161 Metzger Street , Georgetown, Invercargill
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.
St Patrick’s School (Invercargill) provides education for students in Years 1 to 6 and is an integrated Catholic primary. The school roll of 269, comprises of mostly New Zealand European/Pākehā students, with large numbers of Māori and Pacific learners. The mission of the school is to provide Quality Education in a Catholic Environment.
| 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 sufficient 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 needs to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning environment. |
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 large majority 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 equitable for all groups of learners. |
The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.
Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
Chronic absence is not yet 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 by 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.
Leaders are collaborative and use sound organisational processes and practices to achieve the school’s strategic goals and targets.
Leaders and staff foster a positive culture underpinned by embedded school values and driven by clear strategic planning and well targeted professional development. Data analysis guides decision making for teaching and learning to sustain ongoing improvement for students.
Staff improve teaching approaches by applying evidence-based practices, to increase learner outcomes in literacy and mathematics.
Structured literacy approaches are consistent in all areas of the school. Literacy leads provide knowledgeable guidance that builds teaching capability. The school has good systems in place to identify and provide learning support for learners at risk of not achieving.
Teachers are developing cultural knowledge and capacity to enhance their practice and approaches in the classroom, to be responsive to learners so they succeed.
Students have a broad curriculum that offers a wider range of learning opportunities and consequently strengthens reciprocal relationships between whānau and the school.
The board involves the school community in decision making, including parent and whānau aspirations to inform the strategic vison and direction of the school; a key next step for the board is to ensure all policies and procedures are up to date.
The agreed next steps for the school are to:
The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.
Within three months:
Every six months:
Annually:
Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:
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:
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ERO and the board have identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:
The board has taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.
The school has addressed the attendance policy.
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
St Patrick’s School (Invercargill) is a Years 1-6 Catholic school with a roll of 293 children.
The school is guided by the Dominican values of pono / honesty, aroha / caring and mana / being the best you can be. The school’s vision is to participate in learning-centred partnerships with whānau and the parish community. The school’s valued outcomes are for students to be confident, capable and compassionate, and have a passion for learning.
The strategic goals are clearly aligned to the school’s vision and values. These articulate the shared understanding that students will learn with enthusiasm, grow in knowledge, develop their abilities and desire to serve God. This is expressed through the curriculum by being ‘Called to Shine’.
To achieve these outcomes the school has identified the following strategic goals:
Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:
Since the ERO review in 2014, there have been changes within the school’s leadership team and the board of trustees.
The school is very effective in supporting students to achieve the school’s valued outcomes. The school is very effectively moving towards achieving equitable outcomes for all of its students.
Over the last three years the majority of students have achieved at or above the school’s expectations for reading, writing and mathematics. All of these learning areas show a positive trend of achievement over the last three years.
Over the last three years, school wide achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has improved. Current information shows that in Years 3-6, these learning areas show an upward trend of achievement over this time.
Targeted responses to accelerate students’ progress have been highly effective in reducing in-school disparity between groups of learners.
Māori student achievement levels have been slightly lower in all three areas. However, the most recent school information shows that the school is significantly reducing disparity for Māori students in writing and mathematics. There is no disparity for Māori students in reading. There are equitable and excellent outcomes for Pacific students.
Overall, current school achievement information shows that there are good levels of accelerated progress in aspects of reading, writing and mathematics for students. The school can also show that it has accelerated rates of progress and achievement levels in oral language.
The school recognises the need to increase the numbers of students working at expected levels in writing and mathematics. To achieve this the school is implementing the long-term strategies of:
Students’ progress and achievement is very closely monitored, and individual students are provided with support programmes that best suit their needs. These plans are strengths-based and designed to accelerate progress and remove barriers to learning.
Children identified with additional learning or social needs are very well supported through a range of specific individualised responses.
The school has a number of processes and practices that are highly effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence.
The school community is characterised by respect, high relational trust and shared Catholic faith and values. The mana of students and their connection to the Catholic faith is central to trustees’ and leaders’ decision making. The culture of care is well supported by teachers’ collaboration and collective responsibility.
Ongoing innovation in curriculum development and culturally responsive teacher practice align with the school’s strategic direction. This development is the school’s response to raising rates of progress and achievement for students who need tailored support to accelerate their learning, and to providing quality education in a Catholic environment for all students. The school has a culture of ongoing reflection and review that supports continuous improvement.
Trustees and leaders have made well-considered changes to the structure and organisation of the curriculum. These changes enable leaders and teachers to better support the active engagement of whānau in home-school learning partnerships. These partnerships focus on promoting progress and achievement for students in Years 1-3. Teachers and whānau meet regularly, and work together on the next steps in the child’s learning journey. These next steps complement and support what teachers are doing in the classroom.
Teachers in these junior years provide a curriculum rich in oral language opportunities. There is a clear focus on supporting students to see themselves as successful learners. This approach establishes a strong sense of belonging for students and whānau transitioning from early childhood to the school community.
School leaders and trustees are strongly committed to achieving the school’s vision and valued outcomes. This is evident through:
St Patrick’s School is strongly focused on continuous improvement. Teachers and leaders demonstrate adaptive expertise to better meet the needs of students. They critically apply new knowledge to problems to develop useful approaches and solutions. School-based assessment information shows that these approaches are being increasingly effective in enhancing children’s learning, engagement and sense of belonging. The place of Māori and Pacific culture, identity and language is strongly evident within the school.
ERO and the school agree that trustees, leaders and teachers should consider:
These developments will enable leaders and teachers to clearly identify the teaching practices that are most effective.
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:
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:
ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in four-to-five years.
Alan Wynyard
Director Review & Improvement Services Southern
17 October 2018
| Location | Invercargill |
| Ministry of Education profile number | 4020 |
| School type | Contributing primary (Years 1-6) |
| School roll | 293 |
| Gender composition | Boys: 54% Girls: 46% |
| Ethnic composition | Māori 33% Pākehā 49 % Pacific 10% Asian 8% |
| Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS) | Yes |
| Provision of Māori medium education | No |
| Review team on site | August 2018 |
| Date of this report | 17 October 2018 |
| Most recent ERO reports | Education Review: October 2014 Education Review: October 2009 |