HOLY Family School in Porirua East believes it will get a tick of approval when education assessors arrive this month.
It has been three years since the last Education Review Office (ERO) visit, and principal, Karl Vasau is confident standards will be met.
Mr Vasau, pictured above, says attaining a three year check after the 2009 visit was rare in Porirua at the time.
“It was also the highest a school could be awarded at the time,” he says.
The 2009 report for Holy Family School Porirua contained three recommendations.
Teachers and senior management were required to further develop and document their shared knowledge of literacy teaching, creating a programme that would help special needs students understand and learn more about core subjects.
The board of trustees and senior management were also required to do further developing and implementing of systematic self-review systems with the help of a consultant.
“We’ve formed a programme that will help children with learning disabilities gain more understanding in literacy and numeracy” Mr Vasau says, referring to the work done since the report.
“One of my own personal goals is that every kid is able to read, write and do numeracy at their age level,” says Mr Vasau.
The maximum gap ERO can now grant between reports has risen to five years.
“We’re still aiming for three but more would be a bonus,” says Mr Vasau.
Redevelopments to the property plan are also in progress, including refurbishing the staffroom, updating the library and new carpets in classrooms.
Breakfast in schools are common in primary schools across the country, and Mr Vasau has strict rules in lunches stopping students from bringing fatty and sugary food to school.
“Being in a low decile environment has you dealing with low poverty that not many would see making it difficult, but that isn’t the case.”
Holy Family is a decile one school and it is one of those that provides breakfast if needed..
”I believe that a good breakfast and lunch is a great combination to have a student focused and learning in classrooms.”
