Some positives in ERO report

Waitaki Boys' High School. Photo by ODT.
Waitaki Boys' High School. Photo by ODT.

Good news, bad news would be the summary of an Education Review Office report on Waitaki Boys' High School sent out to staff and pupils' families by commissioner Nicola Hornsey yesterday.

''The report is positive about many aspects of the school's operation. It also contains recommendations for areas where improvements can be made ...,'' she said.

Those would be included in her action plan to resolve governance, administration and management issues which have plagued the school for the past two years.

The report reinforces two other independent reports prepared for the board of trustees before it stood down on October 7 after being told by the Ministry of Education there would be statutory intervention with the appointment of a commissioner.

Those reports - the first by Dunedin education consultants Cleave Hay and the second by former Waitaki mayor Allan McLay and former John McGlashan College principal Michael Corkery - identified major issues in the school and doubted the present governance and management could resolve them.

The Otago Daily Times earlier reported it understood the confidential ERO report had similar findings.

That was confirmed when the final report was made public yesterday, but there were also positives in it.

The conclusion said about the school: ''There is a strong tradition of success in learning, culture and sport. The school is seeking to update its teaching and management practices, and this process has been limited by resistance and mistrust.

''Without significant external support, the board and senior managers are not capable of leading positive change.''

ERO was not confident the board was capable of effectively addressing the important issues in its report.

It recommended the ministry's secretary of education consider intervention under the Education Act to bring about improvements in governance (with a focus on personnel management and self-review), leadership of change, communication and resolving concerns and complaints.

ERO indicated it would carry out another review in one to two years, earlier than normal.

However, the report praised student achievement in National Certificates of Educational Achievement and results continued to compare favourably with those for boys in similar and co-educational schools.

While student performance at the merit and excellence levels was not as strong as it could be, the school had made that a priority to improve.

The rector, senior staff and teachers encouraged pupils to have high expectations and changes had encouraged them to take responsibility for their own progress and behaviour.

''Most students respond positively to this focus,'' the report said.

david.bruce@odt.co.nz

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