Putaruru 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.

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

Putāruru College is a co-educational school in South Waikato, providing education for students in Years 7 to 13. A new leadership team has been appointed since the previous ERO report. Almost half of students enrolled at the school identify as Māori. 

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

Expected improvements and findings

This section is about the progress the school has made since the August 2022 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

ERO and the school have been working together to evaluate the extent to which literacy and numeracy strategies raise achievement and prepare students for future pathways. 

Expected improvement

The school expected to strengthened capacity of teacher to plan and deliver high quality programmes with a focus on literacy and numeracy, improvement of achievement outcomes for all student particularly in literacy, numeracy and for senior students and students at risk of not achieving.

Findings

The school is yet to make sufficient progress in planning and delivering high quality programmes across all learning areas. Professional learning has been focused on upskilling staff in literacy and numeracy across all curriculum areas. Teachers are beginning to include the explicit use of literacy and numeracy strategies across the curriculum, however, there is variability in the effectiveness of implementation and impact on student outcomes. 

Achievement outcomes for students at risk of not achieving are yet to significantly improve. The rate of NCEA Level 1 Literacy achievement in Year 11 has declined and the rate of NCEA Level 1 Numeracy achievement in Year 11 has improved minimally (1.2%) since the previous ERO report. The school has seen some improvements in overall NCEA Level 2 and 3 achievement and University Entrance. 

Other findings

Since the last ERO review, staff are working better together to bring about improvement in student outcomes in literacy and numeracy. 

What we know about learner success

The judgments in this section are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation. 

Learner success and wellbeing

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing.  

• A majority of Year 12 students achieve National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 and the number of students achieving NCEA Levels 2 and 3 and University Entrance is improving over time, however 39% of school leavers leave without NCEA Level 1.
• A small majority of students leave the school with at least NCEA Level 2 and less than half of Year 13 students achieve NCEA Level 3. Less than a third of students gain University Entrance.
• There is a significant disparity for male and Māori students across all outcome measures.
• By the end of Year 8, less than half of students are at or above the expected level in writing and mathematics. A small majority of students are at or above the expected level in reading.
• The school is yet to develop a clear understanding about student progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics in Years 9 and 10.
• Less than a third of students regularly attend school. Regular attendance is improving, and chronic absence is reducing over time. 

Conditions to support learner success

This section provides a summary of leadership, teaching, curriculum and foundation school conditions for improvement.

• Professional learning for teachers is focused on raising student achievement in literacy and mathematics.
• Strategic and annual planning processes are being strengthened, and plans are aligned with an increased focus on improving student attendance and raising student achievement.
• School leaders are beginning to use student achievement information to inform decision making and planning for improvement. 

• School leaders are beginning to implement a system of regular classroom observations focused on improving teaching and learning.
• Staff have started to work collaboratively to improve teaching practice and develop shared responsibility for raising literacy and numeracy achievement.
• The curriculum increasingly reflects the local context, and rich learning tasks are beginning to be included across learning areas.

• Leaders and teachers value the diversity of students’ languages, cultures and identities.
• School leaders maintain a strong focus on reducing barriers to learning through improving student wellbeing and working in partnership with whānau.
• Established systems and processes for identifying students with additional learning needs are in place. School leaders have identified the need to accelerate student progress as a next step.
• The school Board has governance experience and is representative of the school community. 

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 identifies actions for improvement.  

Key Priorities

• Improve student attendance, retention, progress and achievement.
• Clarify and reinforce expectations for behaviour and learning with staff and students, based on the school values.
• Implement a schoolwide assessment schedule for literacy and numeracy, including tracking of student progress over time.
• Upskilling teachers in their use of assessment information to inform teaching and learning.
• Focus on accelerating student progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within three months:

• leaders and the School Board share the updated strategic plan and school priorities with the school community, reinforcing the school’s focus on improving attendance and raising achievement
• leaders and the School Board implement a system of regular communication with staff to reinforce school priorities and schoolwide expectations, including opportunities to celebrate student and staff successes
• leaders and teachers engage in professional learning focused on quality assessment and the use of data to inform teaching and learning

Every six months:

• leaders and the School Board review the effectiveness of systems and processes for improving student attendance and plan next steps
• leaders and the School Board use student progress and achievement data to review the effectiveness of interventions for accelerating student progress in reading, writing and mathematics

Annually:

• the School Board review student attendance, retention, progress and achievement information to measure progress and refine strategic goals and targets focused on ongoing improvement
• leaders and the Board evaluate the impact of professional learning on improving teacher confidence and capability in the use of assessment information to accelerate student achievement
• leaders and the Board evaluate the extent to which the school values and expectations are known and understood by the school community and plan next steps for improvements as required. 

Expected outcomes

• Improved student attendance, retention, progress and achievement, with improved equity for all groups of students.
• Reliable achievement data used to inform high quality teaching and learning, with a focus on accelerating student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school has developed cohesive school systems and processes focused on a small number of targeted improvement priorities.
• The school values are embedded and foster a culture of high expectations.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Secretary for Education consider an intervention listed in section 173 of the Education and Training Act 2020 for specialist help to support the school with:

• leadership of learning and curriculum
• assessment and the use of assessment information
• attendance, progress and achievement
• strategic and annual planning for improvement.

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation 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

9 October 2025