Papamoa 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

Pāpāmoa College is located in the Western Bay of Plenty. The co-educational school provides for students from Years 7 to 13. They are the host school for a satellite of Tauranga Special School. Since the previous ERO review a new principal has been appointed and there have been changes to the leadership team. The school vision is Embracing opportunities; Creating excellence.

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 ERO report of September 2022, ERO and the school have worked together to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to accelerate the progress of Year 7 to 10 learners in literacy, with a specific focus on learners who are not yet achieving at expected curriculum levels.

Expected Improvements and Findings

The school expected to see:

Improved outcomes in literacy for all learners, especially Māori and Pacific students, and those with additional learning needs whose progress needs accelerating.

• National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) results in literacy have improved for all learners.
• Accelerated progress is evident for most learners who are not yet at the expected curriculum level, including Māori and Pacific students.
• Most students with additional learning needs make progress against their personalised learning goals.

Robust systems and processes to support literacy teaching and learning.

• A clear strategic focus on raising achievement in literacy across the school includes monitoring of key actions and expected outcomes.
• Effective analysis of achievement information enables a thorough understanding of where each learner is on their learning journey. 
• Multiple targeted interventions and initiatives are in place to support literacy learning; these have resulted in improved outcomes.

Consistent approaches to literacy teaching and learning from Years 7 to 10.

• Over time, professional learning and development has focused on building capacity to implement effective literacy strategies across the school and improve teaching and learning.
• Literacy leaders are establishing a common language for literacy and designing and implementing effective approaches to teaching literacy.
• Targeted resourcing supports students who need additional support to achieve at expected levels in literacy.

The greatest shift that has occurred in response to the school’s action has been the strategic development and embedding of robust systems and processes to align the approaches to literacy learning for improved student outcomes.

Part B: Current State

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

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Most students are making progress and achieve well.

• Most students achieve NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 and a small majority achieve University Entrance; achievement outcomes for Māori and Pacific students have improved to become more equitable.
• Progress and achievement information for students in Years 7 to 10 shows that most students are making expected progress against curriculum levels.
• Most students leave Pāpāmoa College with a meaningful qualification and a pathway.
• Less than half of students have regular attendance; the Ministry of Education target for regular attendance has yet to be achieved.

Conditions to support learner success

Collaborative leadership works well and strategically, to make evidence-informed decisions to improve student outcomes. 

• Strategic priorities are informed by a range of high-quality evidence; planning is coherent, and improvement actions are evaluated for impact on student outcomes, including improving engagement and equitable outcomes for all students.
• Leaders are highly committed to ensuring and providing multiple opportunities for all students leave with a meaningful qualification and a purposeful future pathway.
• Leaders have high expectations, build relational trust and collaboration at all levels of the school community to achieve the strategic vision and improvement goals.

Students have opportunities to learn across the breadth of the curriculum and are well supported by effective teaching practice.

• Teachers know and value their students; they create orderly and purposeful learning environments that encourage engagement in learning.
• Learning programmes are continuously reviewed and strengthened to meet the needs and aspirations of students including Māori and Pacific students.
• Students with specific learning needs are clearly identified and supported to achieve through additional personalised learning opportunities.

Organisational conditions are increasingly aligned and drive strategic improvement.

• Professional learning and development are prioritised, well aligned with strategic initiatives and underpin ongoing improvements and quality teaching and learning.
• The school is strengthening partnerships with the community to inform and support its strategic direction.
• Student feedback indicates that the school is an inclusive environment where differences are valued.
• The board effectively represents, serves and works with the school community to collaboratively identify the school improvement priorities and ensure accountability measures for improvement are in place.

Part C: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• continue to build a positive culture through the ongoing implementation of planned strategies that promote learning and engagement and improve attendance
• continue to strengthen approaches that work towards achieving equitable outcomes for all, in particular Māori and Pacific learners.

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

Within six months:

• embed attendance strategies and further implement identified approaches designed to enhance the quality of learning that support engagement of students 
• implement planned strategies to further develop the values-based learning culture
• design and implement a programme of professional learning to build teacher confidence and capability in te reo Māori, me onā tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori
• continue to evaluate initiatives taken to improve outcomes for Māori and Pacific students

Annually:

• evaluate and report on the impact of the implementation of planned strategies that promote learning and engagement on student attendance and outcomes
• use an agreed process to review and report on how effectively teachers are integrating te reo Māori, me onā tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori in the classroom
• monitor and report on engagement, progress and achievement data for Māori and Pacific students to know what is working and to identify next steps.

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

• increased levels of achievement for all, particularly Māori and Pacific students
• higher rates of attendance and engagement within a positive culture for learning.

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

11 November 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