Holy Family School (Wanaka)

School Context

Holy Family School in Wanaka provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll has continued to grow over recent years to 205 students.

The school’s vision is for all students to live their Catholic values, and to develop a sense of belonging, personal identity and meaningful relationships with others. In addition, desired outcomes for school leavers are that they will have confidence, resilience and a love of learning. The values of honesty, excellence, respect and care are promoted.

To achieve these outcomes, the board of trustees has identified strategic goals that focus on promotion of the school’s special character, collaboration and partnership with parents, increasing personalisation of a student-centred curriculum, and professional learning for teachers. Achievement targets focus on accelerating students’ learning in spelling and aspects of mathematics.

To know about the success of these goals, leaders and teachers regularly report to the board schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

• achievement in relation to The New Zealand Curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics
• achievement of specific learning targets
• valued life-long learning competencies.

Since the school’s 2016 ERO review leaders and teachers have participated in whole-school professional learning about the teaching of literacy and competency-based curriculum design and delivery.

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 highly effective in achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for most students. School information for the last three years shows that almost all students achieve at or above curriculum expectations in reading and mathematics and most achieve well in writing.

Most students in Years 7 and 8 achieve above expectations in reading. A lower proportion of boys achieve well in writing compared with girls. There has been a slight reduction in this disparity over time and it continues to be a priority for improvement.

Most students make appropriate progress across the key competencies of managing self, relating to others, thinking, participating and contributing and using language, symbols and text.

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

The school effectively accelerates the learning of students who need this.

Interim reporting and evaluation of the school’s recent spelling intervention indicate that this is resulting in accelerated progress and increased confidence for most targeted students. Similarly, school monitoring shows most Māori students needing to accelerate their learning did so in 2019.

Reporting against school achievement targets shows a moderate proportion of students accelerating to expected curriculum levels, but a higher proportion making accelerated progress in important aspects of their learning. The school continues to refine how it defines and measures rates of 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?

The cohesive, student-centred curriculum effectively enacts the school’s vision for learners and its special character. Students’ interests, strengths and passions are the basis for their learning. Strong use is made of authentic local contexts for learning to enhance engagement. Students are clear about the purpose and relevance of their learning. Partnerships with parents and the community are highly valued and extend learning opportunities for students.

Curriculum design prioritises the development of learning-to-learn competencies and reflects a combination of teacher and student-led learning. The curriculum makes meaningful connections to local Māori history and taha Māori (Māori perspectives). Te reo and tikanga Māori are woven through daily programmes and practices.

Students contribute to and experience a strong sense of community and belonging. Senior students value the roles they play in supporting the learning and wellbeing of juniors. All students have many opportunities to learn collaboratively and to lead and contribute to activities within and beyond the school. The school values are well known and evident in students’ relationships with each other and their teachers. Students become increasingly skilled at reflecting on and leading their own learning over time. Teachers promote a growth mindset towards learning and this is effectively fostering students’ confidence and resilience.

The school has comprehensive, effective systems and processes to identify and respond to the learning and wellbeing needs of all children. Leaders and teachers have strengthened assessment practices for identifying individual needs and use these well to plan, prioritise and evaluate learning support. Diverse learners are well catered for through a combination of tailored programmes and an inclusive, responsive curriculum.

Leaders and teachers are strongly focused on effective, evidence-based teaching practice that promotes deep student learning. They engage in intensive and relevant professional learning aligned to the school’s strategic goals and vision for learning. Shared understandings of effective practice are well documented to support implementation and sustainability. Teachers collaborate closely in the planning, delivery and evaluation of teaching programmes and approaches.

School leaders build relational trust and collaboration at all levels of the school. They collaboratively develop and pursue the school’s vision for learners by:

• modelling the school values and charism
• having high expectations for teaching and learning
• taking a strategic, evidence-based approach to implementing change and innovation
• ensuring there are sound systems and processes in place to support the planning, coordination and evaluation of the school’s curriculum.

Trustees actively represent and serve the school community. They have worked collaboratively with the community to develop a shared vision for learners and strategic priorities to guide the direction of the school. Trustees use reported learning information well to make resourcing decisions that support excellent and equitable outcomes for students.

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’s next step is to extend the analysis and evaluation of learning outcome information, in order to:

• know that all students are making sufficient progress
• know more about how well all students are developing and demonstrating valued learning-to-learn competencies.

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 Children’s Act 2014.

4 ERO’s Overall Judgement

On the basis of the findings of this review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Holy Family School (Wanaka)’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is: Strong.

ERO’s Framework: Overall Findings and Judgement Tool derived from School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success is available on ERO’s website.

5 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

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

• the delivery of a responsive, student-centred curriculum that engages students through the use of local, authentic contexts and purposes for learning
• effective teaching practices that foster students’ confidence and resilience as learners
• strong school leadership that effectively supports an environment that is conducive to student learning and wellbeing.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, a priority for further development is in:

• extending the analysis and evaluation of learning information to know more about how well all students are progressing against the valued outcomes identified in the school’s vision.

Dr Lesley Patterson

Director Review and Improvement Services Te Tai Tini

Southern Region – Te Tai Tini

6 March 2020

About the school