2017 wallsend public school annual report · our programs support the diverse learning needs of our...

Wallsend Public SchoolAnnual Report

2017

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Printed on: 15 April, 2018 of 16 Wallsend Public School 3357 (2017)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2017 is provided to the community of Wallsend Public School as an account of the school'soperations and achievements throughout the year.

It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made to provide high quality educational opportunities forall students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self–assessment that reflect the impact of keyschool strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equityfunding.

Sandra Colman

Principal

School contact details

Wallsend Public School26 Martindale StreetWallsend, 2287www.wallsend-p.schools.nsw.edu.auwallsend-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au4955 9415

Message from the Principal

In spite of a very challenging start to 2017, the staff, community and students maintained their ongoing dedication toproviding the best outcomes for all students of Wallsend Public School. As professional educators, the Staff continued toenrich the lives of every students through innovative practices in literacy and numeracy along with rich and diverseexperiences in the creative arts and sporting domains. A willingness to learn on behalf of both students and staffensured explicit teaching and contemporary pedagogy was being used every day to maximise student engagement andachievements.

Several new enrolments to Wallsend Public School brought a richness in cultural diversity which was celebrated andshared as a part of our Harmony Day event and also in regular community cultural gatherings.

Our relationships with our school community and broader community continued to grow. Partnering with the University ofNewcastle in the Children's University program was a wonderful opportunity for our participating students to begin theirjourney of higher learning.

Several innovative programs in literacy and numeracy continue to add value to student achievements , including theachievements and growth of our Aboriginal students. Our capacity to support the learning, social and emotional needs ofour students has a pivotal role in underpinning our achievements.

As Principal of Wallsend Public School for the past six years it has been pleasure to lead a transformational change thathas certainly made a difference to every student who has been a member of our school and provided professionalgrowth for all staff.

Sandra Colman M.Ed

Principal


School background

School vision statement

Our vision is to make a difference to the lives of every student at Wallsend Public School. We are committed to caring,supporting and equipping our students for a brighter and more successful future, both educationally and socially.

We are dedicated to providing a safe and happy learning environment where success is celebrated at all levels andcreates an excitement about learning and increases self–esteem as a learner.

Our vision is founded on the values of ‘The Wallsend Way’ – learning, respect, responsibility and safety. These valuesunderpin our high expectations of our students, staff and community as we work together to promote a culture ofachievement for every student.

School context

Wallsend Public School believes, ‘Successful learners show respect, take responsibility and make safe choices.’ We callthis ‘The Wallsend Way’.

We value our partnerships within our community. Our P&C work tirelessly to raise funds to support our programs. Beingan integral part of the Callaghan Collegiate strengthens our relationship with our local high school and other feederprimary schools.

Our enrolments fluctuate annually between being able to form 10 or 11 mainstream classes. We also house a districtclass for the mildly intellectually delayed student.

With 17% Aboriginal students and 28 students from 15 different cultural backgrounds our cultural diversity enriches ourlearning.

Our programs support the diverse learning needs of our students and sstrengthens their learning outcomes. Bestpractise learning support processes ensures students with individual needs are catered for. Several programs operate tosupport those students who just need minimal interventions to get their learning back on track.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework,school achievements and the next steps to be pursued.

This year, our school undertook self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework. The framework supportspublic schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practiceacross the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

Learning.

In the domain of Learning, we have an embedded culture that focuses on enhancing student outcomes and futureopportunities for every student. A strong framework of student wellbeing enhances cognitive, social and emotionalgrowth. Staff employ a collaborative team approach to deliver learning at point of need to further enhance everystudent's' sense of belonging. Collected data from both internal and external sources substantiates the positive growth inoutcomes for our students.


Teaching

In the domain of Teaching, a process of consolidation was undertaken. This involved further support through coaching toenhance effective classroom practises and increase teacher capacity. We continued to focus on professional learning inthe explicit teaching through Targeting Early Numeracy Strategies (TENS), Taking Off with Numeracy (TOWN), Focuson Reading (FoR) and Writing. A shared understanding of these strategies and the positive impact for facilitator coachingdirectly added to the achievements in Literacy and numeracy..

Leading

In the domain of Leading we continue to focus on developing leadership capacity as a key factor in delivering improvedstudent outcomes. Opportunities for aspirants resulted in further strengthening of the leadership team. Futureopportunities to further increase leadership capacity will strengthen whole school leadership.

Our self–assessment process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to further improvements in thedelivery of education to our students.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching–and–learning/school–excellence–and–accountability/sef–evidence–guide


Strategic Direction 1

Developing Teacher Capacity

Purpose

To increase the capacity of teachers to deliver engaging and relevant learning programs through the development andacceptance of a professional learning culture.

Overall summary of progress

Our ongoing focus on building teacher capacity in Literacy and Numeracy has enabled every staff member to improvetheir pedagogy through engaging in Focus on Reading Phase Two, whilst consolidating phase one pedagogy. Acontinued focus on Targeting Early Numeracy Strategies (TENS) and Taking off with Numeracy (TOWN) consolidatedexplicit teaching and embedded practices through facilitator coaching. The quality teacher model was used to developteacher capacity to develop targeted writing skills in all students K– 6 through the coaching of staff in a deeperunderstanding of techniques and conventions.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

All teachers demonstrate capacityto implement explicit teaching ofcomprehension strategies at bothliteral and inferential levels.

$12 000 Explicit teaching of comprehension strategies tookplace is every class with teachers supported bytrained facilitator in Focus on Reading Phase 2.

All staff members completed Action Researchprojects on the affects of Sustained reading on theengaged levels of students from Stage 1 to Stage 3.

Two Executive staff members completed the LeadTrainer course in New Focus on Reading Phase 2.

100% of teacher surveys and teacher feedbackindicated an increase in the ability to implementexplicit teaching of comprehension strategies atboth literal and inferential levels..

A mentor program was implemented by the Leadtrainers to support teachers in implementing qualitylearning opportunities focused on comprehensionstrategies.

81% of class teachers engaged in peer mentoringprogram.

Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and Stage 3 engaged instaff development focused on developing explicitteaching and learning experiences focusedcomprehension, reading and vocabulary across allKLA's.

Teachers are equipped to deliverexplicit writing lessons thatenhance students' writing skillsand techniques.

$18 000 Pre and Post Writing Tests have been implementedin Stages 1, 2 and 3.

The pre tests analysis is being used to create classdifferentiated writing programs.

A consistent marking rubric, that is reflective ofNAPLAN writing assessment has been used todetermine growth for all 10 focused aspects(structure, audience, ideas, devices, vocabulary,






Teachers are equipped to deliverexplicit writing lessons thatenhance students' writing skillsand techniques.

cohesion, sentence structure, paragraphing, punctuation and spelling).

Class data shows that 90% of students have showngrowth in targeted aspects of writing from the pretest analysis.

All staff utilise pedagogies relatedto Targeting Early Numeracy andTaking Off With Numeracy asfoundations for explicit teachingof Numeracy Concepts.

$20 000 All staff utilise pedagogies related to TargetingEarly Numeracy (TEN) and TOWN (Taking Off WithNumeracy) as foundations for explicit teaching ofNumeracy concepts evidenced in teacher progress.

K–6 Scope and Sequence implemented in allStages.

Maths lessons proforma developed andimplemented using TEN and TOWN pedagogies.

Teacher Professional Learning delivered andconsistent teacher judgement developed throughdiscussion of assessment tasks and data.

Data recorded on PLAN Numeracy Continuum forall students K–3 every 5 weeks.

Data discussed at Stage, Faculty and TeacherProfessional Learning meetings.

PLAN data results analysed.

Teacher observation lessons conducted to focus onimplementing TEN/Town pedagogies.

All teachers use data collectionand assessment strategies toplace students on the Literacyand Numeracy Continuums whichare then used to inform teachingand learning programs.

Teacher release componentfactored into relevantprogram costings.

Plotting of students on PLAN has informed futureteaching cycles, resulting in differentiated teachingand learning programs for all students in K–2.

Ongoing collection and critical analysis ofquantitative and qualitative data by all staffmembers has informed the creation of interventiongroups based on student needs across the school.

The PLAN data for 2017 showed that in reading56% of kindergarten students achieved expectedbenchmarks, 70% of Year 1 students achievedexpected benchmarks and 83% of Year 2 studentsachieved expected benchmarks.

All staff received professional learning in 2017 inthe areas of EAfS, PLAN and the Literacy andNumeracy Continuums. This training was tailored tomeet the specific needs of teachers and the stagegroup of students they teach. The school hasworked towards refining its teaching and learningprograms for the new syllabus documents andprogressions

Data collection and assessment strategies becamea fortnightly focus in K–2 Data meetings.

Next Steps


Continual coaching in TENS, TOWN and both phase one and two of Focus on Reading will be embedded in our practise. A changeover of staff will mean those not trained in these components will need to be provided the necessaryprofessional learning to ensure they too can engage in the new culture of pedagogy.

We need to continue to have an intense focus on writing to make improvements and develop internal measurements toreflect improvements. Vocabulary development through spelling will continue with a broader focus on using rich texts tostrengthen vocabulary knowledge. Professional learning in the Literacy progressions will be needed to ensure we areproviding the explicit learning our students need to make improvement.



Building Leadership Capacity

Purpose

To increase the capacity of school leaders to support the implementation of educational reforms.


Executive leadership team were able to engage in professional learning to further enhance their capacity to lead theirteams. Their increase in skill was reflected in their capacity to lead project teams in Literacy and Numeracy that provedto be of importance for professional learning of staff and specifically linked to Strategic Direction One.





100% of school leaders andaspiring leaders have begun theaccreditation process by the endof 2017 to achieve highlyaccomplished or lead.

Nil None of the school executive team have engagedin the accreditation process through NESA. Oneexecutive staff member has completed bothAssistant Principal and Deputy Principalcredentialing program.

100% staff engage incollaborative learning teams ledby members of the leadershipteam.

$12 000 All staff have engaged in collaborative teams inLiteracy and Numeracy. In these teams collectedevidence was analysed and measured against theSchool Excellence Framework.

School leaders and aspirantsdemonstrate leadership througheffective management andimplementation of individualschool based projects in Literacyand Numeracy.

$17 000 School leaders effectively managed and maintainedthe implementation of strategic programs in Literacyand Numeracy through professional learning andcoaching.

Next Steps

Developing leadership capacity inclusive of executive staff and aspirants continues to be an important factor in our2018–2020 plan. We need to analyse and model leadership practices as we continue to build teams. Consultativedecision making and self reflection will support growth in this area.



Enhancing Student Engagement and Well–Being.

Purpose

To increase students’ capacity to be self–regulators through the implementation of student wellbeing initiatives.


Synthetic Phonics is fully embedded in to the Literacy cycle of K–2. This provides a strong foundation for subsequentliteracy development. Withdrawal support continued to be available for those identified as in need of intervention. Thestrengthening of the Positive Behaviour for Learning philosophy has contributed to a more positive learning environmentas students ensure their behaviours are aligned with the school ethos and culture of Learning, Respect, Responsibilityand Safety. The Communication Training in the Classroom Speech Pathology Program was invaluable in supportingstaff in the identification of students whose expressive or receptive language was hindering their progress. The programallowed opportunity for dialogues with families in the hope that intervention would be sought.





100%of Aboriginal students andstudents with disabilities haveactive PLPs or IEPs.

$6 000 100% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandstudents had an active PLP recorded on Mgoalswebsite.

100% of parents / carers were offered theopportunity to develop PLP's in partnership withclassroom teacher and student.

10% growth in ‘Best Start’ datastarting point for studentsattending ‘Wrigglers’.

$25 000 38% of students beginning Kindergarten in the Year2017 attended Wrigglers.

In Best Start Literacy 'Reading', 53% of 2016Wrigglers (Kindergarten cohort 2017) achievedbenchmark compared to only 50% of non–Wrigglerparticipants.

In Best Start Literacy 'Phonics', 53% of 2016Wrigglers (Kindergarten cohort 2017) achievedbenchmark compared to only 46% of non–Wrigglerparticipants.

In Best Start Literacy 'Comprehension', 46% ofWrigglers (Kindergarten 2017) achieved benchmarkcompared to only 42% of non–Wrigglerparticipants..

School seeks to increase by 20%over three years, participation ofAboriginal families in theWrigglers Readiness Program.

See Wrigglers cost above. One Aboriginal student enrolled in kindergarten2017 and no Aboriginal students participated inWrigglers.

10% decrease in suspensions. Nil Our suspension rate continues to be high withrecurring episodes by the same students.

100% Aboriginal student inmainstream class achieve aboveminimum standards in Literacyand Numeracy NAPLAN.

$7 000 100% of Aboriginal student in mainstream classachieve above minimum standards in Reading,Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation NAPLAN.

80% Aboriginal student in mainstream classachieve above minimum standards in WritingNAPLAN






100% Aboriginal student inmainstream class achieve aboveminimum standards in Literacyand Numeracy NAPLAN.

100% Aboriginal student in mainstream classachieve above minimum standards in Numeracy forNAPLAN.

10% growth in Literacy andNumeracy for matched AboriginalStudents from year 3 to 5 andfrom year 5 to year 7.

Nil Four Aboriginal students' data can be matched fromYear 5 to Year 7 in Reading. Of these four twostudents exceeded expected growth in Reading.

Three Aboriginal students can be matched fromYear 5 to Year 7 in Numeracy. One studentexceeded expected growth.

100% of Aboriginal studentsmaintain a minimum 85%attendance per annum.

Nil 64% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island studentsmaintained a minimum of 84% attendance across2017.

Effective processes in place toidentify 'at risk' students forplacement in withdrawal supportprograms.

Staffing entitlement. Support programs in Literacy and Numeracy inplace for students K–6 identified 'at risk'

Data analysed for identification include both internal(Benchmarking, SAST, TORCH, PAT Maths) andexternal (NAPLAN).

K–2 teaching and learningprograms incorporate SyntheticPhonics including Phonics HeroICT.

Phonics Hero $2 200 100% of K–2 students engaged in the SyntheticPhonics Program 'Get Reading Right' and werealso engaged with the online program PhonicsHero.

Strategies employed by the school in SyntheticPhonics have successfully built the capacity of K–2staff to meet the individualised needs of all studentsthrough quality differentiated teaching and evidenceinformed pedagogical practices.

Next Steps

We will continue to promote the Wrigglers program to Aboriginal families as a positive transition to school. A continuedfocus on Phonemic awareness and development to strengthen basic reading skill will form part of future planning cycle. We will undertake further collaboration with our Aboriginal community to improve attendance rates. Achievements andoutcomes for Aboriginal students in Literacy and Numeracy will continue to be enhanced.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $45 661 Aboriginal students increased engagementand achievement of outcomes in a wellsupported environment using school learningsupport officers.

Staff have greater awareness andunderstanding of Aboriginal perspectives as aresult of cultural professional learning.

All students have an increased understandingof Aboriginal cultural through the delivery ofprogram delivered by Aboriginal EducationCultural Mentor.

Aboriginal students with speech and languagedifficulties identified. Staff provided withtraining to support these students. Parentsengaged in pathways for assistance.

Aboriginal students improve writing skills as aresult of their engagement in a targetedwriting program.

English language proficiency $3 699 Newly enrolled refugee students transitionedto school setting successfully with the supportof Bilingual SLSO.

Low level adjustment for disability $42 330 School Learning Support Officer employed tosupport learning and social needs of studentsin classroom and playground. Studentssuccessfully engaged in learning.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

Staffing 0.434 Improvements in students attitudes to writingreflected in an increase in productivity levels.

Teacher capacity to deliver explicit writinglessons improved with direct results onstudent learning.

Socio–economic background $170 000 Stage Two students have greater access toteaching and learning in smaller class sizeswith the above establishment staffingallocation.

Increased number of students join the schoolband and have access to quality tutoringdelivered by expert teacher in band tuition.

Community ties strengthened through thework of Community Liaison Officer.

Release for staff to consult with families in thedevelopment of PLPs and MGoals.

Students increase use and application oftechnology integrated into engaging learningopportunities.

Support for beginning teachers $20 175 Beginning teachers accessed professionallearning to support their identified area ofneed and to drive their Performance andDevelopment Plan. Tis included opportunitiesin behaviour management, planning andprogramming and assessment and reporting.


Support for beginning teachers $20 175Funds were also used for coaching byexperienced mentor and lesson observationsboth at this school and at other schools fordeeper learning.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2014 2015 2016 2017

Boys 140 120 125 126

Girls 139 136 136 135

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2014 2015 2016 2017

K 92.7 94.3 93.9 95.4

1 93.6 92.8 91.5 92.8

2 90.2 93 92.8 92.9

3 94 92.4 93.4 92.2

4 92.6 94.2 91.2 93.2

5 94.2 93.9 92.9 89.7

6 94.3 91.9 88.2 92.4

All Years 93 93.2 92 92.6

State DoE

Year 2014 2015 2016 2017

K 95.2 94.4 94.4 94.4

1 94.7 93.8 93.9 93.8

2 94.9 94 94.1 94

3 95 94.1 94.2 94.1

4 94.9 94 93.9 93.9

5 94.8 94 93.9 93.8

6 94.2 93.5 93.4 93.3

All Years 94.8 94 94 93.9

Management of non-attendance

School attendance is closely monitored with letters senthome in the first instance seeking acceptableexplanation for absences. Five weekly reports aregenerated to identify students whose attendance isbelow 85% during that period. Formal letters ofnotification are issued and attendance closelymonitored for the ensuing four week period. Where noimprovement is made a referral to EducationalServices for Home School Liaison support is made.

Incentives to attend school are linked to our PBLStudent Wellbeing program as an incentive to attend. An attendance award is issued at each weeklyassembly to the class with the highest percentageattending. The Department of Education's fact sheet for

parents is issued at the beginning of the year andincluded in enrolment packages.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Deputy Principal(s) 0

Assistant Principal(s) 3

Head Teacher(s) 0

Classroom Teacher(s) 9.41

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0

Learning & Support Teacher(s) 1.2

Teacher Librarian 0.6

Teacher of ESL 0

School Counsellor 0

School Administration & SupportStaff

3.52

Other Positions 0

*Full Time Equivalent

One staff member identifies as Aboriginal.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirementsfor teaching in NSW public schools.

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 20

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Increasing teacher capacity through professionallearning was pivotal to our achievements in 2017.Significant funds were expended on Focus on ReadingPhase 2 and consolidating the deep understanding ofstrategies underpinning the explicit teaching ofnumeracy. Two beginning teachers, having preparedtheir submission for accreditation at proficient, weresuccessful. Three staff members are in themaintenance phase at proficiency. One staff memberwas recognised for her lengthy service of 30 years ineducation.


Financial information (for schoolsfully deployed to SAP/SALM)

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summaryincludes reporting from 1 January 2017 to 31December 2017.

2017 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 128,969

Revenue 2,841,886

Appropriation 2,761,992

Sale of Goods and Services 689

Grants and Contributions 77,132

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 2,073

Expenses -2,704,036

Recurrent Expenses -2,704,036

Employee Related -2,454,829

Operating Expenses -249,207

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

137,850

Balance Carried Forward 266,819

Systems and practices exist to ensure appropriate andequitable distribution of financial resources areavailable to support educational programs with a targetbeing to support Literacy and Numeracy improvements.The financial management team met regularly tomonitor expenditure in relation to the milestonedocument. All staff had the opportunity to submitrequests for budgetary allocation to support programsor initiatives under their management.

In 2017 additional staff were employed to form anabove establishment class in Stage 2 due to the largeclass size and the degree of need within the cohort. Enrolments in Stage One increased in term two aboveacceptable class sizes. Funds were allocated toprovide additional teaching resources to support theliteracy and numeracy program through the creation ofsmaller groupings.

Financial summary equity funding

The equity funding data is the main component of the'Appropriation' section of the financial summary above.

2017 Actual ($)

Base Total 1,814,426

Base Per Capita 41,728

Base Location 0

Other Base 1,772,699

Equity Total 541,126

Equity Aboriginal 45,661

Equity Socio economic 327,548

Equity Language 3,699

Equity Disability 164,219

Targeted Total 200,671

Other Total 148,704

Grand Total 2,704,928

Figures presented in this report may be subject torounding so may not reconcile exactly with the bottomline totals, which are calculated without any rounding.

A full copy of the school's financial statement is tabledat the annual general meetings of the parent and/orcommunity groups. Further details concerning thestatement can be obtained by contacting the school.


School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results acrossthe Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy andnumeracy assessments are reported on a scale fromBand 1 to Band 10. The achievement scalerepresents increasing levels of skillsand understandings demonstrated in theseassessments. All students in years 3 and 5, includingthose in the IM class sit the NAPLAN tests.

35% of Year 3 students were in the top two bands forReading which was a significant improvement on 2016(18%).

29% of Year 3 students were in the top two bands forSpelling, 25% for Writing and 36% for Grammar andPunctuation.

26% of Year 5 students were in the top two bands forReading which was a 3% improvement on the previousyear.

21% of Year 5 students were in the top two bands forSpelling, 5% for Writing and 34% for Grammar andPunctuation.

25% of Year 3 students were in the top two bands forNumeracy.

16% of Year 5 students were in the top two bands forNumeracy.

51.2% of matched Year 5 students achieved greaterthan or equal to expected growth and 84.2% achievedaverage scaled score growth which exceed both Stateand NSW DoE students.

The My School website provides detailedinformation and data for national literacy and numeracytesting. Go to http://www.myschool.edu.au to accessthe school data.

No Year 3 Aboriginal student achieved the top twobands in Reading nor were they placed in the bottomband.

20% of Aboriginal students in Year 3 achieved the toptwo bands in Numeracy.

50% of Year 5 Aboriginal students achieved the top twobands in Reading.

No Year 5 Aboriginal student achieved the top twobands in Numeracy.

50% of matched Aboriginal students achieved greaterthan or equal to expected growth in Reading.

83.3% of .matched Aboriginal students achieved

greater than or equal to expected growth in Numeracy.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Each year we survey our community to determine thelevel of satisfaction by exploring three areas. We askthe respondent to list three things they think we do well,three things they would like to see done differently andan opportunity to make further comments. 39responses were received. We received positivefeedback on our learning programs, support programs,the Wrigglers program, cultural programs, the newuniform, the music program, the PBL and rewardprogram and the staff. Several suggestions as to whatcould be done differently were not relevant to theschool. However, there were some suggestion thatcommunications could be improved through increaseduse of social media.

"I am very happy with the school. I was very impressedwith the Wrigglers program. It is a great way for the kidsto get used to the school'.

Wallsend Public School also utilised the 'Tell them fromMe' survey for students, teachers and parents. Onlyeleven parents participated in the survey which doesnot provide an accurate sample group. Staff responsesto the four dimensions of classroom and schoolpractises was aligned with NSW government norms ineach of the areas. The school exceeded the NSWGovernment norms in Leadership and Collaborationaspects of the eight drivers of student learning and wasaligned for the other six areas.

Student responses to Social–Emotional outcomes werealigned to NSW Government norms in the domains ofstudents with positive behaviour at school, studentswho are interested and motivated, and effort. Therewas very little difference in the areas of using effectivelearning time, relevance to learning and the rigour oflearning. Students' response to the question that'students are subjected to physical, social, or verbalbullying, or are bullied over the internet' was in lessagreeance than the NSW Government norm. Student'sindicator that they 'feel they have someone at schoolwho they can turn to for advice and provideencouragement' was greater than NSW Governmentnorm.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Aboriginal students were targeted through enrichmentand support programs to strengthen their knowledgeand skills in literacy and numeracy. A whole schoolcultural awareness program was delivered by anAboriginal Education Cultural mentor. This includeddelivering a cultural program to all students in everyclass to increase understandings of the importance ofAboriginal culture. The program delivered acontinuation of the Yidaki group. All staff participated ina whole day Aboriginal cultural immersion excursion tosignificant local sites lead by appropriate respected


community members. Wallsend Public School is aproud member of the Muloobinbah AboriginalEducation Group. We are active in our local networkgroup and have strong representation on the CallaghanAboriginal Education Action Team.

Our History and Geography scope and sequencesembed Aboriginal perspecitves throughout the contentbeing taught.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Wallsend public School has three members trained asanti–racism officers and they effectively manage anyreported incident of racism using the appropriate policyand guidelines.

Multicultural perspectives are embedded in thecurriculum content across several key learning areas.Harmony Day in 2017 enlisted the support andparticipation of community members from othercountries who spent the day sharing their culture withclasses on a rotational basis. In 2017 our program of'Cultural Connections' began. The increasedenrolments from other cultures provided an opportunityfor sharing. This group meets once a term and provideslearnings on their specific culture and practises.


2017 wallsend public school annual report · our programs support the diverse learning needs of our...

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