2019 kurrajong north public school annual report

Kurrajong North Public School2019 Annual Report

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Printed on: 18 May, 2020 of 16 Kurrajong North Public School 2344 (2019)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2019 is provided to the community of Kurrajong North 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.

School contact details

Kurrajong North Public SchoolStone TerraceKURRAJONG HILLS, 2758www.kurrajongn-p.schools.nsw.edu.aukurrajongn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au4567 7291


School background

School vision statement

At Kurrajong North Public School we believe in providing a relevant, evidence–based and comprehensive education in acaring and supportive environment. We strive to build on students' strengths and develop excellence by promoting theintellectual, physical, social, emotional and moral development of our students.

We strive to engage parents in playing a leading role in their child's learning and to support the ethos of the school. Weaim to create a strong partnership between home and school, which allows for open communication and invites theirparticipation in teaching and learning and policy making.

Our vision is to provide equitable opportunities for all students to enable them to become engaged and self–drivenlife–long learners, to value the opinions and beliefs of others, to show respect and to develop the core values which willenable them to be productive, responsible and respectful citizens.

School context

Kurrajong North Public School is a smaller primary school nestled in an escarpment of the Blue Mountains overlookingthe Sydney Basin. Student enrolments have ranged between 82 and 106 over the last five years. At present 6% of ourstudents identify as being Aboriginal and 17% from a non–English speaking background. The Dharug and Kurrajongpeople, the traditional custodians of the community, have a strong representation and presence in the school.

The school has four full–time teacher positions, a part time teacher who delivers the school's student support programand RFF, as well as one permanent and one part–time administrative position. The school has an active P&C bodywhich works alongside staff to support school initiatives and directions.

The school has a strong focus on academic excellence in literacy and numeracy and offers a comprehensive studentsupport program in these areas based on ongoing assessment. The school offers a comprehensive extra–curricularprogram utilising the skills of accredited coaches to deliver programs in dance, athletics and gymnastics. Opportunitiesare also provided to enable students to develop their debating and public speaking skills as well as creative talents.


Self-assessment and school achievement

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 is astatement of what is valued as excellence for NSW public schools, both now and into the future. The Frameworksupports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high qualitypractice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

Each year, we assess our practice against the Framework to inform our school plan and annual report.

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/school–excellence

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

Elements 2019 School Assessment

LEARNING: Learning Culture Sustaining and Growing

LEARNING: Wellbeing Delivering

LEARNING: Curriculum Excelling

LEARNING: Assessment Sustaining and Growing

LEARNING: Reporting Delivering

LEARNING: Student performance measures Delivering

TEACHING: Effective classroom practice Sustaining and Growing

TEACHING: Data skills and use Delivering

TEACHING: Professional standards Sustaining and Growing

TEACHING: Learning and development Sustaining and Growing

LEADING: Educational leadership Sustaining and Growing

LEADING: School planning, implementation andreporting

Sustaining and Growing

LEADING: School resources Sustaining and Growing

LEADING: Management practices and processes Sustaining and Growing


Strategic Direction 1

Engaged Learners

Purpose

Sound foundation skills in literacy and numeracy enable students to learn, adapt and be responsible citizens. Ourpurpose is to prepare students to be happy, successful confident members of our community with effective skills andcapabilities to prepare them for an ever–changing future. Within this we will focus on enabling students to take control oftheir learning, so they know where they are currently achieving, where they need to be and have the skills to be able toachieve their learning goals.

Improvement Measures

• All students will show positive growth in NAPLAN results in Year 3 and Year 5 Reading and Mathematics • Increased proportion of students articulate learning goals and next steps in learning • All students K–2 attain 80% mastery of expected skills in phonics

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 1: Reading

Through a focus on the 5 essential components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary,fluency and comprehension) develop teaching and learning programs which explicitly teach and trackthe skills of reading. Teachers use data to differentiate teaching and learning programs to meet theneeds of all.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

80% mastery in reading and writing phonemes was achieved by at least 80%of students in all grades K–2. Implementation of Direct Instruction lessondelivery techniques and a whole school focus on the science of readingappears to be having a positive effect on the performance of students in theearly years.

All students in Year 5 achieved positive growth in reading in the 2019NAPLAN assessment.

$2000 – Release days for teachers toengage in observations of practice.

$9600 – Literacy Consultancy fees tosupport the implementation of the Big5 of Reading.

Process 2: Mathematics

Implement a consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics across the school. Develop capacity ofstudents to apply mathematical knowledge.


100% of students demonstrated positive growth in Numeracy in Naplan 2019.Scope and sequence development, consistent approaches to programmingand use of assessment were achieved throughout 2019. A continued focuson differentiation in Mathematics lessons in 2020 will assist teachers to targetinstruction towards students at risk of not meeting minimum growthrequirements.

$2000 – Subscription Fees andProfessional Learning

Process 3: Visible learning

Develop assessment capable learners. Implement learning intentions, success criteria and qualityfeedback to enable explicit teaching across all Key Learning Areas.


Students are developing the language to articulate learning goals and nextsteps in learning. Surveys indicate an increase in ability to verbalise theirlearning and "where to next". Learning Dispositions have been created and

$5500 – Professional Learning Fees –Visible Learning



students can name the dispositions. These will be explicitly taught in allclassrooms throughout 2020. Learning Dispositions will enable students todiscuss learning using a familiar and common language. Teachers haveundergone Professional Learning to develop a deep knowledge of theLearning Dispositions, as well as the capacity to implement the LearningDispositions with fidelity in 2020. Learning Intentions and Success Criteriahave been established in English and/or Mathematics in all classrooms,further supporting the articulation of learning goals.

$500 – Professional Learning Fees –Learning Dispositions



Explicit Teaching

Purpose

Students who experience explicit teaching practices make greater learning gains. Our purpose is to support teachers tobecome facilitators of learning who confidently use a range of teaching strategies to meet the needs of their students.Within this we will focus on a whole school approach to collaborative practices and professional learning, linked closelyto the learning needs of all students.


• PDP process is embedded in our collaborative practices • increased use of data to inform learning by all teachers • Increased capacity of staff to articulate the evidence base for their teaching practice


Process 1: Quality Professional Learning

Implement effective systems which enable collaborative practice, professional dialogue with a focus onstudent learning.


The Professional Development Plan process has been embedded in ourcollaborative practices. All staff PDPs have been developed with goalsaligning to the school plan, state/department priorities and individualprofessional learning needs of staff. Professional learning schedules arediscussed and planned according to PDP goals.

Staff confidently articulate the evidence base supporting the use of DirectInstruction, Systematic Synthetic Phonics and Cognitive Load Theory duringprofessional learning sessions. Survey data also indicates staff are moreknowledgable about educational research and its use in developing teachingand learning experiences.

QTSS funds have been utilised tosupport PDP development,professional learning and monitoring.

Process 2: Data Skills and Use / Assessment

Design and implement effective assessment practices which enable the monitoring of studentachievement and inform teaching and learning programs.


Teachers are using data to inform teaching and learning programs on afortnightly basis. This includes data from NAPLAN, school–based internalassessment data and formative assessment. The Learning and SupportTeam are also utilising this data to identify and target students requiringadditional support.

QTSS Funding



Confident, Collaborative Learning Community

Purpose

A whole school focus which creates a culture of collaboration will have a direct impact on the learning outcomes forstudents. Our purpose is to establish a learning community that is focused on continuous improvement, and recognisedas excellent because it uses best practice to embed a culture of high expectations and effectively caters for the learningneeds of students. Within this we will focus on developing the capacity of teachers and parents to effectively collaboratearound student learning.


• Increased capacity of all stakeholders to engage confidently in 3–way interviews • Increased engagement of staff in community of schools initiatives to promote effective teaching practice


Process 1: Community of Schools

Building teacher and leadership capacity through collaborative practices within the Community ofSchools (Bilpin, Kurrajong East and Kurrajong North Public Schools).


All staff have been involved in a range of community of schools initiatives.This has included collective professional learning sessions, resourcedevelopment/sharing and partner school visits to view effective teachingpractice in action. We will continue to reach out to and connect with schoolsto improve teacher capacity in all areas of the curriculum.

$ 1 000 Casuals to cover staff tocollaborate across the Community ofSchools.

Process 2: School Community

Supporting the development of parents as partners in their child's learning through developingknowledge and understanding of best practice in Reading and Mathematics instruction.


Staff have discussed and agreed on the merit of 3–way interviews andbenefits in reporting to parents and students about student learning progress.The parent community will be informed of a change to process throughnewsletters and the P&C in 2020. 3–way interviews will be implemented inTerm 2, 2020.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $4520 This funding was utilised in 2019 to purchasecasual days to support the implementation ofPersonalised Learning Pathway meetings.PLP meetings have been conducted eachterm to support the learning needs of allAboriginal students and their familiesthroughout the school. Aboriginal culture andhistory talks were provided by Erin Wilkins.These talks have provided all students withinthe school opportunities to learn aboutAboriginal history and culture and develop ashared understanding of Aboriginalperspectives. Staff were also released toundertake professional learning, withcommunity members and students, todevelop an awareness of theAcknowledgement of Country process at aschool level and create a contextualisedacknowledgement for our school.

Low level adjustment for disability $19,391 $10 672 is provided through staffingallocation. This funding/allocation was used toprovide additional time to the LearningSupport Teacher to coordinate programs,supporting students with additional learningneeds in the classroom.

$8 720 is provided to the school as flexiblefunding. This has been used in 2019 foradditional teacher time to provideProfessional Learning and in–class support toteachers, particularly in K–2 classes.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

$18 782 QTSS is provided in the form of a staffingallocation. This allocation was used in 2019 torelease executive staff. This additional timeallowed executive to provide InstructionalLeadership opportunities to support teachers.This support included the development ofProfessional Learning opportunities, PDPestablishment and monitoring, teacherobservations, interschool connections,assistance with data analysis anddevelopment of teaching and learningprograms.

Socio–economic background $3 155 Socio–Economic funding was combined withother funding sources to release staff toprovide instructional leadership opportunities.This additional time allowed executive toprovide Instructional Leadership opportunitiesto support teachers. This support included thedevelopment of Professional Learningopportunities, PDP establishment andmonitoring, teacher observations, interschoolconnections, assistance with data analysisand development of teaching and learningprograms.

Support for beginning teachers Nil provided No beginning teacher funds were received in2019.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2016 2017 2018 2019

Boys 49 48 48 37

Girls 53 53 56 45

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019

K 96.6 96 95.8 96.3

1 94 95.5 96.4 96.1

2 95.8 96.3 98.2 95.9

3 96.1 95.2 95 95.9

4 96.9 96.6 93.4 95.9

5 97.1 96.1 94.9 94.3

6 95.2 95.5 95.9 95.9

All Years 96 95.9 95.7 95.8

State DoE

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019

K 94.4 94.4 93.8 93.1

1 93.9 93.8 93.4 92.7

2 94.1 94 93.5 93

3 94.2 94.1 93.6 93

4 93.9 93.9 93.4 92.9

5 93.9 93.8 93.2 92.8

6 93.4 93.3 92.5 92.1

All Years 94 93.9 93.4 92.8

Management of non-attendance

Attendance at school has a big impact on longer term outcomes for children and young people. When a child is not atschool they miss important opportunities to learn, build friendships and develop their skills through play. Regularattendance at school is a shared responsibility between schools and parents. By working together we can have a positiveeffect on supporting our children and young people to regularly attend school.

Our teachers promote and monitor regular attendance at school and all our schools have effective measures in place torecord attendance and follow up student absences promptly. They are guided by the School Attendance policy whichdetails the management of non–attendance.


Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Classroom Teacher(s) 3.51

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.1

Teacher Librarian 0.2

School Administration and Support Staff 1.51

*Full Time Equivalent

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce composition

The Department actively supports the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employeesthrough the use of identified positions, scholarship opportunities to become a teacher and by providing a culturally safeworkplace. As of 2019, 3.9% of the Department's workforce identify as Aboriginal people.

Workforce ATSI

Staff type Benchmark1 2019 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander representation2

School Support 3.30% 7.20%

Teachers 3.30% 2.90%

Note 1 – The NSW Public Sector Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2014–17 introduced an aspirational target of 1.8% by 2021 for each of the sector'ssalary bands. If the aspirational target of 1.8% is achieved in salary bands not currently at or above 1.8%, the cumulative representation of Aboriginalemployees in the sector is expected to reach 3.3%.

Note 2 – Representation of diversity groups are calculated as the estimated number of staff in each group divided by the total number of staff. Thesestatistics have been weighted to estimate the representation of diversity groups in the workforce, where diversity survey response rates were less than100 per cent. The total number of staff is based on a headcount of permanent and temporary employees.

Teacher qualifications

All casual, temporary and permanent teachers in NSW public schools must hold a NSW Department of Educationapproval to teach. Teachers with approval to teach must be accredited with the NSW Education Standards Authority, andhold a recognised teaching degree. All NSW teachers must hold a valid NSW Working With Children Check clearance.

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Professional learning is core to enabling staff to improve their practice.

Professional learning includes five student–free School Development Days and induction programs for staff new to ourschool and/or system. These days are used to improve the capacity of teaching and non–teaching staff in line withschool and departmental priorities.


Financial information

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summary includes reporting from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. ThePrincipal is responsible for the financial management of the school and ensuring all school funds are managed in linewith Department policy requirements.

2019 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 78,042

Revenue 995,344

Appropriation 927,559

Sale of Goods and Services 976

Grants and contributions 66,275

Investment income 534

Expenses -988,848

Employee related -838,454

Operating expenses -150,394

Surplus / deficit for the year 6,496

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


Financial summary - Equity loadings

The equity loading data is the main component of the 'Appropriation' line item of the financial summary above.

2019 Approved SBA ($)

Targeted Total 50,417

Equity Total 27,700

Equity - Aboriginal 4,520

Equity - Socio-economic 3,155

Equity - Language 634

Equity - Disability 19,391

Base Total 794,217

Base - Per Capita 24,402

Base - Location 1,797

Base - Other 768,019

Other Total 41,098

Grand Total 913,433

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


School performance - NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments arereported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10. The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills andunderstandings demonstrated in these assessments.

From 2018 to 2021 NAPLAN is moving from a paper test to an online test. Individual schools are transitioning to theonline test, with some schools participating in NAPLAN on paper and others online. Results for both online and paperformats are reported on the same NAPLAN assessment scale. Any comparison of NAPLAN results – such ascomparisons to previous NAPLAN results or to results for students who did the assessment in a different format – shouldbe treated with care.

NAPLAN Online

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Go tomyschool.edu.au to access the school data. As schools transition to NAPLAN online, the band distribution of results isnot directly comparable to band averages from previous years. While the 10 band distribution available to schools whocompleted NAPLAN online is a more accurate reflection of student performance, caution should be taken whenconsidering results relative to what was formerly a six band distribution. As the full transition of NAPLAN onlinecontinues, the most appropriate way to communicate results for NAPLAN online is by scaled scores and scaled growth.This is the reporting format agreed by state and territory education ministers, and is reflected on the myschool website.


Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction

A number of surveys were conducted throughout 2019 to gather information from the community about the progress andperformance of the school. Two such surveys were in relation to the reporting of student achievement through theimplementation of parent/teacher interviews and student report cards. Feedback indicated that parents appreciated theopportunity to discuss their child's learning with their teacher and found them overall to be a positive interaction. Theywould have liked the interviews to be longer, as well as utilise student work samples to demonstrate progress or areas ofweakness. Parents felt that they did not leave the interview process with a clear indication of where there child's learningwas in relation to the curriculum or their peers.

In relation to student report cards, families were happy with the format of the reports provided about student learning andfound them easy to navigate and understand. The overwhelming feedback was that parents wanted to see clearly writtenstatements (or dot points) about where their child was achieving and what they could do at home to support their childrenin the next steps of learning.

From this feedback, and in connection to other areas of the School Plan, we will provide professional learning to parentsabout the report and interview process and introduce the idea of 3–way interviews to support feedback to students andparents about student achievement. Professional Learning will also be provided to teachers and school directionsdetermined in relation to the report card format. This work will take place in the 2020 school year.


Policy requirements

Aboriginal Education Policy

The responsibility for enacting the Aboriginal Education Policy rests with all Departmental staff. The policy shouldunderpin and inform planning, teaching practice and approaches to educational leadership in all educational settings.

Evidence of effective implementation of the policy included: • Establishing, building and strengthening relationships with the Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group,

Aboriginal people and communities. • Providing, in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities, education which promotes quality teaching, is

engaging, and is culturally appropriate and relevant. • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will match or better the outcomes of the broader student population. • Implementation of Personalised Learning Pathways for all Aboriginal students in a school culture of high

expectations.

Anti-Racism Policy

All teachers are responsible for supporting students to develop an understanding of racism and discrimination and theimpact these may have on individuals and the broader community. Principals are responsible for examining schoolpractices and procedures to ensure they are consistent with the policy. All schools have an Anti–Racism Contact Officerwho is trained to respond to concerns in relation to racism.

Multicultural Education Policy

Teachers address the specific learning and wellbeing needs of students from culturally diverse backgrounds throughtheir teaching and learning programs. Principals are responsible for ensuring that school policies, programs andpractices respond to the cultural, linguistic and religious diversity of the school community, and provide opportunities thatenable all students to achieve equitable education and social outcomes.


2019 kurrajong north public school annual report

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