Top marks for school's work

After his first year on the job, the leadership of Tikipunga High School principal Alec Solomon has been praised in a report by the Education Review Office. Photo / John Stone

Tikipunga High School has received a largely glowing report but will be under a more stringent review process than most schools.

Principal Alec Solomon welcomed the Education Review Office (ERO) report released earlier this month which described the school as a "welcoming environment".

"Overall I think it's incredibly positive and a real endorsement of all the work that has gone before me," Mr Solomon said.

The latest report put the school on a one-two year review cycle, instead of the regular three year review cycle.

"It is entering a new phase of development under new leadership. This is producing positive outcomes and ERO recommends further support to assist this development," the report said.

Mr Solomon, who has been principal since the start of 2014, welcomed the new review cycle and thought the extra support was a good thing.

Across New Zealand, 296 schools were on the one-two year cycle compared to 1629 on the regular three year cycle.

The report found the board and principal were committed to school improvement with the kura providing a welcoming environment that supported students' aspirations and cultural identity.

"It's nice but education is a team sport and the key players in that are the teachers, our students and the whanau," Mr Solomon said.

One of the more difficult aspects of the principal's first year was the public perception of the school.

"I think the general public perception hasn't always been positive but the reality is quite different to the perception."

One of the areas ERO emphasised as an area for necessary improvement was NCEA success rates. While senior students appeared to be achieving well, further increases in success rates were needed.

Mr Solomon had just recently received the provisional 2014 NCEA results for the school which he said showed a large improvement.

The biggest increase was the percentage of students achieving level 1 which rose from 49.4 per cent in 2013 to 88.5 per cent last year. Students achieving level 2 rose to 81.6 per cent in 2014 from 70.2 per cent in the year prior, while the students achieving level 3 rose to 73.7 per cent in 2014 from 65.9 per cent.

But the number of students achieving university entrance dropped from 39 per cent in 2013 to 27.5 per cent last year. It was the first year NCEA level 3 was required to gain UE.