Dargaville 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 

Dargaville High School is located in the Kaipara District in the Northland Region and provides education for learners in Years 9 to 13. Over half of students are of Māori heritage who predominantly whakapapa to local hapū and Ngāti Whatua iwi.

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 November 2022 ERO report the school has been working to strengthen teaching practices in Years 9 and 10 to prepare all ākonga for success. The school expected to see:

• The effective use of teaching strategies to raise outcomes for all learners.
• A focus on better supporting students with additional learning needs.
• Subject areas and departments providing meaningful learning experiences.

The school has made limited progress against these priorities.

Other Findings

During subsequent ERO visits, it was found that there were additional priorities for improvement. The school responded by identifying three key improvement priorities to focus on that impact directly on student outcomes. 

School leaders have been working with the Ministry of Education to develop an Action Plan focused on:

• raising overall student attendance, retention and achievement with a priority on ākonga Māori
• consistent assessment practices, with urgency for teachers of Years 9 and 10
• accelerated rates of progress and achievement, particularly for Year 9 and 10 students in literacy and mathematics.

Part B: Current State

ERO undertook a further full onsite review of the school in April 2025.

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• Less than half of students attain National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 1; a large majority of students attain Levels 2 and 3 with few gaining University Entrance; disparity for Māori learners exists across all outcome measures.
• A number of students do not stay at school until Year 12 and succeed.
• The school is yet to develop a clear understanding about student progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics in Years 9 and 10.
• Less than half of students regularly attend school; improving attendance remains an urgent priority.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders are yet to establish organisational conditions to drive strategic improvement and raise student attendance, engagement and achievement.
• Leaders have developed a plan of action; ensuring these plans are implemented effectively, with clear and measurable progress outcomes is an urgent priority.
• The current school culture does not consistently promote:
  • high expectations
  • the provision of high-quality teaching
  • equity and excellence in learner outcomes. 

• Leaders and teachers are at an early stage of using achievement information to inform teaching and learning and accelerate student progress.
• The planned curriculum includes learning across the breadth of the New Zealand Curriculum, with the aspirations of whānau, hapū and iwi beginning to be recognised through the delivery of the curriculum.
• Teachers recognise the need to promote higher expectations for learning, progress and achievement.

• The school is taking some steps to improve students’ engagement, belonging and inclusion; developing school wide systems to better support learners with complex needs to achieve educational goals is a priority.
• The school is working towards a whānau based pastoral system in partnership with mana whenua; the school should enhance communication with parents and whānau to focus on students’ attendance, learning, progress and achievement.
• The school board and leaders should implement a planned approach to school improvement, informed by quality evidence and robust internal evaluation and take urgent action to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning and working environment. 

Part C: Where to next?

Recommendation

Under section 171 of the Education and Training Act 2020, that a Commissioner be appointed in order to bring about the following improvements: 

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

Next Steps

The school needs to act urgently to: 

• strengthen school leadership
• improve strategic and action and implementation planning to:
  • set and pursue measurable goals and targets for student attendance, engagement achievement, progress and retention
  • align and strengthen school systems, processes and organisational conditions to support these goals
  • decide progress measures against milestones
  • create a reporting framework that provides visibility about the progress being made towards goals
• use effective strategies to improve attendance and engagement in learning
• develop a school culture committed to high quality teaching and assessment practices.

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

Within three months:

• address all non-compliances, prioritise health and safety concerns, and establish processes to ensure the school meets legislative requirements
• implement a robust system for observing teaching and learning based on high quality practice indicators, including relevant feedback and support to improve the quality of teaching
• review, clarify and align strategic documents to establish a small number of improvement targets, focused on improving outcomes for learners, including appropriate and timely ways to measure and track progress over time
• establish a system for collecting consistent and reliable information about student progress and achievement that can be measured, tracked and monitored over time

Within six months:

• evaluate effectiveness of systems and processes for ensuring student safety
• evaluate progress of teaching and learning and support systems to inform next steps
• develop a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities of teachers and leaders to achieve identified targets for improvement
• comprehensively report about student progress to parents and whānau
• review school culture, using student perceptions regarding expectations for equity and excellence.

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

• effective school leadership that drives continuous school improvement
• school systems embedded to ensure students are physically and emotionally safe
• students consistently experiencing high quality teaching and learning
• leaders and teachers working together to meet the school’s goals and targets
• outcomes for students improving. 

ERO will revisit the school early 2026 to assess progress towards improvement goals and report to the school community within the next 12 months. 

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 (Acting)

5 June 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