ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY Saint Patrick s Primary School Stratford 2015 REGISTERED SCHOOL NUMBER: 1301

Contents Contact Details... 2 Minimum Standards Attestation... 2 Our School Vision... 3 School Overview... 4 Principal s Report... 5 Education in Faith... 6-7 Learning & Teaching... 8-9 School Community & Student Wellbeing... 10-13 Leadership & Stewardship... 14-15 Financial Performance... 16 Future Directions... 17 VRQA Compliance Data... 18-20 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 1

Contact Details ADDRESS 2 Merrick Street Stratford VIC 3862 PRINCIPAL PARISH PRIEST SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR Mr. Damian Hogan Fr. Peter Bickley Mr. Gerard Condon TELEPHONE (03) 51456463 EMAIL WEBSITE principal@stpstratford.catholic.edu.au www.stpstratford.catholic.edu.au Minimum Standards Attestation I, Damian Hogan, attest that St Patrick s Primary School is compliant with: All of the requirements for the minimum standards and other requirements for the registration of schools as specified in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) and the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2007 (Vic), except where the school has been granted an exemption from any of these requirements by the Victorian Regulation and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). Australian Government accountability requirements related to the 2015 school year under the Australian Education Act 2013 (Cth) and the Australian Education Regulations 2013 (Cth). 20 May 2016 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 2

Our School Vision At St Patrick s we envisage a school where: in an ever changing world, Christ s mission permeates all aspects of school life, staff families and students work harmoniously together and are committed to sustaining an environment of love, respect and pride. The students and staff are active, confident and inquisitive through a purposeful and challenging curriculum. The staff of St. Patrick s is committed to the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church in the twenty first century and continues in the spirit of the Sisters of Sion. It is a place where all people are valued and recognized for their uniqueness. The school endeavours to cater for the faith, learning and growth of every child by offering a quality Catholic Education. We strive to nurture respectful, supportive and collaborative relationships that will enhance the community atmosphere of the school. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 3

School Overview St Patrick's is a Catholic primary school that is proud of its long history founded in the Catholic Tradition by the Sisters of St Joseph. The school is located in the town of Stratford in the Gippsland region of Victoria on the Avon River. St Patrick's offers a quality education of the whole child. We believe all children will succeed in an environment of love and respect, where the uniqueness of everyone is valued. Committed, professional staff is a feature of the school. St Patrick's offers a purposeful and challenging curriculum that aims to engage all students. Our school is proud of the vibrant arts program that allows children to create and perform through visual arts, music and drama. We also provide opportunities for our students to participate in a wide range of activities, both curricular and extracurricular. All of the students participated in Physical Education, Library lessons and Japanese each week. Our 112 students were arranged into 5 class groupings. Our pastoral care processes ensure the wellbeing of all and we aim to nurture and value strong relationships. St. Patrick's values the importance of family and the contribution the members of the community can make to the life of the school. We actively engage in the local community whenever possible. Parents play an active role at the school and have many opportunities to be involved. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 4

Principal s Report This Annual Report is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the marvellous achievements experienced at St Patrick s for the 2015 school year and I congratulate the students, staff and families on these. This year the school has undertaken the four yearly Renewal Process and reviewing our policies and processes in accordance with the VRQA standards. This was an opportunity to review our current thinking, practices and policies and to set goals for the coming four years. Following the guidelines from the Catholic Education Office at Warragul and under the guidance of our Education Consultant and the entire school staff was engaged in this valuable process. After several meetings and a direct result of these extensive deliberations, we have a blue-print for the next four years to meet the needs of our students as twenty-first century learners. The quality of our school is evidenced by the positive achievements of our students in all areas of their learning, the dedication, commitment and excellence of our teachers, and the wonderful participation in and support of the parents for our school. I am proud of the professional standards of our staff members, the high quality of the work of our students, our outstanding facilities and the dedication of all to building a strong learning community. I would like to acknowledge the work and support of our Parish Priest and our Parish Sacramental Coordinator and their contribution to our Catholic school identity. Our school leaders acquitted themselves very well throughout the year and represented St Patrick s on several occasions with distinction. All of our Year 6 students were good leaders and role models. They were enthusiastic members of many sporting teams and involved themselves fully in all that the school had to offer. The Year 6 students from St Patrick are also combined with the local State Primary school and were outstanding in performing the play Midnight Summer s Dream at the Shakespeare Festival. St. Patrick s is blessed to have a positive and supportive parent community who want the best for their children and the school. I acknowledge the St. Patrick s School Board for their deliberation and consideration of important issues for our school. I thank the Parents and Friends for their dedication to supporting the school and enhancing community relationships. The involvement and support of all families is greatly appreciated. Mr. Damian Hogan 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 5

Education in Faith Goals & Intended Outcomes To provide a quality Catholic Education inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus, that is proclaimed and celebrated by the St. Patrick s School community. Enhance teaching and learning in Religious Education. Prayer: Engage families in the prayer life of the school. Integrate students understanding of Scripture and social responsibility. At St Patrick s our focus was to enhance teaching and learning in Religious Education. Teachers came up with their own individual Learning focus to maximise Religious Education learning in their classrooms. Prayer has been a major focus over the past year. Key initiatives have included: Exploring scripture and its connection to Christian life, Prayer Case and Advent box has enabled connections to be made between school and family prayer as evidenced in the family reflection journal, students spoke of the value of coming together as a family and reflecting on the serenity and peacefulness of family prayer time. Students in year 5/6 were provided with an opportunity to undertake a leadership awareness program with Caritas Australia. The National Evangelisation Team (NET) worked with students from years 4, 5 and 6 sharing their experience and focussing on social responsibility. The liturgy leaders were given extra responsibility and tasks and consequently their profile was lifted. We continued to promote and encourage a strong link with the Parish through having our Beginning of the Year Mass held at St. Patrick s Church in Stratford. We also had regular masses at our school throughout the year and Parishioners and parents were invited to attend. A highlight being the special mass held for the feast day of St. Patrick s on the 17 th of March. After mass a morning tea with grandparents and special visitors was held in the court yard. In early May the whole school attended the Annual Peace Mass in Sale. During the month of October the Rosary was a focus in the classrooms. The school community took part in a reflection on the Stations of the Cross in Holy Week. The Student Leaders attended the Diocesan School Leaders Mass at St. Mary s Cathedral in Sale. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 6

VALUE ADDED Social justice initiatives to support Caritas e.g. St Patrick s Has Got Talent, Student and staff preparation and facilitation of school masses and liturgies Monday morning Gospel Two staff attending the Mary Mackillop Colloquium facilitated by Sisters of St. Joseph in East Melbourne All staff attending two spirituality professional learning days Students in Yr. 5/6 attended a leadership awareness program with Caritas Australia National Evangelisation Team workshop day on Social Responsibility. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 7

Learning and Teaching Goals & Intended Outcomes Build a learning community that caters for the individual needs of students, where all members demonstrate engagement, motivation and confidence in reaching their full potential as lifelong learners. Engage student learning at their level and build confidence in them to go further. Use literacy and Numeracy Assessment Data to inform teaching Build on student capacity to reflect on own learning, articulate strengths and challenges, and set goals Refine school curriculum based on AusVels for inquiry based learning. Achievements Literacy and Numeracy data has been compiled throughout the year to better inform teaching. Teaching staff were able to use this compiled data to better identify the needs and trends to inform learning and teaching. Learning and teaching was enhanced by student input into their learning and staff conversations about data improved student learning outcomes. Engaging students in their learning and building confidence in them to go further by providing opportunities to be involved in the following programs held throughout the year: swimming, school productions, gymnastics, electives, Bug Blitz, community celebrations ANZAC Commemorations, Camps Program, Choir tour Elderly Aged care facilities, sharing learning at school assemblies every Friday. Student learning conferences were held at the beginning of term 3. Each conference included the student, parents and classroom teacher/s to involve all students in an important conversation about their progress at school. In the lead up to the conferences the children were provided with time and support to reflect on their progress at school by identifying their strengths, challenges and future goals. Feedback from families and students received from student learning conferences was incredibly positive and the vast majority of parents and students again found the learning conference a positive experience. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 8

During 2015 there was a commitment to help students develop appropriate behaviours when using digital technologies, both at home and school. This was particularly pertinent with the introduction of ipads 1:1 Individualised Learning Tool in years 4-6. Our continued focus on the Acceptable Use Policy for Information, Communication and Technologies for all St. Patrick s students, staff and parents helped to promote a greater awareness of the appropriate use of devices. A Student Learning Expo was held in term 4 and the students were able to showcase their learning using digital devices. Apart from teacher targeted intervention in class, St. Patrick s provided Reading Recovery, Extended Mathematical Understanding (P-6) and Rainbow Reading for ongoing support of students at risk in Literacy and Numeracy. St Patrick s offers students a range of specialist programs to further education of the whole child. Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Japanese, Physical Education and Library lessons were all scheduled regularly for all classes. We were fortunate to have such highly skilled teachers in these areas in 2015. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES The table attached, (pg. 18) indicates a consistent trend with results in the Year 3 NAPLAN testing, with 100% of students performing at or above the National Benchmark in Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy. From the previous year there has been a insignificant decline (-0.3%) in reading. The 2015 Year 5 results indicate excellent results in Reading and grammar and Punctuation. In the areas of Spelling, Writing and Numeracy there has been a slight decline (-5.9%) in students meeting the minimum standards from the previous year. All schools have a cohort of students with a diversity of needs. Regardless of the needs, all students in Yrs. 3 & 5 sit the NAPLAN assessment opportunity. Teachers will address this appropriately in analysing arrange of school data in Professional Learning team meetings. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 9

School Community and Student Wellbeing Goals & Intended Outcomes Students have the right to learn, to belong, be safe and have fun. In 2015 we proposed to meet this goal through: Engaging parents further in their child s learning. Students making successful choices by: asking, discussing, clarifying, be selfdirected, be problem solvers, be creative learners Increase student voice and participation through leadership Increase family school parish participation Achievements In 2015 we continued to develop opportunities for staff, students and parents to be actively involved in their school community. Riviera Counselling service attended staff meetings to share important details on Choice Theory and two staff members attended a primary school in East Gippsland on how Choice Theory is used in the classroom and in the playground. A highlight of the school week continued to be the weekly assembly held on Friday afternoons. Lead by student leaders the gathering provided time for students, staff and families to come together and celebrate the week at school. All students showcasing their learning was an ongoing focus and the parent community is to be thanked for their continued support of assembly. The SRC s (Student Representative Council) met with Student Wellbeing Leader to initiating activities within and outside the school for all students. These activities included; Walk to School Day, World Teachers Day and a highlight for all students was the interaction with members from the Local disabled centre on National Disability Day. During term 3, cross age electives were held on a Friday afternoon. Parents with special expertise and older students were invited to assist younger students whilst participating in a variety of activities that included cooking, dance, science experiments, art and hockey. Also the Yr. 5/6 students attended the Men s Shed in the local community to create and make items for the local community. Throughout the year, the school regularly updated the school website and using the school App to inform parents of significant events with a highlight being the attendance at a parent workshop on How parents can assist their child at home when either being read to or reading with their child. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 10

In 2015 we started to develop and strengthen and increase the partnership between home and school by involving parents as partners in their child s education. This is illustrated daily by the number of parents who started to participate and volunteer in extra events and other activities occurred throughout 2015, such as, Grandparents Day, Book Week, St Patrick s Day, mid-year school disco, Shakespeare on the River festival, Golden Brush Award Competition, camps for Years 4, 5 and 6 and an overnight stay for Year 3, inter school and district sports events, Mother s Day and Father s Day celebrations, class and whole school masses. STUDENT ATTENDANCE Twice daily children are marked as present on the electronic roll which is monitored by the office and the Principal. Absences are recorded through the in-house communication system. Unrecorded absences are followed up by the class teacher and alert the Principal to any unusual patterns or excessive absences to be followed up on. VALUE ADDED Men s Shed Golden Brush Award Competition School Concert School Camps Yrs. 3-6 Inter School and District sports events St. Patrick s Feast Day Celebrations ANZAC Day March Student Electives Program Bug Blitz program School Excursions Shakespeare Festival School Disco Open Air Cinema Night Remembrance Day 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 11

STUDENT SATISFACTION Students demonstrated their service to others with confidence and commitment throughout the year including their involvement in the buddies program, CARITAS leadership program, NET team leadership day, Student Representative Council, and House leaders. The students showed enthusiasm through engagement, planning and preparations prior to the events. The students reported back that it helped build up their leadership, organizational and communication skills. Our student choir attended aged care facilities in Heyfield, Maffra and Sale to sing songs for the residents, giving our students the experience and understanding of the importance of sharing our gifts with others and building relationships in our local community. Students participated in many extra curricula activities to develop positive involvement in their school community through participation in: Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Maffra Art Show, School Concert, Cross Country, and Camps Year 5/6 Ballarat Sovereign Hill, Year 4 Coonawarra, Heyfield & District School Sports Association (HDSSA) winter school sports, and Bug Blitz program on the Avon River. We continued to work on the student s feedback from the 2015 Insight SRC Data, around student attitudes to school, motivation, engagement and morale. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 12

PARENT SATISFACTION The school has provided and promoted many school community activities for parents to participate in and feel connected to their child s school. The parents also viewed the school as being a good and safe school where their child was happy to go to school and the staff took an interest in their child. Parents indicated they found the school website, the skoolbag app and caremonkey effective tools for communication and keeping parents well informed of school events. Parents regularly report during dialogue with staff that they were appreciative of the open communication between home and school and the ability to resolve issues through discussion and action. The parents acknowledge that the school takes a balanced approach in providing an all-round education and is well equipped. We continue to work on the parent feedback from 2015 Insight SRC data, relating to the climate and culture of the school. We particularly take note of student safety, ownership and connection around student attitudes to school, motivation, engagement and morale. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 13

Leadership and Stewardship Goals Provide Adequate and up to date facilities and resources for students, staff and families Intended Outcomes To provide opportunities for staff to develop and lead initiatives within the school Improve the physical environment at our school through up grading facilities Upgrade of ICT infrastructure and prepare for implementation of 1:1 mobile learning devices to Yr. 3 To provide opportunities for staff to develop and promote their leadership skills To provide opportunities for students to develop and promote their leadership skills. Achievements All of St Patrick s staff engaged in and participated in the process of School renewal led by CEO Education Consultant culminating in St Patrick s Strategic plan for 2016-2019 and fulfilling all of the VRQA requirements. Current data, practices and procedures were analysed, strengths and challenges were identified during two closure days and regular meetings. A final report was written by the Principal for presentation to the Director of Catholic Education. I commend the entire staff of St Patrick s and the guidance of staff from the Catholic Education Office Sale for their enthusiasm, dedication and hard work. Leadership investigated 1:1 devices for personal learning and as a result, the school provided ipads for the staff and for the students. Students in Years 3 were introduced to ipads. A Techno Expo was held in early term 4 where the students in Yrs. 3-6 show cased their learning on the digital devices. A continued focus on the Acceptable Use Policy for Information, Communication and Technologies for all St Patrick s students, staff and parents helped to promote a greater awareness of the appropriate use of devices. The school board and staff identified a need to upgrade the existing multi-purpose room. The multi-purpose room was refurbished with new carpet around the walls and floor. The kitchen area was modernised allowing the staff to use this facility to assist and teach students to cook. Also the increased storage capacity of new cabinets in the second hand uniform room has is now more inviting to the school community and more accessible. Extra cabinets were installed in the classrooms and wet rooms to provide a bigger learning space for the students. One of the many highlights during the school year was the installing and blessing of the new cross by Bishop Patrick O Regan of Sale Diocese. The Leadership team identified 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 14

a need for the school to have a prominent Catholic symbol on the outside of the school. A past local member of the school community designed and built the cross. The Official blessing ceremony was very well attended by the school and local community. EXPENDITURE AND TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DESCRIPTION OF PL UNDERTAKEN IN 2015 Spirituality Day Mary Mackillop Colloquium School Renewal Insight SRC Data Interpretations Anaphylaxis training First Aid training Graduate Induction Reading Recovery Continued Contact EMU Ongoing professional learning Supporting students with special needs In-house Data workshops In-house RE workshops NUMBER OF TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN PL 14 AVERAGE EXPENDITURE PER TEACHER FOR PL $569.42 TEACHER SATISFACTION: The 2015 Insight SRC data indicates that morale is well balanced and the staff is reasonably positive about their school and their classrooms. Also the staff indicated and acknowledged that the school is a well- organised place in which to work and that they have the required resources to carry out their role. The Renewal Process was carried out in a very collegial atmosphere, where all of the staff was consulted throughout the process. As a result, the goals of the Strategic Plan for 2016-2019, have been agreed by all staff, who have a sense of purpose and commitment to the future direction of the school. The key areas for ongoing growth in 2016 include the provision for feedback from leadership staff regarding successes and areas of growth, access to professional development and staff communication. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 15

Financial Performance REPORTING FRAMEWORK Recurrent income MODIFIED CASH $ Tuition School fees 0 Other fee income 23,538 Private income - State Government recurrent grants 345,833 Australian Government recurrent grants 1,249,342 Total recurrent income 1,618,713 Recurrent Expenditure Tuition Salaries; allowances and related expenses 1,004,877 Non-salary expenses 182,361 Total recurrent expenditure 1,187,238 Capital income and expenditure Tuition Government capital grants - Capital fees and levies 74,611 Other capital income 20,833 Total capital income 95,444 Total capital expenditure 117,873 Loans (includes refundable enrolment deposits and recurrent, capital and bridging loans) Total opening balance 174,128 Total closing balance 147,380 The information provided above does not include system levies charged to individual schools, intra-systemic transfers and, for primary schools, the Diocesan Supplementary Capital Fund supporting primary schools capital borrowings. The information provided in this VRQA template is not comparable with other educational sectors or to ACARA school-level income reports displayed on the MySchool website. ACARA school level reporting requires system level income from Government grants and some private income to be allocated to each school resulting in a small adjustment to the total level of school resources. Currently, recurrent income from Government sources, school generated income and capital expenditure are reported by schools. When assessing the private income of the school, both recurrent and capital school fees are included. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 16

Future Directions In the area of Faith and Catholic Identity our focus for 2016 is to build a vibrant Catholic learning community our aims are as follows: Staff and students have a shared understanding of and a practical response to Catholic Social Teachings and are incorporated into Religious Education unit planning documents. Students can identify what makes the Catholic Identity explicit. In the area of Learning and Teaching our focus for 2016 is to enhance student learning outcomes by enacting a cohesive and relevant curriculum. Our aims are as follow: Develop a whole school approach to curriculum planning Student engagement in learning is enhanced through purposeful teaching and practice Improved literacy data Evidence and data is used to facilitate universal access to the curriculum In the area of Wellbeing our focus for 2016 is to enhance student learning outcomes by enacting explicit teaching of personal and social skills. Our aims are as follow: Students are resilient in their approach to learning and social situations. Students use problem solving skills. Students are comfortable with their strengths and challenges The Victorian Critical and Creative Thinking Capabilities is successfully implemented The Victorian Personal and Social Capabilities is successfully implemented In the area of leadership our focus for 2016 is to provide strong leadership in an environment of respect, collaborative and support. Our aims are as follow: A high standard of professionalism exists among staff A strong sense of team work is evident. Opportunities for leadership capacity building are developed and Role clarity is improved Evidence and data is used to plan for student learning and school improvement. In the area of Stewardship/school community our focus for 2016 is to increase parental involvement in students learning experiences and the educative life of the school. Our aims are as follow: An increase number of parents involved in student learning activities An increased appreciation of the religious life of the school among parents Community projects encourage parental involvement and are purposefully linked to the curriculum. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 17

VRQA Compliance Data PROPORTION OF STUDENTS MEETING THE MININUM STANDARDS NAPLAN TESTS 2013 % 2014 % 2013 2014 Changes % 2015 % 2014 2015 Changes % YR 03 Reading 100.0 94.7-5.3 94.4-0.3 YR 03 Writing 100.0 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 YR 03 Spelling 100.0 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 YR 03 Grammar & Punctuation 94.4 100.0 5.6 100.0 0.0 YR 03 Numeracy 100.0 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 YR 05 Reading 100.0 90.9-9.1 100.0 9.1 YR 05 Writing 94.1 100.0 5.9 94.1-5.9 YR 05 Spelling 100.0 100.0 0.0 94.1-5.9 YR 05 Grammar & Punctuation 100.0 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 YR 05 Numeracy 94.1 100.0 5.9 94.1-5.9 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 18

AVERAGE STUDENT ATTENDANCE RATE BY YEAR LEVEL % Y01 92.60 Y02 93.40 Y03 95.09 Y04 95.32 Y05 95.30 Y06 93.41 Overall average attendance 94.19 TEACHING STAFF ATTENDANCE RATE Teaching Staff Attendance Rate 89.3% STAFF RETENTION RATE Staff Retention Rate 91.67% 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 19

TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS Doctorate 0.00% Masters 0.00% Graduate 22.22% Certificate Graduate 0.00% Degree Bachelor 66.67% Diploma Advanced 66.67% No Qualifications Listed 0.00% STAFF COMPOSITION Principal Class 1 Teaching Staff (Head Count) 14 FTE Teaching Staff 8.546 Non-Teaching Staff (Head Count) 9 FTE Non-Teaching Staff 5.320 Indigenous Teaching Staff 0 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 20