Menzies 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.

Context

Menzies College is a rural co-educational school for students in Years 7 to 13 located in Wyndham, Southland. The school’s vision for students is that they will become life-long learners who contribute to their families and communities, grow in knowledge, make connections through experiences. A new principal and senior leadership team has been appointed since the 2019 ERO report.

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 

• Most learners in Years 7 to 10 achieve at expected curriculum levels in reading; a majority achieve at these levels in mathematics and writing. 
• An increasing proportion of learners achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Levels 2 and 3; most achieve NCEA Levels 1 and 2, just over half achieve Level 3 and a third achieve University Entrance.
• There was significant improvement in equity of achievement for Māori learners in national qualifications in 2023 and this is a continued focus for the school.
• The majority of learners attend school regularly; the school is yet to meet Ministry of Education targets for regular attendance and continues to work with parents and the community to improve attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Leaders set and pursue relevant improvement goals that improve the achievement and wellbeing of all learners. 
• Leaders build trusting relationships and constructive collaborations across the school community and with the wider community (including with other education providers, employers, community groups and iwi Māori), to enhance learning opportunities for learners and achieve the school’s strategic goals.
• Leaders use evidence well to review and improve school policies, systems, processes and practices to make sure these serve the learning and wellbeing of learners.

• Teachers make effective use of the local environment and community to enhance learners’ engagement in relevant and meaningful learning experiences.
• Flexible structures, like timetables, enable students to pursue individualised learning pathways including vocational studies and work experience.
• Teachers know learners well and use a range of effective teaching strategies to engage them in purposeful learning. 

• The board, leaders and teachers value parents and whānau as partners in their child’s learning and provide a range of ways for them to be well informed about engagement, learning and achievement.
• Transitions into, through and out of school are well planned and supported with relevant programmes and guidance so students can access meaningful pathways. 
• The school has appropriate systems, programmes and practices for providing an inclusive environment for learners; leaders use a range of data to review the effectiveness of these and to respond to changing needs.
• Leaders and teachers are strengthening systems and practices to remove the barriers to learning for learners who require additional or adapted teaching to have success in learning. 

Part B: Where to next? 

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• foster and embed effective, relational and inclusive teaching practices that remove barriers to learning for learners with different needs and that affirm and respond to learners’ cultures and identities
• continue to review and strengthen the systems, programmes, processes and practices that support an inclusive and positive culture for learning for all learners
• continue to work with the school’s community to improve levels of regular attendance as the foundation of success in learning.

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

Within six months:

• plan and provide professional learning for teachers and teacher aides on teaching strategies to remove barriers to learning for learners with different needs
• plan and provide professional learning for all staff on effective relational teaching, with a focus on improving engagement with and responsiveness to Māori learners
• ensure school systems for identifying the different needs of learners and providing additional and adapted teaching to meet their needs, are robust, responsive and well-integrated with classroom teaching
• support consistent implementation of the school’s values and positive relationships programmes.

Every six months:

• evaluate the effectiveness of strategies for improving attendance
• monitor and report on the progress and achievement of learners receiving additional and adapted teaching to experience success and use this to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and support.

Annually:

• gather and analyse learners’ perspectives on their experiences of teaching, learning, belonging and wellbeing and use this information to identify future priorities
• monitor and evaluate the progress and changes in teaching as a result of professional learning and use this to prioritise future actions to embed effective practice.

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

• all learners having equitable access to learning and experiencing success
• Māori learners continuing to have equitable engagement, learning and wellbeing outcomes 
• all learners experiencing and reporting a safe, positive learning environment
• improved levels of regular attendance.

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

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

25 September 2024

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