Tawa 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 

​​Tawa College​ is a co-educational high school for learners in Years 9 to 13, located in Wellington. The school roll is 1,189. 63% of students identify as Pākehā | New Zealand European, 24% identify as Asian, 23% identify as Māori and 19% identify as having Pacific heritage. The school’s values are Kia Manaaki | Respect; Kia Kotahi | Connect; Reflect | Kia Whaiwhakaaro; Strive | Panekiretanga. 

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 

The judgments in this section are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation. 

Learner success and wellbeing  

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing.

• By the end of Year 10, a large majority of learners, including Māori, are achieving at or above curriculum levels in reading and mathematics with a lower number in writing.
• Most school leavers achieve the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Level 2 and a large majority, including Māori, achieve at Level 3. A small majority achieve University Entrance. Year 11 learners are not assessed for NCEA Level 1.
• Learners report that they value a sense of inclusion, belonging and support throughout the school, and that they enjoy a wide variety of learning opportunities.
• The school is not yet meeting the Government’s target for regular attendance with less than half of learners attending school regularly. Regular attendance is improving and remains a priority for the school. 

Conditions to support learner success 

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

• Strong, considered leadership provides clear expectations and support for improved outcomes for all learners.
• The leadership team work collaboratively to build staff capacity and self-review processes to support progress and achievement across the school.
• The school is refining its framework for tracking learner progress across Years 9 and 10, particularly in literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.
• Leaders value an established culture of staff professional development across all areas of the school informed by the strategic priorities of the school. 

• The classroom learning culture is well-established and consistently characterised by respect, inclusion and collaboration between teachers and learners.
• The school’s curriculum design integrates local contexts to increasingly reflect the interests and aspirations of learners.
• Effective pastoral care processes and academic monitoring and support promote engagement and success in learning for a diversity of learners.  

• The Board actively represents and serves the school in its stewardship role and prioritises the wellbeing of staff, and the wellbeing, progress and achievement of learners.
• The school is committed to its relationship with mana whenua and growing the school’s understanding and application of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to benefit learner engagement and success.
• Systematic, collaborative inquiry, with developing evaluation practices, is used to inform priorities and refine strategies to improve learner outcomes.
• The school is refining its framework for tracking learner progress across Years 9 and 10, particularly in literacy and numeracy.
• Positive, respectful, learning relationships are valued and promoted across the school community. 

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 actions for improvement. 

Key priorities 

• Implementing professional learning for teachers so they are equipped to embed evidenced-based teaching approaches that consistently improve learning outcomes.
• Embedding the refreshed curriculum to support learner engagement and achievement.
• Implementing literacy and numeracy learning practices across curriculum areas.
• Increase learner success and equitable outcomes in national qualifications.
• Improving and sustaining regular attendance.  

Actions to bring about improvement 

Within six months: 

• leaders and teachers develop processes for tracking and monitoring progress for learners in Years 9 to 11
• leaders and teachers engage with new curriculum initiatives to inform professional learning and support the school’s strategic goals
• leaders review strategies to ensure there are a range of supports in place to assist learners who need to improve their attendance 

Every six months: 

• leaders and teachers monitor Year 9 to 11 learning progress, respond to the data and report on this to the Board to inform decision making
• leaders review attendance and pastoral care data, as well as evaluate the integration of literacy and numeracy strategies, reporting their findings to the Board to guide decision making and support learner engagement and achievement  

Annually: 

• leaders and the Board use information about staff and learner feedback to review progress on schoolwide changes and inform decision making
• the Board use reported information on the impact of attendance strategies to inform decision making and share it with the school community
• the Board use reported information on the impact of teaching and curriculum developments on learner engagement and achievement and apply these findings to inform strategic planning for continuous improvement.  

Expected outcomes 

• Improved literacy and numeracy outcomes at all year levels.
• Learners consistently experience effective, inclusive teaching practices.
• Improved and sustained levels of regular 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 (Acting) 

​​2 September 2025​