Waitaki Girls’ 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 

Waitaki Girls’ High School is a state, single sex school located in Ōamaru. The school offers education for students in Years 9 to 13, including international students and boarding accommodation. The school’s motto is Dulcius ex Ardius: Satisfaction from hard work – Ma Mahi Kia Ora, with The Waitaki Way: Respectful, Responsible, Resilient.

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.

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 

• Most learners in Year 9 are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in literacy and mathematics; in Year 10 less than half are at or above the expected curriculum levels in literacy and a small majority in mathematics.
• Most Year 11, 12 and 13 learners achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1, 2 and 3; this varies for both Māori and Pacific learners.
• Many students report a strong sense of belonging in a positive school environment; the voice of Māori students is more varied.
• Less than half of the learners are presently attending regularly so the school is not meeting the Government target for regular attendance; improving regular attendance is a school priority.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders are strengthening relational trust and effective collaboration at every level of the school community to achieve the strategic vision and improvement goals.
• Leaders are taking steps to refine systems for closely reviewing school programmes and initiatives to inform decision making for increased learner engagement.
• Leaders prioritise professional learning for staff that enhances consistency of effective and responsive teaching practice to improve outcomes for learners.

• Leaders and teachers are working towards establishing schoolwide consistency in effective responsive and inclusive teaching to support learners’ engagement in learning.
• Learners experience classroom environments that are welcoming and relational with clear expectations and routines for learning.
• Learners engage and participate in meaningful learning opportunities and confidently articulate the purpose and expectations of teaching and learning programmes.

• Some school systems, processes and practices for effectively supporting attendance, engagement and achievement are not yet consistently implemented.
• Leaders and teachers prioritise the induction of new staff and targeted professional development to support high-quality teaching and learning across the curriculum.
• Board members clearly know their stewardship role and responsibility; they value the analysis of data to ensure resourcing and decision-making is responding to learners' needs.
• Leaders are planning for the continued development and integration of te ao Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum and building on teacher confidence and capability in te reo and mātauranga Māori.

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• develop and implement a schoolwide framework for responsive teaching and classroom environments that consistently supports the wide range of learner wellbeing, engagement, progress and achievement across the diversity of the school
• continue the development of staff-wide distributed leadership to ensure practices that best promote learner progress and achievement are sustained
• create the Waitaki GHS Graduate Profile and develop appropriate and responsive learning, leadership and social progressions leading to this
• refine the present attendance systems so they are effective for the diversity of learners to increase regular attendance in line with the Government’s targets.

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

Within three months:

• use learner wellbeing and engagement information from all groups of learners to clarify and begin the implementation of a schoolwide framework for responsive teaching and consistent classroom environments
• use learner and community feedback to review the school’s attendance system and deepen teachers’ understanding of positive factors for increased learner attendance
• leaders review the consistency of evaluation and reporting to the board on the impact of responsive strategies for improving engagement, progress and achievement for different groups of learners

Every six months:

• review, evaluate and respond to Years 9 to 10 progress data, particularly in literacy and mathematics
• review, evaluate and respond to Years 11 to 13 progress data and identify, track and mentor those learners who are not engaging or making expected progress towards their learning outcomes
• review, evaluate and respond to learners’ experience of the application of schoolwide responsive teaching and consistent classroom environments
• evaluate progress in developing and implementing the Waitaki GHS Graduate Profile

Annually:

• analyse and report on attendance, progress and achievement data to evaluate the impact of the school’s initiatives, inform strategic and annual planning, and set improvement targets
• review and report on the school’s relationship and partnership with iwi and Māori whānau to integrate te ao Māori learning opportunities throughout the curriculum and the implementation of consistent responsive teaching and classroom environments
• leaders review how effectively staff professional learning is supporting leadership development to ensure sustainability of schoolwide systems and improved learner progress and outcomes.

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

• increased rates of regular learner attendance and engagement
• more cohesive action and performance against strategic goals
• improved quality and consistency of teaching practices that are evidence-based, inclusive and responsive for increased learner engagement and achievement
• a school-wide system for collecting, tracking and responding to progress and achievement data with regular check points for early identification of learners who are at risk of underachievement.

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

28 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