Fraser High School

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 

Fraser High School is a co-educational school located in West Hamilton. It provides education for students from Years 9 to 13. There have been recent changes in the senior leadership team. The principal continues in her role. The school aspires to develop students who can ‘learn with purpose, engage with pride, act with respect and dare to succeed’ (LEAD).

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

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

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals  

Since the previous ERO report of March 2023, ERO and the school have been working to evaluate the extent to which school systems and processes are supporting and responding to student needs. The focus has been on attendance and lifting the completion of learning and assessment tasks by students to improve learner outcomes.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Improved and more equitable outcomes for all students.

• Progress and achievement outcomes for students are yet to show improvement.
• Achievement outcomes continue to be inequitable for Māori and Pacific students.
• The school has identified that assessment practices to monitor and support students’ progress and achievement in Year 9 and 10 requires further development.

Improved levels of attendance.

• Attendance has improved slightly with a third of students attending regularly and the school has yet to meet the Ministry of Education target.

Strengthened systems and processes to support students to attend and complete learning and assessment tasks.

• Leadership has recently increased tracking of learning and NCEA assessment task completion to support increased achievement.
• Systems and processes for monitoring and following up regular attendance have strengthened and show a small improvement; addressing chronic attendance levels is a priority.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Less than half of students achieve Level 1 National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA), a small majority achieve Level 2 and less than half achieve Level 3, with few students gaining University Entrance. 
• The school is yet to develop a clear understanding about student progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics in Years 9 and 10.
• The school does not meet the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance with approximately one third of students attending regularly; improving regular attendance remains an ongoing priority.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders have identified key areas for development, including raising achievement and improving the junior curriculum; developing explicit action plans and ensuring these plans are implemented is an urgent priority. 
• The school has sought external expertise and support to develop future actions related to curriculum, school culture and community consultation in order to raise achievement and engagement. 

• Redevelopment of the junior curriculum is an identified priority to improve student learning pathways from Years 9 to 13 and students’ progress and achievement. 
• Teachers’ consistent use of assessment data to inform and improve teaching practices and effectively meet the needs of all students remains a key area for improvement. 
• Better identification, tracking and monitoring of students with additional learning needs, to enable the provision of high-quality learning support, is a key next step. 

• Staff are beginning to collectively reinforce school systems for positive behaviour expectations; reducing the number behavioural incidents, stand downs and suspensions remains a priority.
• School systems for promoting student wellbeing require further improvement, including responding to student feedback gathered through schoolwide surveys, to inform action plans and resourcing decisions. 
• The board has been focused on addressing school finance, employment issues and property matters; prioritising strategic planning to lift student achievement and engagement is a key next step. 

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• continue to develop the junior curriculum and promote effective teaching practices to improve students’ progress, achievement and engagement in learning
• improve assessment, monitoring and reporting of students’ progress and achievement
• continue to implement effective strategies to improve school culture and promote positive learning focused student behaviours
• improve regular attendance and reduce chronic attendance levels.

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

Within three months:

• continue to plan the junior curriculum review process, including roles, actions, responsibilities, timeframes
• review the sufficiency of learning support provisions for all students who require specific assistance
• develop a schoolwide system for collecting, analysing and reporting reliable student progress and achievement data for Years 9 and 10 in literacy and mathematics 
• further develop, implement and report on strategies to improve attendance levels

Within six months:

• carry out the planned review and redevelop the junior curriculum and teaching and learning programmes 
• report findings of junior curriculum review and planned responses to the board to inform decision making 
• implement schoolwide system for collecting, analysing and reporting progress and achievement information for Years 9 and 10 in literacy and mathematics
• continue to monitor, analyse report on progress with strategies to improve student behaviour and attendance

Every six months:

• the board and leadership consult with school community to identify priorities for the strategic plan and curriculum development
• report progress and achievement information in relation to annual improvement targets, including student behaviour trends and patterns to the board
• review student wellbeing outcomes and develop an action plan to address identified areas of concern

Annually:

• review the strategic plan to reflect the current priorities including curriculum development progress and reset the annual implementation plan
• evaluate initiatives designed to promote positive student behaviour and build a positive school culture
• review schoolwide teaching and learning practices and their impact on student achievement
• formally gather student and staff voice to monitor wellbeing to inform next steps and strategic priorities.

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

• achievement outcomes for all students, and levels of attendance and engagement in learning
• curriculum, teaching practices and learner pathways that respond to the strengths, interests and needs of all students
• assessment practices that enable teachers to monitor progress and achievement in the junior school and plan teaching programmes that effectively meet student needs
• school culture and a reduction in student behaviour issues. 

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education 

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education considers an intervention under section 171 of the Education and Training Act 2020 in order to bring about improvements in: 

• health and safety and positive school culture 
• leadership of learning and curriculum
• attendance, progress and achievement 
• strategic and annual planning for improvement
• employment.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle and monitor progress against improvement priorities. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School 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

6 November 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