Ellesmere College

Education institution number:
349
School type:
Secondary (Year 7-15)
School gender:
Co-Educational
Definition:
Not Applicable
Total roll:
509
Telephone:
Address:

Leeston Dunsandel Road, Leeston

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Ellesmere College

School Evaluation 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.

Context 

Ellesmere College, Te Kāreti o Waihora, is located in Leeston in the Selwyn district and provides education for students in Years 7 to 13. 

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

Part B: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings. 

Part C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the ERO report of June 2022, the school has evaluated the extent to which the reorganisation of the curriculum delivery model (AKO) led to positive outcomes for students in terms of well-being, engagement, and achievement. 

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of achievement, valued outcomes, and other indicator data to show improved student outcomes in terms of excellence and equity for all students.

  • The school continues to regularly monitor and track the achievement of students to identify and address barriers to learning.
  • Improving student achievement in literacy and numeracy for students in Years 7 to 10 remains a priority.

A local curriculum that provides a coordinated approach to teaching and learning, incorporates the changes in the national curriculum and reflects the local context.

  • The curriculum increasingly reflects local contexts in ways that students can see themselves, their identity and culture.
  • The development of the school’s effective teaching framework continues to focus on improving the consistency and effectiveness of teaching practice.

Part B: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Improvements are required across Years 7 to 11 to ensure all learners are engaged, make sufficient progress, achieve well and reduce disparity.
  • Most students achieve the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Level 2 and 3; girls achieve NCEA at a higher rate than boys in Levels 2 and 3.  
  • The majority of Year 7 and 8 students are achieving at or above the expected curriculum level in reading, writing and mathematics; less than half of Year 9 and 10 students are working within the expected curriculum level for reading, writing and mathematics.
  • Improvements are needed to address the recognised disparity for boys and Māori students across Years 7 to 11.
  • The majority of students attend school regularly; effective strategies are in place to support students and their families with regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leaders are beginning to use a range of data and information to review and know the effectiveness of teaching and learning to improve outcomes for all students. 
  • A restructure to leadership and revised roles, provides a distributed approach to leadership that supports building teaching capability.
  • Leaders are beginning to drive improvement to systems, processes, teaching and learning to promote improvement in engagement and improved achievement outcomes for learners.
Key conditions are being strengthened to promote positive outcomes for learners.   
  • Improvement is required to the structure of learning programmes across Years 7 to 11 to better prepare students for NCEA, particularly the numeracy and literacy co- requisite requirements.  
  • Students are provided with a local curriculum that is responsive to their interests and provides opportunities for choice.
The school is putting in place systems, structures, and practices to bring about success and improvement over time. 
  • The school has carried out surveys of Year 7 to 10 students about their learning and has analysed the data to identify and develop areas for improvement in teaching literacy and numeracy. 
  • The strategic plan is well developed and contains clearly defined actions aimed at improving outcomes for all students.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

  • monitor assessment information and interventions for Year 7 to 11 to ensure that systems are robust and coherent, and responses are appropriate so that all learners make sufficient progress 
  • continue to build teacher capability and practice to strengthen consistency of teaching practice and outcomes for learners
  • strengthen partnerships with whānau and the wider school community to develop and deliver a localised curriculum that is responsive to the needs of students. 

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

Within six months:

  • track assessment information for Year 7 to 11 students and target teaching responses to ensure students make sufficient progress 
  • undertake a review of the Years 7 to 11 curriculum to provide a greater focus on the consistency of teaching literacy and numeracy 
  • consult with whānau and the wider school community to strengthen their participation in the life of the school and contribute to the development of the localised curriculum

Annually:

  • continue to monitor and report student progress and achievement, attendance, and wellbeing information to inform next steps for learners, and groups of learners, and to respond to any disparity identified 
  • evaluate the expectations for high quality teaching against the teacher framework and to know the impact of initiatives and professional development
  • develop a long-term professional development plan that is responsive to teaching and learning needs and aligns with the strategic direction.

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

  • student achievement and engagement data that consistently informs next steps for teaching and learning and leads to improved student achievement in literacy and numeracy 
  • a strengthened focus on teaching, and practices that ensure high expectations for learner outcomes are met
  • positive, proactive partnerships that support developing and delivering a localised curriculum that is responsive to the needs of students and reflects the school’s connection to its community.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all three learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within 3 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

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

17 July 2024 

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

Ellesmere College

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027 

As of April 2024, the Ellesmere College 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 Ellesmere College, 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

17 July 2024 

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

Ellesmere College

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 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.

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

A range of appropriate processes and practices are in place to ensure students settle into the school easily. There are documented provisions for students to be actively involved in the life of the school and have a range of experiences within the community. 

The students who were interviewed commented positively on the availability of subject choice, pastoral support, and extracurricular activities.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

17 July 2024 

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 

Ellesmere College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Ellesmere College 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 

Ellesmere College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Leeston in Selwyn and caters for students in Years 7 to 13.

Ellesmere Colleges strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to implement:

  • a model of new pedagogies for deep learning which is individualised, connected, visible, future-focused and culturally sustaining

  • a range of strategies to track, monitor and enhance student hauora and achievement

  • new opportunities to build collaboration between the school and wider community

  • collaborative and shared decision-making structures across the school to enhance bicultural partnership obligations and responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi, and commitment to valued outcomes in the school community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate to what extent the reorganization of the curriculum delivery model (AKO) leads to positive outcomes for students in terms of well-being, engagement and excellence and equity in achievement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:  

  • review curriculum delivery in Years 7 to 9

  • explore SOLO and a deep learning approach to provide an integrated cross curricular approach to teaching and learning

  • strengthen school-wide practices for planning, delivering, assessing and reporting on progress and achievement.

The school expects to use the outcomes of the evaluation to develop a local curriculum which provides a coordinated approach to teaching and learning, incorporates the changes in the national curriculum and reflects the local context. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of achievement, valued outcomes, and other indicator data will show improved student outcomes in terms of excellence and equity for all students. 

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to review the localised curriculum and maintain a focus on achieving excellent and equitable outcomes for all students:

  • Teachers share high, clear, and equitable expectations for student learning, achievement, progress, and wellbeing.

  • Internal evaluation practices support the gathering, analysis, and use of evidence of student learning and outcomes to improve practice.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • implementing a localised curriculum which is responsive to the aspirations of students, parents, and whānau

  • using internal evaluation to support the quality, consistency, and coherence of the school’s curriculum, assessment and teacher practice across the primary and secondary school.

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

23 June 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

Ellesmere College

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2025

As of December 2021, the Ellesmere College 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 Ellesmere College Board of Trustees.

The next Board of Trustees 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.

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

23 June 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

Ellesmere College

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 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 no international students attending the school, and no exchange students.

The school has well-established processes to effectively review its provision for international students and compliance with the Code. School governance and leadership make good use of regular information on the quality of provision for student wellbeing, learning and engagement. This information is used to inform decision making, determine any actions needed and assure the board that students’ wellbeing and learning needs are being responded to appropriately.

Thorough processes and practices are in place to ensure students settle into the school easily. There are documented provisions for students to be actively involved in the life of the school and have a range of experiences within the community. Students’ wellbeing and pastoral needs are very closely monitored. Regular communication between the International School staff with students, caregivers, families, homestay coordinators and the wider school staff ensure that any identified needs are quickly addressed.

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

23 June 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