St Thomas School (Winton)

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 18 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

St Thomas School (Winton) is a state integrated, Catholic primary school for children Years 1 to 8. It is located in the rural township of Winton, Central Southland. The school was founded by the Mercy Sisters and the Mercy values underpin everything that the school does. The mission of the school is to provide a supportive environment where students live their faith and celebrate their learning in life.

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 ERO report, ERO and the school have evaluated how well the schoolwide wellbeing approach has lifted and sustained progress for all students.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Students achieving to their learning potential through self-efficacy and student agency.

Learner wellbeing is prioritised; the school’s responsive culture and wide range of initiatives and meaningful innovations ensure learners are purposefully at the centre of all decision making.

Learners report a strong sense of belonging and wellbeing; they have opportunities to confidently participate and contribute across a range of contexts.

Students and staff gaining knowledge and skills for positive mental health.

Learners have access to the skills, knowledge and understandings of Mental Health Education, they are better equipped to face challenges and overcome problems impacting their daily life.

Staff have appropriate professional learning and development about Mental Health Education and wellbeing, so that they can recognise and respond to mental health and wellbeing needs.

Further improved outcomes for all students include:

The redesign of targeted interventions for individual student needs has led to greater alignment to what is happening in the delivery of literacy and mathematics programmes.

School assessment information shows most learners now make ongoing and sustained progress during their time at the school.

Teachers have an increased understanding of accelerated learning practices that direct support for those learners who need additional assistance.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action is the accelerated rates of progress for some groups of learners within the target groups across reading, writing and mathematics.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Learner progress, achievement and wellbeing are increasingly equitable and excellent.

Most students achieve at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics.

Learners who need additional support make strong progress and benefit from targeted interventions; their learning progress and wellbeing needs are identified, closely monitored and specifically addressed.

A large majority of learners attend school regularly; however, the school is not yet meeting the Ministry of Education’s 2024 target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Strong leadership provides a clear vision and strategic direction for the school that drives continuous improvement.

Leaders build and sustain high levels of relational trust, collaboration and communication to create a positive environment that is inclusive, values diversity and promotes student wellbeing for learning.

Leaders evaluate the impact of teaching and learning strategies to support clear expectations about learning progress; appropriate staff professional learning is in place to underpin these developments.

Leaders work collaboratively with teachers, parents and the wider community to inform decision-making and to build constructive partnerships to meet the needs of students.

Learners benefit from good quality teaching and learning that enhances their success and wellbeing.

Learners benefit from a well-considered curriculum reflecting the school’s special character and local context that promotes engagement in learning.

Regular opportunities for staff to collaborate and share practice promotes increasingly consistent delivery of agreed expectations for effective teaching and learning.

Learners experience well-established daily routines and positive and respectful relationships in settled and inclusive classrooms.

Well-developed school conditions promote learners’ wellbeing and engagement in learning.

The board and leadership regularly review evidence about learner progress and achievement to inform strategic priorities.

Systematic approaches to wellbeing create an inclusive environment that is physically, emotionally and culturally sustaining for learners.

Parents and whānau , as key partners in their child’s learning, actively participate in the life of the school.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

embed shared practices across reading, writing and mathematics to ensure consistency of practice for continuous improvement in student progress and achievement

continue to strengthen and refine the targeted intervention programme to support improved outcomes for priority learners

align current school structured literacy and mathematics programmes with the changes to the mathematics and English curriculums

continue to work towards the Government’s regular attendance targets.

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

Every six months:

continue to analyse attendance and achievement information to know the impact of strategic planning and resourcing to inform next steps for learners and to respond to any areas that require improvement

continue to provide professional learning opportunities that strengthen teachers’ understanding and use of highly effective teaching, learning and assessment practices

Annually:

use learner progress and achievement data and evidence from a range of sources to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to improve learning, attendance and engagement, and report the outcomes to the board to inform strategic decision making

analyse and report attendance patterns and trends to inform the ongoing planning for improving the regular attendance of learners

evaluate the impact of the schoolwide wellbeing approach to support next steps.

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

continued improvement and sustained outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics and attendance

ongoing development of teachers’ content knowledge, ensuring consistency of high-quality practice across the school

effective use of ongoing monitoring and internal evaluation that guides ongoing improvement.

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

11 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 →