According to analysis of 2022 University Entrance (UE) and NCEA Level 3 results across New Zealand's high schools, there is a clear correlation between academic success and social privilege.

Based on 2022 data published by the NZ Herald, this correlation remains evident despite a number of outliers disrupting the pattern.

Te Kura Maori o Nga Tapuwae is an example of one school that bucked the trend.

It had an impressive record of all school leavers attaining University Entrance. This was despite the school's high Equity Index (EQI) score of 492.

EQI is a rating that indicates social disadvantage; it replaced the old decile system in 2023. EQI scores increase by deprivation, ranging from 344 for the least deprived schools to 569 for the worst-off.

Principal Arihia Stirling said the school's results were a by-product of looking after their students' wellness - "of our ability to get our kids to see a different world".

That involves understanding the students' wellness - laying holistic foundations encompassing physical and mental health, high attendance and good nutrition.

Motivated staff and whanau with high levels of trust built over generations help too, she notes.

"The school has a long history of producing successful students who happen to be Maori" he says.

The Ministry of Education provided the NZ Herald with comprehensive data under the Official Information Act. The data highlights variations in NCEA pass rates among state, integrated and private schools.

Generally, schools with greater socio-economic advantages demonstrate higher pass rates for both NCEA and UE.

However, schools like Te Kura Maori o Nga Tapuwae disrupt this trend, showcasing exceptional outcomes despite challenging circumstances.

Other kura, such as St Joseph's Maori Girls' College and Manukura, share similar academic success stories against socio-economic odds. The schools emphasise high expectations, strong cultural values and supportive environments.

Integrated schools, while operating within the state school system, exhibit intriguing disparities in NCEA pass rates compared with their state counterparts.

The data reveals that integrated schools achieve NCEA Level 3 pass rates averaging 70.8%, surpassing the national average of 52.8%. This discrepancy underscores the potential impact of school ethos and character on student achievement.

Sense of belonging

It's not new that kura are achieving academic success despite socio-economic challenges, according to Dr Nina Hood, Education Hub founder and former secondary school teacher.

"We've seen a number of kura do incredibly well in terms of the proportion of the students who are getting UE. If you go back in the data, you will see that that's happened for several years" Hood says.

"I think part of it has to come down to the environment and culture within the school. We know that having a strong sense of belonging is really important for students."

Dr Hood suggested that integrated schools displayed the same factors that impacted kura - "the strong culture, the strong sense of belonging, the creation of an environment that has a clear set of values associated with it".

Sources

NZ Herald

CathNews New Zealand

Last week, educator Alwyn Poole discussed his research with Peter Williams on Taxpayer Talk, a podcast for the New Zealand Taxpayers Union.

Poole is a well-known figure in the New Zealand education system.

New Zealand's most successful schools academically are private and Catholic schools, he told Williams.

"I have spent the last month acquiring and processing significant data on the leavers of every high school in New Zealand.

"This is far more important than the cohort data (by year level) that comes out in February."

Poole told Williams he found Catholic schools have made tremendous strides, are far more personable than they used to be and have kept their standards extremely high.

"They set really high goals and standards for the kids and the children come up to them.

Catholic school pupils face "very high expectations with attendance and attention," he said.

Qualifying his comment, Poole also said the Catholic schools were not perfect and not all were absolutely amazing. At the same time, he highlighted McAuley High School, a decile one school.

McAuley High School had 87.1 of their students achieving NCEA Level Three and nearly 66 percent of its students getting university entrance.

Poole says this compares favourably with some decile ten schools.

"Just because someone comes from a decile one background or goes to a decile one school, that's not by any means 100 percent correlated with education failure, not even close," he told Williams.

Poole also told Williams that some of the Catholic school success is a result of their being part of a counter culture, the challenge they put on each other and a culture of belonging.

They "talk about the culture of belonging and that when they enrol as students, they actually consider that they enrol a family," Poole explained.

The following shows Poole's comparison for schools in each decile by University Entrance achievement (schools with 75 or more students) and retention. All measure are for leavers across year levels.

• Top: Decile 10: Diocesan School for Girls - UE at 96.6% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 2.7%.
• Top Decile 9: Woodford House - UE at 96.2% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 3.8%.
• Top Decile 8. St Peter's College (Epsom) - UE at 89.8% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 3.3%.
• Top Decile 7: Marist College (Auckland) - UE at 89.4% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 0.9%.
• Top Decile 6: St Catherine's (Kilbirnie) - UE at 73.7% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 0.0%.
• Top Decile 5: Manukura (Palmerston North) - UE at 76.5% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 17.3%.
• Top Decile 4: Selwyn College (Auckland) - UE at 70.5% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 9.6%.
• Top Decile 3: Zayed College for Girls (very closely followed by Auckland Girls Grammar) -UE at 70% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 0.0%.
• Top Decile 2: St Paul's College (Ponsonby) - UE at 84.1% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 4.5%.
• Top Decile 1: McAuley High School (Otahuhu) - UE at 65.8% for leavers. Leaving before 17yo - 3.9%.

Source

• Kiwiblog
• Kiwiblog
• Taxpayer Talk
• Innovative Education Consultants

​

"The problem is when you sneeze or cough inside the shield, the splatter gets everywhere," he explains. "It's really annoying. Read more

This year the college features in the 2018 top 10 schools achieving University Entrance.

With 66% of students boarders, the Hawkes Bay school's policy is strict.

"Literally they [the cellphones] are taken off them and not given back", the College's Head of English, Radne Adern told the NZ Herald.

Adern said day students are allowed to bring cellphones to school but must leave them at the office and collect them once school finished.

"The school culture is that we have to do well to make a better future for ourselves," said Grace Hemara-Tylden.

Hamara-Tylden, now studying at Otago University, also attributes the college's success to an environment more stable than other schools she attended.

Small class sizes also help, she said.

"The school teaches us to be comfortable with who we are and to be comfortable with being Maori, and that we can be anything that we want to be.

"Also, because it was a boarding school, we were away from home, and it was also a way of repaying our parents for having sent us to the school - we repay them by doing well."

St Joseph's Maori Girls College principal is Dame Georgina Kingi, and she's known to run a "tight ship".

"Miss Kingi's discipline is something that is admired by the whanau," Ardern said.

"I really think they like structure. They like to know what they are doing, when they are doing it, why they are doing it.

Adern says that although the fees to attend the Decile 2 school are $13,000pa, the school is not elitist.

She said there's a waiting list.

Private girls' schools feature prominently in the 2018 league table of New Zealand high schools.

Topped by St Cuthbert's College, the list also includes Scots College, Wellington, ACG Parnell College, Auckland Grammar, Auckland International College, Diocesan School for Girls, Macleans College and Queen Margaret College.

Crimson Education compiles the rankings in conjunction with QS World University Rankings.

Crimson Education says it draws up the lists based on its experience in working with a global pool of top-performing students who year-on-year continue to secure admission to the world's most competitive universities.

Sources:

• NZ Herald
• NZ Herald
• Crimson Education
• Image: St Joseph's Maori Girls College