Kahikatea Kirkwood Intermediate

Kahikatea Kirkwood Intermediate

School 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.

About the School 

Kahikatea Kirkwood Intermediate is located in Christchurch and caters for learners in Years 7 and 8. European/Pākehā make up the largest proportion of learners of its approximately 300 students, 25% identify as Asian and 11% as MāoriThe school has a technology unit on site providing classes for Kahikatea Kirkwood Intermediate learners and several local schools. The school’s mission is to engage each student to do their best through delivering a balanced curriculum in an inclusive learning environment.

Part A – Parent Summary

Progress since September 2022 ERO report

The school and ERO were working to evaluate the effectiveness of school behaviour and well-being hauora programmes.

The school expected to see:

  • increased learner engagement across all areas of the school
  • learners and school community living and enacting the new school values to enhance learner’s sense of belonging and behaviour
  • acceleration of learners’ progress and achievement through focusing on positive and inclusive culture.

The school is in the early stages of implementing a positive behaviour framework. Increasingly consistent expectations and practices positively support learner engagement, behaviour and wellbeing.

The school values of Manaakitanga, Rangatiratanga, Tohungatanga, Kaitiakitanga and Whanaungatanga are being explicitly taught and positively reinforced; and this is leading to a more cohesive school wide approach. 

The school is working towards equitable progress and achievement for all learners.

How well placed is the school to promote educational success and wellbeing?

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?Learners benefit from good quality teaching practice that improves progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.
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?School planning and conditions to support ongoing improvement to the quality of education for learners are well established.
How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing?The school reasonably 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 is improving its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and SafetyThe school needs to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning environment.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

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 equitable for all groups of learners.

Writing

Less than half 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.

Attendance

The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.

The school is developing a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.

Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Chronic absence is not yet reducing over time.

Assessment

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.

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 and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

An explanation of the terms used in the Parent Summary can be found here: Guide to ERO school reports
 

Part B - Findings for the school

This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Areas of Strength

Teachers and leaders know their learners and monitor and respond increasingly to individual wellbeing and learning needs. The school tracks and monitors target group achievement and progress closely; outcomes for some learners are improved.

Leaders increasingly foster a culture committed to quality teaching, and equity and excellence for learner outcomes

Teachers and leaders have begun implementing a structured approach to literacy and are well placed for the implementation of structured mathematics in 2025.

The school curriculum has been adapted to a two-year cycle to meet learner needs and provide balanced curriculum coverage. One hour a day of reading, writing and mathematics is incorporated into learning.

Targeted professional learning and support from leaders are effectively aligned to the school’s strategic focus and goals.

Leaders are establishing systematic processes to analyse progress and achievement data to inform planning.

Key priorities and actions for improvement 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

  • embed and sustain positive behaviour practices across the school
  • implement and embed curriculum changes in reading, writing and mathematics
  • analyse, report and respond to year group and school wide data on engagement, progress and achievement to identify trends and patterns and inform decision making
  • develop and implement strategies to improve regular learner attendance.

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

Within three months:

  • incorporate improvements to attendance outcomes into strategic and annual planning
  • develop and implement a plan to improve learner attendance

Every six months:

  • analyse year group and school wide progress, achievement, and engagement data to identify trends and patterns and respond to emerging findings
  • evaluate attendance data and the effectiveness of strategies to improve learner attendance

Annually:

  • evaluate and report to the board on year group and school wide progress, achievement, engagement and attendance data and use to identify trends and patterns and inform strategic and resourcing decisions
  • review and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of curriculum changes on teaching and assessment practices and improved learner outcomes.

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

  • learners engaged, progressing and achieving over their time in the school and attending regularly
  • a range of useful data effectively analysed and used to inform decision making
  • strategic direction informed by the effective evaluation of implemented strategies and changes.

Part C: Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

Provision for International Students 

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code and has completed an annual self review of its implementation of the Code.

At the time of this review there were 10 international students attending the school, and no exchange students.

Effective communication between international student co-ordinator and school staff enables pastoral care and classroom learning matters to be discussed and responded to in a timely way. Students spoken with said that they felt welcome, the school was meeting their learning needs, and they were well supported.

The school is mostly effective in its review of provisions and outcomes for international students. Developing systematic processes for collating and gathering feedback from stakeholders and ensuring this information is reported to the board would strengthen the board’s strategic decision making for its international students’ programme.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

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:

Board Administration 

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Actions for Compliance 

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

  • the board has not received assurance at intervals of not more than six months that a trial evacuation has occurred 
    [Regulation 29 of the Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes Regulations 2018].

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

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

3 March 2025

Education Counts

This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Kirkwood Intermediate

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Kirkwood Intermediate 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 

Kirkwood Intermediate School is located in Riccarton, Christchurch. It caters for Years 7 and 8 students from a wide area. From term 2 2022 an enrolment zone was put in place. It has a specialist technology centre providing technology classes for Kirkwood students and several local schools. Kirkwood Intermediate has students from a diverse range of cultures and ethnic backgrounds, some of whom require English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) support. The school employs a counsellor to ensure student well-being.

Kirkwood Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

  • the delivery of a coherent curriculum through school wide professional development with all staff, this includes the curriculum refresh

  • re-engaging after COVID with whānau and families in our community through whanaungatanga

  • using recent research on student well being in order to develop a school specific plan around hauora that maintains the schools zero tolerance policy on bullying

  • to effectively manage the school refurbishment programme to minimize disruption to learning and to further enhance the school environment.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Kirkwood Intermediate’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of school behaviour programmes and in particular development of well-being hauora programmes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to: `

  • continue building the inclusive safe environment that enhances holistic learning opportunities for all students.

The school expects to see:

  • increased student engagement across all areas of the school

  • students and school community living and enacting the new school values to enhance student’s sense of belonging and behaviour

  • through focusing on a positive and inclusive culture learners progress and achievement will accelerate over their time at the school.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the goal that through the enacted schoolwide hauora plan learner’s will be confident and successful across all learning areas:

  • a stable and experienced staff who know their students and community well and enjoy being part of the wider school community

  • strong distributed leadership that fosters continuous improvement in order to meet students’ needs

  • specific needs of the students are well known and responded to by an experienced hauora team led by Deputy Principal, the student counsellor, and SENCo.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • building a shared understanding and practice of effective and positive behaviours for learning

  • the monitoring and evaluation of the school-specific well being hauora plans through establishing clear success indicators.

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.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini                                                

28 September 2022 

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

Kirkwood Intermediate

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of December 2021, the Kirkwood Intermediate Board of Trustees 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 Kirkwood Intermediate Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees assurance that it is meeting regulatory and legislative requirements is due in September 2024.

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

Dr Lesley Patterson 
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern) 
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini 

28 September 2022

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

Kirkwood Intermediate

Provision for International Students Report

Background

The Education Review Office reviews schools that are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Findings 

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 534 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code.

At the time of this review there were 2 international students attending the school.

International students receive high quality pastoral care and have a strong sense of belonging at the school. Students have access to comprehensive in class and out of class support with language, well being and academic achievement. Their cultures are valued and celebrated within the school and wider community. The school regularly monitors their progress and well being including 2 weekly one to one meetings, regular surveys and links with students who speak their home language.

Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

28 September 2022 

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