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Version 2.0

Banksia Montessori School

Annual Report 2017

Revision Notice

This is a managed document. All copies of this document preceding this release are obsolete and shall be destroyed.

This Annual Report 2017 document is:

Version 2.0

Dated 9 April, 2018

This document was compiled using Microsoft Word 2013.

Revision History:

Version Number

Date Modification Author(s)

1.0 6th April 2018 Format changes throughout the document to streamline the Report. Chairperson, Treasurer, Principal’s report completed

Alex Lee

2.0 9th April 2018 Annual report finalized Linh Vu

Banksia Montessori School Annual Report 2017 Chatton St, Dianella Version 2.0

10 April, 2018 Page 1

Table of Contents

1 SCHOOL CONTEXT .................................................................................................................... 2

2 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT ............................................................................................................ 3

3 TREASURER’S REPORT ............................................................................................................... 6

4 PRINCIPAL’S REPORT ............................................................................................................... 10



1 School Context

Banksia Montessori School is an independent school located in the friendly suburb of Dianella in Perth. We run a quality driven Montessori program for children between 3 and 6 years of age.

All our children are given the opportunity to learn in a nurturing and inviting environment. Our goal for each child is to realise their unique potential. We provide an enriching environment where our teachers guided by Montessori philosophy, encourage independence, creativity and mindfulness in a non-competitive, non-judgemental environment.

Banksia is governed by parents through an appointed School Council comprising of up to 10 members, including the Principal and Finance Officer of the School.

Banksia relies on the goodwill and active participation of all parents to govern it so parents are encouraged to become a member of the Council during their child’s enrolment at the School.

Council meetings are held monthly among the Council members to preview and discuss strategic priorities of the School. School Term meetings are held once per term among the Council, school staff and the Parent body to provide updates and inputs on the School’s progress.

The dates of School Term meetings for the year are included in the School Calendar and posted on the blackboards a few days before a meeting, as well as being placed in the school’s newsletter. One Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in end of Term 1 every year.

MISSION

To empower children to be resilient and independent learners in all aspects of life by providing outstanding Montessori education.

VISION

Banksia will be a well-recognised and sought after Montessori school for children, parents and teachers to develop happily and holistically in all social, emotional and intellectual domains.

We will continue to embrace cultural diversity and provide a nurturing, attractive and sustainable environment for learning, work and play.

VALUES

Holistic approach to teaching and learning: we value the connectedness of mind, body and spirit; enabling the Banksia teachers’ to pay attention to each child individual’s physical, social, and emotional wellbeing as well as cognitive aspects of learning.

Nurturing environment: our children develop life skills and a passion for discovery and inquiry in a nurturing, non-competitive, non-judgmental environment.

Personality traits and values: Banksia graduates will leave our school with high personal values - confidence, independence, resilience and empathy – that will enable them to grow up as well-rounded socially-responsible individuals.



2 Chairperson’s Report

2017 was one of the most exciting and robust years we have had. Many important developments took place and greatly transformed the School.

Change in School Management

The first and most significant change happened right at the beginning of 2017 – we welcomed our new School Principal/ Directress, Ms. Fleur Van Butzelaar in February 2017. Within only a year, Fleur not only managed to build on the special community culture that Banksia is well known for; she also brought about various interventions and ideas to improve the school.

In her capacity as Classroom Directress, Fleur developed a solid 3-year curriculum that combined all 3 frameworks (EYLF, Kindergarten framework & WA Curriculum Framework), and effectively delivered it in Montessori methodology. She took initiatives to improve the aesthetics of the classroom: better layout, more and complete Montessori equipment to assist the children’s learning. She implemented the open-door policy and in-class observation to enable parents to stay informed of their child’s progress. Within such a short time, her warm and positive personality has won the hearts of all our children and helped her built great working relationships with all staff, parents and School Council members.

In her capacity as Principal, she has been instrumental in many key Council decisions. Fleur has a sharp mind for management and a caring heart for all her staff. She pointed out key shortfall in some of the school policies, especially in staff remuneration and training, and worked closely with the Council for better solutions to retain and develop our teaching staff. She has also proactively brokered a partnership with other primary schools as succession plan for Banksia graduates. Thanks to Fleur, now we have Sutherland Dianella Primary School, Casa Mia Montessori School and Chrysalis Montessori School as guaranteed options for our Banksia kids.

It has been my honour and pleasure to be working closely with Fleur in her first year at Banksia. I would consider hiring Fleur as the best and most profound decision that the current School Council has made, and one that I am particularly proud of!

Progress in School Governance

The Council had a busy year in 2017!

We started the year with a 2-day Strategic Planning Workshop, where we reviewed the results of the previous Strategic Plan and school survey, as well as analysed our SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat). Post the workshop; we formulated the new Strategic Plan 2017 – 2022, which outlines the school’s mission, vision, values and key priorities for the next 5 years. This Strategic Plan was shared with and agreed upon by the whole school community at last year AGM, and it will be our guide moving forwards.

Middle of last year, the Council also worked on updating and amending the Rules of the Association, in order to comply with the new Association Incorporation Act issued by the government end of 2015 and to enhance the effectiveness of the governing body. Key changes are: (1) membership of the Association has been broadened to include not only current parents, but also all school staff, and non-parent community members via applications, (2) further separation of governance by School Council versus management by the Principal, and (3) new rules on control of



funds and finances. The new Rules of Association was agreed upon by the whole school community and approved by the Department of Commerce.

With the new Rules, the Council now has the option of recruiting non-parent community members who have the necessary skills we need on the Council in order to achieve its strategic goals. Much progress has been made in separating governance from management, enabling the Council to focus on long term strategies and views, while the Principal has full authority to manage the School on a daily basis.

Even with many positive developments, the Council still faces the biggest challenge with its succession plan. Regulated by the Rules, the 3 executive positions must always be held by current parents. Ideally, we should have more parents in the Council, first as general members, and then grow into the executive roles, to enable better continuity. We hope this issue can be addressed in the future by better succession planning and more support from the parent community.

Infrastructure upgrade

Major renovations were made to the school ground and infrastructure in 2017. Most significantly, the new Emelinda Stephen building was completed end of term 1 last year. This new building houses the Administration office, giving back the old office space as the much-needed staff room to the teachers. It also houses an extra classroom space for the use of Extended Program - an afternoon session for Pre-K children, to assist working families who struggle with the midday pick-up. Starting this year, the extra classroom is also used for our language session on Thursday mornings. Initially, we also launched a Playgroup program using this classroom. However, since it was not designed for Playgroup purposes, the space was not big enough for it to be effective. Since then, we have terminated the Playgroup program, instead worked on a partnership with another offsite Montessori Playgroup as a potential feeder for our school’s enrolment.

Under the same project, the school ground was upgraded with universally accessible pathways and ramp and UAT toilet facilities. The play areas were better defined into different sessions to assist the teachers’ supervision of children during playtime. A new timber deck was built over the old sandpit, in front of our beautiful Aboriginal mural, providing such a perfect backdrop for the school’s concerts/ events as well as acting as an outdoor classroom.

At the end of term 4, the Council approved a small project to renovate the main classroom and replace the floor carpet. The under-utilized space has been repurposed as part of the classroom, providing much more room to accommodate our growing enrolment. This bigger classroom, together with the minted new carpet, and new Montessori equipment will bring more pleasant learning environment to all our children.

What a busy year with lots of renovation! The school has been given a much-needed facelift. All these would not have been possible without many years of fundraising of the Parent Community. This result is dedicated to the strong Parent Community that we are lucky to have at Banksia.

Building strong School Community

Last year, we saw the continued strength of Parent Community. Many community-building events have become our traditions: such as the Welcome Picnic in Term 1, Mother’s Day high-tea in Term 2, and Annual Family Picnic in Term 4. In between, we had Family Movie Day fundraiser, Morning Coffee Catch-up and Busy Bees which helped bring our Banksia families together. The parent survey at the end of the year revealed the close-knit community spirit was among the qualities that parents appreciated the most about Banksia (other qualities were the team of dedicated teachers,



small size class). With the significant increase in enrolment this year, we have welcomed many new families and hope to continue building a strong and safe school community for all.

As regards to our school staff, they have become members of the Association after the update of the Rules, and thus invited to all School Term meetings as well as the AGM. This inclusion of staff will enable singular and consistent communication and message throughout the School Community, helping the staff to be in touch and involved. The Council is committed to continuously improving the working conditions and remuneration for our staff moving forwards. More training was provided to the school staff in all areas, and a comprehensive appraisal process was also implemented. The Council is committed to taking care of the teachers who take care of our kids every day!

This brings me to the end of my report of what has been a productive and exciting year! This also brings me to the end of my term as the Chairperson. 2 years in this role and 6 months prior as Secretary have been a steep learning curve and a rewarding journey for me. As a newcomer to Australia, this role has helped me appreciate the local education system and make many friends at the school. Before stepping down, I would like to thank the School Council team for being patient and kind enough to endure many late-night emails from me, especially thank you, Fleur & Alex for doing most of the heavy lifting execution. Big thank-you to all the parents for supporting me throughout my term as Chair! I wish the new Chair and the new Council all the best; it will be another great year of positive progress for the school.

Linh Vu Chairperson



3 Treasurer’s Report

Dated: 31-Dec-2017

This report provides a financial review of Banksia Montessori School for the period 1 January 2017 to the 31 December 2017. The report is based on actual results for the 2017 calendar year.

Income

The following table details the sources of Banksia Montessori School’s income, their respective amounts and the percentage of total funding each represents.

Funding Source Amount ($) Percent of Total Funding

Tuition Fees

(incl. application and enrolment fees)

219,919.00 54%

Government Funding 178,627.00 44%

Fundraising 7,206.00 1.3%

Other 2,684.00 0.7%

Total Funding $408,436.00

Note: There is a healthy Balance between the Tuition fees and the Government funding. These are the key income drivers and the tuition fees being the highest revenue stream is consistent with the nature of the School.

The graph below reflects a 4 years comparison of the tuition fees (net of sibling discount) and government funding.

Total income for 2017 increased to $408,436 compared to the previous year of $361,374. The increase in total income for 2017 is a result of an increase in school fees via additional students attending the school.

$167,872 $169,114 $168,902 $219,919

$179,327 $220,501 $177,145 $178,627

$9,712 $15,082

$15,627 $9,890

$0.00

$100,000.00

$200,000.00

$300,000.00

$400,000.00

$500,000.00

2014 2015 2016 2017

2014 - 2017 Income Comparison

Fees Government Funding Other



In 2018, the primary source of Income will remain the Government Funding and receipt of Term Fees which is anticipated to be higher due to increased number of students enrolled in 2018.



Expenditure

The school’s principle expenditure is salaries and wages (70%) followed by operating costs. The sibling discount that comprises of a 20% discount on tuition fees continues to be maintained but taken up as part of term fees under income.

Total expenditure has increased by $67,000 to $359,000 in 2017. The increase in expenditure was mainly due to the increase in salaries, first year depreciation for the new building and playground landscaping improvements.

Operating costs are forecasted to rise steadily over the coming years as will total expenditure, in line with the increase in capital works the school has carried out in 2017.

The school ended the 2017 calendar year with a surplus of $49,228. The final position, once the surplus from previous years has been included, increases the amount of retain surplus to $340,105.

Viability and Cash Position

The key measure of short term viability is the immediate availability of sufficient cash to pay invoices as they fall due, which at Banksia are primarily staffing costs.

Account Account Type Balance (As at 31 December

2017)

Westpac Cheque Account Operating account $197,693

BT Financial Investment Account Sinking Fund $68,144

Westpac School Building Fund Deductible Gift Recipient account $2,393

The funds in the above-mentioned accounts allows the School to run throughout the year without incurring any payment penalties and provides the School Council confidence when making Strategic

$74,494 $121,856 $87,779 $107,696

$174,546

$202,189 $204,294

$251,512

$10,344

$7,448

$17,438

$6,681

$170,792

$0.00

$100,000.00

$200,000.00

$300,000.00

$400,000.00

$500,000.00

$600,000.00

2014 2015 2016 2017

2013 - 2017 Expenditure Comparison

Operating Costs Wages/Salaries PIR Scheme/Sibling Discount Capital Works



Planning decisions such as the establishment of the Building project, which evolved from 2014’s Staff Room project.

Total assets have increased by $73,000 as a result of the transfer of physical cash into the asset of our new building. Liabilities have remained consistent year to year and these are typically unearned income for fees collected in advance, refundable enrolment fees and accounts payable.

Since in 2014 the School decided to refund enrolment fees to students who graduate at the end of the 3-year programme, enrolment fees are now treated as non-current liabilities and do not form part of the School’s operating income, with the exclusion of forfeited enrolment fees. For new families starting in 2018, enrolment fees are no longer refundable and are recognised as income immediately.

Overall our position for 2017 is strong with asset value of $495,000. It is important to understand majority of this asset position is made up of Cash $268,000 and the new building $177,000. Being a small not for profit school we rely heavily on government grants and tuition fee. It is important to keep in mind that support from parent choosing to keep their children in Banksia for the full three years not only supports the school from a fee point of view but also from grant support.

Conclusion

In summary, the School has demonstrated another year of surplus. Notwithstanding the positive result, future Government funding proposal will play a pivotal role in the School’s management of its operating expenses. The School is expected to experience a year to year reduction in recurrent funding per student during 2019 to 2027. Total expenditure is forecasted to rise steadily with CPI for the coming years, and with the reduction of the Federal Government’s recurrent funding, the School should consider other means of deriving income as well as secure enrolments and waiting list. The School may need to investigate other sources of income other than tuition fees beyond 2018 to maintain the required ratio of income versus increased expenditure. Small increases in fees each year, at least CPI adjusted plus a margin, are recommended to maintain the future financial sustainability of the school.

Geoff Gaudet Treasurer



4 Principal’s Report

2017 Statutory Annual Report

The Australian Government Programmes for School Quadrennial Administrative Guideline require all schools to make a commitment to ensure that School Performance Information is made available within 6 months of the completion of the program year. This is Banksia Montessori School’s Annual Report for the 2017 year.

4.1 SCHOOL PROFILE

Banksia Montessori School is an independent school offering education for children aged from 3 to 6 years based on the Montessori philosophy. In 2017, the school year ended with 31 students, 17 in the younger group (Pre-Kindy) aged 3 or 4, 6 in the middle group (Kindy) aged 4 or 5, and 8 in the older group (Pre-Primary) aged 5 or 6.

2012 2013 2014 2017 2017 2017

Total Enrolments 26 29 27 27 25 31

Number of Families 25 24 24 25 21 26

4.2 STAFF STANDARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS

All staff who are teachers are registered current and financial members of the Teacher Registration

Board of Western Australia.

All staff members hold a Working with Children card and have completed and regularly refresh

their First Aid Training, including CPR, Asthma and Anaphylaxis Training.

All teaching and administration staff are subject to ongoing Performance Appraisal Management.

Teaching Staff’s Qualifications

Teachers Qualifications FTE

Fleur Van Butzelaar

Principal/ Directress

Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education

Graduate Diploma in Primary Education

Montessori Post-graduate Nursery Diploma 2.5-6

Bachelor of Arts, South Africa

1.0

Emelinda Stephen

Teacher

Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education Associate Diploma in Education (Montessori Education) (0 to 8 years)

0.20

Razina Karani

Assistant/ Relief teacher

Bachelor of Early Childhood Education

Diploma in Montessori Education (early years 2.5 – 6)

1.0

Sujatha Abeywickrema

Assistant/ Relief teacher

Bachelor of Art and Fashion Diploma of Teaching

0.6



Assistants/ Educators Qualifications FTE

Anjum Iqbal Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care Maternity leave

Asami Blackshaw Certificate III of Children’s Services 0.32

2017 Training Courses Attended Register

Name of Employee Course Title

Fleur Van Butzelaar

Montessori Leadership Network

NQS – National Quality Standards

Briefing the Board

NCCD Moderation Workshop

Cracking the Media Code

Creating Safer Independent Schools

2017 School Registration Seminar

Protective Behaviour Workshop

Razina Karani

Getting Started with Inquiry PP-2

Mandatory Reporting

Asthma First Aid Online


Anjum Iqbal

Mandatory Reporting

Asami Blackshaw Art Activities Workshop

Mandatory Reporting

Sujatha Abeywickrema

Mandatory Reporting

Sandra Gyles

NCCD Moderation Workshop

OHS Occupational Health and Safety

2017 School Registration Seminar

Alex Lee Briefing the Board


Geoff Gaudet - Treasurer Briefing the Board


Linh Vu - Chairperson 2017 School Registration Seminar




Staff attendance

The average number of days absent per staff member over the year was 4.8 days. No long service leave was taken.

One staff member went on 12 months maternity leave (with an option open to take an additional year) at the start of Term 4, 2017.

Staff retention

Average years of service: 5.8 years

Maximum years of service: 24 years

Minimum years of service 1 year

4.3 STUDENT INFORMATION

Student attendance for 2017 was 92 %.

Management of Attendance

Student attendance is marked every morning and every afternoon by a teacher.

Teachers and administration staff record explained student absences.

Unexplained student absences of Pre-primary students are reported to Administration by 9:30 am.

Administration follows up this information with a phone call to parents/guardians seeking feedback as to absence.

Excess absences of Kindergarten and Pre-primary children are reported by Administration to the Principal.

On-entry testing

From 2017 the School did On-entry testing with the Pre-primary children at the start of the school year.

Student learning and progress

The curriculum of learning for 2017- 2019 was/is based on three curriculum frameworks. These include the Early Years Learning Framework, the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines and the West Australian Curriculum Framework. The classroom is divided into the five main Montessori learning areas, language, mathematics, sensorial, practical life and culture. Montessori pedagogy is followed. Equipment is primarily obtained from Nienhuis in Holland.

Multiple records of progress are kept; these include checklists, reading lists, anecdotal observations and portfolios. Portfolios contain photographic learning stories, and a record of activities students participate in with outcomes identified in simple language.



Parent/teacher interviews are held in term 2 and term 4 for all students. Formal reports are given twice a year to the Kindy and Pre-Primary students. The portfolios of students aged 3 are discussed with the parents twice a year during the Parent/Teacher interviews.

Students who require additional attention have an Individual Education Plan drawn up. These plans are revised either once or twice a year.

Students participated in four incursions and excursion. These were:

Caversham Wildlife Park

Waste & Recycling incursion

Constable Care (Protective Behaviours)

Kings Park – From little seed big things grow

4.4 SCHOOL SATISFACTION SURVEY

Parent survey

In 2017, the parents’ and staff surveys reflected the following:

Overall, positive feedback, 21 out of 26 families responded to the survey (80%). The Parents highly appreciate the small size of the school/ classroom, the high children to teacher ratio, the quality of our teaching and the dedication of the teachers. They also highly appreciate the close-knit parent community spirit.

All families feel welcome at the school and would definitely recommend it to others. The large majority feels happy with the amount of parent involvement. All parents are also satisfied with the quality of education at the School and the progress of their child. Everyone agrees that children are and feel safe at school.

Regarding the School Council the majority (85%) agrees that the Council pays adequate attention to the Parents’ concerns. The main concern was the time and effort that goes into fundraising. All agree that a parent-governed school is beneficial to children’s education and that the Council has done their due diligence and set the right strategic direction. 50% are willing to be a member of the School Council and 50% are not.

Staff survey

Most questions about the school culture and climate were answered positively. Everyone agrees that: - the school respects and values their different beliefs and wishes,

- opinions and concerns are or would be given proper attention by the Principal,

- the relationship with parents and colleagues is good and

- the school is a happy place to work in.

All staff members believe that children receive a quality education at Banksia and that parents are well informed about their child’s progress. Most also believe that the school brings the best out of each child based on their individual needs and abilities, that there are sufficient opportunities to discuss individual student’s progress with the principal and that the classroom is well equipped. All staff agree that Banksia maintains a child safe learning environment and all feel confident in their role in keeping children safe.



All staff feel able to achieve success and that they have access to sufficient professional learning. 83% feel that they are adequately supported by colleagues. All staff agree that the Principal seeks their opinion on matters that are important to them, that they receive adequate support from the principal in their role and that the school council governs with due diligence and sets the right goals.

All staff agree that the administrators are representative of the school and 83% state that they follow through on commitments.

Complaints

There were five complaints from parents during 2017. These were immediately resolved after a discussion with the Principal or staff member. All complaints are recorded in a Complaints Log and their details are kept on file.

4.5 PRINCIPAL’S REPORT 2017

2017 was a big year for the children at our little school. There were many new opportunities for learning. The room was rearranged and both the children and their parents rediscovered where everything was. In addition to this, many new materials were introduced to the classroom and others were refurbished. In the area of literacy the farmyard was introduced and presentation of activities was standardised on small handmade wooden trays. The old mat-stands found their way into a skip and were replaced by three new mat-stands. Old mats were replaced with new ones and the children were encouraged to ‘wear’ these in through lots of use. Some old materials were refurbished such as the small and large counting frames and materials with missing parts were either replaced or taken off the shelves. One of the biggest purchases made by the school, was the bead chains from 1 to 100. These went from one side of America to the other side of America and arrived safely at our Treasurer’s house, courtesy of a relative. We are most grateful for this. In order to encourage correct pencil grip, all graphite pencils and coloured pencils were replaced with triangular shaped ones. New sensorial materials were added to the sensorial area. These included the baric tablets and the thermic tablets.

A number of special events were celebrated in the year and these included mothers’ day, father’s day, harmony day and of course all the children’s birthdays. A new way to celebrate birthdays was introduced with children going around the sun with the earth on their left shoulder. The children planted their own vegetable garden, took care of the plants by watering and fertilising with worm juice, plucking off caterpillars and then they harvested their bounty. The pre-primary children set up a shop, labelled all the vegetables for sale, determined how much to sell the vegetables for and opened their shop to their parents. The proceeds from this venture were used to pay for the next round of seedlings which were once again planted in the vegetable garden.

Throughout the year there was an emphasis on Science with children learning through hands on activities about living and non-living creatures in each of the different classes and all about the water cycle. Lots of experiments were done demonstrating water tension and the children were able to apply this knowledge to the lizard that walks on water. In health and physical education healthy habits including handwashing and nose blowing were demonstrated and children participated in the preparation of morning tea. There was an emphasis on the mastering of fundamental movement skills. In literacy, a highlight of the year was acquiring new graded readers, the Dandelion series. Music included the introduction of the Montessori bells to the older children and the proper use of percussion instruments for the younger children. The children mastered the singing of new songs and displayed their skills at the year-end concert. All the children participated



in various visual art projects and they were especially proud of their Sunflowers. In technology, the children were encouraged to answer their own questions by researching on the iPad and towards the end of the year Cubetto arrived. These little robots were made to move by the children who coded them. Children worked in pairs co-operatively during these activities.

It is both a privilege and a pleasure to work in an environment where freedom and respect for the child form the pillars on which our children learn and grow. A big thank you to all our educators who make this possible. Thank you.

Fleur van Butzelaar

Principal/ Directress

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