St Joseph's Catholic School (Whakatane)

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 4 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

St Joseph’s Catholic School ( Whakatane ) is a state integrated school that provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s curriculum, based on principles of the Catholic faith and gospel values, prioritises building a nurturing educational environment through home, school and parish partnerships.

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 July 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how well schoolwide structures and programmes empowered every student to grow emotional and self-regulation competence so that every student can learn and achieve at appropriate curriculum levels.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Students know how to identify and positively regulate their emotions to enable readiness for learning.

Significant improvement in learners' confidence and ability to manage their readiness for and engagement in learning, is evident through positive student wellbeing data, improved attendance data and student voice surveys.

Learners are regularly engaged in learning about emotions and wellbeing, and understanding.

Self-management strategies to support their wellbeing, positive relationship building, and engagement in learning.

Learners needing additional support are identified in collaboration with whānau to ensure effective strategies are implemented.

Whānau are engaged in their child’s learning through regular opportunities to meet with teachers to discuss learning summaries and to set aspirational goals.

Measurable improvement in students’ academic achievement.

Student achievement data over time shows that most students achieve at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics.

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that the school has robust systems and processes for supporting learner wellbeing and inclusion, particularly for those requiring adaptive and structured support.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions was the refinement of approaches to support learners' readiness for learning, resulting in improved attendance and learning outcomes for those learners requiring tailored support.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Most learners are achieving at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics.

Learner outcomes in reading and writing in the junior school are increasingly improved through a structured literacy approach.

Accelerated progress for groups of learners in reading, writing and mathematics has significantly improved achievement and reduced disparity.

Learners requiring additional learning assistance are well supported and consistently show progress against their goals and improved outcomes.

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

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders foster a collective culture focused on high quality teaching and learning.

Leaders build and sustain trust and collaboration within the school and community to support strategic vision and positive outcomes for learners.

Professional learning initiatives are informed by assessment data and aligned to school strategic planning that focus staff on improving practice for better outcomes for learners.

Leaders support teachers to strengthen teaching practices for effectiveness and promote leadership development to build capability within the school.

Teaching is increasingly intentional and responsive to the different needs of learners.

Teachers plan to meet the needs of learners, enabling learners to confidently engage, grow new knowledge and consistently progress.

Learner engagement and success are further supported through the faith-based and localised curriculum that reflects and supports learners’ wellbeing, identity and culture.

Teachers collaboratively monitor learners’ progress and achievement to support consistent planning and teaching that is focused on next steps for learners.

The school has well established conditions that underpin school improvement.

Leaders and teachers involve parents, whānau and community in sharing aspirations for their children; this information informs school decision making and provides opportunities to strengthen engagement and positive outcomes for learners.

Positive outcomes for learner behaviour and wellbeing are supported and enhanced through established programmes and processes that grow learners’ sense of belonging, resilience and skills for self-regulation.

Leaders and teachers use information from a range of sources to effectively analyse and evaluate the impact of actions focused on improving outcomes for learners, and to plan for ongoing improvement.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

continue to improve outcomes for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics, with a particular focus on accelerated progress for those not yet meeting curriculum expectations in writing

enhance schoolwide consistency in the planning and implementation of teaching and learning in reading, writing and mathematics

strengthen teachers’ collective consistency in the monitoring and use of data to regularly evaluate and respond to the impact of their teaching and learning on learner progress and achievement

continue to implement, monitor and adapt strategies to improve rates of regular attendance for all learners.

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

Within six months:

identify teachers' strengths and needs in the teaching of writing to inform professional development requirements

review and ensure consistency of teacher processes to collectively monitor the impact of teaching, learning and use of assessment on learner progress and achievement.

Every six months:

monitor the consistent implementation of reading, writing and mathematics programmes and the resulting impact on learners’ progress and achievement

review how well assessment information is used by teachers to guide effective and responsive teaching and learning

monitor accelerated progress for learners identified as underachieving or at risk of underachieving in writing

monitor and report on the impact of strategies used to improve regular attendance rates for all learners.

Annually:

evaluate and report, to the board and community, on improvements in reading, writing and mathematics outcomes for all learners; use this information to identify what is having the most impact for learners and what areas need further strengthening

analyse how well teachers’ collective use of data has enhanced teaching and learning to improve outcomes for those learners not yet meeting curriculum expectations, particularly in writing, to inform strengths and areas for further development

evaluate patterns in attendance for all learners, report findings to the board and use this information to identify next steps to continue increasing regular rates of attendance.

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

equitable outcomes for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics

improved rates of regular attendance for all

embedded processes schoolwide for effective use of data to collectively monitor, evaluate and respond to the impact of teaching and learning on learners’ progress and achievement.

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

4 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 →