Cullinane 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.

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

Cullinane College is a Catholic special character co-educational school located in Whanganui. The school caters for students from Years 9 to 13. The school roll has increased recently. At the time of the review the school had 487 students with approximately 41% identifying as New Zealand/Pākehā, 40% as Māori, 10% Asian and small percentages of students with Pacific heritage and other ethnic backgrounds. SOUL values describe the schoolwide expectations of Service/Manaakitanga, Optimise/Whanaungatanga, Unity/Kotahitanga, and Love/Whakapono.

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

Improvement and progress 

This section is about the progress the school has made since the August 2022 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

Expected improvements

The school focused on collaboratively designing a culturally responsive framework to support a shared understanding of optimisation for learning and well as useful measures of optimisation to inform ongoing improvement and strengthen valued outcomes for learners will be equitable and excellent. 

Findings

The school reviewed the way it supports students’ wellbeing and behaviour (pastoral system). Improved systems are now in practice and are known as CC4L (Cullinane Culture for Life). The changes help teachers use the same clear and consistent approach to behaviour in every classroom. This approach is based on building positive relationships, reflects the school’s special character and aims to support all learners to optimise learning. 

The school introduced systems to help improve attendance. Leaders continue to make sure these processes are clearly understood and used consistently by all staff.

The next focus for the school is reviewing and improving curriculum. This will support better teaching and learning, with particular attention given to strengthening students’ literacy and mathematics skills so that all learners experience greater success in the senior school. 

Other findings

Teachers have a clearer understanding of what is expected for optimised teaching and learning. Using a shared and consistent approach has led to calmer, more settled classrooms where learning is the focus. 

What we know about learner success 

This section provides a summary of learner success, wellbeing and foundation school conditions, including any education in Rumaki/Reo Rua settings. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Less than a third 

Less than half 

Small majority 

Large majority 

Most 

Almost all 

0 to 33%

34 to 49%

50 to 64%

65 to 79%

80 to 90%

Over 90%

Learner success and wellbeing

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing.

Success and progress for most learners is increasing.

• Most students achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) qualifications Level 1, 2 and 3. Less than half of students gain University Entrance. Overall results are similar across groups of students. 
• Analysed achievement and progress data for Year 9 and 10 was not available at the time of this review. 
• Regular attendance is behind the government target and attendance rates are gradually improving. Chronic absence is decreasing. The school recently implemented an attendance plan to further lift levels of regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

This section provides a summary of leadership, teaching, curriculum and foundation school conditions for improvement.

Leadership increasingly fosters a culture committed to quality teaching practices and positive learning outcomes.

• Leaders share responsibility effectively, building staff capability and a clear, shared understanding of quality teaching.
• Leaders have strengthened wellbeing systems and practices, resulting in more coherent support for learner wellbeing; greater consistency in the collection and use of wellbeing information will enable leaders to evaluate impact and make informed decisions to further improve provision.
• Leaders deliberately plan professional learning; professional learning is aligned to school priorities to further build a collective understanding of what works best for learners.

Teachers use increasingly consistent approaches to deliver broad curriculum opportunities.

• Learners have access to a wide range of opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum.
• Teachers know their learners well and create settled, inclusive and respectful learning environments.
• Literacy and numeracy are a growing focus across all subjects; teachers are beginning to use more consistent approaches to help students build these skills and prepare for higher qualifications.
• Year 9 and 10 achievement information is beginning to be used to support learner success and wellbeing by identifying students who require additional support. However, assessment information is not yet used consistently by leaders and teachers to inform teaching practices and schoolwide decisions. 

The Cullinane College School Board maintain respectful partnerships with the school community to support shared decision‑making and sustain improvement.

• The Board represents, serves and works with the school community including mana whenua to develop the school’s strategic goals.
• The diverse identities, languages and cultures of students are increasingly recognised, affirmed and valued throughout the school. 
• Transitions into high school have been improved; students’ learning needs are identified early and plans are put in place to support success. Transitions out of school are supported with sound processes that track and monitor individual pathway intent.
• Organisational conditions including leadership, systems, processes and practices are being strengthened to inform improvement focused evaluation.

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 identifies key priorities and actions for improvement.

Key priorities

• Use quality assessment information, including wellbeing information, to track progress and to focus responses for all learners. 
• Improve the quality of achievement and progress through a schoolwide focus on literacy and mathematics.
• Improve attendance.

Actions to bring about improvement 

Within six months:

• leaders provide professional development to teachers to build their capacity to use assessment information to guide teaching and learning decisions
• leaders and teachers set clear learning targets for literacy and mathematics achievement and agree on consistent expectations for literacy and mathematics teaching across all learning areas; prioritise this work to years 9 and 10 
• leaders and teachers collect and analyse student wellbeing information to inform evaluation of wellbeing provisions
• leaders fully implement the Board’s attendance plan

Every six months:

• leaders evaluate information about the impact of schoolwide practices on annual targets and report them to the Board
• the Board reviews and adjusts their attendance plan in response to attendance data

Annually:

• the Board reports information about the impact of schoolwide practices on annual targets, to the community. 

Expected outcomes

• Improved quality of achievement and progress evident for all learners.
• High‑quality teaching that effectively integrates literacy and numeracy and uses assessment information to guide teaching and learning decisions.
• Improved regular attendance and reduced chronic attendance.

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

5 May 2026