11 Tennyson Street , Rolleston
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.
Rolleston School is in Canterbury and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The roll is more than 700. 60% of students are European | Pākehā and just over 10% are Māori. A further 10% identify as Asian. Learners and staff have the vision of: ‘Standing together ignites our learning.’ This is driven by the collective community aspirations of: identity, relationships, learning, resilience and sustainability.
For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development were:
| How well are learners succeeding? | Success and progress for all learners is increasing. |
| What is the quality of teaching and learning? | Learners benefit from high 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 rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. There is a 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 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 reports usefully and accurately to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress. The school responds well to a wide range 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 equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Writing | A small majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
| Mathematics | A large majority of learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level. Results are equitable for all groups of learners. |
The school is approaching the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is reducing over time.
The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.
The school has 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 progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.
This section of the report provides more detail for the school to include in strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
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’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
Director of Schools (Acting)
22 May 2025
This website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home
Rolleston School is an urban school for students in Years 1 to 8. It has 750 students, 60 of whom identify as Māori.
The school’s vision is to help children become EXPRESS learners: Engaged, Experimental, Persistent, Resourceful, Excellent, Self-Managing and Successful. It supports students to demonstrate responsibility and respect in their work and relationships.
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
A new principal began in February 2019 and since ERO’s 2015 review there have been significant staffing changes. The school has undertaken a major building programme to accommodate the roll growth.
The school belongs to Ngā Peka O Tauwharekākaho Kāhui Ako|Community of Learning.
The school is working towards achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students.
The school’s 2018 data shows that most students achieved the school’s expectations for reading, writing and mathematics. An upward trend in all three learning areas is evident, particularly in 2018. Over the last three years, student achievement in writing has been consistently lower than in reading and mathematics.
There is disparity for Māori in reading, writing and mathematics. Māori students achieve at slightly lower levels in relation to school expectations. The data also shows that some disparity exists for boys in literacy.
The school is able to show it has accelerated the progress of those Māori and other priority students who were supported through intervention programmes, in some cases significantly. It is currently not collating data at a whole-school level to show how effectively it has accelerated the progress of other students who were below expectations but not part of the target groups.
A strong professional leadership team ensures an orderly and supportive environment that is conducive to students’ learning and wellbeing. Students work in settled classrooms with well-established routines and expectations which support learning.
Teachers know their students’ strengths, interests, abilities and needs well. Their inclusive practice enables all students to access learning and take part in school life and activities. They are reflective practitioners who regularly adapt their practice and programmes in response to their students’ learning needs.
Detailed curriculum guidelines support teachers to meet school expectations and have contributed to a consistent approach. New staff are well inducted into the routines and expectations of the school.
Students experience a broad, integrated curriculum where contexts for study are influenced by students’ and teachers’ passions, interests and provocations. Through this, students engage in purposeful and challenging learning opportunities that relate to real-life contexts, issues and experiences. They work collaboratively to decide on topics of study and the process they will follow. Key competencies are a major component of the learning. Students ERO spoke with said they appreciate having a voice and choice in programme design.
There is a systematic approach across the school for identifying students who are at risk of not achieving well, and then providing them with an appropriate intervention programme and specialist teacher. Teachers, youth workers and learning assistants provide a broad spectrum of support for students who need extra help to succeed. These students have their learning and progress closely monitored and tracked. At the classroom level, individual students with identified needs are specifically planned for.
Teachers work collegially in a respectful, trusting environment. They feel safe to seek help if needed and to try new approaches. A purposeful professional learning and development programme (PLD) aligns with the strategic goals and is strongly focused on the current needs of the school.
Leadership opportunities, with courses to support, are provided for staff and students in order to grow leadership skills.
A rigorous appraisal process meets Teaching Council requirements and supports ongoing upskilling of teachers. Teachers have undertaken PLD to manage their responsibility in the appraisal process. They appreciate regular observations and feedback about their practice from their team leaders and senior leaders.
Since the 2015 ERO review, te ao Māori has been given greater prominence and value and is becoming an integral part of school life. The Ahurea management team has developed an action plan to continue to build the Māori profile within the school. There is greater use of te reo Māori at whole-school level, and a greater inclusion of Māori perspectives in some documentation is evident.
The board is strongly committed to raising student achievement, especially for those students who require extra support to succeed. To help achieve this, it has employed a specialist teacher and learning assistants.
Trustees ensured that the focus was kept on teaching and learning during a period of significant growth and overseeing the provision of new buildings, extra staffing and equipment. Because of the changes to the community and school leadership, the board and senior managers are planning to refresh the vision and values of the school in consultation with the community to consider the future direction of the school.
The leaders need to analyse more deeply the student assessment data to identify trends and patterns that may need to be addressed. This includes showing how effectively the school has accelerated the progress of all students who are at risk of not achieving well.
The process of internal evaluation could be strengthened by being more evaluative rather than descriptive. The leaders and teachers could also consider evaluating elements of teaching practice and the impact of these on students’ learning across the curriculum.
There is potential for students to know more about their learning, including their achievement, progress, goals, next steps and how to achieve these.
The school needs to continue to develop Māori perspectives so that they are fully embedded in the curriculum and culture of the school.
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:
On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Rolleston School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Well placed.
ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.
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:
Alan Wynyard
Director Review and Improvement Services Southern
Southern Region
24 May 2019
| Location | Rolleston |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 3488 |
| School type | Full primary (Years 1 to 8) |
| School roll | 750 |
| Gender composition | Boys 53%, Girls 47% |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 8% NZ European/Pākehā 79% Other ethnicities 13% |
| Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | Yes |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | April 2019 |
| Date of this report | 24 May 2019 |
| Most recent ERO reports | Education Review December 2015 Education Review November 2012 Education Review June 2009 |