Central Southland 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

Central Southland College is a co-educational Year 9 to 13 secondary school located in Winton, drawing students from across the Southland area. The school’s current roll is 682, with 20% Māori, 60% European|Pākehā, 17% Asian, and 3% Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African learners. The school has recently undertaken a comprehensive review of how well it brings to life its vision to develop students who are engaged, confident in learning, strong in relationships and connected in the community.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and 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 previous report in June 2023, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the impact of curriculum redesign and pastoral developments on improving learner engagement and achievement in learning.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Increased learner engagement in and ownership of learning through curriculum redesign.

• Year 9 to 11 semester-based learning programmes create greater learner choice and flexibility in programmes offered, leading to increased learner engagement.
• A shift from a teacher directed to a student centred learning environment results in increased student participation in and enthusiasm for learning.
• Increased involvement from whānau in their children’s learning results in a greater sense of shared responsibility between learners, whānau and the school, which is improving learner engagement.

Strengthened learner mentorship and tracking of learning progress through the development of the pastoral support system.

• The school’s whānau pastoral structure is increasing positive relationships between students and whānau teachers, benefitting learner engagement and progress.
• Leaders’ and teachers’ regular tracking of learners’ wellbeing and academic progress is increasingly effective in implementing timely interventions to assist learners to reach their potential.
• The integration of pastoral and curriculum initiatives is improving learner outcomes, with students finding greater relevance, interest and usefulness in their learning.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is a commitment to continue to broaden the pastoral, curriculum and teaching initiatives across the school, resulting in further improvements to students’ learning and wellbeing outcomes.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Most year 9 and 10 learners achieve the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) standards in literacy and mathematics in either year 10 or 11, with equitable levels of Māori achievement.
• Achievement in reading and writing for year 9 and 10 learners is improving, due to a focus on literacy across learning areas.
• A large majority Year 11 to 13 learners, including Māori, achieve NCEA at Levels 1, 2 and 3.
• Levels of attendance are behind the Ministry of Education’s national target; a small majority of learners attend regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders work collaboratively to build staff capacity, which is making an increasingly positive impact on learner wellbeing, progress and achievement.
• Leaders consult effectively with the school community and consider the implications of research findings to inform curriculum redesign and pastoral developments.
• Leaders mentor teachers in developing a range of strategies to make teaching and learning increasingly effective and engaging for their learners.

• Learners show an increasing openness to choosing a broader range of curriculum programmes offered and are taking greater responsibility for their own learning pathways as they progress through the school.
• A school-wide approach using shared effective teaching and learning strategies to develop literacy skills across learning areas is improving learner progress and achievement.
• Teachers increasingly collaborate to improve effective teaching and learning practices to improve learner engagement.
• Learner and teacher feedback about curriculum initiatives informs improvements in responsive curriculum design.

• Whānau teachers oversee learners’ progress and make increasing connections with parents and whānau to create improved academic, engagement and wellbeing outcomes for learners.
• Student and teacher feedback increasingly guides improvements to learning design, teaching strategies and the structured pastoral programme, resulting in students seeing more value in their learning.
• Pastoral developments and curriculum redesign are increasing learners’ sense of inclusion, offering greater flexibility and relevant learning opportunities for students with complex needs.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• develop literacy and mathematics learning across curriculum areas to enhance learner achievement
• increase flexibility in programme design across curriculum areas to ensure improved levels of student choice and which meet their learning interests and needs
• implement strategies to improve and sustain regular attendance.

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

Within six months:

• engage in further professional learning to embed literacy and mathematic learning across curriculum areas
• review curriculum programmes to identify and develop opportunities to increase flexibility across curriculum areas
• review the effectiveness of strategies to ensure that there are a range of supports in place to assist learners whose attendance needs to improve.

Every six months:

• review curriculum programmes to ensure that appropriate teaching practices are used to develop literacy and mathematics skills
• continue to seek learner, whānau and teacher perspectives to improve programme design and increase learner choice and engagement; use findings to inform programme development
• review data to identify trends and patterns and use findings to increase learner attendance.

Annually:

• provide evaluative reports to the board on the impact of pastoral, curriculum and teaching developments on engagement and achievement; use findings to inform strategic planning
• evaluate patterns in attendance; use this information to identify next steps which continue to increase regular rates of attendance.

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

• increased learner choice, engagement and achievement
• improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes
• improved and sustained levels of regular attendance.

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)

18 June 2025

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

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2025 to 2028

As of February 2025, the Central Southland 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

Further Information

For further information please contact Central Southland College 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.

Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools (Acting)

18 June 2025

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

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 three international students attending the school.

The school has appropriate documentation and processes to introduce and integrate international students into the school and the community. The school seeks regular feedback from international students about their school and homestay experiences. Students report that their teachers readily provide assistance within class programmes, that the international director is accessible and supportive and that they find local students friendly and helpful. International students enjoy living in Central Southland and appreciate the opportunities to explore the wider region.

Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools (Acting)

18 June 2025

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