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Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2019

(Based on 2018 data)

Blackall Range Independent School is a non-denominational, independent school operating on the Sunshine Coast for over 40 years.

All programs are aligned with the Australian National Curriculum.

School Sector:

Independent

School’s Address:

551 Mapleton Rd; Kureelpa, 4560

Total Enrolments:

August 2018 Census:

Total Enrolments: 70 students

Primary: 41

Secondary: 29

Student enrolments up by 16 from August 2017 Census:

Total Enrolments: 54 students

Primary: 27

Secondary: 27

Year Levels Offered:

Prep to Year 12

Co-educational or Single Sex:

Co-Educational

Characteristics of the Student Body:

BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL attracts students from the entire Sunshine Coast region, from

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2019 (2018 Data)

Caloundra to Noosa and across the Hinterland Range. The school welcomes diversity amongst its school population, celebrating the uniqueness of each individual. The school has always had strong links with homeschooling families and many of the students have come from a homeschooling background. At BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL, the primary and secondary curricula are developed from the Australian Curriculum documents. There is a community focus in the curriculum with opportunities for peer mentoring encouraged. BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL’S community focus around curriculum dovetails with our goals to ensure our students’ social and emotional wellbeing is the foundation of all we do at the school.

Distinctive Curriculum Offerings:

In 2018 Blackall Range Independent School had its second cohort of Year 12 graduates. The school had 5 students graduate with their QCE. Graduation Week included a night at Maroochydore’s Spinners Bar and Bowl, arriving in a stretch limousine, for the Year 12 graduates. Their final Friday morning began with a breakfast at school followed by a school assembly before the community clapped them out.

Blackall Range continued to offer specialized teaching in Art and Music Programs for students.

Our Kitchen Garden Program: A team of two deliver the program: one team member working in the Garden with students and the other team member in the Kitchen teaching students food preparation and nutrition using the fresh produce from the garden, including eggs from the chickens. The school subscribes to the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. The weekly Tuckshop provides meals produced by a group of students from Year 2 to Seniors working with the Kitchen Garden Team. The students also prepare refreshments for special events such as the Gratitude High Tea. Often the students are involved in Pizza making for events using our Cob Oven. P-Yr 1 class has a Garden Lesson once a week and cooking experiences throughout the term.

The Eumundi Market Program: is run as a Workshop on Thursday afternoons. In the Workshop students will create items to sell at the Eumundi Markets the last Wednesday of the term. The students attend the markets and are expected to set up the stall, serve customers, handle money and record transactions. An excellent experience for the students involved.

Workshops: Thursday afternoon Workshops are held. Students select the Workshop they would like to participate in for four weeks at a time. The Home Schooling Community is invited to join us and there is strong attendance by the Home Schoolers. Workshops may include sport, clay, independent studies, movie making, lego, science experiments, screen printing, mural and art activities. Frequently the students run workshops e.g. nature craft and digital game making.

Sports Carnivals: The students are assigned to one of three teams: Gira (Fire), Budlarum (Lightning) and Djaa (Earth).

Swimming Carnival is held at the end of Term 1 with the emphasis being on fun and teamwork.

Athletics Carnival is held at the beginning of Term 3. Emphasis is on participation and having a go. Events include sprints, long jump, javelin, shotput and novelty events. Some students also participate at the District Sports Carnival held at USC.

Sporting Schools: The school acquired funding through Sporting Schools Australia and was able to offer swimming lessons in Term 1 and gymnastic lessons in Term 2 and Term 3 for the primary students. The secondary students learnt how to snorkel in Term 4.

Skip-a-thon: A jump-off day was held at Winterfire so that the students could demonstrate their skipping skills. They also raised money for the Heart Foundation.

Beach Safety: In Term 4 the primary students had 6 lessons at Maroochydore Beach to teach them how to stay safe in the ocean.

Environmental Initiative – Trailblazer: In Term 3 the school decided that they would like to make a statement on society’s over reliance on plastic and arranged with the local cafes to collect all the milk bottles they used in one week. The milk bottles were then used to create a giant snail that ingested plastic products and recycled


them into a trail of art pieces.

Little May’s Art Exhibition: The students were given an opportunity to exhibit their work at a local café. The theme of the exhibition was Cultural Diversity and we were fortunate enough to have an Indigenous speaker and a spokesperson for Refugee Buddies at the opening event. There was also a People’s Choice Award presented on the night.

Extra-curricular Activities:

Each term the school hosts a special community event:

Term 1: Harmony Day: Performance held at school with a focus on celebrating Australia as a multi-cultural society.

Term 1: Bush Tucker Trail Day: Guest speakers from Witjuti Grub Bushfood Nursery familiarised students with native food sources. Students spent some of the day helping plant out our Bush Tucker Garden.

Term 2: Ripple Kindness Project: Students created origami peace cranes to hand out to people at Cotton Tree encouraging everyone to ripple out peace and kindness.

Term 2: WinterFire: A celebration of the Winter Solstice. Held in the evening, the community gathers together for the fire lighting ceremony which includes them placing their personal wishes into the fire. A shared meal follows. The students then put on some performances before a movie and sleepover at the school. An Art Exhibition is also open for the community to engage in. An indigenous elder is invited to share with us their knowledge around the warmth of the fire.

Term 3: Senior Day Book Week: Older members of our community are invited to share a meal with us at school during our Book Week celebration. Students come dressed as their favourite book character.

Term 4: Camp: Every second year the school holds a whole school sleepover on the school grounds. Students pitch their tents, enjoy pizza for tea and finish the night with an outdoor movie before heading to their sleeping bags for a good night’s sleep. The day was spent on Chamber’s Island participating in team challenges.

Term 4: Family Fun Day: The P&F hired an inflatable water slide this year and the students loved it. Pizza was on the menu. The day finished with The Giant Water Slide – excellent fun had by both students and spectators.

Term 4: Gratitude High Tea: Students cook up some treats, set the table and serve afternoon tea to our families as a way of saying Thank You for the contributions they have made to the school throughout the year.

Term 4: End of Year Outing: In 2018 the students enjoyed an outing to the Bli Bli Aqua Park.

Term 4: End of Year Celebration: In 2018 the End of Year Celebration was held at Kureelpa Hall so that students could experience performing on a stage.

Gratitude Makerspace: The P&F made a creative space for students to come into and make something for a special person around Mother’s and Father’s Days. The students loved it.

The Rainbow Roost: 2018 saw the continuation of the Rainbow Roost shop. The students worked with a teacher-aide to decide what they were going to sell in the shop – donated items and items created by the students. It was an excellent opportunity for students to develop their entrepreneurial skills and money handling skills.

Work Experience: Senior students participated in work experience throughout the year. This may also lead to School- based Traineeships for the student and/or enrolling into VET courses.


https://www.witjutigrub.com.au/

https://www.witjutigrub.com.au/

School Representative Council: Students can nominate to be on the Student Council. In 2018 they met once a month to organize events such as the School Disco and other fundraising activities at school events.

Social Climate:

The school is part of the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program and as such employs a dedicated Student Welfare Officer.

The Welfare Officer is able to offer a number of programs to students and families including; individual and family support and referrals, student mediation, leadership programs, family and parent workshops and staff support.

In addition to this the Welfare Officer coordinates links to community programs and resources for students such as conferences, camps and community services (TRU and Family Planning) to enhance the students social and emotional experiences at school.

Ripple Kindness Project – Spreading Kindness and having a Gratitude Attitude is our approach to creating a social climate within the school that promotes student well-being.

Circle Meeting – held once a week which allows students the opportunity to have a voice in the school’s decision-making process.

Be The Change: Students worked together to make a positive change around an issue that they felt strongly about: reforestation, homelessness, visiting the elderly, cleaning up beaches, wildlife care.

Parental Involvement:

Community is integral to the philosophy of the school. When a student is enrolled in the school the whole family becomes part of the community. The positive effect of parental involvement on the school environment is acknowledged.

In 2018 the P&F held monthly meetings. The President met with the Principal the following week to develop action plans. This resulted in the P&F becoming a very strong and supportive presence in the school. They view their role as helping to create a caring community and to fundraise for resources and experiences for the benefit of the students.

The Student Representative Council is also supported by parents who attend the meetings and work with the students to host events.

Parents are very welcome in the classrooms to work with the students including hearing them read.

Parents are always invited to community events.

Parents are also elected on to the School Executive and therefore play a vital role in the decisions that impact the future direction of the school.

Parent, Teacher and Student Satisfaction with the School

Where schools already undertake yearly surveys or studies of parents, students and teachers for the purpose of marketing and school improvement, it will involve preparing a relevant report, in plain English, on the findings of those surveys or studies.

If a school does not currently undertake any such studies or surveys, consideration might be given to such a project; or alternatively, the school should consider any other data or information that it may have which could be the basis of a


report on parent, student and teacher satisfaction. For example, letters and testimonials from parents; enrolment retention rates over time; increasing enrolments over time, teacher retention rates over time.

As part of our 2018 Cyclical Review process the school conducted a Parent Survey. The responses to the survey were overwhelmingly positive. The following comments are examples of some of the responses the school

received to the question: Can you explain in your own words, your understanding of the BRIS philosophy?

“Embracing and accepting everyone as part of a whole community of learners - students, staff, parents, families, external specialists & providers, and the wider community - while leading and guiding towards the BRIS values of 'care for self, care for others, care for the environment' and using restorative justice practices to build that community.”

“My understanding of the Bris philosophy is that it is interested in my child's individual character and interests and intends to nurture them to a fuller realisation of themselves through innovative and interesting teaching and school/community practices.”

“Getting to know each child and how they work, learn and play to help them become the best version of themselves.”

The response to the question: Will you and your family continue to be a part of the BRIS community in 2019? was 100% YES from the 19 survey responses that were completed.

Contact Person for Further Information:

The title of a school-based contact person for further information on the school and its policies

Title: Louise Cameron Principal

School Income Broken Down by Funding Source

Note: Reporting on these outcomes may be addressed simply by inclusion of a reference to the My School website http://www.myschool.edu.au/ under this section of the report.

Staffing InformationStaff Composition, Including Indigenous Staff:

The teaching staff employed in 2018 have an extensive range of skills:

Principal: In 2018 the school was able to support a fulltime Principal position. The Principal holds a Degree in Early Childhood and is a qualified Special Needs teacher with experience working with students with a disability from Prep to Year 12, along with 20+ years as a classroom teacher, primarily in multi-aged classrooms, from Prep to Year 5.

Prep – Yr 1: Fulltime Classroom Teacher - nine years teaching experience.

Year 2 – 3: Fulltime Classroom Teacher - interested in Special Needs.

Year 4 - 5 Fulltime Classroom Teacher. Also holds a degree in Nursing.

Year 6 – 9: Fulltime Classroom Teacher in Yr 6 – Yr 9 classroom. He holds degrees in Information Technology and Middle Years of Schooling. He has worked with Indigenous students. Has a background in the IT industry.

Year 10 -12 Fulltime Senior Teacher with extensive experience in teaching Intensive English in a variety of settings including remote communities, East Timor, Darwin. Focused on developing Work Experience and VET opportunities for Senior students.

Year 10 -12 Teacher: Senior School program delivering Maths and Science subjects. Holds a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science.

Teachers were supported in the classroom by 4 Teacher Aides who worked across the school to support students with special needs. 1 x TA also coordinated the PE program.


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

Social Welfare Officer: 2 days a week.

2 x Art Teachers: delivering Art lessons from P – 12. One of the teachers also delivered Digital Art lessons and Drama lessons and coordinated the Trailblazer Project and Little May’s Art Exhibition. The other Art Teacher coordinated the production on the Yearbook.

Music Teacher: One day a week.

Librarian: One day a week.

Community Project Officer: 10 hrs a week. Creation and maintenance of school garden.

Kitchen Garden Coordinator: 10 hrs a week. Qualified Chef and Teacher Aide Worked with students to create healthy, nutritious meals.

Bus Driver: Split fulltime shift.

The non-teaching staff consisted of 3 part-time Administration staff and one part time IT Technician.

Qualifications of all Teachers:

QualificationEither detail the number or the percentage of classroom teachers and school leaders at the school who hold this qualification

Doctorate or higherMastersBachelor Degree 100%DiplomaCertificate

Expenditure on and Teacher Participation in Professional Development:a) Teacher Participation in Professional Development

Description of PD activity Number of teachers participating in activity

Sue Larkey Online Autism Course 6QCAA PDs for Senior Schooling 3TAE 1School and Curriculum Leaders 1EAP/Speech Language 1First Aid Training 6NCCD training 2IT Training 6Total number of teachers participating in at least one activity in the program year

6

b) Expenditure on Professional Development

Total Number of TeachersTotal expenditure on teacher PD (as recorded in Financial Questionnaire)

Average expenditure on PD per teacher

6 6108.23 1018.00

The total funds expended on teacher professional development in 2018 6108.23


The proportion of the teaching staff involved in professional development activities during 2018

100%

The major professional development initiatives were as follows: Strategies to work successfully with students on the spectrum, using IT and digital resources effectively, and Senior Years Education including the delivery of VET subjects.

Average staff attendance for the school, based on unplanned absences of sick and emergency leave periods of up to 5 days:

Number of Staff Number of School Days Total Days Staff AbsencesAverage Staff Attendance Rate

6 198 44 96.3%

For permanent and temporary classroom teachers and school leaders the average staff attendance rate was 96.3% in 2018.

Proportion of teaching staff retained from the previous year:

Number of permanent teaching staff at end of previous year

Number of these staff retained in the following year (the program year)

% retention rate

5 5 100%

From the end of 2017 100 % of staff were retained for the entire 2018 school year


Key Student Outcomes:

Average student attendance rate (%) for the whole school:

The average attendance rate for the whole school as a percentage in 2018 was 88%

Average student attendance rate for each year level:

Year levelsAverage attendance rate for each year level as a percentage in 2018

P-1 89.65%

2-3 91.3%

4-5 90.1%

6-9 85.7%

10-11 83.45%

A description of how non-attendance is managed by the school:

Individual student attendance is monitored by classroom teachers primarily. Should concerns arise, there is a process of communication and consultation with parents/families and, if necessary, the Principal.

NAPLAN results for Years 3, 5 and 7 and 9 in 2016Privacy and Interpretation of Data

A small number of students participated in Naplan in 2016. We are unable to publish their results due to the need to protect individual student’s confidentiality.

My School website http://www.myschool.edu.au/.

Apparent Retention Rate Year 10 to 12:

The school’s apparent retention rate must be published. The Year 10 to 12 Apparent Retention Rate is defined as the number of full-time students in Year 12 in any given year expressed as the percentage of those students who were in Year 10, two years previously (this may be greater than 100%).

Year 12 student enrolment as a percentage of the Year 10 cohort is 100%

Year 12 Outcomes:

Outcomes for our Year 12 cohort 2018

Number of students awarded a Senior Education Profile 5

Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement 0


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

Number of students who received an Overall Position (OP) 0

Number of students or are completing or completed a School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship (SAT) 2

Number of students awarded one or more Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications 5

Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Education at the end of Year 12 5

Number of students awarded an International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) 0

Percentage of Year 12 students who received an OP1-15 or an IBD 0%

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 100%

Percentage of Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) applicants receiving a tertiary offer 20%


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