Reporoa 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.

Context

​​Reporoa College​ is a rural co-educational secondary school located between Rotorua and Taupō. The College caters for learners from Years 7 to 13. There have been some changes to the leadership team and the appointment of a new principal for 2025 is in process. The school values are to ‘aim high, lead the way, show respect and dare to care.’

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 August 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate how effectively the school is engaging with whānau, hapū, iwi and families to improve outcomes for learners.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

A reciprocal relationship between the school and community that improves learner outcomes.

• Students are supported to achieve through an improved range of multiple vocational pathways while at school, which have contributed to improved Level 2 National Certificate in Education (NCEA) results.
• There are many barrier-free opportunities, initiated by the community in conjunction with the school, which are designed to support learners to participate and achieve.

A school culture where students are attending and engaged in learning and supported by the community.

• A mentoring programme for a small number of students has increased engagement for this group.
• Improving schoolwide regular attendance remains a school priority.

The development of strong meaningful, educationally significant relationships with whānau, hapū, iwi and families.

• Iwi representation on the school board is supporting the developing relationship between the school and mana whenua to further support learners to engage and achieve.
• Reporting on student effort and progress at very regular intervals supports the development of positive relationships between the school and whānau.
• Opportunities for whānau, students and key staff to meet and discuss course plans and pathways is strengthening relationship building to better meet the interests and needs of students.
• Ngāti Whaoa have engaged with the school to provide a leadership development programme with the aim of developing student leadership potential.

Other Findings

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action has been the developing relationship with iwi, to establish how the school and iwi can work effectively together to support learners.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Outcomes are improving for some learners, but there is inequity for others.

• A large majority achieve the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Level 1, most achieve Level 2, and a small majority achieve Level 3 and less than half achieve University Entrance.
• There is significant disparity for Māori at all year levels except at NCEA Level 2 where Māori achieve better outcomes.
• The school has yet to analyse Year 9 and 10 achievement data to understand and effectively report on progress and achievement schoolwide; this is a key area to support progress to the senior pathways.
• Less than half of students attend regularly, well below the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Leadership is working towards building capacity for sustained school improvements. 

• Leaders have identified the need to urgently build their own and teacher capacity to improve student outcomes and have taken some steps to address this.
• School leaders and teachers have engaged in professional development; however they have yet to consistently apply the new learning across the school to improve learner outcomes.
• The school is beginning to take a more deliberate approach to strengthen aspects of school culture.
• Developing reliable and robust systems and processes to manage senior school assessment and understanding junior school students’ progress and achievement in order to plan for improvement, is an urgent priority.

The school is taking early steps to develop high interest and relevant learning programmes and use consistent teaching practices.  

• The school needs to develop programmes of learning that reflect te ao Māori and includes specific literacy and mathematics strategies to support student engagement and achievement.
• Positive relationships between students and staff are evident in most classes and this provides a basis on which to develop improved teaching and learning practices.
• Students who need further assistance with their learning are identified and some planning is in place to support progress and achievement.

Some key aspects of school conditions are beginning to support improvement. 

• The school has a proactive approach to removing barriers to learning for all students.
• Students report an inclusive and safe environment; however, further strengthening schoolwide systems for behaviour management is a school priority.
• Parents and whānau have increased opportunities to be involved in their child’s learning; strengthening learning partnerships is an ongoing priority.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• access leadership professional learning support to build capacity to lead change, effectively implement and sustain school improvements
• develop the localised curriculum, embracing te ao Māori and to respond to learners’ interests and needs, including building literacy and mathematics skills in the junior and senior school
• develop robust and dependable assessment practices schoolwide; build teacher capacity to ensure consistent use of progress and achievement data to better plan teaching programmes to meet the needs of students
• strengthen schoolwide behaviour management system to develop a positive school learning culture, including strategies to improve students’ regular attendance.

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

Within three months:

• professional development focused on change management and leadership of learning has begun
• design a schoolwide system for collecting and analysing dependable student progress and achievement information for Years 7 to 10
• determine a schoolwide approach to managing behaviour to improve engagement and begin to build staff capacity to implement this consistently
• review current curriculum provision to determine the extent to which localised contexts focus on strengthening literacy, mathematics and te ao Māori.

In six months:

• the annual implementation plan sets out clear improvement actions and measurable learner outcomes
• leaders are implementing changes that are sustained over time, leading to shifts in classroom practice that led to improved student outcomes
• systems that track and monitor student progress and achievement and comprehensive reporting to the board are in place
• measures implemented to improve student behaviour, attendance and engagement contribute to a positive school culture.

Annually:

• evidence-based comprehensive reporting is presented to the board on the impact of improvements to teaching practice and learning programmes on attendance, progress and achievement
• evaluate student achievement and engagement information to inform decisions and planning for the future.

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

• school leadership for managing changes in teaching and learning that lead to sustained school improvements
• consistent and high-quality teaching and assessment practice reflected in responsive learning programmes across the school
• student achievement data is used to inform teaching and learning, resulting in more equitable achievement outcomes particularly in literacy and mathematics especially for Māori learners
• a positive school culture where students attend regularly and are positively engaged in learning.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education provide tailored support to the school, in addition to recent appointment of a limited statutory manager to the board, for:

• school leadership development for improvement planning and actions
• redeveloping the school curriculum and supports for teaching and learning, including assessment practices and schoolwide planning and delivery of literacy and mathematics
• ongoing support for improving student behaviours for learning through a positive school culture.

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

​​9 October 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