ERO is happy with Girls' High

Whangarei Girls' High School has so impressed the assessors from the Education Review Office that they won't be back for another four or five years.

The school, Northland's third largest high school with a roll of 1149, has been promoted from a three-year review cycle to a four to five year cycle following a highly complimentary assessment from the Education Review Office.

"Whangarei Girls' High School is a distinctively New Zealand school of which the community can be justifiably proud," the report starts off. The ERO visited the school in September and its report, to be released publicly later this month, goes on to praise the board of trustees, the principal, senior and middle managers, teachers, support staff and even students.

"The school's effective governance, leadership, management and teaching focus on empowering every one of its students to leave school well-prepared to make a positive contribution to society," the report says. A copy of the report was provided to the Northern Advocate by Girls' High.

WGHS principal Anne Cooper said she was particularly happy with the ERO's recognition that the school was one the community could be proud of, as "working with our community and being part of our community is important to us and it shows we can stand up against the rest of New Zealand. It's good for Northland," she said.

Mrs Cooper said she was pleased that the report recognised the school's high achievement levels and the dedicated efforts of staff to make those achievements possible. "Our staff work hard, they are committed to their students' success and certainly go that 'extra mile' for them, so I am thrilled to see that was recognised by the ERO team," she said.

The report notes that WGHS students achieve at levels "well above" those of similar decile schools throughout New Zealand, and retention of students has increased at all year levels.

The decile five school's roll is made up 55 per cent NZ European/Pakeha, 33 per cent Maori, two per cent Asian, 2 per cent Pacific and eight per cent of other races, with eight international students.