flinders public school annual school report · flinders public school is a school that celebrates a...

Flinders Public School

Annual School Report

201

2

4463

1

Our school at a glance

Students

In 2012 there were 530 students enrolled at Flinders Public School. Flinders Public School supported 21 mainstream class groupings across Kindergarten to Year 6. Our students celebrate a diverse cultural background with over 20 languages being identified through the Department’s Enrolment Registration process. Flinders Public School is located in a new and growing area. In 2013, the school celebrates 10 years of being established since opening in 2003. Two new subdivisions are currently being opened up and released for new housing construction. This will increase the significant role that the school plays in the community for students, parents and the broader community.

Staff

Flinders Public School is a school that celebrates a staff that is deeply committed to providing a quality education in a caring environment. The staff has a strong focus on the learner as an individual and how to support individual excellence within a community that has collective responsibilities for how we all learn.

The teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW Public Schools. Throughout 2012 and upcoming years the school has and will continue to go through a significant transition with important system changes such as local schools local decisions (LSLD), administration changes with Local Management Business Review Systems (LMBR), the Resource Allocation Model (RAM) and the rollout of the new Australian Curriculum. These changes will occur at a time when the school staff will also undergo significant change due to retirements. It will be essential that our school provides a consistency through clear, shared and student centered procedures and structures that support quality teaching and learning.

Significant programs and initiatives

2012 has been a year where the school attempted to consolidate a number of programs introduced in 2011. This has involved substantial co-ordination of financial resources, training and

development, mentoring systems and whole school strategic planning. The following programs and initiatives made a significant impact on learning at Flinders Public School in 2012;

- The Language, Learning and Literacy (L3) program extended into Year 1

- The Transition to School programs for 84 students entering Kindergarten involving 7 preschool centres

- The Targeting Early Numeracy (TEN) K-2 program and the Taking Off With Numeracy (TOWN)3-6 initiative to support numeracy acquisition

- The Positive Behaviour for Success (PBS) program K-6 establishing common values, expectations, language and support structures for learning in the classroom and playground

- The use of enhanced Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems for learning, assessment, reporting, recording and sharing data regarding student learning, behavior, individual needs, attendance and reporting to parents

Further information about these programs and initiatives can be found throughout this document.

Messages

Principal’s message

At the conclusion of the 2012 school year I am again humbled by the achievements, efforts and commitment to personal and collective improvement across our school. As the principal I am exceptionally proud and pleased with the many achievements listed throughout the report. I attribute these successes to the growing sense of community and sharpening focus from our staff, students and parents. Our improvements have been built upon genuinely examining our strengths, identifying areas of need, accepting the challenge to attempt new and sometimes uncertain processes and strategies in order to obtain new learning and improved outcomes. These challenges have all been undertaken within a period of considerable transition for staff both

2

departing or entering into the school team. 2012 has as a result required considerable investment in the areas of literacy, numeracy, early learning initiatives, technology and school culture through the PBS program. The programs all share a common focus on the quality of instruction and improving teaching practice so as to improve student learning outcomes.

Throughout 2012 the staff has begun an important learning journey to identify individual student achievement against learning continuums in the area of literacy and numeracy. This has required considerable time and training to build skills, knowledge and confidence in order for teachers to make consistently informed judgments based on shared criteria. The work in this area will greatly assist our school to prepare for the new Australian Curriculum that is to be mandatorily implemented in 2014.

I certify that the information in this report is the result of a rigorous school self-evaluation process and is a balanced and genuine account of the school’s achievements and areas for development.

Greg Wells

Principal

P & C and/or School Council message

The year 2012 was putting into action the funds raised in the previous year. The P&C were able to raise funds to begin our much needed hall up grade such as new professional curtains, lighting and a new sound system to further enhance our creative arts program. The P&C initially donated $5,500 towards this installation and a further $2,500 which was raised through a student disco, it has been anticipated that the installation will begin Term 2 2013.

The school choir also participated in a concert at our local Woolworths grand opening day with funds raised totaling $1,500 to put towards the cost.

The school as a whole participated in an Olympic-a-thon which rose just short of $8,000 which will also assist with the hall up-grade.

The P&C also purchased hats and Library bags as a gift to new Kindergarten students enrolling in 2013 which was well received by all the new families.

The P&C was also instrumental in drawing the community together through its involvement in a number of successful events including a Family Fun Fair, Olympic-a-thon, School Disco, Cancer Councils Biggest Morning Tea, Education Week, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day stall, Easter Hat Parade and the Kindergarten Orientation Program. At all of these events there was a strong personal appearance from P&C members.

A major part of the P&C’s involvement is the daily operation of the school canteen. The canteen is open 4 days per week offering a healthy range of food for students at a very reasonable price. The canteen is staffed by 1 paid supervisor and a band of dedicated volunteers, all of whom do a great job and are very much appreciated. The canteen was previously opened 5 days per week, but unfortunately the canteen was not deemed to be financially viable so the decision was made to close on Mondays from Term 3 2012. It was also decided through the Executive Committee to change the position of Canteen Supervisor from casual to permanent part time, this providing stability within the canteen, the position was extensively advertised in December 2012 through 4 local schools newsletters and the local media and after extensive application letters, interviews and referee checks a new Canteen Supervisor was appointed in February 2013. The P&C would like to thank the previous Canteen Supervisor for her commitment to the school canteen.

The P&C vision for 2013 will be to financially assist with the construction of a new COLA over our existing netball court as long as the canteen is financially viable and we can raise funds through future events.

I would like to thank the outgoing P&C Executive Committee for their commitment to Flinders Public School and welcome in the new P&C Executive Committee, they all come with great enthusiasm and I can foresee great things happening through the school in 2013.

I would like to thank the Families, Teaching and School Administration Staff of Flinders Public School for your ongoing support throughout the year. The level of commitment to a smooth running school is paramount to us all and especially the students and families of Flinders Public School.

3

The P&C would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of the volunteers that have given and continue to give countless hours of their time whether in the classroom, library, canteen and various community events held at the school. Your level of commitment and presence in our school is paramount to achieving great learning outcomes for all students

The P&C look forward to all coming together successfully to achieve common goals. I would like to say that my affiliation with Flinders Public School as a parent and the President of the P&C has been amazing, wonderful and extremely rewarding.

Carmel Faull President Flinders Public School P&C Association

Student representative’s message

During November and December 2011, elections were held to determine the SRC Executive for 2012. The outgoing SRC Executive presented badges to the 2012 leaders as part of the ROSE Assembly 2011. Early in 2012, classes 3-6 elected two representatives per class to form the remainder of the SRC. The 2012 SRC had 30 student members.

The SRC Executive then attended the Halogen Foundation National Young Leaders Day at the Sydney Entertainment Centre during Term One. During an entertaining and informative conference, the students discussed and practiced valuable leadership skills.

These skills are used extensively as the SRC Executive fulfilled roles within the school at Banner Assemblies and Kindergarten Orientation days, as well as at the Easter Hat Parade, Book Character Parade and during Education Week activities. All SRC members are used to support PBS initiatives within the school; gathering and re-issuing PBS tokens and stickers and assisting with reward and celebration days.

The SRC attended regular meetings where issues around student’s needs and topics for students to gain greater input into how the school operates were discussed. In 2012 the school raised funds for many worthwhile charities. These included Stewart House, Canteen, Shave for Cancer, the Leukeamia Foundation and Indigenous Readers.

The school participated in the fundraiser Shave for a Cure. This included five staff members Ms Carol Laverty, Ms Amanda Steere, Mr Jack Richardson and Mr Greg Wells. Through this event the SRC raised $1,740.55.

Jo Short

Student Leadership C-ordinator

School context

Student information

It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all students must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Student enrolment profile

Student attendance profile

Management of non-attendance

During 2012 the school embarked upon a two year process to improve non-attendance. In 2012 the school extended the use of the computerised

Gender 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Male 297 292 285 285 272 270

Female 271 274 265 268 258 260

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

K 94.7 94.9 95.2 94.3

1 94.8 95.3 94.4 93.9

2 93.3 94.3 94.2 94.5

3 94.4 94.6 94.1 94.3

4 94.1 94.4 93.5 93.9

5 94.7 93.4 93.1 93.9

6 94.6 94.0 93.4 92.3

Total 94.5 94.4 94.4 94.0 93.9

4

system called SENTRAL into the area of roll marking. The SENTRAL attendance register capitalises on the electronic whiteboards located in every classroom at Flinders Public School by engaging students in the process. We as a school have 100% of our classes using this system. The class teacher closely monitors attendance and non-attendance. When absences are either unexplained or significant the school makes direct contact with the family or carer. This system worked very well for 99% of our families. What we found was that there were two other concerns. One concern was for the 1% where chronic absence was an ongoing concern requiring an individual attendance plan and significant intervention. The other concern raised related to both unexplained absences and partial absences.

It is proposed that in 2013 a number of strategies be employed to address these areas of concern.

1. Create a shared understanding between staff, parents and students about the importance of regular attendance through newsletter articles and correspondence

2. Create a shared understanding between families, staff and students about student leave provisions and appropriate documentation

3. Utilise data created by SENTRAL to identify students who show significant non-attendance. The Attendance Team focus support towards families requiring support

4. Develop systems where the classroom teacher and a School Learning and Support teacher provide extensive support to a student and their family over a five week period. This will include the development of an attendance plan

5. The plan is reviewed and if successful filed down or if no improvement is shown forwarded on for greater support from the school and Departmental personnel.

Staff information

It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Flinders Public School is staffed in accordance with the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) guidelines. There is a mixture of experience and gender with a variety of backgrounds and qualifications that support professionalism of our staff. 81% of the teaching staff have over 10 year’s experience as a teacher.

At the beginning of 2012 the school gained additional resources in the form of additional staffing to the value of 1.6 permanent teachers. This additional staffing supported the state wide policy of ‘Every Student Every School’ and provided three permanent part time teachers. Mrs Karen Brook, Monday, Tuesday and half day Wednesday; Mrs Amanda McKinnon, 2 hours Monday to Friday and Mr Charlie Muscat, half day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This is a substantial staffing increase to supplement the existing staffing allocation. These teachers are employed to provide expert support and guidance for students with identified learning needs.

During 2012 the schools Integration Funding and Learning Support allocations enabled the employment of five School Learning Support Officers (SLSO’s) for a total of 20 hours per week. In 2011 Mrs Sally Oldroyd and Mrs Lisa Gooch were employed permanently for a total of 25 hours per week respectedly. In 2012 Mrs Wendy Boles and Mrs Amanda Steere were employed permanently for 15 hours per week respectedly. This additional staffing has added significantly to the consistently in programs on offer at Flinders Public School.

The administration and support teams work beyond their role statements to support our students, their families, the staff and our school priorities. They are to be congratulated for their contribution towards both school system improvement and ultimately how our school supports our students to improve their learning outcomes. 2012 saw the return of Mrs Julie Bennett after a period of twelve months extended leave. Mrs Rae Warwick was also employed above establishment to extend this

5

team in recognition of the changing and ever growing complexity of schools.

Staff establishment

Position Number

Principal 1.0

Deputy Principal(s) 1.0

Assistant Principal(s) 4.0

Classroom Teachers 17.0

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.71

Support Teacher Learning Assistance 1.6

Teacher Librarian 1.0

Teacher of ESL 0.4

Counsellor 0.4

School Administrative & Support Staff 3.962

Total 30.362

The National Education Agreement requires schools to report on Indigenous composition of their workforce.

Flinders Public School has no staff members who identify as being Aboriginal or Indigenous.

Staff retention

Flinders Public School is moving through a transition period with a number of staffing changes. The retirement of Mrs Gail Freeme, Mrs Kerry Fox, Mr Wayne Richardson, Mr Steve Holden and Mr Harry Hoogendorn at the end of 2012 has seen a substantial turn-over of staff. Mrs Simone Brett was successful in gaining a permanent position during this time as well.

These changes have created opportunities for many of the schools’ long term temporary teachers such as Mrs Lisa Ruddock, Ms Carol Laverty, Mrs Joanne Halligan, Mr Jack Richardson, Ms Katie Frew, Mrs Emma De Heaume, Mrs Naomi O’Neil, Mrs Catherine Haines and Mrs Nicci Perry. These teachers have made an outstanding contribution to our school through their expert knowledge, high energy levels and enthusiasm, currently in educational thinking and training and unwavering willingness to support students in achieving their best. During this period there has also been permanent appointment of Ms Natalie Marshall (Classroom Teacher), Mrs Amanda McKinnon (Learning Support Teacher), Mrs Karen Brook (Learning Support Teacher), Mr Charlie Muscat (Learning

Support Teacher) and Ms Lyn Anderson (Deputy Principal).

The new appointments have made a significant contribution to our school and the programs on offer. These changes have had considerable impact on our staffing arrangements. This is a consideration that the school leadership team has had to be extremely sensitive and mindful of when planning our 2012 year. I have been exceptionally pleased with the manner in which the school’s routine, structures and personnel have enabled the best of our corporate knowledge to be maintained alongside the riches of new thinking and new perspectives from our newly arrived personnel.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools.

Qualifications % of staff

Degree or Diploma 100%

Postgraduate 50%

Financial summary

This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance.

Date of financial summary 30/11/2012

Income $

Balance brought forward 149,858.55 Global funds 237,169.94 Tied funds 162,436.96 School & community sources 131,082.28 Interest 5,429.65 Trust receipts 16,474.73 Canteen 0.00

Total income 702,452.11

Expenditure

Teaching & learning Key learning areas 8,891.78 Excursions 35,900.14 Extracurricular dissections 105,335.88

Library 23,871.56 Training & development 1,874.12 Tied funds 163,945.02 Casual relief teachers 91,170.70 Administration & office 49,315.43 School-operated canteen 0.00 Utilities 39,351.47 Maintenance 19,344.48 Trust accounts 23,906.59

6

Capital programs 60,826.06

Total expenditure 623,733.23

Balance carried forward 78,718.88

A full copy of the school’s 2012 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the School Council and/or the parent body. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.

School performance 2012

Achievements

Arts - Dance

In 2012, 27 students from Year 4 were involved in the Illawarra and South East Region Public Schools Dance Festival. The festival aims to showcase the outcomes of dance education, encourage the development and teaching of dance programs and provide an original, entertaining and professional event, which provides a positive and memorable experience for both the teachers and students involved. Inspired by 2012 being the International Year of Reading the theme for our item was The Thrill of a Story. Through movement and dance, students portrayed the action, drama, suspense, romance and triumph of a good book. The students practiced and rehearsed during their lunch time for two terms, demonstrating great dedication and commitment. Their hard work was showcased in three spectacular performances on Thursday 14th, Friday 15th and Saturday 16th June 2012. Dance Festival provided a wonderful opportunity for students not only to perform in front of a large audience, but to develop their self-confidence, commitment and self-discipline. In addition, Flinders Public School was involved in Southern Stars - an arena spectacular featuring over 3000 students from the Illawarra and South East region. Twenty-nine thoroughly committed Year 6 students trained and rehearsed for two terms, often before or after school hours. These students took part in a professional produced, large scale event that encouraged the students to interact with professional technical and event

staff as well as students from many other schools. The theme for 2012 was “Inspire” and the students involved were both inspired by their experience and inspiring in the way they represented our school cheerfully and respectfully. They truly lived up to our school values! As well as dancing in two mass finales, our students danced in a segment based on the voyage of Jessica Watson, who circumnavigated the globe in a small yacht at the age of 16. The is segment was entitled “In the Middle”. Two southern stars performances were held each day on Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September. Our students performed superbly and their confidence, ability and teamwork skills were on display at all times. Many thanks to the parents who supported this initiative and contributed to its success.

Sport

2012 has proven to be a highly successful year for Sport at Flinders Public School. Over the year all students have been invited and encouraged to participate in a wide range of sporting and fitness activities to develop skills and promote a healthy and active lifestyle. Some of the sport programs and initiatives Flinders Public School were involved in include Physical Education lessons, stage/class fitness programs, weekly sport programs, gala days, representative teams facilitated by the Primary Schools Sports Association (PSSA) and annual sporting carnivals.

Flinders Public School participated in the Coles Sport in Schools program. Throughout the year students and their families collected in excess of 32,000 points. These points were used to

7

purchase innovative sporting equipment to enhance existing sports programs K-6.

Students from Flinders Public School achieved excellent results in their sporting endeavours during 2012. Some of the highlights include;

• Over 68 students representing the Mid South District in sports including swimming, cross country, athletics, AFL, soccer, rugby league, touch football and netball.

• Junior and Senior Rugby League teams competed in the Paul McGregor and Rod Wishart Shields.

• Five students competed at State Championships in athletics and cross country.

• One student represented NSW at the National Golf Championships

• The Flinders Public School Girls Soccer Knock out team successfully placed second in the South Coast Region in the NSW PSSA State Knock Out Competition.

• Every child in Year 6 participated in a school volleyball competition.

Choir The Southern Illawarra Music Festival celebrated its 37th annual performance in 2012. This remarkable event exemplifies the dedication of Public School staff, students and communities. The theme this year was ‘Hits of the Decades’, and what a hit they were! Our School performed alongside 5 local schools, forming a combined choir of over 300 primary school students. The massed choir performed magnificently, with great pride and skill. Our school choir of 60 students from years 4 to 6 sang ‘Flashdance – What a Feeling’ and ‘Flash Bang Wallop’. Both items were beautifully performed with feeling and enthusiasm. Later in the year the choir were invited to perform at Stockland Shellharbour for the opening of the new Woolworths store. The students proudly represented our school singing ‘Absolutely Everybody’, ‘The Climb’ and the National Anthem. The dedication and commitment of choir teachers Mr Chris Girvan and Mrs Catherine Haines is to be commended.

Junior Music Festival Each year Flinders Public School joins together with five other local schools, Shell Cove, Shellharbour, Warilla, Warilla North and Peterborough SSP, to perform as a Junior Music Festival. This event for Years 1 and 2 provides students and teachers from the local community to come together and experience the joy of performing as a combined choir. The theme in 2012 was Disney and students delighted in singing songs such as ‘Mickey Mouse Club’, ‘Under the Sea’ and ‘Bare Necessities’.

8

Our students performed ‘Here Comes the Sun’ as their individual item, holdings suns they had created in class. The combined efforts of the co-ordinator Mrs Anna Palk and the choir teacher Mrs Sharon Hayman, supported by Stage 1 staff, ensured a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable event for all those involved.

Operation Art Operation Art provides opportunities for K-10 students and demonstrates the standards of excellence in visual arts education through major exhibitions across NSW. Operation Art provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their achievements in visual arts through a major exhibition which receives widespread publicity and recognition. The works submitted are designed to contribute to a visual environment that helps relieve anxiety for children during hospitalisation. Contemporary research shows that an optimistic outlook reflected in artworks contributes to the healing process and recovery of patients. All schools are invited to participate in Operation Art – a joint initiative of the NSW Department of Education and Training and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the Art Gallery of NSW and Sydney Olympic Park. We had 4 entrants this year – Maddilyn Ferrier’s Salvador Dali, Alec Giles’ Kookaburra, Maddy Giles’ Imaginary Creature and Jessica Giustiniani’s Self Portrait. All four students were thrilled to see their artworks framed and hanging at the Sydney Olympic Park’s Armory Gallery. All four artworks were also selected for inclusion in the 2012 OPART Teacher Resource CD.

Academic

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10.

The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments.

Yr 3: from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest for Year 3)

9

Yr 5: from Band 3 (lowest) to Band 8 (highest for Year 5)

Reading – NAPLAN Year 3

In 2012, 61% of all students achieved Band 4 or

above. There was a larger percentage in Band 5

with 26.8% and 16.9% in Band 6.

Spelling – NAPLAN Year 3

In 2012, 19.4% of students achieved a Band 6, 23.6% achieved Band 5 and 23.6% achieved Band 4. 47.2% of all Year 3 students scored within Bands 4 and 5. Overall, 66.6% of all Year 3 students at Flinders Public School achieved scores within the top three bands.

Grammar & Punctuation – NAPLAN Year 3

In 2012, 20.8% of all Year 3 students achieved a

Band 6, 13.9% achieved a Band 5 and 26.4%

achieved a Band 4. The largest cohort of students

was represented in Band 4. Overall, 61.1% of all

Year 3 students scored within the top three

bands.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f st

ud

en

ts

Bands

Percentage in bands: Year 3 Reading

Percentage in Bands

School Average 2008-2012

SSG % in Bands 2012

State DEC % in Bands 2012

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 2 3 4 5 6

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f st

ud

en

ts

Bands

Percentage in bands: Year 3 Spelling

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2012


10

Writing – NAPLAN Year 3


Band 6, 38.6 achieved a Band 5 and 24.3% scored

a Band 3. The largest cohort of students was

represented in Band 5. Overall, 70% of all Year 3

students scored within the top three bands.

Numeracy – NAPLAN Year 3

In 2012 71 students in Year 3 completed the NAPLAN Numeracy assessment. Girls performed better than boys in Number, Patterns and Algebra scoring 52.5% in the top three bands compared to 45.2% for boys. In comparison, for the areas of Data, Measurement, Space and Geometry boys scored 54.8% in the top three bands compared to 50% for the girls. These results confirm that the explicit teaching, as part of the Numeracy programs implemented in late 2011, are resulting in improved performances for boys and girls.

In 2012 there was a total of 52.1% of our students in the top three bands in Numeracy.

Reading – NAPLAN Year 5

In 2012, 43.4% of all students achieved Band 6 or

above. 14.5% of students achieved a Band 7 with

6% of students achieving a Band 8 whilst 32.5% of

all Year 5 students achieved a Band 5 in Reading.

Spelling – NAPLAN Year 5

In 2012, 8.4% of all Year 5 students achieved

Band 8, 21.7% achieved Band 7 and 34.9%

achieved Band 6. The largest cohort was

represented in Band 6. Overall, 65% of all Year 5

0

10

20

30

40

1 2 3 4 5 6

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f st

ud

en

ts

Bands

Percentage in bands: Year 3 Numeracy

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2012


0

10

20

30

40

3 4 5 6 7 8

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f st

ud

en

ts

Bands

Percentage in bands: Year 5 Reading

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2012


11

students at Flinders Public School achieved scores

within the top three bands.

Grammar & Punctuation – NAPLAN Year 5




was represented in Band 5 with 27.7% of

students achieving this band. Overall, 48.2% of all

Year 5 students scored within the top three

bands.

Writing – NAPLAN Year 5




was Band 5 with 37.3% of students achieving this

band. Overall, 44.5% of all Year 5 students scored

within the top three bands.

12

Numeracy – NAPLAN Year 5

In 2012 83 students in Year 5 completed the NAPLAN Numeracy assessment. Boys performed better than girls in Number, Patterns and Algebra scoring 52.1% in the top three bands compared to 34.4% for girls. For the areas of Data, Measurement, Space and Geometry boys scored 45.9% in the top three bands compared to 31.5% for the girls. These results confirm that the explicit teaching, as part of the Numeracy programs implemented in late 2011, are resulting in improved performances for boys and girls with a significant improvement for boys.

In 2012 there was a total of 42.1% of our students in the top three bands in Numeracy.

Progress in reading

Progress in numeracy

Flinders Public School students have continued to demonstrate growth rates that are progressing towards meeting the state average. The programs initiated in 2011 and implemented whole school for 2012 have assisted in maintaining the upward trend noted in previous years. It is pleasing to see a reduction in the gap between the school’s growth rate and that of the state.

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN).

Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au and enter the school name in the Find a school and select GO.

0

10

20

30

40

50

3 4 5 6 7 8

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f st

ud

en

ts

Bands

Percentage in bands: Year 5 Numeracy

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2012


2008-2010 2009-2011 2010-2012

School 76.4 64.8 79.2

SSG 83.3 76.8 81.2

State DEC 83.7 74.0 79.2

Average progress in Reading

between Year 3 and 5*

0

20

40

60

80

100

2008-2010 2009-2011 2010-2012

Pro

gre

ss

Average progress in Reading between Year 3 and 5

School SSG State DEC

2008-2010 2009-2011 2010-2012

School 76.9 91.7 96.4

SSG 89.1 94.3 101.3

State DEC 89.6 95.8 98.2

Average progress in Numeracy

between Year 3 and 5*

0

50

100

150

2008-2010 2009-2011 2010-2012

Pro

gre

ss

Average progress in Numeracy between Year 3 and 5

School SSG State DEC

http://www.myschool.edu.au/

13

Significant programs and initiatives

Aboriginal education

In 2012 there were 22 Aboriginal students enrolled at the school. Every student has their own Personalised Learning Plan (PLP). These plans were developed mutually between the students and their parents alongside the classroom teacher and support staff where appropriate. In 2012 families were provided a prompting sheet prior to the sharing sessions after feedback from 2011. This prompting sheet focused on the student as a person and was designed to encourage a conversation between all involved so as to improve connections between the home and school. During the development of the PLP’s students and their families were encouraged to share aspirations, individual’s needs, strengths, support required and the opportunities for students to excel or further develop their talents.

In 2012 the school made a commitment that each student would move through the PLP process twice in the year. This was conducted in term 1 and term 3. Every Indigenous student and their family was provided with this opportunity, however, not all families took up this possibility. This is an area that our school will further explore in 2013 so as to further engage our Aboriginal students and their families. The school has made a commitment to connect in a meaningful manner to exchange information each and every term.

Flinders Public School provided an Aboriginal perspective in stage units of work that provides an increased knowledge, understanding and respect for the Indigenous student and their family was provided with this opportunity, however, not all families took up this possibility. This is an area that our school will further explore in 2013 so as to further engage our Aboriginal students and their families. The school has made a commitment to connect in a meaningful manner to exchange information each and every term.

A highlight of the Aboriginal education program was the recognition of NAIDOC week in conjunction with Shellharbour City Council by School leaders, selected senior Aboriginal students, local and visiting elders and Aboriginal

families. A special ceremony at the end of a symbolic Reconciliation Walk throughout the Shellharbour Council area openly demonstrates the broader communities’ acknowledgement of this important event.

NAIDOC week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields. NAIDOC stands for the National Aborigines and Islander Day Observance Committee.

Our school was visited by the Taronga Zoo outreach program of the ‘Zoomobile’. This was a whole school event where students participated in singing, storytelling, viewing and having contact with native animals such as snakes, a baby crocodile, spiders and a range of marsupials. The zoo rangers talked about native flora and fauna and how we can look after our environment. Ranger Col Hardy shared many Aboriginal artifacts, their function and design features. Ranger Col is a Kamilario man with a proud Aboriginal background. In 1973 he was the first Aboriginal person to win a ‘Golden Guitar at the Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth. He won the Radio Listener Award and this award has never been awarded again. In 1979 Col was inducted in to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1990 Col was voted NSW Aboriginal Artist of the Year. In 2007 Col received the Medal of the Order of Australia “for service to the Country music industry as a singer and recording artist, and to the community through the delivery of outreach zoological education programs in regional areas. “This was an incredible experience for all students and staff that built connections, understanding, knowledge and respect.

Learning and Support Team

At Flinders Public School, we recognise the importance of working with all students as individuals with differing learning needs. In addition to differentiated classroom programs - the Learning and Support Team supports the coordination, development, resourcing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of educational programs. The team meets at least once a week to discuss learning and welfare needs of students, build expertise and provide additional resources.

14

The Learning and Support program is designed to provide skills, strategies and reinforcement of concepts in the areas of academic, social and behavioural support. Students are supported in their learning by three main programs - the Learning and Support Program, Reading Recovery and the English as a Second Language Program. Each program is flexible and can change from term to term to meet the needs of individuals and learning groups. Flexible learning support allows the school the opportunity to tailor support based on student needs and teacher expertise.

The Learning and Support Teachers and School Learning Support Officers work closely with the classroom teachers to provide the best possible support for children. This support may be provided through team teaching, small group work or targeted, individual programs where required. Programs also include Individual Learning Plans for targeted students.

Throughout 2012, the Learning and Support Team focused on a realignment of roles to best utilise the specialist knowledge of teachers. Significant support, resourcing and professional learning has also been facilitated for School Learning Support Officers. Further development is intended throughout 2013.

Multicultural education

Flinders Public School’s student population includes 124 students that are recognized as having ‘English as an Additional Language and/or Dialect’ (EAL/D).

Students from this group requiring learning and language support are targeted in an ESL Program that is delivered by the ESL teacher for two days per week.

The program includes an integrated ‘Intensive Language Program’ for Kindergarten students to improve their listening and speaking skills.

A ‘Literacy Skills Program’ that has a language focus, is delivered to the other grades where the ESL teacher works collaboratively with both students and teachers to assist students in achieving grade literacy outcomes.

Science

In 2012 the decision was made to implement a consistent and quality Science program with a strong literacy focus, to be taught during each

class teachers’ RFF time. The initial goal was to provide exciting hands on scientific learning to increase student engagement and involvement during RFF, and to provide a specific and assessable program to take responsibility for an entire Key Learning Area in the Semester 1 and Semester 2 student reports.

After trialing a school based program for Term One, in Term Two the decision was made to implement Primary Connections units across the school and begin to align our program with the Australian Curriculum. All Primary Connections units are produced by the Australian Academy of Science, which provided the staff with a reliable scientific structure and process to follow, and most units had already been aligned with the Australian Curriculum. Other significant factors in their selection were their strong links with literacy and emphasis on engaging hands on learning. We were also fortunate to have Stuart DeLandre and his team at the Illawarra Environmental Education Centre provide training and support with the implementation of Primary Connections, including staff training and science activity days for all classes.

Outcomes and achievements of the K-6 Science RFF program in 2012 included increased student engagement and interest in Science and Technology, as well as increased student participation during RFF lessons. Through the attainment and resourcing of Primary Connections units it has also laid the foundations for a sustainable Science RFF program.

15

Library

Flinders Public School enjoys a dynamic, creative and interactive library where all 21 classes participate in using the library for Learning and recreational purposes. There are over 500 loans made each week through our library.

The book week character parade was reveled in by students and staff with the theme for 2012 being “Readers are Champions”.

Again in 2012 Flinders Public School was a proud participant in the Premier’s Reading Challenge with 310 students who completed this challenge. This was an increase of 51 students or 20%. This increase is as a result of our librarian’s enthusiasm and joy in promoting the importance of reading. In 2012 Max Markovski attained a Platinum Certificate for 7 years of completing the challenge.

The library hosted 2 author visits in 2012; the famous Bruce Whatley who worked with our students in years 2-6 and on a separate occasion, the delightful Sarah Davis, who entertained the students from Kindergarten to Year 2 with her stories and remarkable illustrations.

Our Scholastic Book Fair provided close to $4,000 worth of great new books for our students to enjoy. Thanks to Mrs Jeanette Ford for her assistance of our book club program.

Progress on 2012 targets

Target 1

To increase the number of students achieving expected growth or higher in the NAPLAN Numeracy Assessment to reflect that of state by 2014.

Our achievements include:

Implementation of the North Coast Scope and Sequence program through a daily Numeracy block of at least 60 minutes every day in every class.

Intensive Teacher Professional Learning in Best Start, Targeting Early Numeracy (TEN) and aspects of Taking Off With Numeracy (TOWN) during collaborative staff and stage meetings.

Utilisation of Departmental and Community of Schools personnel for sharing of best

practice. Quality Teaching consultants and program leaders from local schools conducted numerous training sessions.

Gathering of quality assessment data utilizing consistent teacher judgment to inform future explicit teaching strategies aligned to the numeracy continuum.

Target 2

To increase the number of students achieving the expected growth or higher in the NAPLAN Reading Assessment to reflect that of the state by 2014.


43.7% of all year 3 students achieving in the top two bands for the NAPLAN Reading assessment.

Maintaining the number of year 5 students achieving in the top two bands in the NAPLAN Reading assessment despite the challenges of more students with identified learning needs participating in 2012.

Extensive training of all teaching staff in K-6 in running records and benchmarking reading progress for individual students in the areas of fluency, accuracy and comprehension in reading. This greatly assisted teacher consistency in professional judgment to inform the direction, nature and specific approach for instruction in order to place students in the literacy continuum in reading.

Target 3

90% of all Aboriginal students achieving the expected growth in Literacy and Numeracy NAPLAN by 2014.


100% of Aboriginal Parents were invited to participate in the development of their child’s Personalised Learning Plan (PLP). 50% of parents took up this opportunity.

100% of staff trained in module 1 of the Regional Cultural Awareness package “No Gap, No Excuses!

Significant improvement in achievement scores for 2012 NAPLAN in Reading for Aboriginal students. 100% of Aboriginal Year

16

3 students in band 5 compared to a state average of 13.2%

The trend data for Year 3 Aboriginal students showed greater numbers of students achieving in the higher bands of band 4, 5 and 6 over 2010 to 2012 in reading, writing, grammar and punctuation, spelling and numeracy.

The trend data for Year 5 Aboriginal students shows significant improvements in student achievement in the area of numeracy from 2010 to 2012.

School evaluation

NSW public schools conduct evaluation to support the effective implementation of the school plan. In 2012 our school carried out evaluation of the ‘Transition to School Program’ and the implementation of numeracy initiatives.

Transition to School Program

Background

Since the school opened it has attempted to build quality relationships with the local community preschools to assist students and their families to enjoy a seamless transition from home to Kindergarten. Over the past three years considerable efforts, planning, finances and staffing have been made to ensure that the transition to school process is as informative, enjoyable and uncomplicated as possible for all involved. Historically the school had enjoyed a very close working relationship with one preschool provider. A very clear goal was to further develop the schools working partnership with all of the preschools, so as to support students and their families entering Flinders Pubic School.

Findings and Conclusions

The Transition Program begins in term 2 with visits to 7 local preschools by teachers from the Kindergarten team and executive staff. These visits included presentations for potential parent and preschool staff regarding school readiness, with an emphasis on the child’s social and emotional readiness for school.

In term 3 all of the 7 preschools are invited to attend co-ordinated visits to the school. During

these sessions the following activities are undertaken;

i. A 45 minute lesson based on a shared literature session followed by a craft activity

ii. A 45 minute library lesson using both interactive technology and quality books, and

iii. An orientation to the school with time for play on the school equipment and a lunch order from the big school canteen

In term 4 our transition program begins with a parent information session. During this session parents choose their child’s transition group. Allowing parents to choose the group enables students to be placed with relatives, friends, neighbours or others. Information regarding how each session is run and topics covered is also outlined.

The transition sessions are held over three weeks. The sessions are held across the morning, mid-morning and afternoon. Each session includes classroom activities; however, the mid-morning includes entering recess whilst the third session includes eating lunch. The inclusion of recess and lunch has been invaluable for students and parents in recognising some of the fine motor skills involved in opening and closing containers and packaging. Whilst students are involved in activities in the classroom with Kindergarten and support staff the parents work through a range of topics in the school hall. Topics covered include uniforms, Best Start Assessments, L3 – Literacy, Language and Learning, the Literacy and Numeracy Continuums, PBS – Positive Behaviour for Success Program, our students Merit System, canteen, medical forms, religious education options, placement information forms, lunch box hints and tips and a school tour. All parents also go through the working with children paperwork which enables all parents to work in classrooms as supportive assistants. Parents are also supported by guest speakers from After School Care, Flinders Public School P&C and Canteen, the uniform suppliers and our second hand uniform sales team.

Throughout the transition program students are given a school hat, DEC resources – a

17

library bag and “Getting Ready for School’ booklet and a Flinders book. The Flinders book has photographs with simple repetitive sentences outlining common areas such as a playground, library, classroom, COLA, hall, toilets, library and canteen.

At the end of the year, term 4, families are sent a letter identifying their teacher for the upcoming year and a starting date and time. Children arrive for a staggered start on their first day at big school. This allows children to arrive with families in small groups in a more relaxed manner that is personal.

After 5 to 6 weeks of school a ‘Catch Up Cuppa’ is held. All parents are invited to a light morning tea which the Best Start Assessment reports are explained. Parents complete a survey and open questionnaire before collecting their child’s report. Results from the survey questions show that 7 questions scored at 90% or higher for being extremely or very helpful. These questions were;

I found the school tour helpful – 90%

The orientation information package assisted our knowledge of the school – 92%

I appreciated being given the opportunity to provide information about my child prior to placement – 94%

My child and I appreciated knowing class/teacher prior to starting school – 92%

The staggered starting time on the first day was good – 91%

Overall the Transition Program was helpful – 94%

Opportunities such as the Catch Up Cuppa improved in Community communication – 97%

Areas that rated lowest concerned uniform at 66%, Out of School Care – 60% and the photobook – 73%. The preschool talks rated low with this group as it involved 81 parent representatives out of the 92 enrolled students. Reviews of the information talks in term 2 were much higher, particularly from parents with uncertainties regarding send a child to school.

Future Directions

Following feedback from parents regarding difficulty identifying parking around our school, a parking/drop off zone will be included in future transitions programs. Further exploration of the drop off and collection points for students at the beginning at end of the school day will be conducted. Balancing what parents want in terms of collection of students at the end of the day with the issues of interruptions to the classroom will be considered.

The manner in which the school supports the Best Start Assessments at the beginning of the school year will be examined. Currently the assessments are conducted over a five week period. All of the local schools conduct a ‘beset start day’ where students work through an assessment session in the first week of school.

The comprehensive approach that has developed over the last three years at the school will be maintained.

Curriculum- Numeracy

Background

In 2011 evaluation of NAPLAN data for a number years highlighted a decreasing trend in student achievement in Numeracy. As a result Flinders

18

Public School formed a Numeracy committee whose specific focus was to examine best practice in the delivery of effective and engaging Mathematics programs. Expertise within the NSW Department of Education Community at local levels and in a broader context was sought to achieve improvements in outcomes for students in Numeracy. During Term 4 of 2011 a small focus group of classes trialed the North Coast Scope and Sequence (NCSS) with associated learning experiences.

The implementation of the NCSS school wide, as well as Teacher Professional Learning in the Teaching Early Numeracy (TEN) and aspects of the Taking Off With Numeracy (TOWN) programs occurred during 2012. This was achieved through consultation with leading teachers from schools within our School Education Group (SEG) and quality teaching consultants for Numeracy. A commitment that all teachers timetable at least one 60 minute block of Numeracy every day was made. An agreed structure for each lesson block provided a platform for consistency across each stage through collaboration and team planning.

Our Teacher Professional Learning involved the sharing of best practice in use of open-ended tasks for learning and assessing. Consistent teacher judgment became a focus as part of the teaching and learning cycle. This informed the planning of meaningful tasks and the development of relevant and informative reports to parents.

Findings and Conclusions

Trend data from NAPLAN Numeracy assessments indicates an increase in the achievement levels since the implementation of the program initiatives. Whilst we have yet to achieve the targets set out for 2012, considerable gains have been observed in all areas of Number, Patterns and Algebra towards meeting or exceeding the state average.

Further investigation indicates a correlation between achievement levels in the strands of Data, Measurement and Space and Geometry and reading comprehension. This was significant for girls in Year 5. As reading comprehension is a school focus area it is planned that this area will be addressed during 2013 and beyond.

Feedback from teachers and students indicates that the delivery of the Numeracy programs has

made an impact on student engagement and staff confidence in explicit teaching and the use of open-ended assessment tasks.

Future Directions

Teacher Professional Learning will focus on consolidating the skills and knowledge of teachers in preparation for the implementation of the NSW Syllabus aligned to the Australian Curriculum. As a result of this preparation, we will need to analyse the delivery of the North Coast Scope and Sequence and its implementation within each stage and adjust accordingly.

Staff capacity to use SMART (NAPLAN) data and school derived assessment data will be built through collegial discussion and sharing. This will inform quality teaching and learning in all classrooms.

As students employ higher order skills and strategies through participation in relevant and challenging learning experiences, results in NAPLAN assessments will show increased improvement across all bands, especially in the top two bands. This indicates an emphasis on ‘moving the middle to the top’.

Parent, student, and teacher satisfaction

In 2012 the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school.

Their responses are presented below.

As part of the school’s involvement in the Positive Beahviour for Success Program, the regional consultant, Ms Vicki Aisbett conducted a school wide evaluation tool. This assessment tool examined the following four main areas across the school;

1. The school identified values of

- Care for Yourself

- Care for Each Other, and

- Car for this Place

2. The signage of these values.

3. The consistency of language used by students, parents and staff.

19

4. The knowledge of common procedures such as evacuation procedures, assemblies and school routines.

This evaluation tool involves an independent person to the school talking to a sample group of students, parents and staff from various parts of the school. The talks or focus discussions look for consistency in knowledge, understandings and implementation of the Positive Behaviour in Schools Program. In 2012 Flinders Public School scored a perfect result of 100% across all age groups – students, staff and parents in the sample discussion groups.

Professional learning

Professional Learning during 2012 was directly linked to the schools three year plan 2012-2014. The professional learning supported either curriculum initiatives and/or system improvements. This cycle of professional learning saw considerable funds $20,832.00 were expended in the focus areas of raising expectations, engagement and the capacity of staff across the school.

Throughout 2012 there was a fast tracking of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) throughout the school for students and staff. It was deemed to be essential that every classroom have an operational interactive whiteboard (IWB) in preparation of the new Australian Curriculum being delivered in an online environment. The syllabus and support documents together with the Board of Studies resources are all delivered through a multimedia environment. As a result of considerable expenditure, $21,065.00 in 2012 and $14,100.00 in the two years leading up to 2012 at the end of 2012 there were the following IWB’s in the school;

i. 21 IWB’s in classrooms

ii. 1 IWB in the science RFF room

iii. 1 IWB (mobile) in the library, and

iv. 1 IWB in the computer room

These IWB support and extend the learning programs as well as systems that improve data collection such as attendance, health plans, legal matters and behavior monitoring.

2012 saw the successful implementation of a new reporting system across the school. The introduction of SENTRAL reporting system built

up on the Stage 3 trail in semester 2 2011. This involved all teaching and office staff being trained. Reports were issued in semester 1 and 2 successfully after extensive training at an individual group and whole staff level.

The L3 program of Literacy, Language and Learning continued in 2012. Training for Kindergarten students was extended to include Mrs Jo Halligan. The L3 program was also extended into Year 1 with Mrs Hayman, Mrs Delahunty and Mrs Ruddock all being trained. This involved extensive training and support through the purchase of appropriate texts to the value of $11,289.00.

System improvements using the program SENTRAL included online roll marking, uploading health plans, legal documents referring to students and flagging for students gaining counseling support. This holistic approach is progressively building a system which captures a clearer picture of the whole student in order to support the teacher implement the optimum learning program for students in their care.

School planning 2012—2014

The school planning policy provides direction for the preparation and implementation of school plans including the identification of priority areas, intended outcomes and targets that are consistent with the NSW State Plan and the Department’s planning documents.

School priority 1

Outcome for 2012–2014

To increase the number of Year 5 students achieving expected growth at state average, or

20

higher, in the NAPLAN Numeracy assessment by 2014.

2013 Targets to achieve this outcome include:

To increase the achievement levels for the Year 3 and Year 5 cohorts to reflect state average in Numeracy.

To increase the growth levels of students within the top three bands to meet or exceed state average, hence moving the middle to the top.

Students consistently utilize and apply higher order strategies appropriate to the given task.

Strategies to achieve these targets include:

Auditing the impact of the implementation of the North Coast Scope and Sequence program through in school assessment data gathering and staff survey and feedback responses.

Use of Newman’s Error Analysis to strengthen teacher understanding of the way students are responding to written tasks so as to inform future explicit teaching strategies; specifically comprehension of written and visual problems.

Providing opportunities for students to demonstrate higher order skills and strategies through the use of open-ended assessment tasks.

School priority 2


To increase the number students achieving the expected growth or higher in the NAPLAN Reading assessment to reflect that of the state by 2014.


Increase the achievement levels of Year 3 and year 5 cohorts in the NAPLAN Reading assessment within the top three bands to meet or exceed the state average, hence moving the middle to the top.

Improve students’ ability to accurately comprehend questions that require them to infer, apply and draw upon existing background knowledge.


Professionally develop and support all teaching staff in the implementation process of the Australian English Curriculum to ensure a seamless transition between the existing NSW English Syllabus and the forthcoming Australian English Curriculum.

Explicitly examine and identify specific student needs relating to comprehension by analyzing NAPLAN SMART data and utilize this information to direct teaching practices with particular focus on reading comprehension.

Undertake extensive professional development for Stage 2 in Comprehension Across The Stages (CATS) with a partner school from the Community of Schools, to improve students’ ability to accurately comprehend questions that require them to infer, apply and draw up background knowledge.

Extend the training of staff in Language, Literacy and Learning (L3) from Kindergarten to include the year 1 team of teachers in order to ensure a consistent approach towards the quality instruction of literacy.

School priority 3


To identify the rates of non-attendance in students at Flinders Public School and develop a whole school approach to improving student attendance at or above 94%.


To identify every student with a ‘chronic non-attendance pattern’ and have an attendance plan developed to support their attendance.

To identify the exact rates of partial non-attendance and their categories so as to develop a whole school approach to reducing these absences.


Review and renew school policy regarding student absence and leave in order to create a shared understanding between parents, students and staff.

21

Create an Attendance team to examine attendance data and identify students who show non-attendance.

Develop systems where the classroom teacher, a School Learning and Support Teacher (SLST) and the Attendance team provide extensive support to identified students’ and their family over a five week period through a negotiated attendance plan.

All attendance plans are reviewed to measure success or areas for future improvement. Successful files are filed down, whilst those showing no or little success are referred on for further support.

About this report

In preparing this report, the self-evaluation committee has gathered information from evaluations conducted during the year and analysed other information about the school's practices and student learning outcomes. The self-evaluation committee and school planning committee have determined targets for the school's future development.

Mrs Carmel Faull – P&C Representative

Mrs Rae Warwick – School Administration Officer

Ms Natalie Marshall – Classroom Teacher

Mrs Tania Giustiniani – Rel Assistant Principal

Mr Peter Tarasenko – Assistant Principal

Mr Greg Wells - Principal

School contact information

Flinders Public School

Adam Murray Way, Flinders, NSW, 2529

Ph: 4295 7355

Fax: 4295 7455

Email: [email protected]

Web: [email protected]

School Code: 4463

Parents can find out more information about Annual School Reports, how to interpret information in the reports and have the opportunity to provide feedback about these reports at:

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/asr

mailto:[email protected]

http://[email protected]/

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/asr

flinders public school annual school report · flinders public school is a school that celebrates a...

Documents