Somerville Intermediate School

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 957 — 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. August 2018

   932

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 11 October 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 22 May 2025 — “School Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School 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.

About the School

Somerville Intermediate is a large Year 7 and Year 8 school. The school features a modern learning environment and serves a multicultural population. Leaders and teachers value excellence and creating an environment where every learner can be the best they can be.

How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?

How well are learners succeeding? Success and progress for all learners is increasing.

What is the quality of teaching and learning? Learners benefit from excellent quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals.

How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? School planning and conditions to support high quality education for learners are driving excellent school performance.

How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion.

How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? The school reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range of information gathered through community consultation, to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and Safety The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.

Foundation Skills

Reading A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners.

Writing A small majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners.

Mathematics A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are becoming more equitable for all groups of learners.

Attendance

The school is exceeding the target of 80% regular attendance.

The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.

Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.

The school has significantly improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.

The school has significantly extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.

The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Part B: Findings for the school

This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Areas of Strength

Learners have regular opportunities to reflect on their own learning, and to improve their own skills through a broad range of curricular activities, including mātauranga Māori activities.

A strategic and experienced leadership team ensure school planning and conditions support high expectations for all learners. Actions to support students' wellbeing and inclusion are regularly evaluated and prioritised.

Structured mathematics, reading and writing are consistently well taught across the school, by highly skilled teachers with a deep understanding of the learners’ needs. Additional support for English language learners is seamlessly woven into programmes, through repetition, scaffolded learning and vocabulary-rich tasks.

The school values improving each learner’s dispositions and critical thinking to support successfully transitions into secondary school.

Key priorities and actions for improvement

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

further increase regular attendance and accelerate learning so that 80% of students achieve at or above national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 8.

evaluate the impact of teacher strategies focused on accelerating students’ progress and achievement to further support equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners

monitor and respond to the changing requirements and impacts of the new mathematics and statistics curriculum

work with the new English curriculum for Years 7 and 8 to consider its implications for school improvement priorities for staff professional learning and development.

Every six months:

implement structured reading, writing and mathematics interventions for targeted learners to further accelerate progress, including the impact on Māori and Pacific students

teachers and leaders collaborate to share strategies to increase regular attendance and to accelerate progress to enhance learner outcomes

leaders and teachers engage in professional development to support the implementation of the new mathematics and statistics curriculum and collect within-school data in relation to learner preparedness for secondary school mathematics programmes

teachers and leaders collect within-school reading and writing data to gauge learner preparedness for success at secondary school programmes

Annually:

collaborative teaching inquiry completed to evaluate the impact of teacher interventions on learner outcomes

leaders and teachers evaluate the impacts of shared practices focused on increasing attendance and accelerating learner outcomes, including the impacts on Māori and Pacific students

leaders and teachers consider any possible implications of the new mathematics and statistics curriculum for the school programme, and if necessary, make any adjustments to further support students to meet the requirements of the corequisites at secondary school.

leaders and teachers evaluate the new English curriculum in relation teaching practice and the support needed for learners to successfully progress to secondary school reading and writing programmes

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

accelerated progress and higher achievement for learners in reading, writing and mathematics including the positive impacts from increased regular attendance

accelerated practices for learners whose entry levels are low, and those practices which further support equitable outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners, will be embedded throughout the school

leaders and teachers having implemented the requirements of the new mathematics and statistics curriculum and have a clear understanding of the requirements for the content and skills needed for success at secondary school

leaders and teachers having a clear understanding of the new English curriculum progress outcomes for Year 7 and Year 8 to enable learners to achieve literacy corequisites earlier at secondary school.

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there were 23 international students attending the school, and 0 exchange students.

Somerville Intermediate School provides a high-quality education and inclusive pastoral support for its international learners.

Regular feedback about provisions for international learners is sought and acted on. International learners and their families consistently report their positive experiences of education at the school.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.

During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

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 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)

22 May 2025

Education Counts

This 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 →