Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre

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

Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre is a co-educational, non-uniform, state secondary school, providing education for students in Years 9 to 13. The school serves a cross section of metropolitan Wellington and has a large community education programme. The school roll of 1662 includes 67% of students who identify as New Zealand European/Pākehā, 14% who identify as Asian, 11% who identify as Māori, 5% who identify as Middle Eastern, Latin American or African. The school’s vision is ‘At Wellington High School we work together collaboratively and inclusively to inspire our community of active, connected, free-thinking learners.’

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 June 2022 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

Expected improvements

The school expected to see an increased sense of hauora, engagement and successful learning outcomes for students who transfer into the school, and that those students benefit equitably from all aspects of the curriculum.

Findings

The school has a holistic, learner-centred model for success which includes support for wellbeing and inclusion for all students. Leaders reviewed enrolment processes and now interview every student who transitions into the school no matter what level or time of the year. 

Staff provide individualised academic and pastoral support to remove barriers and enable student success. Each student is tracked and monitored throughout their time at the school and systems are in place to enable curriculum choice and pathways that are accessible and responsive to needs, interests and identity. Student feedback is regularly collected and acted upon. Leaders acknowledge it is now time for more systematic evaluation of the improvements made so far and planning for the next steps.

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.

Learner success and wellbeing

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing.

• A large majority of students achieve National Certificate of Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 and 3 and a small majority achieve University Entrance (UE). The school is yet to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori learners, but this is improving over time.
• Most students achieve the reading component of NCEA literacy requirements at Year 10 and a large majority achieve the writing component. Most learners achieve numeracy.
• Students express a strong sense of inclusion and belonging to the school. They are confident in their identity, and believe their voice is valued in key decisions taken by the school.
• A small majority of learners attend school regularly. Regular attendance is improving and chronic attendance is reducing. Improving attendance is a priority for school leaders.

Conditions to support learner success

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

• Leaders actively promote a professional learning culture that prioritises quality teaching and continuous improvement in student outcomes.
• Leadership builds and sustains high levels of relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school community to achieve the strategic vision and improvement goals.
• Leaders effectively consider multiple sources of evidence to coherently plan, implement and review strategic and annual plans to sustain improvement.

• Learners have rich opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the New Zealand Curriculum.
• Learners requiring additional support are identified promptly and are provided with relevant, individualised and effective support to learn and progress.
• Effective pastoral care processes, academic tracking and mentoring support engagement and success for a diversity of learners.
• Te reo Māori, te ao Māori, tikanga and Mātauranga Māori are embedded into the curriculum with strengthened responsive practices to support engagement.

• Teachers benefit from considered and targeted professional learning and development to continually build their knowledge, skills and collective understanding of what works best for learners.
• The school sustains strong, educationally focussed relationships with stake holders, other education providers and with their wider community to increase opportunities for successful learning outcomes.
• Leaders and teachers know their learners well and take a holistic, individualised approach for wellbeing, inclusion and engagement, regularly gathering and acting on data to improve outcomes.

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

• Increase teacher capability to effectively use data to improve student outcomes.
• Strengthen equitable and excellent outcomes for all groups of learners.
• Refine and implement strategies to increase students’ regular attendance.

Actions to bring about improvement 

Every six months:

• support teachers to confidently analyse and disaggregate data to evaluate the impact of teaching strategies for different groups of learners
• senior and middle leaders gather and analyse data about the quality of teaching practice, measure improvements and use to inform professional learning priorities
• the Board and leaders review and adjust the attendance plan in response to attendance data

Annually:

• school leaders evaluate the impact of systems implemented to grow high quality teaching practice on improving student outcomes
• leaders analyse and report attendance, achievement and wellbeing outcomes to the board and community and use this information to inform next strategic steps.

Expected outcomes

• Excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners.
• Consistent high-quality teaching embedded across the school.
• Increased 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

13 May 2026