St Patrick's Catholic School (Taupo)

St Patrick's Catholic School (Taupo)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within eight months of the Education Review Office and St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo) working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

St Patrick’s Catholic School is a state integrated school located in Taupō. It provides education for learners from Years 1 to 8. A new principal was appointed in 2022.

St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • enable each child to grow in their faith

  • provide quality, child-centred education

  • contribute to the wellbeing of students and wider school community

  • be visible contributors to our parish, local community and environment.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which the school is providing a localised curriculum to support equitable outcomes for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

  • further respond to the culture and identity of all learners for improved outcomes

  • strengthen partnerships for learning with mana whenua and the community

  • develop a broader, more meaningful curriculum to support engagement in learning.

The school expects to see:

  • improved and more equitable outcomes for all

  • a curriculum that reflects learners’ identity, where they have come from and the school special character

  • strengthened relationships and collaboration with mana whenua and the community to support learners to become confident, compassionate, connected and actively involved.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the extent to which they are providing a localised curriculum to support equitable outcomes for all learners:

  • a deliberate strategic focus on developing teacher capacity in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori to strengthen practice across the school

  • pro-active engagement with local iwi through Mana Whenua professional learning programme that is supported by the Kāhui Ako

  • significant, existing relationships with local council through the Greening Taupō initiative and other environmental organisations

  • a relevant existing framework in the school to support the identification of culturally responsive practices.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • implementing the collaboratively developed strategic plan with a focus on the internal evaluation of the local curriculum

  • further analysing the trends and patterns in school-wide data to fully inform next steps in the evaluation of the effectiveness of localised curriculum

  • continuing with assessment for learning strategies to identify next learning steps for learners which will support progress and achievement.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

24 July 2023

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

St Patrick's Catholic School (Taupo)

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of August 2022, the St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo), School Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Actions for Compliance

ERO has identified the following area of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • renewal of police vets for non-teaching staff every three years.

       [s 104, Education and Training Act 2020]

The board has since addressed the area of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo), School Board.

The next School Board assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements will be reported, along with the Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report, within three years.

Information on ERO’s role and process in this review can be found on the Education Review Office website.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

24 July 2023 

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

St Patrick's Catholic School (Taupo)

This review is designed to support schools that were experiencing difficulties at the time of the last review. ERO provides ongoing evaluation over the course of one-to-two years as the school works to improve its overall performance and build its self-review capability.

This report answers key questions about the school’s background and the context for the review. The report also provides an evaluation of how effectively the school is addressing areas identified for review and development and the quality of its practices and systems for sustaining performance and ongoing improvement.

Findings

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo), is a state integrated full primary school providing education for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll of 279, includes 17% Māori students. The school’s vision is Te Whakapono Me Ana Mahi – Faith in Action.

Since the last ERO review in 2017, the newly appointed principal continues in her role and there have been some changes to the teaching staff. A new board chairperson was elected in 2019. The board is made up of new and experienced trustees. 

The 2017 ERO report identified priority areas requiring review and development. This report summarises the progress made in addressing these areas. 

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

  • Internal evaluation focused on raising student achievement.

  • The use of achievement information to identify at risk learners and targeted planning for acceleration.

  • A strategic focus on accelerating learning for at risk students and regular reporting of their progress and achievement.

  • Building teacher capability through a coherent approach to professional learning and development.

  • Implementing an appraisal process that meets the requirements of the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand |Matatū Aotearoa.

  • Developing a documented curriculum that sets clear expectations for effective teaching and learning for acceleration.

Progress

There has been significant progress in all areas identified for review and development in the previous 2017 ERO report. 

Internal evaluation practices and processes are now embedded across the school. Leaders now systematically evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives and programmes designed to accelerate achievement. The board sets charter targets focused on accelerating the achievement of at-risk learners and receives regular reports on these students’ progress and acceleration.  

Teachers have engaged with a range of relevant professional learning to build their capability. Performance management processes were reviewed in 2017. Appraisal processes are now aligned with Teaching Council requirements and contribute to improving teacher effectiveness.

The school has made progress in developing clear expectations for teaching and learning. ERO observed calm and settled classrooms with high levels of student engagement and positive relationships between children and teachers. Teachers use an appropriate range of strategies to support students’ learning. They work collaboratively and make good use of their skills and knowledge to support accelerated achievement. Classrooms are well presented, reflect learning programmes and promote a strong sense of belonging for students.

The school culture enables all students have equitable opportunities to learn. The Catholic community continues to be highly supportive and involved in the school. This provides a strong connection between the parents, whānau and the church. There continues to be a strong focus on fostering inclusion and belonging for all students and their whānau. 

Key next steps

The school has identified, and ERO’s evaluation affirms, the following key priorities for further development:

  • ensuring a more evidence-based teaching as inquiry process is focused on target students and on reducing disparity of achievement for Māori and boys in writing 
  • further developing teachers’ understanding and use of learning progressions to plan for the acceleration of at-risk learners and build student agency in developing their own learning goals focused on acceleration 
  • continuing the development of the localised curriculum in consultation with Tūwharetoa and aligning this with the special Catholic character 
  • continuing to embed the strategies and knowledge gained from professional learning and development and aligning these with the acceleration of progress for at-risk students 

3 Sustainable performance and self review

How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?

St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo) is developing its ability to sustain its performance. The following factors contribute to sustainability: 

  • trustees provide effective governance and are well informed about student achievement and acceleration

  • systems for internal evaluation contribute to ongoing improvement

  • clear expectations for teaching and learning  contribute to settled learning environments

  • support from the Catholic community provides a strong sense of inclusion and belonging for students and their whānau.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees 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:

  • board administration

  • curriculum

  • management of health, safety and welfare

  • personnel management

  • financial management

  • asset management.

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

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

  • physical safety of students

  • teacher registration

  • processes for appointing staff

  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions

  • attendance

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

In order to improve practice, the board of trustees should ensure it:

  • receives evidence of regular lockdown drills.

Conclusion

The school is effectively addressing its priorities for improvement in areas of building leadership and teacher capability and collective capacity. Students, families and the wider Catholic community are well supported by teachers, leaders and trustees. The special Catholic character underpins all aspects of school governance and strategic direction.

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO ‘s overall evaluation judgement of St Patrick’s Catholic School (Taupo)’s) performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is:

Developing.

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation

Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.

Darcy Te Hau
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region - Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

22 June 2020

About the school

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement.