Marian Catholic School (Hamilton)

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 10 December 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

Marian Catholic School is a state integrated primary school located in Hamilton and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. A satellite class of Patricia Avenue School provides education for students with additional needs. The school has strong links to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish. The school’s core purpose is to bring Christ into the world by being the hands, face and voice of Jesus.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

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

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals

Since the previous ERO report of August 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how well school conditions contribute to improving equitable outcomes for all learners, grow and embed culturally responsive practices and strengthen positive partnerships for learning.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see deliberate actions implemented to improve the quality and effectiveness of culturally inclusive teaching and learning across the school, and to support continuous improvement in outcomes for identified learners.

The school wide approach to relationship-based learning promotes the caring and nurturing of students and their languages and cultures.

Consistency of teaching practices and high expectations for learning and behaviour support improved progress and outcomes for students.

Increased opportunities for families and whānau to share their views and aspirations contribute to positive partnerships and higher levels of community engagement in the school.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been strengthened data analysis to identify and monitor rates of student progress.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes for most learners are positive and remain consistent over time.

Most students are achieving at or above expected levels in reading and mathematics and the large majority in writing; students with additional needs and English language learners make progress in relation to their individual goals and learning progressions.

Data over time shows a significant increase in the number of students accelerating in their learning in reading, writing and mathematics and positive improvement for Pacific students, especially in reading and mathematics; significant disparity in achievement remains for boys in writing, girls in mathematics and Māori and Pacific students in literacy and mathematics compared with their Pākehā peers.

Wellbeing data shows almost all students surveyed in Years 4 to 8 report feeling safe at school and experience caring and culturally inclusive relationships with teachers and peers.

The school has slightly lower rates of regular attendance and is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target; the majority of student absences is justified and there are no truancy issues.

Conditions to support learner success

Strong leadership prioritises strategies and actions to improve learner success.

Provision of professional learning, coaching and collaboration strengthens the quality of teaching to respond to the ongoing needs of students.

Clear guidelines and expectations for assessment, planning and teaching enable consistency of practice across the school and an increased focus on improving equitable outcomes for learners.

High levels of relational trust between leaders, teachers and the board enhance shared decision making for continuous school improvement.

Student learning is well supported through a rich and meaningful curriculum.

The school’s special Catholic character and strengthened inclusion of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and local Māori history enables students to have a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing.

A deliberate focus on all students gaining foundation skills in oral language, literacy and mathematics strengthens their learning across the curriculum.

Culturally inclusive and respectful relationships between teachers and students promote high levels of engagement and well managed environments for learning.

Well established practices sustain positive outcomes for learners.

Regular review of a variety of data supports leaders to consider the effectiveness of actions and initiatives for school improvement.

Special education programmes, English language learning provision and strong pastoral care for students and their families enable equitable opportunities to learn.

Active involvement in professional networks and the Waikato Catholic Kāhui Ako supports leaders and teachers to strengthen school capability and improvement.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

continue to increase rates of accelerated progress and improve equitable outcomes for identified learners, especially boys in writing, Māori and Pacific students in writing and mathematics

continue to implement and strengthen effective teaching strategies to raise overall levels of achievement in writing

extend the analysis of school progress data to enhance internal evaluation and better inform targeted action for continuous improvement.

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

Every six months:

monitor and report on the rates of progress and targeted action for groups of students at risk of not achieving.

Annually:

formally evaluate and report on the quality and effectiveness of school actions and teaching practices to improve outcomes for target learners and inform further planning for improvement.

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

increased rates of accelerated learning progress

higher levels of writing achievement and improved equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific students and boys

high-quality internal evaluation for continuous improvement.

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

10 December 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 →