All 3 troubled-kids schools face axe

Waimokoia School is closing. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A secret Education Review Office report has recommended closing all three of the country's residential schools for children with behavioural problems in the long term.

The September 2008 report, released last night after the Herald reported that Education Minister Anne Tolley has proposed closing Auckland's Waimokoia School, does not recommend closing Waimokoia alone.
It says that school and the two others, Westbridge in West Auckland and McKenzie in Christchurch, should be brought under a single board in the short term to deal with "inadequate reporting, ineffective leadership and poor quality practice" in the two Auckland schools.

"In the longer term, retaining all three residential schools in their present form is not the best use of resources," it says.

"More localised services and personnel may well be better placed to provide for children closer to their homes, families and regular schools."

The report praises McKenzie as well led and providing "the best teaching", but gives a damning indictment of the two Auckland schools which take primary and intermediate aged children with behaviour problems from the whole northern North Island.

"Low staff morale and a culture of personal grievances and disciplinary actions have been the norm," it says.

"The commissioners of these schools have had to deal with a succession of staffing and financial matters and have not had the benefit of robust reporting from their executive directors. The consequent lack of accountability constitutes a serious risk to the Crown."

At Waimokoia in Half Moon Bay, where four former teachers have been prosecuted this year for alleged offences against children at the school, the report says 30 new teaching and residential staff were employed last year for a roll which was then just 23.

There was no appraisal of staff in 2007 and there was not enough data on students' achievements.

"Programmes appear relatively unstructured and the purpose of many activities was unclear," it says.

At Westbridge, there was better tracking of students but 24 per cent of them did not achieve average progress in reading and 19 per cent actually regressed in numeracy.

"Teaching at Westbridge was poor. The focus was on behaviour management and control," the report says.

Mrs Tolley was in Canada last night and unavailable for comment.The commissioner of both Waimokoia and Westbridge, Dennis Finn, could not be contacted before press time.