St Mary's Catholic School (Hastings)

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 281 — 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. September 2019

   264

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 23 October 2019

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 27 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

St Mary’s School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. At the time of the review there were 271 students on thne roll; the increasingly diverse student population includes 40% New Zealand European/ Pākehā , 30% Asian, 15% Māori and 12% Pacific. The school’s values of kawenga - responsibility, whakaute - respect and houhourongo – reconciliation , reflect the faith and aspirations of the community.

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

How well are learners succeeding? The school is working towards high levels of success and progress for all learners.

What is the quality of teaching and learning? The school is improving teaching and learning.

How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? Learners have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly 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? The school is establishing planning and conditions that support improvements in the quality of education for learners.

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 is improving its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school should improve its collection and use 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 not yet equitable for all groups of learners.

Writing A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners.

Mathematics A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners.

Attendance

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

The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.

Teachers are developing assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

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

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

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

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

Support

During the course of this review ERO had concerns about the quality of school planning for improvement and made recommendations for support to the Ministry of Education.

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

Structured literacy and mathematics programmes are well embedded and consistently prioritised across all classes. However, school annual planning has yet to include specific improvement targets to lift students’ progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.

Leaders and teachers work collectively in teams to plan teaching programmes. Teacher capability and professional practices are being strengthened through targeted professional development and from focused feedback based on observations of teaching.

A culture of inclusion and acceptance is modelled and enacted by staff and students. Effective processes welcome all students to the school, including increasing numbers of English language learners. Students with additional learning needs are well supported by appropriate programmes and initiatives.

Key priorities and actions for improvement

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

collaboratively develop a strategic and annual implementation plan that reflects the board’s priorities and views of learners and whānau , and focus on lifting student achievement and meeting individual learning needs and supports wellbeing

strengthen and support schoolwide leadership to collaboratively build capability in using assessment data to track and report achievement, through aligned systems and processes and evaluative inquiry

establish schoolwide systems to consistently assess, monitor and regularly report all learners’ progress and achievement over time to inform school planning and to know the impact of literacy and mathematics teaching

monitor and plan for improved regular student attendance and engagement.

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

Within three months:

the board and leadership develop an annual implementation plan with a small number of measurable targets focused on improving student’s learning and wellbeing

leaders develop an action plan, based on a shared school vision and strategic priorities, that identifies leadership actions to improve the use of assessment data to plan targeted teaching programmes focused on extending student outcomes in literacy and mathematics

develop systems to monitor and report schoolwide progress over time that will be used by leaders and teachers to identify learners’ needs, trends and patterns of achievement and to plan for improvement

develop an attendance plan to target school actions to lift regular student attendance

Every six months:

leaders review and report to the board on the progress and achievement of students in relation to annual plan’s improvement targets

leaders reflect, measure and evaluate the impact of their collective actions and if needed, reshape the action plan for the remainder of the year

analyse and report to the board on progress and impact of structured literacy and mathematics programmes, including students receiving targeted support, in order to make ongoing adjustments

review and report to the board the impact of a specific attendance plan including identifying successful strategies and further actions needed to increase student attendance

Annually:

develop a strategic and an annual implementation plan that sets the school’s direction; this clearly outlines the board’s improvement targets and priorities, based on community aspirations and focused on lifting students’ achievement, attendance and wellbeing

leaders reflect, evaluate and report on the impact of their collective actions, identify initiatives that had the most success and use this information to inform schoolwide planning

report to the board on schoolwide progress in literacy and mathematics programmes; use this information to inform decision making and future actions including staff development needs

evaluate and report to the board the impact of specific attendance planning before resetting the plan for the following year.

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

focused strategic and annual planning and actions that reflects the school community’s aspirations for increasing students’ progress, achievement and wellbeing

collaborative school leadership that regularly monitors, evaluates and reports to the board and school community on the progress towards meeting annual improvement targets and other priorities

implement school systems that informs the board, leaders and teachers about how well learners are progressing and achieving over time, including student wellbeing

improved student attendance and engagement in learning.

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

Actions for Compliance

ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

strengthen risk assessment processes for education outside the classroom (EOTC) [Health and Safety at Work Act 2015]

ensure safety checking process for staff appointments contain sufficient records of identity checks [s104 Education and Training Act 2020, Children’s Act 2014].

The board is taking steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO will initiate conversations with the Ministry of Education about support/intervention. ERO recommendation to the Ministry of Education will be outlined in the confirmed report to bring about the following improvements

focused annual planning with implementation strategies to support: improved regular schoolwide reporting of students’ progress and achievement to the board to gauge the impact of literacy and mathematics programmes and annual improvement targets for groups requiring specific attention to achieve equitable outcomes planning and evaluation of strategies to further improve regular attendance.

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)

27 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 →