Ballance School

School 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 

Ballance School provides education for 18 learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s values are responsibility, enthusiasm, strength, perseverance, empathy, creativity, teamwork and excellence.

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

Expected improvements

The school evaluated how well the curriculum responded and reflected the environment and local contexts, community values and aspirations, enabling all learners to be confident, connected and actively involved in learning. 

Findings 

Extensive engagement and consultation by the principal and staff of parents, whānau and community has resulted in the development of a cohesive, broad curriculum. This guiding document includes high expectations of effective teaching practice, learner achievement and wellbeing. 

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Achievement in Years 1 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• Almost all learners attend school regularly.
• The school is exceeding the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.
• Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Assessment 

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

• The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
• Teachers are developing their use of assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

• The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
• The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
• The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
• The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

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 outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of strength

• A wide range of initiatives are in place to support learners’ progress, wellbeing and sense of belonging.
• A knowledge-based curriculum provides learners with choice, challenge and purposeful learning opportunities that relate to their experiences and contexts.
• Teachers promote an inclusive, supportive culture through a shared understanding of each students’ interests and learning needs.
• Strong partnerships and effective consultation with whānau and the wider community inform the school’s strategic direction and curriculum.
• The school achieved 100% regular attendance in Terms Two and Three, 2025. 

Key priorities

• Ensure that all required school policies and procedures are compliant, reflect current legislation and are being implemented.
• Build consistency and further strengthen teacher practice in structured literacy and mathematics programmes through targeted professional learning and development.
• Reduce inequity of achievement for groups of learners through increased scrutiny of data and use of explicit instructional teaching.

Actions to bring about improvement 

Within three months:

• the Ballance School Board complete a review and update school policies and procedures to ensure they are compliant and reflective of current legislative requirements
• the Board and principal review annual progress and achievement data for literacy and mathematics to establish annual improvement priorities for the annual implementation plan

Within six months:

• the Board continue to implement a cycle of regular review ensuring that policies and procedures are understood, reviewed and compliant
• the principal reports to the Board on the impact of teacher professional development in structured literacy and mathematics including the acceleration of achievement, and the progress of all learners receiving targeted support

Every six months:

• teachers review the impact of changed professional teaching practices through classroom observations, learners’ progress and achievement and report next steps to the Board
• the principal reports to the Board on the ongoing data review of progress made to increase and accelerate the achievement of all learners
• the Board and principal continue to closely monitor sustained high levels of attendance and, if needed, make any changes to increase regular attendance 

Annually:

• the Board scrutinises their processes of policy review to ensure compliance and reflect current legislation
• the principal and teachers analyse and report on the impact of strengthened teacher practice on schoolwide achievement in literacy and mathematics before setting annual improvement targets 
• the principal and board review student attendance plan to ensure high levels of regular attendance is sustained. 

Expected outcomes

• The school’s policies and procedures are fit for purpose and compliant with current legislation.
• Consistent, high quality teacher practice in reading, writing and mathematics that accelerates progress, achievement and increased equity in learner outcomes.
• Students apply structured literacy and mathematics strategies, make accelerated progress and achieve well.
• Sustained, high rates of regular attendance. 

Regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements. 

Board assurance with regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of health, safety and welfare

Yes

Personnel management

Yes

Actions for compliance 

ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

• ensure that the board has suitable and comprehensive policy and procedure framework to guide school operations
  [Section 125 of the Education and Training Act 2020]
• ensure that the board has a suitable process for the management of complaints, including a policy, monitoring for timely resolution, ongoing self-review and recordkeeping
  [Good complaints handing by a school board (Ombudsman website)]
• ensure a comprehensive school’s child protection policy is implemented, and that staff roles and responsibilities are clear and supported by regular child protection training 
  [Sections 18 and 19 of the Children’s Act 2014]
• ensure the school’s Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) policy and systems are comprehensive with responsive staffing ratios and suitable risk management procedures 
  [Health and Safety at Work Act 2015]
• ensure that a satisfactory safety checking process occurs for persons employed by the board, including sufficient records of identity confirmation, police vetting and records of completed risk assessment 
  [Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the Children’s Act 2014]. 

The Ballance School Board has since addressed the non-compliance for the child protection policy. 

It is yet to address the other areas of non-compliance identified. 

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education 

ERO will initiate conversations with the Ministry of Education about support/intervention. ERO recommendation to the Ministry of Education will be outlined in the confirmed report to bring about the following improvements:

• policies and procedures to guide school operations.

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

19 March 2026