De La Salle College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and De La Salle College working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website www.ero.govt.nz

Context 

De La Salle College is a state-integrated Catholic secondary school for boys in South Auckland. It opened in 1953 and caters for young men from years 7 to 15 who travel from the greater Auckland area. The school's vision is to educate boys in a Catholic environment of love and service with the vision of creating great men of Faith, Service, Community and Excellence.

De La Salle College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• raising literacy achievement across the school

• integrating the college’s Catholic and La Sallian special character across all aspects of school life

• implementation of Mana Ōrite Mo Te Matauranga Māori.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on De La Salle College’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of the college’s literacy curriculum and programme for achieving equity and excellence for all students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that:

• school leaders have identified that strengthening junior literacy learning and achievement will enable more students to access and achieve success in the senior school

• that many students are entering the school at least one curriculum level below expectation in literacy.

The school expects to see:

• improved achievement levels above the expected levels of the New Zealand Curriculum for students

• all students continue to have equitable access to high quality daily teaching and learning opportunities

• all teachers inquiring deeply into their teaching practice in terms of what works best for individual student success

• monitoring and support of staff for quality teaching and learning. 

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the effectiveness of the college’s literacy curriculum and programme for achieving equity and excellence for all students.

• leadership which has fostered sound processes for continuous improvement to promote success for all students

• the ongoing school-wide professional learning focus of inquiring deeply into the effectiveness of teaching practice

• effective pastoral care that draws on restorative practices, the school’s Catholic special character, and strongly supports all students on their learning journey. 

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• extending successful literacy teaching and learning strategies across the school

• evaluating the effectiveness of the college’s local curriculum and recent initiatives

• resourcing and supporting staff and students to raise achievement across the school.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

28 March 2023 

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