Appin Public School Annual Report 2015 < 1045
Introduction The Annual Report for 2015 is provided to the community of Appin Public School as an account of the school s operations and achievements throughout the year. It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self-assessment that reflect the impact of key school strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equity funding. Introduction Principal s Name: Vivian Harrison Principal School contact details: Appin Public School 97 Appin Road Appin 2560 www.appin-p.schools.nsw.edu.au appin-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au 0246 311220 Message from the Principal What a wonderfully rewarding and successful year it has been for my first year at Appin Public School. Our students are happy to be at school and see learning as important. They are proud to be an Appin Public School student and I see that when we are at sporting events or on excursions. Our ten classes have introduced learning goals and success criteria for each student in literacy and numeracy which provides a purpose for students to learn, allows students to know what skills they need to demonstrate to their teacher and informs students what they need to learn next. Teachers have participated in extensive professional learning in literacy with a focus on writing in K-2 classes and a focus on reading and comprehension in Years 3-6. We are truly fortunate being an Early Action for Success school whereby our Instructional Leader, is able to instruct and mentor K-2 teachers in ways to improve our quality of teaching and student results in literacy. Kinder through to Year 2 teachers have been involved in L3, an early intervention and support program for young learners focussing on language, literacy and learning. Students have been immersed in rich language experiences. Outstanding achievements have resulted from this program with the majority of our K-2 students achieving beyond grade expectations. Naming our classes after Australian Victoria Cross winners in World War 1 or a WW1 battlefield captured the imagination of teachers and indeed students, in a way I had never anticipated. This led to exciting discovery learning in classes throughout Term 1 culminating in our impressive Anzac day commemorative service. Our school continues to steadily grow in student enrolments with my aspirational goal being to have every primary school age student who lives in Appin to attend our school. We are a great school and we strive always to improve ourselves. Vivian Harrison - Principal
School Representatives Message When Mrs Harrison asked Cooper and I to write a speech at the end of Year 6 she said to think about the special memories that stand out and the experiences that were special to us. We ve shared many great experiences together right from the beginning with our first Kinder excursion to Fairfield City Farm. We ve been to the Powerhouse Museum, IMAX, Sydney Aquarium, Nan Tien Buddhist Temple, our unforgettable Blue Gum Lodge Camp and our fantastic trip to Canberra. We ve celebrated many exciting NAIDOC weeks and were lucky enough to be part of the bicentenary of Appin. We ve seen each other succeed on the sporting field, in the pool and on the track, in the band and in the classroom. We ve grown from the sooky, shy and over-dramatic.. well maybe some of us have grown away from being over dramatic but we have been there for one another, through thick and thin. Good friends we have seen leave our school, but we have gained just as many friends over the years, and we have welcomed them like they have been here all along. We thank Appin for all the wonderful and terrific memories and all the dedicated teaching staff. We thank you for shaping us into the fantastic young people we are today. We thank you for all the knowledge, skills and courage you have provided through the years. We especially thank our beautiful Stage 3 teachers who have been our role models and our leaders. All these memories will be kept in a special place in our hearts! Prime Minister 2015 Lauren Goodall Speaker of the House 2015 Cooper Bridge School background School vision statement Appin Public School is committed to providing quality teaching and engaging learning activities for every student in an inclusive, engaging and supportive school environment. Through our culture of achievement, healthy well-being and resilience, we believe that every student, staff member and community member is a lifelong learner and learns for a purpose. There is a focus on equipping all stakeholders with skills for the rapidly changing 21 st century which are creativity, collaboration, problem solving, skilled articulation, knowledge construction and technology. Our school s values encourage all students to be safe, responsible, friendly and respectful learners. School context Appin Public School has an enrolment of 260 students that currently serves the small township of Appin and its steady growth from a new housing estate. As part of the Early Action for Success program our Instructional leader focuses on improving curriculum implementation and quality differentiated literacy and numeracy teaching with stringent data analysis providing direction for future teaching. Our dedicated and cohesive staff of experienced and early careers teachers is focussed on the continuous collaborative development of high quality teaching and learning programs that meet the needs of all students. Happy and respectful students are involved in the daily operation of the school including a range of extracurricular activities. The genuine relationship between staff, students and families ensures that the school maintains a positive and nurturing environment.
Self-assessment and school achievements Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework, our school achievements and the next steps to be pursued. The Framework supports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading. This year, our school undertook self-assessment using the elements of the School Excellence Framework. Our staff familiarised themselves with the new school excellence framework in professional learning sessions throughout 2015. Regular strategic direction team meetings to monitor our school plan also ensured that elements of the school excellence framework were visible and we could cite evidence to demonstrate this. A number of surveys using Tell Them From Me and our own parent survey distributed in Education Week confirmed that our school is working towards sustaining and growing in many areas. Our school community were regularly updated through P&C meetings and our school newsletter. Our self-assessment will further assist the school to refine the strategic priorities in our School plan leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students. Our self-assessment process will further assist the school to refine the strategic priorities in our School plan leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students. Learning Elements In the Learning culture element our school Positive Behaviour for Learning program (PBL) enables students to work in organised supportive class environments where respectful relationships are evident in Curriculum and Learning, learning intentions and success criteria address and monitor individual learning needs in literacy and numeracy. Individual education plans are in place for targeted students ensuring all students access all aspects of the curricula at their level with the support they require. Analysis of data each five weeks enables teachers to plan sequential learning activities for each child and also inform parents of strengths and areas for future growth. We need to focus on student performance measures with a view to enhancing our student growth in external assessments such as NAPLAN and the value added component in this area. Teaching Effective classroom practice is an area in which we are sustaining and growing as staff competently use data and student feedback to evaluate their own teacher effectiveness and inform future student learning. In the area of data and skills all professional learning is aligned with our school plan strategic directions ensuring staff are implementing the most effective teaching methods to drive student academic improvement. Staff enjoy collegial collaboration to evaluate and improve literacy and numeracy programs and plans are in place to provide and receive constructive peer feedback for improvement. Our school has a performance development policy in place to support staff attainment of their professional learning goals and their implementation of professional standards and curriculum requirements. Leading Our school leadership team is sustaining and growing its capacity to lead whole school initiatives with leadership development being central to our school capacity building. Our school provides opportunities for aspiring executive to relieve at higher duties and has given teaching roles to five young quality temporary teachers demonstrating our school leadership strategy of promoting succession planning, distributed leadership and organisational best practice. Through data analysis, teacher and parent feedback and tight budget and organisational measures, our school plan aligns to evidence based priorities and responds to emerging needs. Our Our
Strategic Direction 1 - Curriculum Consistent high standard educational practices. Purpose To provide engaging, challenging, authentic opportunities to inspire lifelong learners; building and enhancing their capacity to become active, empowered and informed critical and creative thinkers and problem solvers. Overall summary of progress Our strategic team met every five weeks to examine our progress against the milestones. Progress towards achieving improvement measures Resources (annual) Improvement measure (to be achieved over 3 years) Progress achieved this year Funds expended 75% of students achieving minimum standard or above in Year 3 in English and Maths in NAPLAN 93% students in Year 3 in bands 3-6 for reading, 89.5% in writing and 75.8% in numeracy 75.5% students in Year 5 in bands 5-8 for reading, 93.1% in writing and 89.6% in numeracy $10097 (PLAN Literacy & Numeracy) 40% in proficiency bands as we move the middle to the top 41% of Year 3 students performed in the top 2 bands in reading and 20.6% in numeracy 48.2% of year 5 students performed in the top 2 bands in reading and 16.9% in numeracy $2342 (PLAN funds) 90% K-2 students achieving minimum standards in Reading and Numeracy using the continuums 92% Kinder at cluster 4 and reading Level 9 or above. 100% achieved Level 1 or perceptual in numeracy. 94% Year 1 at cluster 6 and reading Level 18 or above. 100% achieved Level 2 or figurative in numeracy. 90% Year 2 reading Level 22 or above and 81% at cluster 8. 100% achieved Level 3 or counting on and back in numeracy. $ 48000 (EAfS funds) Next steps Continue professional learning for K-2 teachers in L3 and for 3-6 in Focus on Reading. Implementation of TEN (Targeting Early Numeracy K-2) and TOWN (Taking Off with Numeracy 3-6) The writing analysis tool and NAPLAN writing criteria will continue to guide conversations about improving students writing. Deepen our data analysis and share this with staff, parents and community. Continue implementation of Formative Assessment and link Formative Assessment to data analysis
Strategic Direction 2 Trusted partners in a vibrant learning community. a vibrant learning community Purpose To build strong and more cohesive partnerships between school, families and communities to promote the development of students social, emotional, physical and academic potential in a happy, safe and supportive environment. Overall summary of progress Our strategic team met every five weeks to examine our progress against the milestones. Progress towards achieving improvement measures Resources (annual) Improvement measure (to be achieved over 3 years) Progress achieved this year Funds expended Greater attendance at school community functions Parents and community members attended Appin Public School s events eg Meet the Teacher BBQ, Easter Hat Parade, Mother s Day and Father s Day breakfast, NAIDOC day, Remembrance/Anzac Day, Education Week, Book Week Parade, Parent-teacher interviews, Grandparents day, Thank you breakfast, Eco-friendly day, Presentation Day. There were more opportunities in 2015 for Appin Public School parents to be directly involved in their child s learning environment. $2000 (School prizegiving) $500 (Welcome to school bbq) Use of School App, Website and Facebook page for information about school Community positive affirmation of our PBIS values Parents, Staff and community utilise the Appin Public School Facebook page, Schoolbag app and the Website for communication with school following the move to a paperless newsletter.there are 294 people who like the Appin Public School Facebook page and there are 163 iphone users and 104 android users (which is 267 subscribers) to our Schoolbag app as of 14 th December, 2015. In 2015, Tell Them From Me Survey was completed by parents in Term 3. Over 90% of the parents believed that their child is clear about the rules for school behaviour. Nil Nil Next steps Reboot of PBL: integrating Kids Matter, You Can Do It, Reflection and restorative justice and social and emotional learning. Learning and Support Team monitors specific learning needs of students, including Aboriginal students. Parent and Community partnership is fostered through communication using Surveys such as Tell Them From Me, parent surveys, school involvement in Appin PS open days and newsletters, websites, brochures and so on. blank
Strategic Direction 3 To develop and promote quality leadership. Purpose To build quality leadership capacity at all levels and to ensure the delivery of a quality education, underpinned by a rigorous pedagogy, effective partnerships and strong organisational structures. Overall summary of progress Our strategic team met every five weeks to examine our progress against the milestones. Progress towards achieving improvement measures Improvement measure (to be achieved over 3 years) 100% of staff maintaining Australian teaching standards with professional learning plans in place aligned with school policies and targets 100% of executive staff working towards accreditation using the School Leadership Capability and Performance Development Framework 100% of staff articulating school plan and targets, having professional learning plans in place aligned with performance Development Framework and a roles and responsibilities statement Progress achieved this year Staff know and use the Australian teaching standards in preparation for all staff becoming accredited. Professional learning plans in place with each teacher outlining 3 goals based on the standards. These were reviewed at the end of the year with staff identifying evidence demonstrating goal achievement and where to next in the performance development cycle. Executive staff identified their professional learning goals in line with the Australian Professional standards at lead level. Opportunities provided throughout the year to mentor two aspiring assistant Principals. Three teacher teams organised to coordinate each school plan strategic direction and monitor milestones Performance development processes in place in 2015 with a formal policy to be developed in 2016 Roles and responsibilities statement in place for APs and teachers Resources (annual) Funds expended $9741 (TPL funds) Nil $2000 (TPL funds) Next steps The rollover to OLIVER library system in Term 1 2016 and LMBR in Term 3 2016. Next Steps Implementing the Performance Development Framework and School Excellence Framework with validating evidence. Implementing an induction process for staff new to our school setting.
Key initiatives and other school focus areas Key initiatives (annual) Impact achieved this year Resources (annual) Aboriginal background funding PLPs written for each Aboriginal student & attendance monitored. SLSO support for Aboriginal students in their class settings. PLAN data shows growth. NAIDOC Week recognised. $2768 (Norta Norta) $10000 (RAM funding - SLSO support) $1500 (Aboriginal mural) English language proficiency funding Teacher identifies needs of student and meets with speech pathologist to support student needs in class and incorporates speech program in classroom. Student uses wider range of vocabulary when speaking & writing. PLAN data shows growth. $894 ( Funding used for SLSO support) Socio-economic funding Continuous assessment of all students in literacy & numeracy against continuums. Teaching strategies focus on student needs. Learning goals identified for students with success criteria. SLSO support 3-6 and Interventionist Teacher K-2. $19 104 (SLSO support) IL & Interventionist teacher support Low level adjustment for disability funding EAfS funds and IL supporting K-2, providing professional learning and in-class support daily. LAST supporting targeted 3-6 students as per PLAN data. Identified students with learning disabilities supported in classrooms by SLSO. $51 822 (Funding support used for SLSO) $90 451 (LAST) Support for beginning teachers Early career teachers supported through fortnightly team meetings, professional learning linked to school plan and performance development program, ongoing mentoring provided by supervising AP. Nil
Other school focus areas Impact achieved this year Resources (annual) Early Action for Success Provide engaging, challenging, authentic opportunities to inspire lifelong learners; building and enhancing their capacity to become active, empowered and informed critical, creative thinkers and problem solvers. Stage 1 interventionist employed to support target students in writing. K-2 teachers consolidated their understanding of L3 K and Stage 1 literacy pedagogy through ongoing professional learning sessions with Instructional Leader. Professional Learning for K-2 teachers (L3K and L3 Stage 1) mentoring and in class support by L3K trainer and Instructional Leader. 2 teachers trained as TEN facilitators in preparation for K-2 professional learning in 2016 and beyond. 2 weekly cycle of individualised professional meetings with K-2 teachers and the Instructional leader took place to critically refine data analysis, planning and teaching pedagogy through all 4 terms in 2015. Systematic collection and analysis of data to inform practice and track and monitor student progress in all children working in dedicated support timetables with the Instructional Leader, LAST, Reading Recovery and Interventionist. Stage 1 and Early Stage 1 resources purchased to support the quality learning environments and implementation of literacy and numeracy initiatives. $ 110 800 ($16000 Innovation grant, $4800 set-up, $90000-0.9 FTE) School leadership team to monitor implementation of school-wide systems and structures including LMBR / OLIVER implementation Next Steps All hardware purchased and installed ready for LMBR & OLIVER implementation in 2016. IT systems upgraded in preparation for LMBR. Student leadership Apart from six student ministers, all Year 6 students took on lead role in peer support during Term 4. All Year 6 students demonstrated leadership roles at Appin community Anzac Day Centenary service, either speaking, ushering invited guests to seats and greeting guests at school gates. $1000
Student information It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all students be consistent with privacy and personal information policies. Student enrolment profile Our student enrolments increased slowly throughout the year despite a number of existing families leaving our town due to the development of Appin Valley housing estate. Student Enrolment Gender 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Male 98 101 96 100 104 113 111 Female 87 99 102 99 106 106 122 Students 250 200 150 100 50 0 Student attendance profile Student Attendance 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Year Male Female State DoE School Enrolments Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 K 97.6 94.8 96.6 95.5 96.1 95.5 1 95.7 94.0 95.1 95.5 95.9 95.0 2 96.7 95.2 95.3 95.2 96.7 94.2 3 96.5 95.3 96.8 95.7 95.8 95.4 4 96.7 94.0 94.7 95.6 95.8 93.7 5 95.5 95.6 95.1 94.6 93.3 94.3 6 94.5 93.5 95.8 94.8 94.4 96.1 Total 96.2 94.6 95.6 95.3 95.6 94.8 K 94.7 94.7 94.3 95.0 95.2 94.4 1 94.2 94.2 93.9 94.5 94.7 93.8 2 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.7 94.9 94.0 3 94.5 94.4 94.4 94.8 95.0 94.1 4 94.5 94.3 94.3 94.7 94.9 94.0 5 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.5 94.8 94.0 6 94 93.8 93.8 94.1 94.2 93.5 Total 94.4 94.3 94.2 94.7 94.8 94.0 Our school attendance continues to be exemplary and remains at above state levels. All parents in the school are advised through regular communication, of the importance of school attendance. Classroom teachers record all absences in class rolls on a daily basis. Support from the Home School Liaison Officer (HSLO) is provided for incidents of frequent or prolonged non-attendance at school. Records for late arrivals and early departures are accurately maintained. Workforce composition Position Number Principal 1 Deputy Principal(s) 0 Assistant Principal(s) 2 Classroom Teacher(s) 8 Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.42 Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.9 Teacher Librarian 0.6 Teacher of ESL 0 School Counsellor 0.2 School Administrative & Support Staff 2.422 Other positions 0.91 Total 16.452 The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. No staff at Appin Public School identifies as being indigenous. Teacher qualifications All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools. Qualifications % of staff Undergraduate degree or diploma 100% Postgraduate degree 50% Professional learning and teacher accreditation The Professional Learning program at Appin Public School is informed by the School Plan 2015-2017. A total of $8000 was spent from professional learning funds to support learning in literacy and numeracy, Positive Behaviour for Learning, school leadership and environmental education.
Financial information Financial summary This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance. A full copy of the school s 2015 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meeting of the parent and/or community groups. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school. Date of financial summary 30/11/2015 Income $ Balance brought forward 91056.80 Global funds 184936.30 Tied funds 139229.62 School & community sources 110554.61 Interest 2830.35 Trust receipts 10063.20 Canteen 0.00 Total income 538670.88 Expenditure Teaching & learning Key learning areas 52280.76 Excursions 30676.66 Extracurricular dissections 36092.17 Library 7323.05 Training & development 26416.93 Tied funds 139388.61 Casual relief teachers 30999.63 Administration & office 61285.78 School-operated canteen 0.00 Utilities 23753.48 Maintenance 25536.99 Trust accounts 9843.95 Capital programs 9590.00 Total expenditure 453188.01 Balance carried forward 85482.87 bl k NAPLAN - Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation) Areas of strength: interpreting information in a factual text, locating directly stated information in a simple text, identifying audience of a poster. Percentage of students 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Percentage in bands: Year 3 Reading 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bands Percentage in Bands School Average 2011-2015 SSG % in Bands 2015 State DoE % in Bands 2015 School performance NAPLAN 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. The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Click on the link My School and insert the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.
40 Percentage in bands: Year 3 Writing 40 Percentage in bands: Year 5 Reading Percentage of students 30 20 10 Percentage of students 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bands Percentage in Bands School Average 2011-2015 SSG % in Bands 2015 State DoE % in Bands 2015 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bands Percentage in Bands School Average 2011-2015 SSG % in Bands 2015 State DoE % in Bands 2015 Areas of strength: most simple sentences are correct with some correct punctuation. An area of focus will be engaging the reader and elaborating ideas to persuade the reader. Areas of strength: 10% above state average in the top 2 bands, drawing an inference in a selected text, interpreting a situation in a narrative, identifying correctly punctuated sentences. 70 Percentage in bands: Year 5 Writing Percentage of students 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bands Percentage in Bands School Average 2011-2015 SSG % in Bands 2015 State DoE % in Bands 2015 Areas of strength: comparing heights of objects, interpeting picture graphs, identying a 2D shape reflection, addition and subtration involving money. Areas of strength: some components of persuasive structure are evident with common words used correctly and some use of persuasive devices. Area for focus are using more precise words and using cohesive links throughout the text.
P NAPLAN - Numeracy Percentage of students 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage in bands: Year 5 Numeracy 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bands Percentage in Bands School Average 2011-2015 SSG % in Bands 2015 State DoE % in Bands 2015 Areas of strength: 3% above state average in the top two bands, ordering 4 digit numbers, division problems using 2 digit numbers, multiplication and subtraction with money to calculate change. Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction Each year schools are required to seek the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. Their responses are presented below. The results of the 2015 parent survey conducted in Education Week were overwhelmingly positive and provided great feedback and affirmation to the hardworking staff at Appin Public School. Parents were asked: 1. What do you like about our school? a. Friendly professional teachers b. Community feel with genuine teacher interest and interesting classrooms to learn in c. Additional SLSO support 2. What do you think we do best? a. Knowing how each student learns b. Sense of belonging and teaching of values c. Communication 3. What can we improve on? a. More playground equipment b. More technology c. More support staff The majority of parents are currently very happy with our school and believe their child s classroom and school is an interesting place to learn and teachers provide a balance of independent and group learning activities. Policy requirements Aboriginal education Appin Public School received Aboriginal background funding in 2015. Our plan included: Mufti Day celebration for NAIDOC Week with cultural awareness classroom activities Continued in-class tutoring in literacy & numeracy for targeted students by SLSO During 2015, funding from Norta Norta supported a targeted student to improve reading comprehension and writing of persuasive arguments to engage a reader. Aboriginal background funding enabled a rainbow serpent mural to be painted on a wall featuring every student and staff member s handprint. This is now an attractive passive student relaxation area. Stage 3 Aboriginal students delivered Acknowledgment of Country at weekly whole school assemblies and school events. Multicultural Education and Anti-racism In line with the School plan, the school has reviewed its teaching and learning programs this year to ensure that culturally inclusive classroom and school practices are embedded for all students. Further to this our programs foster students understandings of culture, cultural diversity, racism and active citizenship within a democratic, multicultural society. Teachers participated in professional learning at stage team level and included strategies for embedding multicultural and anti-racism education into their teaching and learning programs. A new Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) will be trained next year to build understanding of cultural diversity and Anti-racism initiatives in the school community.