Malfroy School

School 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 

Malfroy School is located in Rotorua and provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s roll is 307, with 60% of learners identifying as Māori, 22% as New Zealand European/Pākehā, 18% as Pacific and 12% as Asian.

The school’s vision of ‘Building confident, self-directed, lifelong learners and responsible citizens’ is supported through the values of Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Inclusion of all, Respect for diversity, and Mana Whenua as our foundation.

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

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.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• The small majority of learners attend school regularly.
• The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
• Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
• Chronic absence is reducing over time.

Assessment

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

•  The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
• Teachers are developing assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

• The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
• The school has significantly improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
• The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
• The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets and is likely to meet them by 2030.

Rumaki/Reo Rua Outcomes and Conditions to Support Learners Success

This section of the report provides more detail about the quality of teaching and learning through the provision of te reo Māori in rumaki/Reo Rua classroom/s within in English medium schools.

Learner success and wellbeing

• Ākonga are confidently engaging in and beginning to take ownership of their learning.
• Most ākonga are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels for pāngarau and pānui while a large majority of ākonga are not yet achieving at expected curriculum levels for tuhituhi.
• Most ākonga are exceeding the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• A well-structured classroom environment with effective teaching strategies engages active learning.
• Regular analysis of student data is driving progress and achievement for ākonga.
• Leaders and kaiako are beginning to build and sustain Māori medium pathways through Kāhui Ako networks.

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. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of Strength

• Learners’ willingness to collaborate and show empathy contributes to a safe and supportive school environment. Learners experience a strong sense of belonging and are offered a range of opportunities to explore their culture and identity.
• School leaders foster a culture that shares and builds leadership capacity across their teaching team to ensure quality teaching and learning programmes.
• Structured literacy approaches are well-established across the junior and middle school; the school is developing their approaches to structured mathematics programmes to align with new curriculum initiatives.
• Learner’s experience broad and rich learning opportunities which honour and celebrate Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles.
• Teaching staff have developed a high trust culture and a collective capacity to explore and drive curriculum change across all areas of the curriculum.
• Teaching staff work collaboratively and demonstrate shared responsibility to improve learner outcomes through effective inquiry and evaluation of practice.

Key priorities

• Extend teachers shared understanding and use of assessment and moderation processes.
• Align assessment and curriculum requirements and structured approaches to current teaching and learning.
• Partner with early learning providers to support individual needs and school readiness of children starting school.
• Further improve regular attendance.
• Increase targeted language acceleration support and learning activities in Te Mana Kākano o Te Utuhina to develop all facets of te reo Matatini, with an increased focus on kōrero.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within six months:

• the School Board and leaders strengthen schoolwide policies to ensure that the school meets its statutory responsibilities and improvement priorities
• leaders and teachers design, resource and implement a language acceleration plan in Te Mana Kākano o Te Utuhina
• leaders and teachers connect with local early learning providers to explore initiatives for strengthening readiness to learn of students starting school

Every six months:

• leaders and teachers review and refine assessment and moderation processes that align with new curriculum initiatives
• the School Board and leaders engage with the school community to review current attendance initiatives and identify next steps for improving students’ regular attendance
• leaders and teachers evaluate the effect on learner achievement data of a language acceleration plan in Te Mana Kākano o Te Utuhina

Annually:

• the School Board and leaders the impact of teaching, learning and assessment practices on students’ progress and achievement in line with new curriculum initiatives, and use this information to inform next steps
• leaders evaluate on the impact of initiatives for strengthening readiness to learn for children starting school and plan next steps
• the School Board and leaders collectively review and evaluate whānau-related initiatives that have been successful in raising levels of regular attendance, with a focus on informing next steps
• leaders and the School Board evaluate and review for improved outcomes in Te Mana Kākano o Te Utuhina.

Expected outcomes

• Developed consistent schoolwide processes for collecting, reviewing, and using assessment data to enhance student outcomes.
• Enhanced readiness to learn programmes for children starting school.
• Increased rates of regular attendance that meet Government targets.
• The accelerated language progression for ākonga in Te Mana Kākano o Te Utuhina, contributing to improved te reo Matatini achievement.

Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

Actions for Compliance 

ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

• obtained a police vet for every person the board appoints or intends to appoint to a position at the school and who is to work at the school during normal school hours
  [Section 104 of the Education and Training Act 2020]
• undertaken a full workforce safety check of every person engaged as a paid children’s worker including requiring two forms of identity documentation and work history checks.
  [Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the Children’s Act 2014]

The board has since taken steps to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School 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

18 September 2025