Golden Bay 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 

Golden Bay High School located in Tākaka, is a co-educational state secondary school for learners in Years 7 to 13. The school’s values are: Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Kaitiakitanga, Wairuatanga underpinned by its vision: Inspiring world-ready rangatahi.

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 

• Achievement data for Years 7 to 10 is variable; the school is prioritising teachers’ understanding and implementation of a strengthened Years 7 to 10 data framework for reliability of teacher judgement and improved learner outcomes.
• A large majority of all Year 11 and 12 learners achieve the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1 and 2; a small majority achieve Level 3 and University Entrance.
• Learners value the sense of community and belonging throughout the school, reporting that their teachers know them well; teachers consistently building on these relationships for improving learning is the next step.
• The school is not yet meeting the Government’s target for regular attendance; improving regular attendance is a priority for the school.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders effectively consider multiple sources of evidence to coherently plan, implement and review strategic and annual plans.
• Strong leadership provides clear guidance and expectations for improved outcomes for all learners.
• Leaders model and ensure a continuously improving, responsive approach to progressing school priorities for learner outcomes.

• Learners benefit from settled classrooms with teachers working towards using evidence-based teaching strategies tailored to meet learners’ different needs.
• The school has a strong, localised curriculum with positive place-based learning and extensive use of community resources.
• Learners have planned transitions into, within and beyond school contributing to a strong sense of belonging and support for their post-school pathways.

• The board is actively representing and serving the school in its stewardship role with a clear emphasis on learner wellbeing, progress and achievement.
• The school has well-established, educationally focussed connections with iwi and is working towards a strengthened partnership.
• Systematic, collaborative inquiry, and developing monitoring and evaluation practices are used to inform priorities and strategies to improve learner outcomes.
• Targeted professional learning and development, including connections beyond the school, is a key strategy that leaders implement for growing teaching practices to meet the diverse needs of learners.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• strengthen teachers’ use of Year 7 to 10 learning data for informing teaching practice, evaluating progress and achievement for all learners, and accelerating progress for the learners at risk of not achieving
• develop a school-community strategy to increase regular attendance, particularly for the senior years
• continue to strengthen teachers’ use of culturally sustaining teaching practices for all students to experience and enjoy success as themselves 
• continue the development of middle leadership to ensure schoolwide consistency of practices that best sustain learner wellbeing, progress and achievement outcomes.

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

Within three months:

• embed a process for evaluating teachers’ present use of culturally sustaining teaching practices 
• develop a Years 7 to 10 data framework for reliability of teacher judgement and improved learner outcomes
• develop a process for teachers to use Poutama Reo to determine specific targets and timeframes for the continuing development of staff capacity in te reo and tikanga Māori, and the development of mātauranga Māori across the school curriculum

Every six months:

• evaluate the impact of middle leadership practices on improving teaching and learning across the school
• leaders report to the board on progress towards meeting regular attendance targets and learning progress and achievement goals and act on any emerging trends

Annually:

• leaders review how effectively teachers’ professional learning is supporting middle leadership development to ensure sustainability of schoolwide systems and learner progress and outcomes
• report to the board on the effectiveness of interventions and strategies on increasing learner wellbeing, attendance, progress and achievement across the diversity of the school to inform decision making for further improvement.

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

• high quality, consistent use of reliable assessment information to inform planning that meets the needs of learners
• increased achievement in Years 7 to 10 across the curriculum
• effective systems and practices to sustain schoolwide practices for learner attendance, progress and achievement across the diversity of the school.

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

Sharon Kelly
Acting Director of Schools

17 February 2025

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