Bayfield High School

Bayfield High School

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 

Bayfield High School, located in Dunedin, continues to be an inclusive co-educational school for Years 9 to 13 students. The school’s recently reviewed vision for its learners is for all students to experience success. Bayfield is proud to have a diverse student body which includes international students from across Europe and Asia. It plays host to Te Waka Whaikaha, a dedicated Learning Support Centre which has an approach to developing individualised learning which caters for students across the academic spectrum.

The almost complete school building project has energised the school community and supported the Board’s focus on improving the learning outcomes for all students.

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 

In the past three years ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the impact on Māori and other priority learners’ achievement, engagement, and sense of belonging through the introduction of mixed ability class grouping.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Implementation of planned interventions supporting a focus on equity

  • Mixed ability classes are reflecting a more balanced distribution of students and improved academic gains across key curriculum areas.
  • Students have greater choice in their learning pathways as they progress through to the senior school.
  • Teachers have participated in professional learning and development in specific areas of teaching practice that reflect sound, culturally responsive research, and meeting students individual learning needs.
  • A whānau tutor group has been established, raising attendance for many of those students.

Equitable outcomes for Māori learners at NCEA Level 1

  • 2023 NCEA results indicate the school is yet to show an increase in equitable outcomes and this remains a key priority going forward.
  • Māori learners showed gains in value-added areas between Years 9 and 11.
  • Engagement information for Year 11 Māori learners indicates significantly more positive engagement overall.
  • Māori learners are displaying a greater sense of belonging through taking on leadership roles.

Improved retention of male learners at Year 12

  • A greater proportion of male learners are continuing their learning at the school or through recognised tertiary pathways. 

Other Findings

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that mixed ability grouping teaching practices were better understood and implemented by some teachers than others.

The greatest shifts that occurred in response to the school’s action are students’ belief in their ability to achieve and teachers’ recognition of their own efficacy as agents for change in student outcomes. 

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

The school is deliberately working towards more equitable and excellent outcomes for learners. 
  • The greater majority students achieve NCEA at their respective year level. There is increased achievement for male students in Years 11 and 13, and for all Year 13 students in NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance.
  • The disparity in NCEA achievement is reducing for Māori learners in relation to their non-Māori peers.
  • Most students in Years 9 and 10 achieved curriculum expectations for numeracy/number and reading at the end of 2023.
  • The greater majority of learners with additional needs achieve their goals as set out in their individualised education plans.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership strategically organises school conditions so that they align well with current New Zealand education research findings. 
  • Leadership is deliberately building a culture committed to quality teaching which reflects practices that cater well for students in mixed ability classrooms.
  • Leadership is evaluating the school curriculum to ensure it is best meeting student needs and aligns well with current educational requirements.
  • Leadership roles have been expanded and extended through the staff to better progress school priorities.
Curriculum design and implementation is adapted and strengthened to continue responding to how and when students best learn, within changing environments
  • Teachers are strengthening teaching strategies and practices to continue to promote greater equity. 
  • Students following vocational pathways, and students with additional needs, have sufficient opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the New Zealand Curriculum. 
  • The school is yet to embed consistent mixed ability grouping teaching practices across the curriculum.
The school is improvement focused with widened communication and consultation around its strategic direction.
  • The school is extending meaningful, educationally significant partnerships to enhance outcomes for learners. 
  • The school is continuing to strengthen professional capability and collective capacity to improve learner outcomes with a specific focus on equity. Learners with diverse learning requirements continue to be a priority.
  • Internal evaluation processes and practices are being strengthened with a more deliberate focus on data and information which can inform decision-making.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

  • embed adaptive teaching practices to achieve more consistency across the school in meeting the needs of all learners, and continuing to reduce the disparity for Māori
  • evaluate the school’s curriculum in a way that considers current national curriculum priorities and changes
  • continue to strengthen partnerships with whānau, hapu and iwi and provision for Māori learners in all aspects of their schooling
  • continue to collaborate with the local cluster of schools to agree on learning priorities that support successful transition into and out or the school. 

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

Within six months:

  • Re-establish leadership to support Māori whānau and student learning partnerships and provision.
  • Embed the mixed ability year 9 class structure for all year 9 students.

Every six months:

  • Systematically plan and continue to build staff professional practice across high impact teaching and learning practices.

Annually:

  • Review and evaluate the school-wide curriculum, and mixed ability grouping teaching practices, to identify priorities for change and implementation.
  • Strengthening evaluation understanding and practices across the school.
  • Reviewing specific provision and outcomes for Māori students, including for those in the whānau class in 2024.

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

  • improved equity and excellence for learners
  • learners’ needs being responded to through adaptive teaching practices being used consistently across the school 
  • a school curriculum that is responsive the aspirations of all key stakeholders, including learners, whānau, hapū and iwi through an explicit, sequenced school-wide schema
  • Māori learners and their whānau feeling their identity and culture are valued and nurtured by the school.

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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

30 April 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

Bayfield High School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027 

As of February 2024, the Bayfield High School 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

Actions for Compliance

The board should ensure that future delegations in relation to Education Outside the Classroom are followed as set out in its delegations.

The board has since taken steps to address this area of non-compliance.

Further Information

For further information please contact Bayfield High 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

30 April 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

Bayfield High School

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

Bayfield High 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. 

The school’s review against the Code is methodical and collaboratively completed.

At the time of this review there were 20 international students attending the school, including 10 exchange students throughout this year. All international students live in homestay accommodation. International student numbers were reduced during the Covid pandemic.

There has been significant change in the international student department. A new director and homestay coordinator took up their roles in 2023. During this time continuity and stability have been provided through English Language Learning (ELL) personnel. New systems to manage and monitor provision for international students are being adopted and used. 

The school is responsive to the learning and ELL needs of international students. Students’ class timetables have been personalised to best provide for their learning needs and interests. Staff support students to actively participate in the wider life of the school and local sports teams. 

International students spoken with were positive about their experiences, including pastoral care, at the school. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

30 April 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 

Bayfield High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Bayfield High School 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 

Bayfield High School is an inclusive co-educational school catering for Year 9 – 13 students. The school caters mainly for young people from Otago Peninsula, Waverley, Anderson’s Bay and South Dunedin areas but in recent years there have been enrolments from all over Dunedin City and the wider region.

In recent years, a new principal, renewed leadership structure and substantial building redevelopment programme has energised the school community and supported the Board’s focus on improving the learning outcomes for all students.

Bayfield is proud to have a diverse student body. It plays host to a dedicated Learning Support Unit and has an approach to developing individualised learning which caters for students across the academic spectrum.

Bayfield High School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

  • improve achievement outcomes for all students, particularly Māori, Pasifika, and priority learners

  • increase student attendance and engagement in school

  • provide appropriate pathways for learning for all students.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Bayfield High School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact on Māori and other priority learners’ achievement, engagement, and sense of belonging through the introduction of mixed ability class grouping.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the need to:

  • improve equity and excellence through differentiated teaching and learning

  • ensure selected assessment tools provide coherent learning and achievement information for useful and used internal evaluation 

  • ensure the local curriculum provides aspirational pathways for each student 

  • have students experience a sense of belonging within school and community

  • understand and enact whānau aspirations for their children, in partnership. 

The school expects to see its planned interventions result in an increase in equitable outcomes for Māori learners at NCEA Level 1 and improved retention of male learners at Year 12.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the impact on Māori and other priority learners’ achievement and sense of belonging through mixed ability grouping:

  • more effective use of assessment information and analysis to inform targeted support and resourcing for those learners who need this

  • proactively refining and strengthening practices that promote learner wellbeing, including active use of the school’s Cultural Narrative to support student belonging

  • the collaboration of Te Tūruapō ō te Kura Tuarua ō Bayfield in supporting whānau and the school to know and meet their aspirations for Māori learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • developing teacher capability in culturally responsive practices to promote greater equity in learner outcomes

  • strengthening the responsiveness of the localised curriculum to meet the differentiated needs of each learner.

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

25 July 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

This school has governance oversight of the London House Activity Centre.

Bayfield High School

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2021 to 2024

As of September 2021, the Bayfield High School 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 Bayfield High School Board of Trustees.

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

18 February 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

Bayfield High School

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 and has completed an annual self-review of its implementation of the Code. At the time of this review there were six international students attending the school, and no exchange students.

The strong and highly valued international programme has been adversely affected by the pandemic. The school is preparing to implement its strategy to welcome more international students in the future. 

Experienced personnel manage the international programme. This is well monitored by leadership and the board. Effective self-review of all aspects of the programme leads to continual improvement. The school knows about and responds to each individual's wellbeing and learning needs, and most students achieve their expected learning outcomes.

Students say they feel they belong as part of the school and community, and that teachers and support staff know them well and care about their progress and wellbeing. Students engage in a full range of opportunities available at the school and the community, including academic, social, and cultural experiences.

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

25 July 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

Bayfield High School - 22/12/2016

Findings

Bayfield High School provides well for its students in a caring, settled and inclusive environment. Its curriculum is very responsive to students’ needs and abilities. Improved student engagement and achievement can be seen throughout the school. The board, leaders and other staff are focused on achieving the best outcomes for all students.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

1 Context

What are the important features of this school that have an impact on student learning?

Bayfield High School is a Years 9 to 13 coeducational secondary school. There has been a recent increase in the school roll. The school hosts over 50 international students.

There is a very inclusive and caring school culture. Students ERO spoke with were positive about their school and the approachability of their teachers. Teachers have participated in school-wide professional development (PLD) for several years, to grow a positive culture for learning and behaviour. This has brought to the fore the school’s RISE values of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence.

There have been some significant staffing changes since 2013, including the appointment of two new assistant principals. Several property upgrades have occurred. This includes the creation of two senior-student common rooms, a music/performing arts suite and improved access for students with disabilities.

The school has made good progress since the last ERO review in 2013 in addressing areas for review and development and other school priorities.

2 Learning

How well does this school use achievement information to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement?

This school is using achievement information well to make positive changes to learners’ engagement, progress and achievement.

Since the last ERO review, the school has changed its student-management system. Staff members are using this well to share and track student-achievement, engagement and career-profile information. Teachers effectively use students’ academic, pastoral and engagement data to identify and target priority learners. They are making very good use of this information to provide specific programmes and support for these learners. Students’ learning information is being more frequently and regularly shared with parents.

Senior student National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) data shows a trend of increasing proportions of students gaining Levels 1, 2 and 3 and University Entrance. This is particularly apparent for students in Years 12 and 13.

The school’s achievement information shows that, in 2015:

  • the majority of students in Year 9 were achieving at or above the school’s expectations in science, technology, mathematics and reading
  • for students in Year 10, a smaller proportion were achieving at the school’s expectations for reading and numeracy
  • one third of students in Year 9, who were targeted to make accelerated progress in reading, did so
  • approximately 50 senior students have gained Vocational Pathways awards in each of the past three years
  • some senior students are gaining academic scholarships.

Leaders and teachers are using student achievement information well to identify areas of common need for groups or year levels of students. Some departments are beginning to use achievement information (specific to that learning area) to scrutinise student progress over time. There are some useful examples of departments analysing data.

Next steps

Leaders and teachers should:

  • continue to use data to show the progress students are making over time, especially for students in Years 9 and 10 and priority learners, to evaluate sufficiency of progress and effectiveness of planned actions
  • extend the analysis and reporting of achievement for some groups of students, for example Māori, gender and other identified groups.

There is potential to share more learning information with students, particularly in junior literacy.

3 Curriculum

How effectively does this school’s curriculum promote and support student learning?

The school’s curriculum effectively promotes and supports students’ learning.

Leaders and teachers frequently create and adapt programmes to address identified individual and group needs. Recent useful initiatives include:

  • the Years 9 and 10 Junior Diploma that has led to higher levels of student participation and engagement, and broadening of learning experiences
  • greater cross-department responsibility for teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy
  • a stronger focus on providing learning that is relevant to students’ lives and builds on their previous knowledge
  • greater use of the local environment, resources and history
  • the revision of a progressive (Years 9 to 13) career-education curriculum and use of vocational pathways tools. 

Particular groups of students are very well supported in their learning. For example:

  • students with high needs are very well integrated into school life and benefit from individualised-learning programmes
  • international students are well supported in their learning and almost all longer-term international students gain University Entrance
  • students who struggle with literacy are supported pastorally and academically so that they can equitably access learning appropriate to their year level.

Leaders and teaching staff work collaboratively to best meet the needs of all students. This includes sharing information about students’ strengths, interests and needs, and appropriate resources and teaching strategies. As a result, students feel well supported, know how they can improve and are developing skills and dispositions to become life-long learners. Throughout the school, the learning environment is settled, enabling staff and students to focus on teaching and learning.

Department and senior leaders manage curriculum provision well. This includes building coherence within and between curriculum areas, and ensuring that students have sufficient opportunity to learn. They encourage staff to reflect on, adapt and improve their teaching strategies and programmes.

How effectively does the school promote educational success for Māori, as Māori?

The school’s curriculum ensures Māori students experience aspects of their identity, language and culture in school life and learning. The school continues to place a strong emphasis on Māori succeeding as Māori. The proportion of Māori students on the school roll has increased to 12%.

Māori students appreciate the opportunities they have to learn through Māori contexts in many learning areas. All students can learn te reo and tikanga Māori from Year 9 to Year 13. A growing number of school events and protocols are including Māori content or influence. This includes students participating in mihi whakatau, waiata and haka.

School leaders are building meaningful relationships with their whānau Māori and local iwi. The school values the haka the local runaka gifted to the school which explains the school’s place in the area and the school's RISE values.

The board sets meaningful annual goals to increase the recognition, place and achievement levels of Māori in the school.

Teaching staff are increasing their awareness and knowledge of te ao Māori, including cultural competencies as set out in Tātaiako. These competencies have been appropriately included in the school’s performance-management expectations. This inclusion will support teachers and leaders to continue to grow their knowledge of and confidence with cultural competencies. 

4 Sustainable Performance

How well placed is the school to sustain and improve its performance?

The school is well placed to sustain and improve its performance. Trustees, school leaders and teachers work within a culture of reflection and improvement. They want to continue to improve the overall school curriculum and systems to provide better outcomes for students. The board:

  • has developed a useful manual to guide its operations
  • is well informed and supported by the principal and other senior leaders.

The board has refined its charter, including targets, to make it more relevant and useful. ERO agrees with the board that trustees continue with this refinement.

School leadership is building relational trust and effective collaboration at all levels of the school. Staff members feel well supported in their various roles and responsibilities. School morale has improved. The principal is building potentially useful, educationally focused relationships with other educational institutions and forums.

School leaders have taken a strategic approach to raise NCEA achievement levels, and student engagement in Years 9 and 10. This includes coherent goals from the school charter through to department and individual goals, and related professional learning and development.

The senior leadership team is implementing robust processes to build and enhance teaching practices. These include:

  • an improved appraisal system
  • departmental reporting that focuses on what is working well and what needs to change to improve outcomes for students
  • increased focus on the use of analysed student-learning information to guide and evaluate teaching and learning
  • shared expectations for school-wide behaviour and the management of behaviour.
Next steps

Trustees and school leaders should extend their inquiry and internal-evaluation practices. This includes:

  • more deliberate and systematic processes and reasoning with a continued focus on positive outcomes for learners
  • developing a framework for evaluation that contains such things as key questions, principles and stages to guide practice.

Provision for international students

The Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) was introduced on 1 July 2016. The school is aware of the need to update its policies and procedures to meet the new code requirements.

At the time of this review there were 54 international students attending the school.

The school has begun to align its policies and procedures to meet requirements for the 2016 Code.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees 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:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

Conclusion

Bayfield High School provides well for its students in a caring, settled and inclusive environment. Its curriculum is very responsive to students’ needs and abilities. Improved student engagement and achievement can be seen throughout the school. The board, leaders and other staff are focused on achieving the best outcomes for all students.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years. 

Dr Lesley Patterson

Deputy Chief Review Officer Te Waipounamu Southern

22 December 2016

About the School 

Location

Dunedin

Ministry of Education profile number

382

School type

Secondary (Years 9 to 13)

School roll

533

Number of international students

54

Gender composition

Girls: 56% Boys: 44%

Ethnic composition

Māori

Pākehā

Pacific

Asian

Other

11%

73%

1%

13%

2%

Special Features

Administrative responsibility for London House Activity Centre and Dunedin/North Otago Alternative Education

Review team on site

September 2016

Date of this report

22 December 2016

Most recent ERO reports

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

February 2013

August 2009

December 2005