New school commissioner Craig Smith, who took over from Nicola Hornsey to start the year, said ``after one term we are in a better position than I could have wished for''.
But his focus for the year would be raising academic levels.
Mr Smith, an Invercargill lawyer and two-time chairman of a school board of trustees, took over from Nicola Hornsey at the start the year.
There was no ‘‘timeframe’’ in place for a return to governance by a board, he said.
"There’s actually a lot of benefit in a school being under statutory management.
"There’s a perception out there that it’s a negative thing. Actually it’s a really positive thing, Because I can make decisions on behalf of the board really quickly. And that has a positive impact and an immediate impact on wellbeing ... benefit of the boys."
The school has been under a commissioner since October 2014 following problems with pastoral care, communication and public relations, governance, good practice and employment.
Mr Smith started his tenure at the Oamaru high school on January 28 — the same day as rector Darryl Paterson started at the school — and he backed the work of the new rector this week.
He said reports from teachers were positive and on his fourth visit to the school on Monday he said he saw pupils with "respect in themselves and [for] the school".
"He [Mr Paterson] is driving things, he is driving a change in culture," Mr Smith said.
"We’ve got a complete buy-in from the whole staff, we’re all very focused."
In December last year as she announced Mr Smith’s appointment Ms Hornsey said the school was "almost good to go". However, this week Mr Smith said the level of optimism might have been too high.
On January 23 the school received a report from the Education Review Office (ERO) based on an October 2016 ERO visit - at which time the appointment of former King’s High School deputy rector Mr Paterson had not been made.
ERO recommended the Secretary for Education maintain the statutory intervention to bring about change in the school’s "governance", "leadership and change" and "strategic planning and internal evaluation".
As well as academic achievement, pupil welfare had been highlighted as a concern.
But though Mr Smith conceded "it wasn’t a particularly positive report", the assessment was "historical", and was based on 2015 academic results, rather than 2016.
"There has been a lift between 2015 and 2016, but you will see a much bigger lift this year. There’s just absolutely more focus on lifting those levels," Mr Smith said.
"I don’t believe we’ve got a student welfare problem there. We’ve got a really strong pastoral team at the school — we’re looking after kids within this community. I have seen absolutely no evidence of bullying at the school.
"And the other major criticism of the last ERO report was the senior management team, and ERO made some comments the senior management team wouldn’t be able to lead the school into the next era.
"With Darryl [Mr Paterson] on board, and the reflections being made by the senior management of the school, that team is actually operating really well."
Mr Smith met ERO officers at the school on Monday and called the meeting "very positive".
