Mission Heights Junior 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 

Mission Heights Junior College in Flatbush, Auckland is a middle school and provides education for students in Years 7 to 10. The school shares a campus with Mission Heights Primary School. The culturally diverse Junior College operates as four schools within a school: Te Whānau Takutai|Coast, Te Whānau Ngahere|Forest, Te Whānau Wai|Water, and Te Whānau Maunga|Mountains.

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

Improvement and progress

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

Expected improvement

The school evaluated how effectively the schools’ change process on the values impacted on learner outcomes overtime. The school expected to see:

• Students taking greater ownership of their learning journey and using ‘learning to learn strategies’ that enable them to progress in their learning over their four years at school.
• Students being empowered to understand and live the values in all areas of school life.
• Students provided with opportunities to see the connections between their learning and school experiences.
• Clear communication to the community about the school’s holistic approach to reporting on student’s learning to promote their understanding and appreciation.

Findings 

A holistic report was designed to evidence students’ success, progress and achievement over their four years at school. Students use a learner progression document to track and show their progress. Teachers plan together and help students gather real examples of their learning. The Whānau system supports both learning and wellbeing. School values are clearly understood and shown in daily life, and teachers help students link these values to everything they do at school. These values are recognised and celebrated throughout the school community. Over four years, students use learning strategies taught by teachers to take charge of their learning. Overall, the school’s holistic reports are greatly valued by the community.

Other Findings 

Over five years, the school developed and tested examples, and collected feedback from students, parents, and teachers to make holistic reports clearer and easier to use. The review showed that while parents and students said they liked seeing evidence of how students lived the school values, they still placed greater emphasis on academic achievement and progress.

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments 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 large majority of students achieve at and above curriculum expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Disparity is evident for some groups of students; the school is working towards equitable outcomes for students.
• A strong sense of belonging and wellbeing is evident.
• The school is approaching the Government target of 80% attendance and developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

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

• Leaders set clear expectations for planning, teaching, and assessment to ensure consistent practice across the school.
• Leadership identifies and successfully leverages staff strengths to meet student needs.
• There is a strong commitment to continued professional growth through professional learning, coaching and mentoring programmes. 

• Teaching programmes have a strong focus on literacy and mathematics. Students are provided with rich meaningful learning opportunities across the New Zealand Curriculum.
• Individual student’s strengths, needs and interests are provided through the DEEP (Discovery, Essentials, Enrichment and Passions) programme.
• Students with additional learning needs are well supported through inclusive teaching practices to make progress and achieve success.

• High standards, expectations and student engagement with learning are evident across the school.
• Trustees and leaders make strategic resourcing investments to effectively support curriculum implementation, teaching and student’s learning opportunities.
• Culturally responsive practices integrating Mātauranga Māori are woven through the school curriculum.
• Leaders and teachers use evaluative evidence for continuous school improvement.

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.

Key priorities 

• Increase equitable and excellent learning outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics for all groups of students.
• Align current school mathematics and literacy programmes and assessment with changes to the New Zealand Curriculum.
• Continue to improve regular attendance. 

Actions to bring about improvement

Within six months:

• implement the school’s attendance plan and monitor the effectiveness of new initiatives to increase student attendance.

Every six months:

• leaders closely monitor the effectiveness of initiatives to improve student attendance and adjust where needed and determine further actions
• leaders report attendance trends and patterns to the School Board and parent community 

Annually:

• leaders and the school Board analyse student achievement information and use it to inform future decision-making, including future professional development priorities
• leaders and the school Board review how well professional development programmes and acceleration programmes are shifting student progress and achievement for all groups of students in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Expected outcomes 

• Achievement and equitable outcomes increase for all learners in reading, writing, and mathematics aligned to the New Zealand Curriculum
• Improved attendance, especially for those learners who do not attend regularly.

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 

25 September 2025