St Dominic's Catholic College (Henderson)

Education institution number:
47
School type:
Secondary (Year 7-15)
School gender:
Girls School
Total roll:
791
Telephone:
Address:

29 Rathgar Road , Henderson, Auckland

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St Dominic's Catholic College (Henderson)

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 

St Dominic’s Catholic College (Henderson) in West Auckland is a special character school, formed within the Dominican tradition. The multicultural school provides education for girls in Years 7 to 13. The College’s Veritas in Action Positive Behaviour Curriculum sets expectations for respectful behaviour and learning for its community.

There are two parts to this report.

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

Part A: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

Most students are engaged, make good progress and achieve very well, with increasing equity between groups of learners.
  • Achievement data patterns show that most students achieve at National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 1 to 3; in-school disparity for Pacific Learners is evident.
  • The majority of Year 13 students achieve University Entrance; leaders have identified improving NCEA achievement with endorsements as an area of future focus.
  • The majority of students in Years 7 to 10 are achieving at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics.
  • The majority of students attend school regularly; the school has not yet met the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance and improving student attendance is a priority for school leaders.

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic and effective leadership drives improvement to teaching, learning, systems and processes that foster high expectations for learner outcomes.
  • School leaders set and implement clear systems that promote the special character and contribute to the positive school culture.
  • Leaders and teachers engage in high quality internal evaluation for improving teaching; they maintain a strong focus on balancing high expectations with students’ wellbeing for learning.
  • Staff value and use student achievement and wellbeing information to inform decision making; almost all students experience a strong sense of belonging and inclusion in a positive, responsive and empowering environment.
The school continues to strengthen teaching and learning practices to ensure students experience meaningful learning opportunities.
  • Students experience a range of meaningful learning experiences within a calm and orderly environment that promotes high levels of engagement.
  • Students consistently receive relevant and timely information and feedback that supports progress and achievement with excellence.
  • Teachers continue to build their collective capability and capacity to respond to students’ languages, cultures and identities through the localised curriculum.
The school has well-aligned systems, structures and practices that continue to support success and improvement over time.
  • Leaders and teachers consistently embed and model school values through Veritas in Action to provide an inclusive and supportive environment.
  • Systematic tracking and monitoring of student progress informs a targeted approach that accelerates progress for priority learner; further improvements to data management systems and processes are underway to increase efficiency and timeliness of interventions.
  • School leaders continue to strengthen authentic partnerships with whānau, hapū and iwi to support development of the localised curriculum.
  • The board reflects the community and are focused on holistic excellent and equitable outcomes for learners within a culture of care; the board are currently reviewing all policies and implementing a more robust review cycle to ensure alignment to school practices.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

  • continue to prioritise strategies to increase rates of regular student attendance
  • build on established systems for collecting student voice to contribute to curriculum development and identify teaching and learning practices that support equity and excellence, especially for Pacific and other priority learner groups
  • investigate the experience of students who have English is an additional language, to improve consistency of teaching and their sense of belonging and inclusion
  • continue to build genuine partnerships and reciprocal relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi to support local curriculum development.

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

Every six months:

  • incorporate opportunities for students to share their experiences about teaching and learning into existing review and evaluation systems to inform improvement priorities
  • monitor progress, achievement, wellbeing and attendance information against improvement goals to ensure successful outcomes for all learners, with a lens on priority learner groups
  • engage in meaningful connections with whānau, hapū and iwi as part of existing review and evaluation systems to inform priority actions.

Annually:

  • continue to evaluate and report to the board on progress, achievement, wellbeing and attendance information against improvement goals
  • evaluate impact of the localised curriculum on improving outcomes for all learners, with a focus on priority learner groups
  • implement a regular and robust policy review cycle as part of the school’s continuous improvement journey.

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

  • all students attend regularly and consistently experience a learning environment where their learning needs are valued and catered for
  • an established authentic localised curriculum, informed by partnerships with whānau, hapū and iwi, embedded across all learning areas
  • school practices aligned to policies and procedures that are transparent, meet legislative requirements and are reviewed regularly.

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

10 December 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

St Dominic's Catholic College (Henderson)

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements Report 2024 to 2027

As of June 2024, the St Dominic’s Catholic College (Henderson) Board has attested to the following regulatory and legislative requirements:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yet to confirm

Finance

Yes

Assets

Yes

Actions for Compliance

The board has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

  • Obtain a Police vetting every three years of every contractor or their employee who still works at the school.
    [Section 104 of the Children’s Act 2014: Safety checks of children’s workers; Regulations 5 – 8 of the Children’s (Requirements for Safety Checks of Children’s Workers) Regulations 2015]
  • Develop a policy on reducing student distress and the use of physical restraint that has regard to the guidelines issued by the Secretary under section 101 of the Education and Training Act 2020, including a process for managing complaints. 
    [Sections 99 – 101 of the Education and Training 2020; Education (Physical Restraint) Rules 2023]

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Further Information

For further information please contact St Dominic’s Catholic College (Henderson) 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

10 December 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

St Dominic's Catholic College (Henderson) 

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 Internation 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 25 international students attending the school.

St. Dominic’s Catholic College has effective processes for reviewing its provision of pastoral care for international learners, including established systems for collecting and responding to stakeholder voice. The school values the diversity international leaners bring to their community.

The International Student Department is well staffed and works collaboratively with other key departments in the school to support the academic, pastoral and additional language acquisition needs of international learners. 

International students have the opportunity to participate in leadership, cultural and sporting experiences outside the classroom.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

10 December 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 

St Dominic's Catholic College (Henderson)

School Context

St Dominic’s Catholic College (Henderson) caters for young women in Years 7 - 13. Of the 880 students currently enrolled at the school, eight percent are Māori and 24 percent have Pacific heritages. The roll also includes smaller groups from a variety of other ethnic backgrounds.

The school is guided by the Catholic Dominican Charism, the cornerstone for learning at St Dominic’s and basis for student wellbeing. The school’s key values (Veritas in Action) are “respecting God, respecting myself, respecting others and respecting the environment”. These values underpin the school’s mission to “create confident, resilient and connected young women who contribute positively to society”.

Since the 2014 ERO review the school has appointed a new principal and has expanded the senior leadership team.

The board’s strategic goals focus on:

  • strengthening the Catholic and Dominican character of the school
  • raising the engagement and achievement of all students
  • building relationships within the community
  • further developing a culturally responsive learning environment.

The school sets high targets for achievement in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) for Māori and Pacific students. Goals for all students are set in relation to NCEA merit and excellence endorsements. Goals also target achievement in literacy and numeracy for Years 7 - 10 students.

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

  • achievement within the New Zealand Qualifications Framework
  • achievement in reading, writing and mathematics for Years 7 - 10
  • student engagement with the special character of the school
  • progress in relation to the school’s strategic goals
  • wellbeing for success.

The school is part of the Waitakere Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako (CoL). It is committed to working with the CoL to raise achievement in the Waitakere area through a culturally responsive curriculum and teaching practices.

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 effective in achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for students. High levels of retention through to the senior school support students’ success in learning.

NCEA data show that high levels of achievement in numeracy and literacy have been sustained over time. Most students gain NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3. Achievement in University Entrance (UE) has remained high. The numbers of excellence endorsements in NCEA Levels 1 and 2 have increased steadily over the last four years.

The school is successfully achieving parity for Māori students. The school acknowledges some disparity for Pacific students across year groups.

Students in Years 7 - 10 achieve well in literacy and numeracy. Longitudinal tracking shows the school is accelerating students’ progress and increasing equity for most students over their time at the school. The strong focus on raising achievement in writing is increasing parity for Pacific students in writing.

Other valued outcomes are highly evident in the ways that students:

  • are inclusive, respectful, supportive and accepting of others
  • build sound learning relationships with each other and their teachers
  • take leadership roles and opportunities
  • value connections to their faith and community
  • follow meaningful pathways for the future and increasingly access tertiary level courses.

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

The school responds effectively to those students whose learning needs acceleration.

Disparity for Pacific students is being systematically addressed with targeted strategies to improve learning outcomes. Strategies include student leadership initiatives, academic coaching, culturally responsive practices and targeted careers support.

School information shows that most students whose learning needs acceleration make good progress or accelerated progress over a four-year period in the junior school and go on to achieve NCEA qualifications at Level 2 or above.

Key aspects of acceleration strategies include:

  • early identification
  • specific targeted learning support
  • monitoring student progress within and across years
  • academic coaching.

Learning support for students with additional needs is well coordinated. There is effective liaison between classroom teachers, deans and specialist agencies. The school’s learning culture helps all students participate in a breadth of learning experiences.

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?

The board of trustees and leaders have a focus on and commitment to student wellbeing and equitable outcomes for all learners.

Students benefit from a well-established, faith focused, highly inclusive school culture. Respectful and affirming relationships between teachers and students are highly evident. Leadership initiatives enable students to develop a strong sense of self and ownership in the school that reflect the school’s special character. This culture values hauora and provides a solid foundation for motivating learners to participate, contribute and progress.

Leaders’ strategic and coherent approaches build teachers’ individual capability and increase the school’s collective professional capacity. Leaders and teachers promote shared understandings, high expectations, and a professional learning culture. Leaders foster relational trust and collaboration at every level of the school community. They actively seek community and student input and respond appropriately to suggestions for improvement. They develop and pursue the school’s vision, goals and targets to accelerate students’ progress and promote their wellbeing. Their professional leadership supports a well-considered process of change management.

Leaders actively foster leadership development within the school and across the CoL. Continual improvement is evident through collaborative inquiry into teaching practice and regular internal evaluation. Evaluation informs professional development and targeted initiatives that support opportunities for increasing engagement and improving achievement for learners.

Teachers and leaders have a strong commitment to, and a good understanding of, culturally responsive teaching and learning practices. Ongoing targeted professional learning is well aligned with the strategic direction, of the school and the CoL.

Students learn through a broad curriculum that is inclusive and increasingly responsive to their individual strengths and interests. All learning pathways are equally valued. Senior students are very well supported to follow their personalised pathways and achieve quality credits. Students in Years 7 to 13 participate in increasingly authentic, relevant learning experiences. They are supported to develop ownership of their learning. The school’s shared value of respect and strong focus on engagement are helping build students’ sense of identity and confidence as learners.

Effective pastoral care and learning support systems and processes help to nurture students’ wellbeing, increase their engagement and reduce barriers to learning. A broad network of deans, counsellors, support staff and teachers provides comprehensive support for students.

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

Leaders, teachers and trustees recognise the positive impact that integrated te reo and tikanga Māori has on Māori students’ success. They are committed to improving the extent to which te ao Māori is woven throughout the curriculum and school environment.

Leaders agree that a next step is the further development of a longitudinal, schoolwide tracking system for junior students. This could assist in identifying the specific acceleration strategies that are effective in supporting ongoing student success.

3 Other Matters

Provision for international students

The school is a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code) established under section 238F of the Education Act 1989. The school has attested that it complies with all aspects of the Code. At the time of this review there were 51 international students attending the school.

There are high levels of pastoral care for international students. They are very well supported to achieve educational success. Students’ course selections are personalised and their progress and achievement are closely monitored. They are involved in a range of co-curricular activities and leadership roles, and participate in the wider life of the school. Systems for monitoring compliance with the Code are very effective.

4 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 Children’s Act 2014.

5 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of St Dominic’s Catholic College’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Strong.

ERO’s Framework: Overall School Performance is available on ERO’s website.

6 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

  • a culture of high expectations, positive relationships and shared values
  • a responsive curriculum that allows for students to access meaningful career pathways
  • strong leadership, which promotes positive connections and relationships that actively support equity and excellence for all learners
  • well aligned strategic goals and professional learning that promote relationship-based practices
  • comprehensive pastoral care systems that support wellbeing and respond to students’ needs.

Next steps

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

  • providing further opportunities for students to develop knowledge and understanding about the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand
  • embedding systems to identify and utilise effective acceleration initiatives.

Steve Tanner

Director Review and Improvement Services Northern

Northern Region

9 August 2019

About the school

LocationAuckland
Ministry of Education profile number47
School typeSecondary (Years 7 – 13)
School roll880
Gender compositionGirls 100%
Ethnic composition

Māori 8%

NZ European/Pākehā 27%

Asian 20%

Samoan 11%

Other Pacific 13%

Filipino 10%

other ethnic groups 11%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)No
Provision of Māori medium educationNo
Review team on siteJune 2019
Date of this report9 August 2019
Most recent ERO report(s)Education Review May 2014 
Education Review June 2009 
Education Review September 2006