Pūtahi Belfast School

The same report — the board assurance report of 26 February 2025 — 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 and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

in consultation with the school's Māori community, developed and made known to the school's community policies, plans and targets for improving the progress and achievement of Māori students [s 127 Education and Training Act 2020]

ensure the guidelines on physical restraint issued by the Secretary of Education are available to the community [s 100 Education and Training Act 2020]

ensure that a police vet is obtained every three years for all non-teaching staff. [s 104 Education and Training Act 2020]

The board has since addressed the areas 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 437 — 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. March 2015

   471

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 11 June 2015

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 26 February 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

Pūtahi Belfast School operates as a single kura across two physical sites, a junior and a senior campus. It is situated in Christchurch and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school values, care – awhina , share – mahi tahi , learn – ako and grow – e tipu , underpin their curriculum.

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 report in August 2022, the school and ERO have worked together to evaluate how well the localised curriculum provides guidance for a cohesive and consistent approach for teaching and learning.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Deepening of reciprocal relationships with iwi .

Teachers and leaders have deliberately used the cultural narrative (the personalised school naming document approved by Ngāi Tūāhuriri Education Committee) in of the school, with the support of whānau and iwi to plan and implement the localised curriculum and to inform the development of the new senior campus.

Strengthening of partnerships with parents.

The school is using a wider range of effective engagement strategies with parents; this has increased the number of parents and teachers purposefully engaging to better support the child’s learning.

Increased equity in learning outcomes across various groups of students in the school.

The school has sustained high achievement in reading, writing and mathematics for all groups of students.

Progress and achievement data shows significant improvement in outcomes for Pacific students in writing and mathematics.

Equity in outcomes between groups of students has shown improvement particularly for Pacific students and Māori students; continuing to improve outcomes for Māori students and girls in mathematics and boys in writing remains a priority for these students.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been embedding the cultural narrative into the local curriculum. Students increasingly experience their own cultures and identities within teaching and learning enhancing their wellbeing and sense of belonging.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Learners are engaged and their achievement outcomes continue to improve.

A large majority of students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Outcomes for Pacific learners are equitable; Māori student outcomes continue to improve and are increasingly equitable.

Improving equity for groups of students’ achievement remains a priority, including boys in writing and girls in mathematics.

The majority of learners attend school regularly; the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

A highly collaborative leadership team effectively drives continuous improvement.

Teachers and leaders value students, parents and whānau feedback and ideas for improvement; they keep the board and community well informed on the progress towards achieving these goals and aspirations.

Leaders and teachers comprehensively analyse a wide range of achievement information to inform responsive changes to teaching and learning.

Leaders foster a culture of critical reflection; current research in education is used to refine and improve teaching practice and outcomes for learners.

Teaching and learning are increasingly responsive to students’ languages, cultures and identities.

Teachers and leaders make appropriate changes to their teaching practice in response to targeted professional development; this strengthens consistency across the school.

Student achievement and engagement is enhanced through meaningful teaching and learning that increasingly includes te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori .

Students with additional learning needs are well supported to access the breadth and depth of the localised curriculum; these learners benefit from well-considered plans and effective strategies.

Key organisational conditions are well established to support improved outcomes for learners.

Leaders and teachers use strong and embedded evaluation practices to identify areas of high quality practice and processes, and target improvement priorities.

Rigorous analysis and discussions on students’ progress and achievement by the board and school leadership underpins effective resourcing and improvement focused strategic planning.

Strong partnerships with outside agencies support the wellbeing and improved attendance for those learners at risk of not engaging and attending.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

continue to strengthen high quality teaching practice to improve equitable outcomes for Māori students, girls in mathematics and boys in writing

develop initiatives and implement strategies for ongoing improvement to attendance.

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

Within six months:

teachers undertake professional development to extend the range of strategies and approaches used to target learners at risk of underachievement

Every six months:

collate and analyse student progress and achievement data for trends and patterns, and use this to inform next improvement priorities

review intentional strategies used to improve attendance, acknowledge what is working well and identify where to next

reflect on and review the implementation of effective teaching strategies for progress and achievement particularly for equity in outcomes for Māori students and between genders

Annually:

continue to use and report to the board on student wellbeing, engagement, progress and achievement data to inform responsive decision making, and effective strategies for improving attendance, teaching and learning

evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to improve equitable outcomes in writing and mathematics and make changes where needed.

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

improved equity and excellence in outcomes for groups of students in writing and mathematics

increased student engagement in learning

students attending regularly.

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 Acting Director of Schools

26 February 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 →