ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 CATHOLIC EDUCATION, ARCHDIOCESE OF BRISBANE School Name Postal address St Thomas More College PO Box 140, SUNNYBANK, QLD, 4109 Phone Email (07) 3323 4600 Fax (07) 3344 3598 ssunnybank@bne.catholic.edu.au School website www. stmc.qld.edu.au Contact Person Peter Elmore - Principal Principal s Foreword Introduction St Thomas More College, established in 1974, is a co-educational Catholic secondary school located in Sunnybank, Brisbane; with an enrolment of 748 students and 76 staff. The College provides education from Years 8 to 12. St Thomas More College takes its name from Thomas More, Lord Chancellor for King Henry VIII, who maintained his Christian moral values and stood up for what was right. The College motto comes from More s statement "I die the king's loyal servant, but God's servant first. Our aim at St Thomas More College is to provide an excellent all round education for every student at the College with a commitment to our Christian faith, our learning and our community. In 2015, St Thomas More College experienced significant growth in student numbers, facilities and staff. With this development comes growth in opportunities for current and future students. The College continued the building program and the resource centre, student services and science block were completed in 2015. The following school report summarises a successful and positive year for the faith learning community that is St Thomas More College. It also reflects the efforts of an extremely productive and dynamic learning community. This report will be used to review our current school performance and guide our goal setting and planning for future years. School Profile St Thomas More College is a Catholic school administered through Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Brisbane. Coeducational or Single Sex Year levels offered: Primary Secondary P-12 Total Student Enrolments 921 Girls 439 Boys 482 ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 1
Characteristics of the student body Students at St Thomas More College come from a variety of local primary schools, including Catholic, State and Independent primary schools. Students typically transfer to St Thomas More College after completion of Year 7. Key Catholic primary schools include: Our Lady of Fatima Primary School, Acacia Ridge Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Sunnybank St Bernadine s Primary School, Regents Park St Brendan s Primary School, Moorooka St Paul s Primary School, Woodridge St Pius X Primary School, Salisbury St Stephen s Primary School, Algester St Thomas More College prides itself on being a multicultural school. Students come from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds; including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Our distinctive curriculum offerings The curriculum structure at St Thomas More College has been developed to suit the particular needs of both junior and senior students. The junior curriculum structure consists of a mix of core subjects and rotational taster electives. This structure enables students to experience a range of subjects in preparation for subject selection in senior years and for future studies post-secondary school. The College offers academic extension and foundation courses for core subjects to cover the range of learning needs and requirements. St Thomas More College prides itself on offering multiple curriculum pathways for senior students which are designed to meet individual needs. Students are able to undertake an Academic Pathway, leading to tertiary study, a Vocational Education and Training Pathway, leading to TAFE or the workplace or a pathway combining elements of both. ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 2
Extra curricula activities St Thomas More College offers a variety of co-curricular activities, which students are encouraged to participate in. The College holds our annual Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. STMC participates in the South East Colleges Association (SECA) inter-school competition. The College provides students with the opportunity for District, Regional, State and National representation through affiliation with Metropolitan West Sport. Senior students may represent the College at the Confraternity Cup and Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN). The College has an extensive Instrumental Music Program including individual or group music lessons and music ensembles. The College is committed to producing a College Production/Musical and Junior Drama Production each year. The College holds the Penny Awards, where students perform a monologue or duologue before a panel of guest adjudicators, who are industry professionals. Students may participate in a College Public Speaking and Debating Competition. How Information and Communication Technologies are used to assist learning The College has a comprehensive laptop program available to students from Year 7 to 12. All students receive a laptop for use during school and for use at home, which is fundamental to students completing their studies across all disciplines. The College uses MOODLE, which is an online learning management system. This enables students and parents to access term planners, assessment items and task and revision sheets. It is an interactive platform that is constantly being updated by teaching staff. Students have access to the St Thomas More College Student Portal. The Student Portal has frequently used online links, such as MOODLE, Web Print, Turn It In, My Sites Docs, Outlook, and Google Drive; as well as the College calendar and subject folders. Social climate inclusive of pastoral care and our response to bullying St Thomas More College promotes a climate in our school community that is welcoming, relational and free of prejudice. The College believes that everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe at school; be accepted and respected as they are; and be happy about coming to school. All hurtful behaviour, irrespective of whether or not it meets the definition of bullying, is addressed by the College. St Thomas More College takes the issue of bullying very seriously and has a no tolerance policy. Any behaviour that results in harm to a student or staff member will be reported and responded to in line with the College s Student Behaviour Support Plan. Students who may experience bullying may speak to any staff member, including the Guidance Counsellor, Pastoral Coordinator, Campus Minister and PC Teacher. Our Pastoral Care Program ensures that students feel open to communicating with any staff member in an understanding and non-judgemental environment. ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 3
Parent, student and teacher satisfaction with the school Parents are afforded a range of opportunities to provide the College with feedback in regard to their degree of satisfaction with all aspects of the College. These opportunities take the form of Parent & Friends Association meetings, Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews and one on one meetings. The College conducted an Annual Internal School Review with teaching staff, which identified strengths, areas of development and action to be taken. Parent involvement in their child s education St Thomas More College believes that parents and guardians are an integral part of their student s education. Therefore, nurturing the relationship and maintaining communication between home and the College is of paramount importance. The College supports the role of parents through: Year Level Information Evenings Fortnightly College e-newsletter Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews Junior Education Transition (JET) Interview -Year 8 students and parents Senior Education Transition (SET) Interview Year 10 students and parents St Thomas More College Parents & Friends Association Voluntary contribution of parent s time and skills Staff Profile Workforce Composition Teaching Staff Non-teaching Staff Headcounts Full-time equivalents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders 71 32 69.26 21.46 2 Qualifications of all teachers Highest level of attainment Doctorate Masters Post Graduate Diploma/Certificate Bachelors Degree Diploma/Certificate Number of Teaching Staff (teaching staff includes school leaders) 0 14 15 41 1 ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 4
Expenditure on and teacher participation in Professional Learning The total funds expended on teacher professional learning in 2015 was $ The major professional development initiatives were as follows 39,067 St Thomas More College maintains our high level of teaching and learning by ensuring all staff undertake professional development initiatives. The major professional development initiatives were as follows: Annual Goal Setting and Review Staff Orientation and Induction Program Training in Dimensions of Learning the College pedagogical teaching/learning framework IT Support for the 1:1 Laptop Program School Income by Funding Source School income broken down by funding source is available via the My School website at http://www.myschool.edu.au/. To access our school income details, click on the My School link above. You will then be taken to the My School website with the following: Find a school text box. Type in the name of the school you wish to view, and select <GO>. Read and follow the instructions on the next screen; you will be asked to accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before being given access to the school s My School entry web page. School financial information is available by selecting School finances in the menu box in the top left corner of the school s entry web page. Average staff attendance rate The staff attendance rate was 97.32 % in 2015. Proportion of staff retained from the previous school year From the end of the 2014 school year, 94.0 % of staff were retained by the school for the 2015 year. Key Student Outcomes Whole School Attendance Rate 94.00 % Prep Attendance Rate % Year 7 Attendance Rate 96.00 % Year 1 Attendance Rate % Year 8 Attendance Rate 96.00 % Year 2 Attendance Rate % Year 9 Attendance Rate 94.00 % Year 3 Attendance Rate % Year 10 Attendance Rate 93.00 % Year 4 Attendance Rate % Year 11 Attendance Rate 94.00 % Year 5 Attendance Rate % Year 12 Attendance Rate 93.00 % Year 6 Attendance Rate % ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 5
Policy and practice to manage student attendance Parents/guardians are advised to ring the College Absentee Line to report their student s absence and provide a written explanation of the absence in their student s College diary when the student returns to school. Attendance rolls are marked by teaching staff in the morning during Pastoral Care class and at the beginning of each lesson throughout the day. Any unexplained/unreported absence is followed up by the College via a text messaging system to the student s parents/guardians. Students who arrive late must sign in on arrival to the College. Likewise, students who leave early must be signed out of the College by a parent/guardian. If a student is absent from the College for a prolonged period of time, the College requires written correspondence to the Principal detailing the absence and supporting documentation if required. Continued and unexplained lateness or absenteeism will necessitate contact with parents/guardians and intervention meetings with College staff, the student and parents/guardians. Student s school reports detail the number of days absent per term. Student Achievement NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results our reading writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy results for the relevant years. Our reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy results for the relevant years are available via the My School website at http://www.myschool.edu.au/. To access our NAPLAN results, click on the My School link above. You will then be taken to the My School website with the following Find a school text box. Type in the name of the school whose NAPLAN results you wish to view, and select <GO>. Read and follow the instructions on the next screen; you will be asked to accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before being able to access our NAPLAN data. Attainment and Achievement Year 12 Apparent retention rates Year 10 to Year 12 Year 12 student enrolment as a percentage of the Year 10 (2013) student cohort. 90.0 % ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 6
Outcomes for our Year 12 cohort of 2015 (Data are available to schools from the QSA secure website using your existing security code) Number of students receiving a Senior Education Profile. Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate Individual Achievement. Number of students receiving an Overall Position (OP). Number of students who are completing or completed a school based Apprenticeship or Traineeship. Number of students awarded one or more Vocational Educational Training qualifications. Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Education at the end of Year 12. Number of students awarded an International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD). Percentage of OP/ IBD eligible students with OP 1-15 or an IBD. 78.0 % 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. Percentage of Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) applicants receiving a tertiary offer. 132 0 59 6 103 131 0 99.2 % 100.0 % Overall Position Bands (OP) Number of students in each Band for OP 1 to 25 OP 1-5 OP 6-10 OP 11-15 OP 16-20 OP 21-25 4 19 23 11 2 Vocational Educational Training qualification (VET) Number of students awarded certificates under the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF). Certificate I Certificate II Certificate III or above 5 68 90 Post-school destination information At the time of publishing this School Annual Report, the results of the 2015 Year 12 postschool destinations survey, Next Step Student Destination Report for the school were not available. Information about these post-school destinations of our students will be published in September when the information is made available to the school. ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING 2015 7