Rosehill College

School Context

Rosehill College is a large co-educational secondary school catering for students from Years 9 to 13. The school has a current roll of just over 1700 students, including 25 percent who are Māori and 12 percent who have Pacific heritage.

The school’s mission statement is to provide a learning environment where ‘together we create an environment for personal excellence’. It supports the school’s vision of developing critical thinking, connected, global citizens who are lifelong learners. This is underpinned by the key values of manaakitanga, responsibility, respect and care.

The board’s strategic goals are to:

• provide students with learning opportunities to improve engagement, achievement and individualised pathways

• promote Māori and Pacific successful educational and cultural outcomes

• develop personalised learning pathways

• provide a supportive learning environment.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

• achievement information for students in Years 9 and 10

• achievement within the New Zealand Qualification framework

• participation, contribution and engagement information across sporting, arts and cultural areas

• trends and patterns in retention and attendance.

The school is part of the Rosehill Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako (CoL).

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The school is working towards achieving excellent and equitable outcomes for all students.

National Certificate of Achievement (NCEA) results show the majority of students achieve NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3. Continuous improvement in Level 2 achievement is evident over the last three years. The number of learners achieving NCEA with merit and excellence endorsements has increased. This demonstrates that some groups of students are making accelerated progress.

Disparity in achievement for Māori students is evident in NCEA Levels 1, 2, 3 and University Entrance (UE). Approximately half of Māori students achieve Level 1, with the majority of students also achieving Level 2. The majority of Pacific students achieve NCEA Levels 1 and 2. In 2017 Pacific students achieved Level 2 at higher levels than other groups in the school. Addressing in-school disparity for Māori and Pacific students at NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance is a priority for the school.

School achievement data show that girls’ achievement is generally higher than that of boys at all levels of NCEA and UE. School data show that boys and girls achieved at similar levels at NCEA Level 2 in 2017. Boys’ achievement levels have maintained an upwards trend for the last three years.

Year 9 and 10 students are regularly assessed in their literacy and mathematics achievement. Teachers and Heads of House target and monitor individual students who are at risk of not achieving, in order to ascertain their progress. Leaders and teachers use this information to identify planning and teaching strategies.

Learners achieve well in the school’s wider valued outcomes. Students show a strong sense of belonging and contribute to the wider life of the school through sports and leadership. They build good learning relationships with each other and their teachers.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

The school is working towards achieving parity in outcomes for Māori, Pacific and other students whose learning needs acceleration.

Disparity for Māori and Pacific students is continuing to be addressed. Departments offer more manageable numbers of credits to support deeper learning. Programmes and course content are adapted to better meet students’ needs, respond to student pathways and increase engagement in learning.

Learning support for students with additional needs is well coordinated. There is increasingly effective communication and sharing of knowledge between specialists, classroom teachers and Heads of House. Students’ learning needs are identified and appropriate support is provided, enabling children to access responsive learning programmes. Students with additional learning needs are very well supported to progress, participate in, and achieve their individual goals.

The school has taken positive steps in recent years to implement a range of strategies and programmes that support increased opportunities for Māori students to achieve learning success. There is a strong focus on developing culturally responsive and relational practices to support greater engagement. The board is working to further promote and enable bicultural leadership at management and governance levels.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

The board of trustees and leaders have a focus on and commitment to equitable outcomes for all learners, student and staff wellbeing, and ongoing community engagement.

Students experience a welcoming and caring environment that values them and their hauora. Pastoral care for students is focused on learning. High levels of support assist in reducing learning barriers and supporting engagement with learning. Learners benefit from the school’s inclusive culture.Respectful and affirming relationships between teachers and students are evident. This promotes an environment in which students have a strong sense of place and belonging.

Staff are engaged in appropriate professional learning opportunities. Recent new initiatives focus on teacher inquiry and strategies to support acceleration for all learners. These initiatives, along with ongoing learning opportunities for teachers, are aligned with the school’s strategic direction. Embedding these initiatives should further develop a more culturally responsive curriculum and teaching strategies across all levels of the school.

Middle leadership is effective in strengthening conditions for equity and excellence. Leaders reflect on and respond well to achievement data, adapting and evolving programmes to meet student needs. Most departments are offering increasingly flexible learning programmes and assessments that better respond to students’ individual interests, needs and strengths.

The school has consistent expectations for learning. Student engagement for learning and achievement is promoted and supported by staff. Student leadership programmes foster students’ confidence and skills to contribute to, and actively influence, school development. It is timely for the school to seek out ways they can increase these opportunities for larger numbers of students.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

The school has the capacity to accelerate learning for learners.

Leaders agree that they should now review and embed initiatives that have the potential to impact positively on student culture, and staff and student wellbeing. This could further support the achievement of equity and excellence for all learners, and their ability to access meaningful pathways.

It is timely to focus on building further coherence and alignment across school systems and teaching and learning practices. This includes building capability and capacity across the school to reduce variability in practice. Senior leaders and teachers could further develop practices to support collaboration and building shared knowledge. A priority for the school is to adopt those teaching and learning approaches that improve outcomes for all students. Monitoring alignment between these practices should sustain improvement and help achieve consistently equitable outcomes for students.

Leaders, teachers and trustees recognise the positive impact that parent and whānau partnerships and strong community engagement have on student success. The school should continue to seek out ways to grow connections and build relationships with the local community.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed the ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to the following:

• board administration

• curriculum

• management of health, safety and welfare

• personnel management

• finance

• asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:

• emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)

• physical safety of students

• teacher registration and certification

• processes for appointing staff

• stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students

• attendance

• school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. At the time of this review there were 35 international students attending the school.

Rosehill College has good systems to provide education and pastoral care for international students. Their progress towards achievement is monitored, and student course selections are considered and personalised. Students integrate well into the school community. Improved reporting on wellbeing and achievement to the board would strengthen the provision for international students.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

• leadership that promotes positive connections and relationships that actively support equity and excellence for all learners

• pastoral care that responds to students’ needs, promotes their wellbeing and supports their learning success

• strategic goals and professional learning that are aligned to promote cultural responsiveness.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

• continuing to implement key initiatives to develop positive culture and wellbeing

• developing a coherent and formalised approach to identify and adopt teaching and learning approaches that improve equitable and excellent outcomes

• expanding internal evaluation practices to measure the impact and effectiveness of initiatives on improving student outcomes

• seeking ways to further develop community connections and partnerships to enhance student engagement and achievement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Violet Tu’uga Stevenson

Director Review and Improvement Services

Te Tai Raki - Northern Region

17 December 2018

About the school