to further promote student success and wellbeing. Continuing to strengthen the teaching of English for second language learners across curriculum areas is also a relevant focus for teacher professional development.

ERO noted some very good examples of how well teachers develop good relationships with Māori and Pacific students. Enhancing the school’s bicultural curriculum across learning areas and sharing successful approaches should remain key priorities. Documenting highly effective practices, within departments and at a school wide level, should help achieve consistently high quality teaching practices.

ERO and school leaders agree that the next stage of curriculum development should focus on supporting all students to:

be confident in their own cultural identity and to have good knowledge and appreciation of New Zealand's the bicultural heritage
experience more individual and personalised learning pathways.

To continue to expand meaningful e-learning experiences for students, ERO also recommends that school leaders extend teacher professional development in this area.

School leaders are managing the process of curriculum change and improvement skilfully. A number of teacher forums support inquiry into teaching and learning to inform professional development. Curriculum review is ongoing and very good systems exist for continuing to evolve the curriculum. Performance management has strengthened. As part of this process, leaders could now extend teacher inquiry and self review using the Ministry of Education’s Tataiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori students and other relevant research about effective teaching practices for diverse learners in the New Zealand educational environment.

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

The school is very effective at promoting educational success for Māori and is increasingly effective at promoting Māori students success as Māori. Haka competitions and other key cultural school events are part of the inclusive environment promoted at the school.

The board has committed significant financial and personnel resources to provide a wider range of support structures for Māori students. Led by the school Kaitiaki, who is also the Head of Te reo Māori, professional development is providing meaningful and useful learning for staff. Well considered strategic decision making and action has benefitted Māori learners. This is evident in Māori student achievement which has steadily improved in Years 11-13. A useful next step is to develop self-review reports that clearly show how well Māori students are achieving in Years 9 and 10.

Whānau have developed their own strategic plan in response to the school’s strategic plan for Māori success. Continuing consultation with Māori whānau could now accelerate key actions to realise agreed goals. Further professional development could highlight the commitment of school leaders and increase outcomes for students.

The school is well positioned to accelerate its approaches for promoting Māori student success as Māori. The school could use more robust benchmarks from the Ministry of Education Māori education strategy, Ka Hikitia, to consider how well it enacts its role as Treaty of Waitangi partners.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. Self review is well understood and well used to make positive changes for learners. School leaders demonstrate an open and thoughtful approach to reviewing established school structures to better serve students.

School leadership is highly effective. The school is well led by the headmaster who models a high level of care and concern for student wellbeing and achievement. The leadership team have embedded successful approaches to raise student achievement. They have used a variety of approaches, including supporting students, developing the curriculum, improving the quality of teaching and learning, and building school leadership capacity. Consultation groups such as the Pasefika Komiti are valuable assets.

Governance is well led and understood. Trustees have a positive and effective working relationship with the headmaster and senior leaders. Financial and property management decisions are well considered. Effective strategic planning is evident and the ongoing strategic priority to maintain effective and positive relationships with the community is also clearly evident.

Succession planning for trustees is in place and mid-term elections offer opportunities for the board to continue to diversify and be more representative of the community. Several new trustees, with governance experience have joined the board and provide additional useful skills and expertise. Policy review and the operations of the board have significantly improved and are sustainable.

To continue to strengthen governance, ERO and the board agree they could:

develop a governance self review tool
provide external appraisal for senior leaders and the headmaster
review curriculum costs to families; and make it clearer to families which are voluntary, in line with the Ministry of Education circular from June 2013.

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. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

At the time of this review there were 154 international students attending the school.

The school continues to provide good quality pastoral care and support for international students. Students are well integrated into the school and key personnel provide relevant and useful learning programmes, including English programmes for speakers of other languages. Compliance with the code, student achievement and other outcomes for international students are clearly reported to the board.

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

National Manager

Review Services Northern Region

27 June 2014

About the School

Location	Forrest Hill, Auckland
Ministry of Education profile number	37
School type	Secondary (Years 9 to 15)
School roll	2114
Number of international students	154
Gender composition	Boys 100%
Ethnic composition	Māori NZ European/ Pākehā Chinese Korean South East Asian Middle Eastern Indian African Tongan Samoan other Asian other European other Pacific	7% 40% 13% 12% 7% 2% 3% 2% 2% 1% 2% 7% 2%
Review team on site	May 2014
Date of this report	27 June 2014
Most recent ERO report(s)	Education Review Education Review Education Review	May 2011 October 2007 May 2004