Fairfield 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.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the school

Fairfield College is in Chartwell, Hamilton and provides education for learners in Years 9 to 13. The school’s mission statement is 'A unique school community committed to safe, quality education and personal achievement for every individual.' The school’s values are Respect, Responsibility and Personal Excellence. 54% of the school’s roll identify as Māori and affiliate with various iwi. 22% of student’s identity as Pākehā / NZ European, 12% are Asian, 7% are Pacific and 5% are Middle Eastern, Latin American, or African students.

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

Improvement and progress                                        

This section is about the progress the school has made since the November 2023 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate to what extent effective teacher practice is improving student engagement, progress and outcomes schoolwide.

Expected Improvements

The school expected to see a reduction in variance between teacher and student perspectives of the teaching and learning experience, an increase of differentiation in teaching strategies and learning programmes to improve student outcomes and regular attendance.

Findings

The school is yet to make sufficient progress to improve student outcomes and regular attendance.

• Learning programmes have not yet resulted in improved student progress and outcomes.
• Rongohia te Hau observations and student and teacher feedback surveys based on the teaching and learning experience have not yet been conducted again.
• A profile of effective teacher practice has been defined and teacher professional development on culturally responsive practices has taken place.
• Regular attendance has shown a slight increase.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is analysis and responsiveness to student and teacher feedback and student achievement information are informing school planning for improvements.

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Less than a third 

Less than half 

Small majority 

Large majority 

Most 

Almost all 

0 to 33%

34 to 49%

50 to 64%

65 to 79%

80 to 90%

Over 90%

Learner Success and Wellbeing

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing.                               

Some students are making progress and achieving at expected levels; improving achievement schoolwide remains an urgent priority.

• Less than half of students achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Level 2 and 3 and few achieve University Entrance (UE); there is disparity in Māori students’ success and achievement.
• The school is yet to develop a clear understanding about student progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy in Years 9 and 10.
• NCEA literacy and numeracy requirement results declined substantially in 2024; providing additional support in literacy and numeracy to address this is an urgent priority.
• One third of students attend school regularly and 35% of students are chronically absent, the school urgently needs to strengthen planning and implementation to increase regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

This section provides a summary of leadership, teaching, curriculum and foundation school conditions for improvement.

Leadership is taking steps to strengthen conditions for school improvement.

• School leaders identify appropriate goals to improve student attendance and achievement outcomes; taking action to implement improvement strategies is a next step.
• Leaders are taking steps to strengthen the quality and consistency of teaching and learning to improve engagement and achievement outcomes for learners.
• Leadership is building relational trust and fostering professional collaboration across the school, with a focus on collective efforts to enhance learner wellbeing and achievement.

Curriculum and teaching are becoming more responsive to learners' needs and aspirations.

• Teachers are adapting their practices to make learning accessible and culturally responsive and aligned with the diverse needs and backgrounds of their students.
• Learners needing additional support are identified and programmes of support have been developed; not all learners receive the help they need to learn and progress.
• A broad school curriculum aligns with student interests and future pathways; ongoing oversight and review is required to ensure the curriculum remains coherent and effectively supports achievement.

Organisational conditions are becoming focused on improvement and meeting learners' needs.

• Leaders are taking deliberate steps to strengthen academic monitoring and responsive support systems; the effects of these improvements are not yet reflected in achievement outcomes.
• The school continues to promote positive behaviour and respectful relationships while managing ongoing challenges related to student conduct and external factors.
• Senior students’ vocational pathways are supported through extensive and purposeful partnerships with tertiary and training providers, businesses and careers programmes.
• The Board is committed to strengthening partnerships with mana whenua Ngāti Wairere and Waikato-Tainui to ensure alignment with educational priorities.

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school.

Key priorities

• Strengthen school leadership to improve outcomes for students.
• Improve student achievement, engagement and attendance.
• Urgently improve Year 9 and 10 reading, writing and progress and achievement.
• Provide students with sufficient foundations for learning to increase their success in NCEA, UE and vocational pathways.
• Review and strengthen the provision of schoolwide learning support programmes.
• Strengthen the collection and use of student progress and achievement data.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within three months:

• leaders and the School Board act to improve attendance, including working with whānau to help support students coming to school and promote positive behaviour
• leaders ensure a clear and cohesive focus on improving literacy and teaching and learning for Years 9 to 11 to support increased NCEA success across the school
• senior leaders and curriculum leaders work together to review and align school initiatives; plan interventions and clearly communicate direction across the school

Within six months:

• leaders review how well learning support provision is serving students and whether resources and programmes are reaching all students who needs support across the school and report findings to the Board
• leaders improve communication across the school to better support teachers to focus on teaching and learning of literacy and  in Years 9 to 11
• leaders review the tracking and monitoring of students’ progress and achievement to make sure strategies and interventions to help students succeed are consistently used
• leaders and the Board review strategic initiatives to ensure they are clear and support improvement, checking if what they are doing works, and decide if any changes are needed

Every six months and annually:

• school leaders and the Board clearly communicate strategic priorities and direction to staff and students across the school
• the Board and leaders review the provision of learning support to ensure all students are well served by the school and that resources are being used to support improved outcomes across the school and plan next steps
• school leaders and the Board review the impact of school initiatives and the curriculum to ensure it aligns with student needs and improves outcomes, especially for Māori learners and report progress to the school community
• leaders and the Board set annual improvement planning priorities and identify actions to support continuous schoolwide numeracy improvement in areas such as attendance and student engagement in learning.

Expected outcomes

• Effective school leadership that drives school improvement.
• Effective annual improvement planning and implementation, guided by data and evidence based driven decision making.
• Improvement in student achievement outcomes, regular student attendance and positive behaviour for learning.
• Improved student progress and achievement outcomes in Years 9 to 11, literacy and numeracy, NCEA, UE and vocational pathways, particularly for Māori learners.
• Improved student access to learning support provision that positively impacts on student outcomes.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education consider a Limited Statutory Manager intervention as listed in section 171(1)h of the Education and Training Act 2020 to bring about the following improvements:

• increase regular attendance and reduce chronic absence
• improve student progress and achievement
• the provision of learning support to ensure all students that need support can access it
• effective design and delivery of the curriculum through high-quality teaching.

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within four 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

8 October 2025