Northern Southland College

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 15 April 2025 — “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

Northern Southland College is a rural co-educational college for students in Years 7 to 13 located in Lumsden. The college’s vision for all learners is that they will aim high and be tenacious in the pursuit of their goals. Current strategic goals are focused on promoting student achievement, engagement, wellbeing, attendance and connections. A new deputy principal and assistant principal were appointed in 2025.

There are three parts to this report.

P art 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 in September 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate raising boys’ achievement and engagement to improve parity with girls and to develop systems and processes to support effective internal evaluation.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Engagement that supports progress and achievement for all learners:

The school has improved parity for boys in a number of engagement indicators (behaviour, effort, attendance and achievement) through a focus on positive relationships, engaging curriculum and the active promotion of regular attendance.

Equitable achievement for all groups of learners:

School information shows improved parity for boys in the achievement of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1 and 3 in 2024, however continuing to lift the achievement of boys in national qualifications remains a priority.

The school has identified it now needs to focus on the equity of achievement for groups of learners in literacy and numeracy in Years 7 to 10.

Effective internal evaluation which leads to improved understanding of what works best to support students in their learning:

Leaders and teachers have strengthened approaches to analysing learning and engagement information to know about equity of outcomes for groups of learners.

Staff have learnt about and developed shared understandings of curriculum design and teaching strategies that promote engagement, particularly for boys.

Leaders have taken steps to align internal review and evaluation processes with strategic goals.

Other Findings

The greatest shifts that have occurred in response to the school’s actions have been a greater focus on teachers getting to know their learners as individuals, establishing and sustaining positive relationships and providing learning opportunities that are relevant to learners’ lives and interests and which offer greater choice.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Learners have positive learning and wellbeing outcomes and school leavers are well supported to transition to work and further learning.

The majority of learners achieve NCEA at all levels and about half gain University Entrance; most learners who attempted the literacy and numeracy requirements for national qualifications were successful in 2024; continuing to lift the achievement of boys remains a priority.

Most learners report feeling safe and cared about at school and are well supported to transition successfully to work and further learning.

The school needs to analyse and report on progress and achievement in Years 7 to 10.

The majority of learners attend school regularly, but not yet at levels that meet government attendance targets; the school is continuing to work in collaboration with its community to meet these.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is strengthening the conditions for school improvement.

Leaders foster trust and collaboration across the school community to support strategic and improvement goals.

Leaders set and pursue relevant improvement goals focused on achieving positive and equitable wellbeing, learning and engagement outcomes for all learners.

Board, leaders and teachers value the cultural backgrounds of their learners and are strengthening the programmes, initiatives and practices that support their sense of belonging and success in learning.

Curriculum and teaching are increasingly responsive to the needs and aspirations of learners.

Leaders and teachers ensure learners have access to a broad curriculum that supports their interests, strengths and pathways to work and further learning; good use is made of online, community and tertiary-based training opportunities to extend learning options.

Teachers engage learners by using relationship-based strategies and linking learning to local contexts, students’ interests, lives and aspirations.

Learners needing additional support are identified and provided with increasingly effective support to learn and progress.

Organisational conditions are well-focussed on improvement and meeting the needs of learners.

Leaders and teachers are strengthening programmes and practices to promote all learners’ wellbeing inclusion, confidence in their identity, language and culture and engagement in learning.

Community partnerships are actively fostered and used to support learning, wellbeing, engagement and pathways to work.

Leaders and teachers communicate frequently with parents and whānau to share understandings of learners’ strengths and learning needs and to plan appropriate responses.

Leaders use evidence increasingly well to plan and monitor the school’s strategic and improvement goals and to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learner outcomes.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

develop systems to analyse and report progress for Years 7 to 10 in literacy and numeracy; use these to know about the equity of achievement at these levels and to evaluate the impact of teaching and interventions on learner outcomes

use the school’s framework for effective teaching to foster consistent teaching practice including for culturally responsive and inclusive teaching tailored to individual’s learning needs

increase the use of te reo Māori across the school so all learners benefit from opportunities to develop bicultural capabilities

implement the school’s plan for improving regular attendance.

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

Within six months:

develop systems for collecting, analysing, reporting on and sharing information on the progress and achievement of Year 7 to 10 learners in literacy and numeracy

establish planning and goals for the promotion of te reo Māori across the school

plan and implement professional learning for teachers to support culturally responsive and inclusive teaching tailored to individual’s learning needs

plan and implement monitoring and evaluation activities that begin to embed the school’s expectations for effective teaching

Every six months:

analyse and report on progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy in Years 7 to 10, with a focus on equity for groups of learners and the identification of successful strategies and common barriers to learning to inform future planning

observe and support teachers in implementing new teaching practices which respond to learners’ needs and cultures (or other strategies identified through monitoring the school’s expectations of effective teaching)

monitor progress against the school-wide plan for promoting te reo Māori , drawing on observations and feedback from students and teachers and making appropriate adjustments

review and report on the effectiveness of the school’s attendance plan on improving attendance levels and adapt strategies as necessary

Annually:

review data collection and reporting systems for Year 7 to 10 and adjust strengthen; use the analysis of progress and achievement information to make recommendations to the board and inform future planning

review the effectiveness of te reo Māori integration to identify areas for improvement and plan for the next year’s opportunities and goals

review the impact of professional support for teachers implementing expected teaching practices, which respond to learners’ needs and cultures, and plan the next year’s professional learning based on identified needs.

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

improved levels of regular attendance

improved progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy for learners in Years 7 to 10

increased daily use of te reo Māori in all settings across the school

teachers more consistently using a wider range of teaching strategies which respond to learners’ needs and cultures.

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

Sharon Kelly Director of Schools (Acting)

15 April 2025

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 →