Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) has received a positive assessment in its latest Education Review Office (ERO) report, principal Nicola Jacobsen says.

She said the report evaluated the impact of the college’s school-wide focus on improving literacy skills and developing learner agency.

“The ERO report found that the majority of our learners in Years 7 to 10 are achieving at or above expected curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics, with equitable achievement for Māori learners,” Nicola said.

“Most learners continue to achieve Levels 1, 2 and 3 of NCEA and university entrance, with increasing parity for Māori, and students also reported an increased sense of ownership and commitment to their learning goals.

“We are also seeing strong development of teacher capability and confidence in prioritising literacy as a critical skill for learners to reach their potential both within and beyond school.”

A 2019 ERO report which identified MAC as a ‘developing’ school sparked a raft of changes and the most recent report, in 2022, highlighted issues around literacy levels at MAC, particularly in the younger year levels.

Read more: MAC works with ERO to improve literacy

MAC board chair Niamh Shaw said the latest ERO evaluation was a reflection of the hard work and effort of the school’s staff.

“Everyone on the board is really proud of the college’s senior leadership team and the staff on achieving such a positive evaluation, and we are delighted to have played a small part in supporting the kura on its journey,” Niamh said.

The report documents the college’s ‘future priorities’, which are expected to result in improvements in students’ self-management, confidence in writing, ownership of their learning progress, levels of achievement, and attendance levels.

The report notes that attendance levels at MAC are “approaching but not yet at the Ministry of Education’s national target; the majority of learners attend regularly”. 

“ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners,” report author and ERO director of schools Shelley Booysen​ said. 

“The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.”

The ERO is the New Zealand government’s external evaluation agency that provides monitoring and evaluation of early learning services, kōhanga reo, puna kōhungahunga, kura and schools.

Read the full 2025 MAC ERO report here.

PHOTO: Supplied