Lytton 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 

Lytton High School is located on the western boundary of Gisborne City and provides education for students in Years 9 to 13. The school’s guiding values are aroha, ako and aspire. The school has a Teen Parent Unit onsite, Te Whare Whai Hua.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: 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 B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State 

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• A small majority of students achieved National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 2 and 3; less than half of students achieved Level 1.
• The school is yet to collate and analyse reliable progress and achievement information for Years 9 and 10.
• Less than half of students attend regularly, well below the Ministry of Education target; some improvement in regular attendance over the last year is evident.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders have established targets to bring about improvements in attendance and achievement; these targets need revisiting to set high expectations for themselves and staff, students and whānau to realise the potential of the learners in this school. 
• Systems and processes for assessment are beginning to be established; student progress, engagement and achievement information is not used well to plan for improvement - developing understanding and use of relevant data is an urgent priority.

• Leaders and teachers need to build a shared understanding of what high quality teaching and learning is, and take a well-defined series of capability-building actions to bring about improvements in student outcomes.
• Assessment practices in Years 9 and 10 are beginning to be used; staff are in the early stages of assessing against curriculum levels and opening conversations with heads of faculty about how well students are achieving.
• Students and teachers engage positively, and this provides a good basis for improved teaching and learning. 

• Previous ERO reports indicate that students had a caring and inclusive school environment; this has been sustained. 
• Students with complex needs have a range of opportunities that support their increased engagement, enabling them to experience success.
• The Vocational Pathways programme provides students with meaningful career-based activities to engage in specific qualifications and relevant work experience. 

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• provide the school with decisive, actioned leadership at all levels, for sustainable change that is learning focused and supported by well targeted professional learning
• systematise the collection and use of dependable assessment data and other student information (for example attendance and wellbeing) so that:
  • teachers know what learners in Years 9 and 10 need, to be able to succeed and achieve at senior level, particularly in literacy and mathematics, and set them up for life beyond school
  • gaps in teaching knowledge are identified and addressed, so staff respond and adjust teaching programmes to specifically address students’ needs
  • reporting to parents and whānau reflects better information about how well learners are progressing and achieving in literacy and mathematics at Years 9 and 10
  • the board is well informed about what is happening for learners, to resource and make evidence-based decisions
• set targets with higher expectations for leaders, staff and students based on the belief that given sound school conditions all learners can progress and achieve
• access professional learning support to build:
  • capacity to lead change and sustain improvements
  • teachers’ knowledge of assessment and a variety of teaching practices so they can respond better to learners’ needs; expectations for high quality practice are understood and seen consistently schoolwide.

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

Within three months:

• put in place a schoolwide system for collecting and analysing dependable student progress and achievement information at all year levels; Years 9 and 10 are prioritised
• professional development for change management and leadership of learning is underway
• determine what needs to be improved and actioned in monitoring and addressing 
• begin looking at the evidence and available data to set better targets and actions, with clear measurable learner focused outcomes; this should be in place by the end of 2024 for 2025.

Within six months:

• an annual plan that clearly sets out the key improvement actions and measurable learner outcomes encompassing:
• professional development - leaders managing sustainable change and leading learning that is reflected in classroom practice
• systems to track and monitor student progress and achievement
• attendance initiatives and their effectiveness
• a reporting time frame and expectations for frequent, comprehensive reporting to the board on student attendance, progress and achievement for all year levels.

Annually:

• evidence-based, comprehensive reporting to the board on the impact of improvements to teaching practice and learning programmes on student attendance, progress and achievement
• analyse end-of-year student engagement and achievement information and use to inform future decision making and planning.

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

• school leadership for learning and change, and for sustaining improvements 
• the use of data to inform teaching and learning and school operation 
• literacy and mathematics achievement of students in Years 9 and 10 and achievement in national qualifications
• the number of students attending school regularly
• consistent, high-quality teaching and assessment practice reflected in learning programmes across the school.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education 

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education convenes a case conference under section 175 of the Education and Training Act 2020. This will enable key stakeholders to discuss the best way forward to bring about the following improvements in:

• leadership of learning, for school improvement and sustained change; including action planning 
• targeted professional development to bring about necessary changes in teaching and assessment practices 
• use of data to inform decision making, planning and tracking of student progress and achievement at all year levels
• significantly increasing student attendance and achievement outcomes.

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

13 August 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