DIOCESE OF TOWNSVILLE SCHOOL REPORTING - 2018 

Ryan Catholic College, Kirwan 

Address

Junior Campus: 44 Golf Links Drive, Kirwan, QLD, 4817 

Senior Campus: 59 Canterbury Road, Kirwan, QLD, 4817 

Postal

address

PO Box 97, Thuringowa Central,  

QLD, 4817 

Phone Junior Campus: (07) 4755 9900 

Senior Campus:(07) 4773 0100  

Fax Senior Campus:(07) 4773 3703 

Email office@ryan.catholic.edu.au  

Webpages

School Website:  www.ryan.catholic.edu.au 

Additional information is available via the My School website: www.myschool.edu.au 

Contact

Person

Mr David McNeale (Principal) 

Principal’s foreword Introduction  Ryan Catholic College is a Prep to Year 12 College providing a seamless transition through the three phases of education: Junior, Middle and Senior schooling. The nine core values the College lives by are companionship, communication, love, faith, hope, compassion, courage, integrity and reflection. The inclusive community of the College inspires students in their journey, challenging and preparing them to embrace their future with confidence and success.

With a current enrolment of 1896 students across 2 campuses, a range of challenging and relevant spiritual, academic, sporting and cultural programmes designed to help students reach their full potential and instil in them a love of life and learning, is offered. A comprehensive pastoral care program operates across the entire College with dedicated Pastoral Leaders in the middle and senior schools. Ryan also supports defence families with 2 dedicated Defence Transition Mentors in place. An Indigenous Education Team provide support, encouragement, programs and assistance to the many indigenous students across the College. Students have the opportunity to participate in many extracurricular activities including interschool sporting competitions, College musicals, public speaking, overseas cultural, sporting and outreach tours, music, community engagement and social activities. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the life of the College through the Parents and Friends Association and the College Board, which provide a vital link to the College Leadership Team.

   

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School Renewal, Strategic Planning and Annual School Improvement The Characteristics of Effective Catholic Schools is the guiding document of the TCEO schools                           linking the processes of planning, implementation and review for the purpose of enhancing                         the quality and effectiveness of Catholic Schools. Through the Characteristics of Effective                       Catholic Schools each school can monitor its effectiveness, focus on strategies for                       improvement and fulfil its accountability responsibilities to various entities. 

Mission and Purpose  

● To provide new and different opportunities to enhance the Catholic identity of our                           school community. 

● To build commitment to our Catholic identity by clear articulation of our charism                         drawn from the Emmaus Story. 

● Service Outreach to Global Communities for staff and students ● Focus on School Improvement in the context of the Characteristics of Effective                       

Catholic Schools. ● Participate in processes to develop and embed the Senior School Religious                     

Education Program as part of changes to the Senior Secondary Curriculum and                       Practices. 

● To improve parent involvement in college life. ● A Re-focus on Parent Engagement. ● To document the strong partnerships between Ryan Catholic College and its                     

partners in a plan to enable and improve a sustainable model for partnerships in                           the future 

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Climate Conducive to Learning  

● Health and Well-Being – looking after the mental health of staff and students  ● To fully prepare for the planned changes to Qld’s senior secondary program. ● Enabling culture change in schools through enhancing data literacy. ● To effectively employ human resources so as to maximise the school achievement                       

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students both individually and as groups. ● Enact the school based and TCEO Reconciliation Action Plans ● To identify high performance strategies to improve outcomes for students. ● Review the current methods of identifying, responses to, communication of,                   

processes and programs of addressing bullying across the College. ● Improve student pathways to enhance post-school transition.. ● Actively work to cater for the diversity of learning needs of all students through                           

respect, recognition, flexible learning space design and inclusive practices to meet                     these needs whilst using a 21st Century approach. 

Emphasis on Learning  

● To continue to implement agreed elements of the Australian Curriculum initiative. ● To increase teacher capability to improve student learning. ● To focus on a Performance and Development Culture for our Schools. ● To finalise and implement the College Pedagogical/Learning Framework. ● To empower teachers to maximize the use of powerful strategies to improve                       

student literacy. ● To analyse data, monitor group/individual performance and plan for effective                   

pedagogy which aims to provide age appropriate curriculum achievement for                   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with a specific focus on literacy and                         numeracy. 

● To develop a strong and optimistic outlook for all staff in meeting school targets for                             student outcomes. 

● To further develop a culture of feedback e.g. classroom profiling, walk throughs and                         professional conversation 

   

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School Profile 

System: Catholic Education (Diocese of Townsville)  

Coeducational or single sex:  Coeducational 

Year levels offered:  Prep – Year 12 

 

Total student enrolments for this school: 

Total Enrolment Girls Boys

1883 1050 833

Characteristics of the student body:

Junior Campus:

Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Total Total

M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F 800

39 65 46 66 39 73 58 55 64 56 54 66 59 60 356 444

104 112 112 113 120 120 119 800

Senior Campus:

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Total Total

M F M F M F M F M F M F M F 1083

88 120 94 112 85 111 77 120 54 61 79 82 477 606

208 206 196 197 115 161 1083

 

   

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Curriculum offerings 

Our distinctive curriculum offerings ● Three-tier curriculum structure, including Junior School (Prep – Year 4), 

Middle School (Year 5 – 8), and Senior School (Years 9 - 12)  ● Very strong emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy ● Comprehensive academic and vocational pathways ● Specialist PE, Music and Drama teachers for Prep to Year 6 ● LOTE (Japanese and Italian) from Year 3 onwards ● Thinking Science program across years 7 to 9 ● Year 10 Semester 2 transition subject offerings ● Technology assisted learning and teaching ● Comprehensive instrumental music program ● Comprehensive Learning Enrichment programs across all year levels 

  

Extra curricula activities  ● Interschool and Inter-house sports programs ● Instrumental and vocal music programs ● Social Justice Groups ● Mini Vinnies ● Rowing ● College Musical (P-12) ● Mulkadee Arts Festival for Years 4 to 12 ● Debating/Public Speaking ● Environmental Group – Go MAD (Go Make A Difference) ● Overseas study trips (UK, Europe, PNG, Japan, Italy) ● Eisteddfod ● Readers’ Cup ● School Camps / Activity Days / Retreats for Years 6 to 12 ● Code Clubs ● Homework Programs 

How Information and Communication Technologies are used to assist learning  

● Information and Communication Technology is offered as an elective for Year                     9 – 12.  

● One extra lesson a week for Year 7-9 has been allocated to support the                           integration of Information and Communication Technology. 

● The application of information and communication technologies is integrated                 to varying degrees across programs to support teaching and learning in all                       subject areas from P – 12.  

● The College has approximately 1000 computers available for student use and                     178 for staff use.  

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● Students in Years 8-12 have a BYOD. ● There are 62 interactive whiteboards in the College with all classes in Year P –                             

6 having one. There are 28 available for students in Years 8 – 12.  ● In Year 6 – 12 every Science lab has an interactive whiteboard. ● Classes are implementing the Google suite of applications to create and                     

collaborate online for their work. ● Code Clubs for students take place during lunchtimes. 

Social climate 

● Pastoral Leaders at each secondary year level ● College divided into Junior, Middle, and Senior Schools  ● Defence Transition Mentors on both campuses ● Indigenous Education Team on both campuses ● College Chaplain ● Careers Counselling  ● College Counsellors ● Learning Enrichment specialists (Junior, Middle and Senior) 

 Strategies/programs used to respond to bullying include: 

● Anti-bullying week ● Seasons for Growth ● Playground buddies ● Code of behavior ● Electronic Bully Box (student and parent access 24/7) ● Cyber bullying lessons ● Counsellor run sessions on: Building Friendships, Conflict Resolution, 

Playground Buddies Peer Mediation program

   

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Parent, student and teacher satisfaction with the school 

The parent and teacher satisfaction results are gathered using voluntary participation in a radii survey.   

Performance measure  Result 2018 

Percentage of parents satisfied with their child/ren’s progress at this school  93.5% 

Percentage of Year 5 – Year 6 students satisfied with their learning at this school  98.1% 

Percentage of Year 7 – Year 12 satisfied that the school provides educational programs that enable them to learn  91.5% 

Percentage of Year 7 – Year 12 students satisfied with their educational progress at this school  86.4% 

Percentage of teachers satisfied that this school provides educational programs that enable students to learn  98.5% 

Percentage of teachers satisfied with the educational progress of students at this school  97.6% 

Involving parents in their child’s education ● Monthly P & F and Board Meetings 

● Parent volunteers in classroom and on school camps 

● Parents invited to weekly assemblies 

● Regular parent/teacher meetings, reporting and social gatherings 

● P&F sponsored parent information sessions (e.g., Literacy, numeracy) 

● Ryan Spring Fair 

● Year level newsletters and class newsletters emailed to parents 

 

 

 

 

   

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Reducing the school’s environmental footprint  

● Use of an environmental audit and attention to its recommendations is included in the renewal cycle which is part of the life of TCEO schools.   

● The College has established a Student Environmental Committee who has taken on a variety of projects and activities in and around the College. 

● New Solar systems on both campuses each of 100kW capacity. ● Two water tanks were installed enabling the Prep garden areas to be watered 

and the senior toilets on the Ryan Campus to be more water efficient. ● Electric hot water systems on the Ryan Campus replaced with heat exchange 

systems. ● The preferred form of communication is electronic thus reducing the amount 

of paper used throughout the College. This has included newsletters, parent notices, bulk mail outs where possible. 

● Recycling batteries ● Bore water used to irrigate the College grounds ● Air-conditioning not used in winter months ● Across all new buildings and classrooms the lights, fans and air-conditioning 

are on timers with lights being replaced by LED lighting as appropriate.  

 

School Finances  

For school income broken down by funding source: please refer to My School – School Finances  

   

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Staff composition, including Indigenous staff  Workforce Composition  Teaching Staff  Non-teaching Staff  Indigenous Staff 

Headcounts  139  98  3 Full-time equivalents  130.5  78.3  2.7 

Qualifications of all teachers   Qualifications  Number of Teachers and 

School leaders Percentage of teachers and school leaders 

Doctorate  1  0.7% 

Masters  19  13.7% 

Bachelor Degree  108  77.7% 

Diploma  10  7.2% 

Certificate  1  0.7% 

Total  141  100% 

  

  

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Expenditure on and teacher participation in professional development 

The total funds expended on teacher professional development in 2018 was $234,873  The major professional development initiatives for 2018 are as follows:   

TCEO Staff Compliance PD 2018 Reflective Practice Day TCEO Induction - 2018 Planning for 2019 and Beyond - The New Senior System Unpacking our Pedagogical Framework Disruptive or Distressed Theology of the Human Person Understanding Jesus within the Catholic Identity of RCC Australian Curriculum - HPE Catholic Identity - Third Mural Service Middle Leadership Feedback Student Protection Training Townsville Learning Area Panels Autism Spectrum Disorder Inservice - Secondary Teachers Social Emotional Disorder Inservice Leading with Integrity for Excellence LWIE Speech Language Impairment Inservice Intellectual Disability Inservice Beginning Teacher Conference Network of Indigenous Education Support Workers (NIEW Day) Breaking Open the New ATAR System Autism Spectrum Disorder Inservice - Primary Teachers Hearing Impairment Inservice   

The involvement of the teaching staff in professional development activities during 2018 was 100%.    

Average staff attendance 

For permanent and temporary staff and school leaders, the staff attendance rate was 95% in 2018. 

 

Proportion of staff retained from the previous school year 

From the end of the previous school year, 95% of staff was retained by the school for the entire 2018 school year.

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Key student outcomes  

Attendance    

Student attendance - 2018   The average attendance rate for the whole school as a percentage in 2018 was 91.4%.    

Student attendance for each year level 

Prep  Year 1  Year 2  Year 3  Year 4  Year 5  Year 6 

92.6% 93.0% 93.0% 92.2% 93.0% 94.9% 89.7%

Year 7  Year 8  Year 9  Year 10  Year 11  Year 12 

89.5% 88.8% 91.1% 88.9% 90.7% 90.1%

  

Description of how non-attendance is managed by the school  The school contacts the parents/guardians by SMS for each unexplained absence on                       the morning that the student is absent. A letter or phone call is made to the                               parent/guardians of those students who are regularly absent from school. The                     Deputy Principal then meets with parents and student where the absenteeism                     remains chronic and unresolved. 

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Achievement – Years 3, 5, 7and 9. National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results – our reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy results for the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.  NAPLAN results are also available from My School website 

 

 

 

 

   

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Attainment and Achievement – Year 12 

Apparent retention rates Year 10 to Year 12.  

Year 12 student enrolment as a percentage of the Year 10 student cohort.  

86% 

 

Outcomes for our Year 12 cohort of 2018  

Number of students receiving a Senior Statement.  158 

Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate Individual Achievement. 

- 

Number of students receiving an Overall Position (OP).  101 

Number of students who are completing/continuing a School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship. 

22 

Number of students awarded one or more Vocational Educational Training qualifications. 

64 

Number of students awarded an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) Certificate II or above. 

82 

Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Education at the end of Year 12. 

154 

Number of students awarded an International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD). 

- 

Percentage of OP/ IBD eligible students with OP 1-15 or an IBD.  74% 

Percentage of Year 12 students who are completing or completed a SAT or were awarded one or more of the following: QCE, IBD, VET qualification. 

99% 

Percentage of Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) applicants receiving an offer. 

98% 

 

Overall Position Bands (OP)   Number of students in each Band for OP 1 to 25. 

OP 1-5  OP 6-10  OP 11-15  OP 16-20  OP 21-25 

12  32  31  26  0 

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Vocational Educational Training qualification (VET) Number of students awarded certificates under the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF). 

Certificate I  Certificate II  Certificate III or above 

1  48  34 

 Certificate I courses include: 

● Business ● Construction ● Engineering ● Hospitality ● Information, Digital Media 

and Technology     Certificate III courses include:  

● Business ● Commercial Cookery ● Early Childhood Education 

and Care ● Fitness ● Hospitality ● Dance Teaching and 

Management   

Certificate II courses include: 

● Animal Studies ● Applied Fashion Design and 

Technology ● Automotive Servicing Technology ● Business ● Creative Industries ● Electrotechnology (Career Start) ● Engineering ● Furniture Making ● Health Support Services ● Hospitality ● Information, Digital Media and 

Technology ● Music Industry ● Retail Cosmetics ● Retail Service ● Skills for Work and Vocational 

Pathways ● Sport and Recreation ● Tourism 

 

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Post-school destination information 

Post-school destinations information for Year 12 completers is to be included after release by 30 September, 2019.

 

 

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