901 Frederick Street , Mahora, Hastings
View on mapTēnā 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.
St Mary’s School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. At the time of the review there were 271 students on thne roll; the increasingly diverse student population includes 40% New Zealand European/Pākehā, 30% Asian, 15% Māori and 12% Pacific. The school’s values of kawenga - responsibility, whakaute - respect and houhourongo – reconciliation, reflect the faith and aspirations of the community.
| How well are learners succeeding? | The school is working towards high levels of success and progress for all learners. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | The school is improving teaching and learning. |
| How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs? | Learners have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is an increasingly consistent focus on supporting learners to gain skills in literacy and mathematics. Learners with complex needs are well supported to achieve their education goals. |
| How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement? | The school is establishing planning and conditions that support improvements in the quality of education for learners. |
| How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing? | The school successfully promotes learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion. |
| How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners? | The school is improving its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school should improve its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions. |
| Student Health and Safety | The school board is taking reasonable steps to ensure student health and safety. |
This table outlines how well students across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.
Foundation Skills | |
| Reading | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are not yet equitable for all groups of learners. |
The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is reducing over time.
The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Teachers are developing assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
The school is making some progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.
During the course of this review ERO had concerns about the quality of school planning for improvement and made recommendations for support to the Ministry of Education.
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
Structured literacy and mathematics programmes are well embedded and consistently prioritised across all classes. However, school annual planning has yet to include specific improvement targets to lift students’ progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.
Leaders and teachers work collectively in teams to plan teaching programmes. Teacher capability and professional practices are being strengthened through targeted professional development and from focused feedback based on observations of teaching.
A culture of inclusion and acceptance is modelled and enacted by staff and students. Effective processes welcome all students to the school, including increasing numbers of English language learners. Students with additional learning needs are well supported by appropriate programmes and initiatives.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
Every six months:
Annually:
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
All schools are required to promote student health and safety and to regularly review their compliance with legal requirements.
During this review the Board has attested to some regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
The board is taking steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.
ERO will initiate conversations with the Ministry of Education about support/intervention. ERO recommendation to the Ministry of Education will be outlined in the confirmed report to bring about the following improvements
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 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
Director of Schools (Acting)
27 May 2025
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
St Mary’s School is a state integrated school located in Hastings. It has students in Years 1 to 8. Currently 264 students are enrolled, with 11% identifying as Māori and 11% as of Pacific heritage.
The vision and valued outcomes defined by the school is to ‘provide a quality education in a Catholic environment, working with the family to develop the whole person’. This is underpinned by the Cornerstone Gospel Values of ‘respect, responsibility and reconciliation’.
Current goals and targets are focused on improving outcomes for students in literacy and mathematic and teachers’ cultural responsiveness.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in:
Schoolwide professional learning and development in 2019 is focused understanding and use of culturally responsive relationships and practices. Some experienced trustees provide continuity on the board and are supporting newly appointed board members.
The school is a member of the Ngā Hau e Whā Kāhui Ako.
The school is continuing to strengthen its effectiveness in achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all students. These outcomesare consistently good, but with some minor variation.
At the end of 2018, the school reported that most students achieved at and above expectation in reading, writing and mathematics. This pattern has been consistent over the past three years.
Leaders have identified some discrepancies in the data and are moving to a new school management system to address this. The available data indicates that accelerating the achievement of Māori, Pacific and boys remains a priority.
Pacific students are not achieving as well as other students in the school. However, there is evidence over the past three years of an improving trend for this group of students.
The school has identified the students whose learning requires acceleration and individual teachers are addressing this. They are not yet reporting about rates of acceleration for all students whose learning is at risk.
At the end of 2018, the school was able to show effective acceleration for a small number of target students whose learning was at risk in reading, writing and mathematics. Acceleration for some Māori and Pacific students was evident.
Leadership ensures an orderly and supportive environment that is conducive to student learning and wellbeing. The school’s charter clearly sets out long term strategic goals that are underpinned by the school’s special character. Progress in relation to these goals is regularly reported to the board.
Students learn in a positive, caring and supportive environment that is well aligned with the school’s special character. They engage in purposeful learning in well-ordered and settled environments. Collaborative learning strategies are well developed. Students are self-managing and value the opportunity to support each other and share their learning with their peers.
Teachers know the students and their needs very well. They have high expectations for them to be successful learners. Strategies for teachers to inquire into and improve their practice are well developed. Staff closely track and monitor the progress and achievement of all students, particularly those most at risk. They regularly discuss the impact of their teaching strategies, programmes and interventions on how these are promoting the achievement of target students.
Students access a broad and responsive curriculum with an appropriate focus on literacy and mathematics and the school’s special character. Students access a wide range of academic, cultural and sporting experiences within the school and wider community that enhance their learning. These provide valuable leadership opportunities for students. A good range of communication strategies are used to keep parents and whānau informed about their child’s learning.
New families and visitors are warmly welcomed into the school. There are specific strategies in place to support transitions into and beyond the school. Students requiring additional learning support are well supported through targeted interventions and close relationships with parents and whānau.
The school’s current focus on strengthening teachers’ knowledge, understanding and use of culturally responsive relationships and practices is increasingly evident in their practice and school protocols. This is strengthening learning partnerships with Māori whānau and a sense of belonging for Māori students.
Processes for internal evaluation are well established and effectively inform ongoing school developments. Multiple voices contribute to decision making for improvement.
Leaders and teachers have identified the need to review the school curriculum to be more local placed based and responsive. Work is underway to progress this.
Trustees, leaders and teachers should develop a more strategic approach to accelerating progress especially for at risk learners, including:
This should enable trustees, leaders and teachers to establish how well disparity is being reduced and equitable outcomes are being promoted for all learners.
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:
During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:
To improve current practice, the board of trustees should ensure the appointments policy includes the school's process in relation to safety checking of the workforce.
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of St Mary’s School (Hastings)’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:
Phillip Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services Central
Central Region
23 October 2019
| Location | Hastings |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 2681 |
| School type | Full Primary (Years 1 to 8) |
| School roll | 264 |
| Gender composition | Female 59%, Male 41% |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 11% NZ European/Pākehā 64% Pacific 11% Other ethnic groups 14% |
| Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | Yes |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | September 2019 |
| Date of this report | 23 October 2019 |
| Most recent ERO report(s) | Education Review December 2016 Education Review January 2014 Education Review December 2010 |