St Mark's School (Christchurch)

St Mark's School (Christchurch)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twenty months of the Education Review Office and St Mark’s School (Christchurch) 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 

St Mark’s School is a special character Anglican primary school for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s mission is to transform lives through the St Mark’s story. The school is located in Ōpawa, Christchurch and is a member of Te Mana Raupō Kāhui Ako

St Mark’s School (Christchurch)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are through:

  • the Anglican character, so that every student knows and understands the Gospel and outworks their living faith
  • developing future focused thinkers and learners through ako and collaboration in the pursuit of equity and excellence, to identify and grow every student’s God given gifts and talents 
  • students making a difference in the community through service and leadership.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Mark’s School (Christchurch)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impacts of changes to the school’s curriculum and teaching practices on outcomes for students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

  • strategic and annual goals highlight an opportunity to further enhance curriculum and grow a common practice model, showing progressive learning from Years 1 to 8
  • associated professional conversations for teachers focus on exploring effective pedagogies to promote greater student voice and self-assessment and reflection skills
  • the school’s analysis of data shows that a significant number of students are at or above age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics
  • evidence from the school’s data and research indicates that embedding highly effective literacy strategies will impact all students.

The school expects to see a collaboratively developed, robust, responsive and personalised curriculum that expresses best practice. Students will experience equity and excellence in achievement outcomes. The curriculum will provide guiding exemplars and articulate a progression of teaching and learning expectations from Years 1 – 8. Students’ agency will be purposefully promoted. Teachers will collaborate to discuss the impact of their practices and be adaptive, supporting continued high levels of success.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to implement changes to the school’s curriculum and teaching practices:

  • the established Anglican five Marks of Mission espousing tell, teach, tend, transform and treasure are the foundation for all aspects of teaching and learning
  • a leadership approach that collaboratively grows the school’s culture, vision and lived values and promotes a focus on improvement
  • committed and professional teaching teams, who are valued for their expertise, are open to discussing, innovating and growing quality practices.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

  • the board consulting with its community for strategic planning purposes, to reconnect to the common vision as the driver that guides the curriculum and teaching practices as they develop
  • identifying, and mobilising high impact strategies through teacher efficacy
  • exploring, creating and further growing and embedding Habits of Mind
  • co-construction of a literacy framework.

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. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools 

11 December 2023 

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

St Mark's School (Christchurch)

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2022 to 2025

As of September 2022, the St Mark’s School (Christchurch) 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 St Mark’s School (Christchurch), 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 

11 December 2023 

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

St Mark's School (Christchurch) - 20/09/2018

School Context

St Mark’s School (Christchurch) is a state integrated Anglican full primary school. A new principal was appointed in April 2016. There have been significant changes in staffing and leadership since the 2016 ERO review. The school has a roll of 241. It is governed by the board of trustees and proprietors representatives.

The school’s vision is for a partnership with parents which encourages every child to develop the skills and knowledge to serve God and others in an ever-changing world. The foundations for achieving this vision are the character values of grace, excellence, courage and faithfulness. The school has aligned its special character ethos and values with a commitment to excellent learning outcomes for children. Meaningful bicultural practices acknowledge key Māori values and a commitment to language, culture and identity.

The school community is becoming more ethnically diverse. The relationship between the school and the local parish community is purposeful. The school is part of Te Mana Raupō Kāhui Ako | Community of Learning.

The school has made good progress in areas identified for improvement in the 2016 ERO report, including strengthening management processes that support children’s learning progress and achievement.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • progress and achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
  • progress and outcomes in relation to key initiatives such as Habits of Mind dispositional learning
  • progress and achievement in relation to school targets for reading, writing and mathematics
  • outcomes for students with special and/or additional learning needs, including gifted and talented students.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The school is effectively supporting most students to achieve the school’s valued equity and excellence outcomes.

School information over the last four years shows that:

  • most students, including Māori students, achieved at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics
  • there is some disparity between boys’ and girls’ achievement in reading, and significant disparity in writing, with girls achieving higher.

The school has high expectations that every child will achieve success.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

The school is reasonably effective in responding to those students whose learning needs acceleration. The school’s current strategic focus is on improving achievement in writing to successfully accelerate progress for some targeted students, including Māori students.

School information in 2017 and 2018 shows that the school has had some success with accelerating the progress of those students in reading whose learning needed to be accelerated.

Children with additional learning needs are well supported to make progress.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

Leadership-inspired relational trust and collaboration, within the school and with parents, has led to significant and positive changes for children. Respectful relationships are actively fostered with parents/whānau and the parish community. Teachers take collective responsibility for all children’s learning and wellbeing. Leaders, teachers and families effectively model the highly-valued special character and ethos of the school to children, and live the shared values within the school.

Children benefit from an inclusive school culture that values their language, culture and identity. Māori students are successfully identified, tracked and reported on as a priority group. The school’s cultural narrative, culturally responsive practices and commitment to te ao Māori align with the faith-based values and ensure that children are at the centre of decision making and actions.

School leaders provide a strategic framework for further strengthening the professional capability of teachers. Professional learning and leadership opportunities are focused on school improvement. Effective teaching strategies and programmes engage children in learning and support their wellbeing. A responsive, flexible and reflective curriculum is providing children with learning choices and strategies for problem solving, deeper levels of thinking, and the development of persistence and resilience.

School leaders are establishing robust professional inquiry and review processes to improve outcomes for children. Systematic processes have been established to promote a reflective school culture. Teachers are now able to monitor, discuss and report student progress and achievement with confidence.

The school board is informed about children’s progress and actively represents and serves the school in its stewardship role. Useful systems and processes are guiding its practices, and informed resourcing decisions are supporting outcomes for all children.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

School leaders have identified, and ERO agrees, that the school needs to:

  • continue to consolidate and embed inquiry and evaluation processes, focusing on the impact of these on outcomes for children
  • continue to consolidate and embed appraisal, attestation and teaching as inquiry processes
  • review, evaluate and report the impact of specialised programmes and resourcing on outcomes for children
  • continue the redesign and adoption of the curriculum
  • collaboratively develop the new strategic plan with priorities that reflect future school goals and objectives.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

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:

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

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

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration and certification
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
  • attendance
  • school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

  • partnerships with parents and the local Anglican parish that strengthen children’s character values and wellbeing
  • a collaborative and inclusive school culture that builds relational trust and places children at the centre of thinking and action
  • achieving outcomes for children that generally show expected or better than expected levels of achievement for most children.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • consolidating inquiry and evaluation processes to support ongoing equity and excellence
  • further strengthening and refining the curriculum to meet learner needs and aspirations
  • preparing the new strategic plan to establish ongoing priorities for continuous improvement.

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

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

Alan Wynyard

Director Review & Improvement Services

Te Waipounamu - Southern Region

20 September 2018

About the school

Location(Christchurch
Ministry of Education profile number4135
School typeFull state integrated Anglican
School roll241
Gender compositionBoys 53%: Girls 47%
Ethnic composition

Māori 5%

Pākehā 88%

Asian 6%

Other ethnicities 1%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)Yes
Provision of Māori medium educationNo
Review team on siteAugust 2018
Date of this report20 September 2018
Most recent ERO reports

Education Review February 2016

Education Review November 2010

Education Review October 2007

St Mark's School (Christchurch) - 10/02/2016

Findings

St Mark’s School (Christchurch) is a state integrated Anglican school providing education for students from Years 1 to 8. Most students achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. The broad curriculum offers students an extensive range of positive learning experiences.

There is a commissioner and acting principal leading improvements to the governance and management of the school. This intervention will continue in 2016.

ERO intends to carry out another review over the course of one-to-two years.

1 Context

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

St Mark's School (Christchurch) offers education for students from Years 1 to 8. It is the only integrated Anglican Primary School in the South Island. A commissioner and acting principal were appointed in early 2015 due to difficulties the school was facing with leadership and governance. The school is well supported by the board of proprietors and the Anglican Church.

Students are proud of the school, its history and traditions and the strong focus on family values.

Relationships between the school and the community have been greatly enhanced by the open communication provided by the commissioner, acting principal and staff. The special character review has contributed to the positive way everyone is working together. Strengthened links between the school, the parish and the Anglican Church are contributing to the sense of forward movement.

The mix of long-serving and new staff enables the acting principal to use the strengths and skills of individual teachers to benefit outcomes for students.

The rebuild of key buildings in the school began in Term 4, 2015. Children, staff and parents are being prepared for the changes in curriculum and teaching approaches that will make best use of the new learning spaces.

At the time of the review, the commissioner was involved in the appointment of a principal and the election of a new board of trustees in 2016. She is well supported by the acting principal and the board of proprietors as she undertakes these important tasks.

2 Learning

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

Most students are achieving well in reading, writing and mathematics in relation to the National Standards.

Teachers make good use of achievement information to identify students with learning needs, particularly those students at risk of not achieving. Parents and teachers contribute to decisions made about suitable programmes that will help students progress and achieve. Teachers value the professional advice and guidance of external advisers. They appreciate the professional discussions about engaging the more challenging students and identifying effective strategies to improve student learning.

Parents are well informed about their children’s involvement in support programmes. Open communication is maintained so parents know what impact the programme has had, and how they can support their child’s learning at home.

The school has effective systems and programmes that help students learn and progress. These include buddy support for students and grouping students with similar needs. The celebration of student achievement at daily assemblies further promotes students’ belief in their ability to experience success with their learning.

Areas for review and development

While student achievement in general is good, there is a concern about the number of students who are achieving below and well below the national standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

ERO has identified, and the school agrees, the key next steps for the teachers and leaders to ensure positive outcomes for these students are:

  • identifying and developing meaningful targets that focus on accelerating progress
  • regularly tracking, recording and reporting progress to staff, parents and the board
  • building and maintaining learning partnerships with parents
  • making better use of students' achievement data to inform board decisions about providing extra support.

3 Curriculum

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

The current school curriculum supports the school’s focus on educating the whole child. The vision, values and emphasis on quality learning and teaching are central to the intent of the curriculum, and the school and community’s high expectations for learning and achievement.

The acting principal and staff have begun updating the curriculum to ensure that it better reflects the school’s new approach to teaching and learning.

Positive and respectful relationships between students and with adults are evident in the school. Students have a wide range of leadership opportunities. Student opinion is sought and well used by teachers and management to make decisions about curriculum.

Students are positive about the range of learning experiences they have and the opportunities they are given to extend their learning, interests and abilities. They are taking increased responsibility for their learning and have a better idea about identifying their next steps.

Teachers provide a range of programmes that extend students’ needs and interests. Students are well supported by the learning support staff and specialist teachers in music and science.

Areas for review and development

The principal and teachers are currently updating the school’s curriculum. In order to strengthen the quality of this document, the following aspects should be included:

  • ways in which the special Christian character of the school underpins the learning programmes
  • a stronger focus on incorporating bicultural aspects across the full curriculum.

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

The use of Ngāi Tahu expertise and the delegation of responsibility to a staff member for supporting the development of a shared understanding about success as Māori in the school is a positive development.

Teachers know the students and their whānau well. The bicultural content within the school’s religious programme is a natural way for all students to use te reo and tikanga Māori in meaningful situations.

4 Sustainable Performance

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

The commissioner, the acting principal and the board of proprietors are confident that positive and respectful relationships and communication with parents and the community have been re-established. Generally feedback to them indicates that most parents are positive about the future direction of the school.

The commissioner is working on a number of key tasks to restore the school’s management and governance structure.

The acting principal and senior leaders are working with staff to establish a curriculum and learning programme linked to the future focus of the school.

The commissioner and acting principal are working on the school’s health and safety policies and procedures.

Areas for review and development

The commissioner and the acting principal have identified, and ERO agrees, the next steps to support the governance and management of the school include:

  • the development of strategic and annual plans linked to the vision, values and special character of the school
  • maintaining a focus on building purposeful relationships with parents.

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

St Mark’s School (Christchurch) is a state integrated Anglican school providing education for students from Years 1 to 8. Most students achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. The broad curriculum offers students an extensive range of positive learning experiences.

There is a commissioner and acting principal leading improvements to the governance and management of the school. This intervention will continue in 2016.

ERO intends to carry out another review over the course of one-to-two years.

Chris Rowe

Deputy Chief Review Officer Southern (Acting)

10 February 2016

School Statistics

LocationChristchurch 
Ministry of Education profile number4135 
School typeFull Primary (Years 1 to 8) 
School roll206 
Gender compositionGirls 55%; Boys 45% 
Ethnic composition

Pākehā

Māori

Asian

Other ethnicities

93%

2%

4%

1%

Review team on siteDecember 2015 
Date of this report10 February 2016 
Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review

Education Review

Education Review

November 2010

October 2007

December 2004