St Francis Xavier Catholic School (Whangarei)

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 Francis Xavier Catholic School (Whangarei) caters for students in Years 1 to 6. The school celebrates the special character through Gospel values and provides education that aims to meet the learning needs of all students. The school’s vision is to ‘encourage a passion for learning’ while serving the whole school community.

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 October 2022, ERO and the school worked together to evaluate how well learning conditions that embrace students’ language, culture and identity are designed and implemented within the curriculum.

Expected Improvements and Findings 

The school expected to see:

Learners with strengthened connections to their family and place through a greater awareness of their language, culture and identity.

• Teachers’ understanding of learners’ language, culture and identity has continued to strengthen relationships with students and their families.

Students have an increased sense of belonging in an environment of relational trust that improves equity and excellence for all learners.

• Students express a positive sense of belonging to school that strengthens their engagement and interest towards learning.
• Learner success is supported through focused curriculum design where learning opportunities are created that connect students with their culture.   
• An environment of relational trust encourages students to be more willing to take risks with their learning; this has created opportunities for increased academic success.

Other Findings 

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that placing a specific focus on students’ language, culture and identity, combined with the school’s values and special character, strengthened students’ connectedness to the school environment. Strong partnerships with parents have also been enhanced through ongoing effective communication between the school and community.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action is that teachers are confident in their ability to plan and implement teaching and learning programmes that foster cultural pride in students. A further shift that occurred has been the implementation of an increasingly responsive English as a second language programme to support the school’s diverse roll.

Part B: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Most students achieve at the appropriate curriculum levels in mathematics, and the large majority achieve this in reading and writing.
• Māori learners’ achievement has become more equitable in reading, writing and mathematics; progress in mathematics shows positive improvement over time.
• Learners express a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school.
• The large majority of students attend school regularly; the school is approaching the Government’s target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders effectively use multiple sources of evidence, including student achievement information and feedback from the community, to inform the school’s strategic goals.
• Leaders and teachers relentlessly pursue goals and targets that aim at improving the progress of learners at risk of underachievement.
• Annual feedback from learners is used effectively by leaders to develop strategies that promote wellbeing and enhance student outcomes.

• Teachers use evidence based and responsive teaching strategies, including different types of groupings, that provide students with purposeful and well-paced learning opportunities.
• Learners with additional and complex learning and engagement needs are clearly identified; a comprehensive tracking and monitoring system ensures tailored individual responses are put in place to support students.
• Students who are progressing and achieving well continue to be challenged by taking responsibility for their own learning through problem solving and inquiry.

• Teachers have high and equitable aspirations for the achievement, progress and wellbeing of all learners that ensures student success.
• Leaders and teachers recognise, value and cater for the many different identities, languages and cultures of learners, parents, whānau and the community.
• An inclusive, reciprocal learning partnership with the local community, Kāhui Ako and Catholic church enhances the school’s curriculum delivery and supports students’ transition to further education.

Part C: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• embed structured literacy and structured mathematics school wide so that outcomes for all learners are increasingly equitable and excellent
• refine the use of standardised assessment methods to provide additional sources of achievement information and inform future planning for teaching and learning
• further develop school wide wellbeing initiatives to increase regular attendance and create closer connections with whānau and the community
• strengthen programmes within the school to support and improve outcomes for learners with English as a second language. 

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

Every six months:

• continue to provide relevant professional learning opportunities for staff to develop a shared understanding of effective approaches to teaching literacy and mathematics
• review current attendance and wellbeing initiatives and identify next steps
• review and refine the school’s assessment overview and provide professional development for teachers so that they continue to effectively use progress and achievement information to inform planning
• evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programmes for students with English as a second language to support ongoing improvement

Annually:

• review and report to the board on student attendance, wellbeing, progress and achievement information to identify next steps in strategic planning
• evaluate the impact of structured literacy and structured mathematics so that effective teaching, learning and assessment practices are shared and embedded in class programmes.

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

• student attendance and wellbeing are enhanced and closer connections continue to be built with whānau and the community
• increased progress and achievement for all learners in reading, writing and mathematics
• a shared understanding of effective approaches to teaching students with English as a second language, improving engagement and achievement.

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

Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools

24 February 2025

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