404 Eastbourne Street East , Akina, Hastings
View on mapSt Joseph's School (Hastings)
St Joseph's School (Hastings)
Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 17 months of the Education Review Office and St Joseph’s School (Hastings) 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 Joseph’s school (Hastings) is a Catholic state-integrated school in Hastings, for students from Years 1 to 8. The school values and special character are reflected in the mission statement ‘Learning to love. A love of learning.’
St Joseph’s School (Hastings)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
- a broad responsive curriculum is at the heart of all learning
- wellbeing is paramount
- learn to love God, myself, my neighbour, and my world.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Joseph’s School (Hastings) website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which effective literacy practices in writing, improve and support equitable learning outcomes for all learners.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
- to improve the equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners
- so learners can access the full curriculum from a strong literacy foundation, as they transition through school
- to continue to develop culturally responsive, relational pedagogy and effective literacy practices in teaching and learning programmes.
The school expects to see:
- equitable and excellent outcomes in literacy for all learners with accelerated progress for target students
- assessment of writing used effectively to inform teaching and learning
- improved moderation within a best practice framework
- strengthened relationships with whānau to support and promote improved learner outcomes.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal for effective literacy practices in writing to improve learning outcomes:
- capability and capacity in internal evaluation and a shared focus on continuous improvement
- staff commitment to ongoing professional learning, aligned to the school’s strategic direction to improve in equitable learner outcomes
- a professional growth process that supports building capacity and capability for teachers in effective pedagogy.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- strengthening assessment for learning through aligning writing assessment and moderation to a best practice model
- continuing to build culturally responsive capabilities and effective practice within literacy teaching through targeted professional learning
- strengthening reciprocal and learning-centred relationships with whānau to support improved achievement in literacy.
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
14 December 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 Joseph's School (Hastings)
Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2023 to 2026
As of March 2023, the St Joseph’s School (Hastings) 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
Further Information
For further information please contact St Joseph’s School (Hastings), 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
14 December 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 Joseph's School (Hastings) - 06/09/2018
School Context
St Joseph’s School (Hastings) is an integrated Catholic primary school providing education for students from Years 1 to 8. At the time of this evaluation the growing roll has 184 students with 21% identifying as Māori and 13% of Pacific heritage.
The school’s mission is ‘that every child reaches their highest level of achievement in an inclusive, supportive and caring Catholic environment’.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
- progress and achievement in relation to reading, writing, mathematics, religious education and integrated units
- development and enactment of the special Catholic character.
There have been changes in board membership and staffing since the May 2015 ERO report. A new director of religious education was appointed in 2017.
Since the previous ERO report, leaders and teachers have participated in professional learning and development (PLD) in literacy, mathematics, religious education, play-based learning and sporting skills. In 2018, they are working on the play-based learning approach and whole school mathematics.
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?
Most students achieve at or above school expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Reported school wide achievement data indicates little disparity between groups of students.
1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?
Accelerated progress is evident for some students including those with additional needs. Further refinement of processes to measure rates of acceleration is required.
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?
Leadership and trustees are committed to upholding the school’s special character, mission and the positive development of the whole child. The board is highly supportive of the principal, staff and school and resource a wide range of learning opportunities, especially sports. They regularly receive and discuss schoolwide achievement information with the principal and leaders. Good use is made of Hautū: Māori Cultural Responsiveness Self Review tool for Boards of Trustees, to support their ongoing review.
All parents and the wider whānau are welcomed into the school. Parents’ and students’ views and comments are regularly sought by the board and leadership to inform current and future direction. The school enjoys strong community and parish support of school events and celebrations.
Classrooms are welcoming, settled environments and interactions are respectful. There is a clear focus on student wellbeing. Teachers care about and promote students’ success and participation in learning. They work together collaboratively. Syndicate teams take collective responsibility for tracking and monitoring target students. A distributed model of leadership is providing greater opportunities for teachers to take on new roles and responsibilities.
The school curriculum reflects a focus on the special Catholic character, literacy and mathematics. There is a strong emphasis on science, physical activities, coding and robotics. Ongoing development in mathematics contributes to richer learning tasks for children. A kaiako with expertise in te reo me tikanga Māori supports staff to grow their understanding and works with classes each week. A play based initiative has been recently introduced for junior students and teachers report improved levels of oral language development.
There are a wide range of strategies and resources used to support students with additional needs. Their progress is regularly monitored and reported. External support is effectively accessed and well utilised.
2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?
To enable a sharper focus on achieving valued outcomes for all students, trustees and leaders should deliberately align all school processes and systems such as strategic and annual goals, the curriculum, PLD, teaching as inquiry and appraisal.
A key next step is for trustees, leaders and teachers to deeply evaluate data and evidence to measure the impact of targeted teaching, programmes and initiatives on student outcomes. This should lead to more systematic evaluation aligned to school priorities, and assist the board to continue to make informed resourcing decisions. Strengthening writing assessment practice is also needed.
To further strengthen and provide a more coherent approach, the curriculum should include an overarching document that draws together the school’s mission, special character and unique place in the community. It should also provide explicit guidelines for: teaching and learning; ways to support children to lead and assess their learning; the further integration of te ao Māori; and provisions for Pacific, Indian and other learners.
Teachers have participated in an updated appraisal system based on the Standards for the Teaching Profession. To strengthen and promote professional growth, the school needs to further clarify this process by developing clear expectations of the leadership component, goal setting, observations and teaching as inquiry.
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.
Areas for improved compliance practice
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should:
- update policies and procedures that relate to student safety and wellbeing to ensure they meet all current and relevant legislative requirements.
4 Going forward
Key strengths of the school
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
- shared direction and partnership of the board and leadership, informed by community consultation, that focuses on student achievement, wellbeing and community involvement
- a wide range of strategies and resources used to support students with additional needs
- positive learning relationships with parents, extended families and the wider community, that actively support student learning and wellbeing.
Next steps
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
- aligning all processes and systems so that there is a sharper focus on achieving valued outcomes
- strengthening internal evaluation schoolwide, so that trustees, leadership and teachers evaluate student achievement information and the impact of teaching programmes to specifically target and resource student learning
- reviewing the school curriculum so that it prioritises the school’s faith, culture and identity, clearly states expectations of teacher practice and guides schoolwide teaching and learning
- targeted planning to accelerate learning.
[ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school]
The school has requested and ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders.
ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Central
Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region
6 September 2018
About the school
Location | Hastings |
Ministry of Education profile number | 2677 |
School type | State Integrated Full Primary (Years 1 – 8) |
School roll | 184 |
Gender composition | Male 52%, Female 48% |
Ethnic composition | Māori 21% Pākehā 36% Asian 30% Pacific 13% |
Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | Yes |
Provision of Māori medium education | No |
Review team on site | May 2018 |
Date of this report | 6 September 2018 |
Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review May 2015 Education Review February 2012 Education Review February 2011 |