St Paul’s College in Auckland has lifted its roll-based NCEA pass rates by between 58 and 73 percentage points in the past decade.
The school had been struggling against negative local perceptions while trying to cater to at-risk students.
Roll pressures saw the boys’ school take on more at-risk students, causing issues with engagement, behaviour and academic achievement, said the Principal Mark Rice.
But the school has made big changes during the past decade.
Fewer than 20 per cent of NCEA level 1 students passed in 2007.
In 2014, the school had its first two students pass level 3, endorsed with excellence.
One of those students was awarded the University of Auckland’s New Zealand Vice-Chancellor’s Committee Scholarship and has gone on to study law and business.
St Paul’s College is a Catholic state-integrated decile 2 school in the heart of Ponsonby, one of Auckland’s trendiest and more affluent suburbs.
Two thirds of its students are from outside the local area.
Most students come from multi-lingual backgrounds, which often meant their literacy skills were not where they needed to be to pass NCEA.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
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