Verdon 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

Verdon College is a state-integrated, Catholic, co-educational school providing education for Years 7 to 13, with learners coming from across Invercargill.

There are three parts to this report.

Part A: A summary of the findings from the most recent Education Review Office (ERO) report and/or subsequent evaluation.

Part B: 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 C: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle. 

Part A: Previous Improvement Goals 

Since the previous report in August 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the engagement and achievement of boys in Years 9 and 10, particularly Māori and priority learners.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see: 

Student voice used to inform teaching and learning.

• Professional learning for staff provides an informative window into boys’ classroom experiences and informs teaching and learning practices.
• Students report feeling cared for, listened to and valued, with data indicating increasing levels of student attendance, engagement and fewer pastoral incidents.

Individual strategies developed to effectively engage boys with learning and support their success.

• Mentor teachers form positive relationships with students, as well as parents and whānau, to support engagement with school.
• The school acknowledges and celebrates students’ successes in learning as well as their various connections to wider school life, including cultural and sporting involvements.

Data reflecting increased student engagement. 

• Most Year 9 and 10 students are attending regularly and engaged in learning.
• The school actions academic and pastoral support for priority learners in order to develop positive connections with school.
• Regular student feedback informs the development of positive and mutually respectful teacher-learner relationships.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s actions is the successful development of programmes and strategies to re-engage students in response to disrupted schooling experiences due to Covid-19.

Part B: Current state

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

• Progress is evident in literacy and mathematics for Years 7 to 10 students, so most of those learners who join the school with well below expected achievement levels successfully access national qualifications as they progress into the senior school.
• The majority of Year 11, 12 and 13 learners, including Māori learners, continue to gain National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Levels 1, 2 and 3 and University Entrance.
• Most learners progress through the senior school and leave with qualifications needed for further study, training or employment. 
• The school has improving levels of attendance that are approaching but not yet at the Ministry of Education’s national target, with the majority of students attending regularly.

Conditions to support learner success

• The school prioritises the development of leaders across the teaching staff, with a focus on leadership roles guiding pastoral and curriculum initiatives, that are improving student wellbeing and learning outcomes.
• Leaders monitor and respond to achievement information to accelerate the progress of learners at risk of not engaging or gaining success at school.

• Teachers are establishing evidence based, classroom practices with increasing confidence to improve students’ engagement.
• Staff share their expertise through professional learning groups to inform teaching and curriculum developments that are responsive to students’ learning needs and interests.

• Teachers’ knowledge of their students and families is used effectively to tailor approaches to build successful engagement.
• The school is extending its relationships with parents and whānau to support students’ attendance and academic progress.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue to support initiatives to positively address barriers to student attendance, engagement, progress and achievement
• continue to develop and implement curriculum design, including approaches across learning areas, that are relevant to learners and respond to their needs so that they see themselves reflected and valued in the curriculum.

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

Within six months

• teachers continue to develop teacher-learner relationships to provide a supportive and engaging environment for students
• teachers further develop the mentorship programme for students at risk of not engaging
• leaders include a professional growth focus on improving teaching practices that further engage students in positive classroom experiences and purposeful learning
• leaders support heads of learning areas to lead curriculum changes, so that student progress and responsive curriculum design are increasingly at the centre of learning.

Every six months

• leaders track and respond to student attendance, engagement and achievement information for priority learner groups to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives
• teachers use student feedback to further develop positive and mutually respectful teacher-learner relationships across the school.

Annually

• leaders further develop opportunities across learning areas, to offer students choice and successfully address their aspirations and interests
• leaders provide evaluative reports to the board on student attendance, engagement and achievement, as well as on the impact on students of curriculum developments to inform planning.

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

• increased attendance, engagement and achievement across the curriculum for students in Years 7 to 10
• a school curriculum developed and implemented to support students’ progress and achievement at all year levels.

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

23 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