Lytton High School

The same report — the board assurance report of 13 August 2024 — also sets out actions for compliance: the non-compliance ERO identified during that process. This is that section of the report in full, in ERO’s words.

ERO has identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

Police vetting must be obtained on or about every third anniversary of any Police vet that has been previously conducted on the person. [Schedule 4 (12) Education and Training Act 2020]

The board has since taken steps to address the area of non-compliance identified.

Read this board assurance report on ero.govt.nz →

The roll ERO recorded, and when

ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 578 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.

1. May 2018

   690

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 27 July 2018

This is one count taken for one report. It says what the roll was on that day, and nothing about how the roll has moved.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 13 August 2024 — “School Evaluation Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School Evaluation Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context

Lytton High School is located on the western boundary of Gisborne City and provides education for students in Years 9 to 13. The school’s guiding values are aroha , ako and aspire. The school has a Teen Parent Unit onsite, Te Whare Whai Hua .

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki /bilingual settings.

Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Improvements are required to ensure all learners are engaged, making sufficient progress and achieving well.

A small majority of students achieved National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 2 and 3; less than half of students achieved Level 1.

The school is yet to collate and analyse reliable progress and achievement information for Years 9 and 10.

Less than half of students attend regularly, well below the Ministry of Education target; some improvement in regular attendance over the last year is evident.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is working towards implementing planned and deliberate steps to improve student engagement and achievement.

Leaders have established targets to bring about improvements in attendance and achievement; these targets need revisiting to set high expectations for themselves and staff, students and whānau to realise the potential of the learners in this school.

Systems and processes for assessment are beginning to be established; student progress, engagement and achievement information is not used well to plan for improvement - developing understanding and use of relevant data is an urgent priority.

Teaching practice and learning programmes need to be strengthened.

Leaders and teachers need to build a shared understanding of what high quality teaching and learning is, and take a well-defined series of capability-building actions to bring about improvements in student outcomes.

Assessment practices in Years 9 and 10 are beginning to be used; staff are in the early stages of assessing against curriculum levels and opening conversations with heads of faculty about how well students are achieving.

Students and teachers engage positively, and this provides a good basis for improved teaching and learning.

Some key aspects of school conditions are beginning to support improvement.

Previous ERO reports indicate that students had a caring and inclusive school environment; this has been sustained.

Students with complex needs have a range of opportunities that support their increased engagement, enabling them to experience success.

The Vocational Pathways programme provides students with meaningful career-based activities to engage in specific qualifications and relevant work experience.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

provide the school with decisive, actioned leadership at all levels, for sustainable change that is learning focused and supported by well targeted professional learning

systematise the collection and use of dependable assessment data and other student information (for example attendance and wellbeing) so that: teachers know what learners in Years 9 and 10 need, to be able to succeed and achieve at senior level, particularly in literacy and mathematics, and set them up for life beyond school gaps in teaching knowledge are identified and addressed, so staff respond and adjust teaching programmes to specifically address students’ needs reporting to parents and whānau reflects better information about how well learners are progressing and achieving in literacy and mathematics at Years 9 and 10 the board is well informed about what is happening for learners, to resource and make evidence-based decisions

set targets with higher expectations for leaders, staff and students based on the belief that given sound school conditions all learners can progress and achieve

access professional learning support to build: capacity to lead change and sustain improvements teachers’ knowledge of assessment and a variety of teaching practices so they can respond better to learners’ needs; expectations for high quality practice are understood and seen consistently schoolwide.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within three months:

put in place a schoolwide system for collecting and analysing dependable student progress and achievement information at all year levels; Years 9 and 10 are prioritised

professional development for change management and leadership of learning is underway

determine what needs to be improved and actioned in monitoring and addressing

begin looking at the evidence and available data to set better targets and actions, with clear measurable learner focused outcomes; this should be in place by the end of 2024 for 2025.

Within six months:

an annual plan that clearly sets out the key improvement actions and measurable learner outcomes encompassing:

professional development - leaders managing sustainable change and leading learning that is reflected in classroom practice

systems to track and monitor student progress and achievement

attendance initiatives and their effectiveness

a reporting time frame and expectations for frequent, comprehensive reporting to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement for all year levels.

Annually:

evidence-based, comprehensive reporting to the board on the impact of improvements to teaching practice and learning programmes on student attendance, progress and achievement

analyse end-of-year student engagement and achievement information and use to inform future decision making and planning.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in significant improvement in:

school leadership for learning and change, and for sustaining improvements

the use of data to inform teaching and learning and school operation

literacy and mathematics achievement of students in Years 9 and 10 and achievement in national qualifications

the number of students attending school regularly

consistent, high-quality teaching and assessment practice reflected in learning programmes across the school.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education convenes a case conference under section 175 of the Education and Training Act 2020. This will enable key stakeholders to discuss the best way forward to bring about the following improvements in:

leadership of learning, for school improvement and sustained change; including action planning

targeted professional development to bring about necessary changes in teaching and assessment practices

use of data to inform decision making, planning and tracking of student progress and achievement at all year levels

significantly increasing student attendance and achievement outcomes.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Shelley Booysen Director of Schools

13 August 2024

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

Read this report on ero.govt.nz →