St Mary's School (Wanganui)

The same report — the board assurance report of 6 December 2024 — 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:

an average of five hours of mathematics teaching and learning is not provided per week [Section 90 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2023 Amendment)]

reported to the school's community on the progress and achievement of as a whole and groups of students at risk of not achieving, including Māori student achievement [regulation 21 of the Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

ensured that from 7 February 2024, teachers and authorised staff members have completed the online module on the content of the guidelines on the use of physical restraint and behaviour management [section 101 of the Education and Training Act 2020]

authorised an employee in writing, who has been trained in accordance with Rule 13 to use physical restraint and ensuring the names and positions of any authorised staff members are available. [section 99 and 100 of the Education and Training Act 2020]

The board has addressed the following areas of non-compliance identified:

reported to the school's community on the progress and achievement of as a whole and groups of students at risk of not achieving, including Māori student achievement [regulation 21 of the Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022]

ensured that from 7 February 2024, teachers and authorised staff members have completed the online module on the content of the guidelines on the use of physical restraint and behaviour management. [section 101 of the Education and Training Act 2020]

authorised an employee in writing, who has been trained in accordance with Rule 13 to use physical restraint and ensuring the names and positions of any authorised staff members are available. [section 99 and 100 of the Education and Training Act 2020]

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 241 — 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 2018

   259

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 20 November 2018

2. July 2014

   177

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 14 August 2014

We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 6 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 Mary’s School ( Wanganui ) is an integrated Catholic school in Whanganui that caters for students from Years 1 to 8. The school’s mission is ‘to encompass Catholic beliefs and practice and to nurture each child, so they grow and develop, spirituality, intellectually and physically, into caring and responsible members of society’.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: 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 B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes for learners show continuous improvement over time.

Most learners in mathematics and reading, and a majority of learners in writing, achieve at or above the expected curriculum levels.

Achieving equity for groups of learners, particularly for Māori and Pacific students in writing, remains a priority.

A majority of students attend school regularly, but not yet meeting the Ministry of Education target; close monitoring and support is provided by leaders and teachers to improve the attendance of learners.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders increasingly build a collaborative teaching culture committed to high quality teaching and equitable outcomes for learners.

Leaders build community and professional relationships to enhance the school’s special character and teaching and learning programmes.

Clear expectations for high quality, inclusive teaching and learning practices are set and monitored for continuous improvement; knowing the impact of these practices on learner progress and improvement is strengthening.

Leaders support and facilitate the ongoing improvement and development of teacher capability through professional development aligned with strategic priorities; teachers are well supported to continually develop their practice.

Teachers are strengthening responsive teaching and assessment practices that are consistent and cohesive across the school.

Teachers know students well and work together to provide purposeful, well-paced learning opportunities for all learners to engage, inquiry and apply new learning.

Students needing additional in-class learning support are identified and provided with effective assistance; this contributes to a positive and inclusive environment that progresses learning.

Leaders and teachers are aligning schoolwide planning, assessment and reporting practices to better inform teaching and learning.

Key school conditions promote learners’ wellbeing and engagement in learning.

The school’s special character and partnerships with the parish community promotes a spiritual, physical and emotionally secure environment for students and staff.

Parents and whānau are respected for what they bring to their child’s learning; student and community feedback is actively sought, valued and contributes to strategic decision making.

The board effectively manages and strategically plans for school resourcing that supports high quality teaching and learning.

Leaders collaborate with relevant internal and external experts to build schoolwide knowledge and understanding for review and improvement.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

continue to strengthen use of achievement information to enable teachers to refine and tailor learning programmes for improved progress and achievement of all learners, particularly for Māori and Pacific students in writing

further modify and use the school’s evaluation process to monitor and review the most significant initiatives to improve learner outcomes and sustain high levels of attendance.

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

Within six months:

review and develop a schoolwide evaluation approach that identifies the extent to which professional learning, and other initiatives, impact on improved learner outcomes and attendance.

Every six months:

collect, moderate, analyse and use achievement information to respond and report on the attendance, progress and achievement of all students, with a particular focus on adjusting programmes to achieve equity for target groups of learners and those at risk of not achieving

continue to review and report on the effectiveness of changes to teaching practice, through teacher observation, student feedback and student outcome information.

Annually:

continue to analyse, evaluate and report schoolwide attendance, progress and achievement information to the board to strategically plan actions that will continue to improve attendance and learner outcomes

collectively review and analyse achievement information of target learners to identify initiatives that have been most successful in accelerating progress and achievement, particularly in writing.

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

consistent, effective and responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide, resulting in improved equity of outcomes for all learners, particularly in writing

improved and sustained levels of attendance

enhanced internal evaluative practices that effectively assess the impact of actions and inform deliberate decision making for improving student outcomes.

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

6 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 →