2019 wollongbar public school annual report

Wollongbar Public School2019 Annual Report

3475

Printed on: 28 May, 2020 of 18 Wollongbar Public School 3475 (2019)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2019 is provided to the community of Wollongbar 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

Wollongbar Public SchoolSimpson AveWollongbar, 2477www.wollongbar-p.schools.nsw.edu.auwollongbar-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au6628 1302


School background

School vision statement

Wollongbar Public School strives to be a community of learners, working together to achieve maximum growth for allthrough contemporary reflective practice. Restorative practices underpin wellbeing, a sense of belonging and trustingrelationships.

School context

Wollongbar Public School, with a motto of 'Learning for Life', develops every student to be their very best. Achievementis reflected in our student's progress, academically, socially and emotionally.

Our K–6 team delivers differentiated programs catering to the broad needs represented in each class and across theschool.

Restorative Welfare Practices and proactive wellbeing initiatives promote a healthy school environment. Significantopportunities for student leadership encourage the development of qualities that will support students into the future.

Student voice and teacher expertise drive a range of enrichment opportunities within the school.

A strong emphasis on teacher quality mandates the provision of comprehensive individualised programs of ProfessionalLearning. The staff engage in a range of learning experiences targeting whole school priorities as well as individualneeds.

We work to establish common and consistent language around welfare and learning. Our goal is to provide a consistentculture of high expectations for behaviour and achievement.

Collaboration between school and the community occurs in a range of contexts. Parent and community involvement inteaching and learning, participation in regular programs and attendance at special events encourage communityengagement.

Significant community growth and change is set to impact on the school. The release of rural land for housingdevelopment implies significant projected growth for the school and community.


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 Sustaining and Growing

LEARNING: Curriculum Delivering

LEARNING: Assessment Sustaining and Growing

LEARNING: Reporting Sustaining and Growing

LEARNING: Student performance measures Delivering

TEACHING: Effective classroom practice Delivering

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 Excelling

LEADING: Management practices and processes Excelling


Strategic Direction 1

Learning

Purpose

To engage learners in a refined curriculum through contemporary pedagogy. To ensure positive wellbeing underpinsengagement in learning.

Improvement Measures

Student data to demonstrate positive trends relevant to our current focus (over the three year period), representing ayears growth for a year's learning.

All students engage in STEAM focused learning, as a component of classroom programs. This is evidenced by thestrengthening of outcomes in Science and Technology, Mathematics and the Arts.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 1: NESA Syllabus Scope and Sequence Reviews

Teams within the school systematically review the 'layer' between syllabus and classroom teacherprograms. This layer is represented by Scope and Sequence documents.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Scope and Sequence documents reviewed and developed through wholeschool professional learning meetings. This has included the development ofa scope and sequence document integrating planning around History,Geography and Science & Technology.

Funds invested in maintaining theAssistant Principal ProfessionalLearning role and Learning andSupport Teacher(LaST) consultancyand support.

Process 2: Quality Classroom Delivery

In school data and external systemic requirements demand ongoing improvement and development ofclassroom practices. Working in a model of distributed leadership, teams will develop and implement arange of classroom programs.

These will include; • 7 Steps to Writing • Inquiry based learning • Creative Arts Syllabus • PD/H/PE • Probe reading assessment • Integrated Technology


Teachers continue to engage in learning around the Learning Progressionsand how these can be applied practically in classrooms and planning. Inparticular a group of teachers have explored how 'Areas of Focus' can beapplied in the tool to allow manageable chunks of the the progressions to beapplied. Not all students have been mapped for number. Teachers haveexplored across the whole range of the progressions, applying what is mostauthentic to their class at the time. This has allowed greater familiarisationwith the tool in meaningful contexts.


Process 3: Contemporary Pedagogy

STEAM approach to the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths is a NationalPriority.

The school will develop a systematic approach to introducing STEAM based learning.Printed on: 28 May, 2020 of 18 Wollongbar Public School 3475 (2019)


Process 3:As delivery mechanisms, Inquiry and Project Based Learning may dovetail with our STEAM focus.


STEAM based learning has featured strongly in the professional learningcalendar, with a dedicated Assistant Principal role to support learning. Stageteams have collaborated around the development, delivery and evaluation ofSTEAM based units of work.


Next Steps

In 2020 our next steps will include: • reviewing how data is accessed and used to inform caseload meetings • continuing to develop and grow how we use the learning progressions to inform the teaching and learning cycle.



Teaching

Purpose

Our teachers drive learning through contemporary pedagogy. A strong commitment to professional learning andcollaboration enable leadership of learning across the school community.


Continuous improvement occurs for all students across the range of abilities. Programs feature collaborativelydesigned units of study including assessment informed by student data.

All teachers have expert contemporary content knowledge in the teaching of STEAM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Arts and Maths). Teaching programs are developed, evaluated and refined.

Data is gathered around all learners, driving the development of further learning programs. Innovative means ofcapturing data inform teaching learning cycles across the school.


Process 1: A deliberate and strategic focus on collaboration is maintained across the school. With attention to formand function, teachers engage in collaborative effort with a focus on student achievement. An emphasison meaningful joint work is maintained. This focus is supported through engagement with tertiarysettings. School resources are organised to optimise opportunity for supported collaboration. Theseprograms are evaluated and revised annually.


Teachers met to collaborate in the first hour of their Release from Face toFace with their partner teacher/s on a weekly basis. Teachers were providedwith support from an Assistant Principal, who was also able to releasealternative staff from class, should they have skills and expertise that wouldsupport teachers in their collaboration. This process led to many 'microprojects', in which teachers identified and accessed professional learning tosupport their current focus. Although collaboration meetings were scheduledfor an hour, these interactions commonly carried on for the second houravailable.


Process 2: STEAM focused learning is prioritised in the professional learning calendar and focus of stage basedcollaboration. A systematic and sustained program of professional learning aims to build teachingcapacity, develop a body of programming across K–6 and to sustain and refine processes as schooldevelops and embeds good practice. The school trials innovative practices and has processes in placeto evaluate, refine and scale success.


STEAM based learning featured strongly in the professional learningcalendar, including a School Development Day dedicated to this focus area.Significant time and effort went into learning about inquiry based learning andinquiry frameworks that can be applied within the various syllabi.


Process 3: A school wide review of what and how we capture data will be sustained over the course of this schoolplan. A strong move towards the use of formative data, captured through innovative mechanismsfeatures strongly in our professional development. Improved data literacy will lead to improved use ofdata in the design and delivery of classroom programs.


This process was frequently focused on at a grade or individual teacher level, Funds invested in maintaining the



often working with LaST and AP support. Teachers interrogated theirpractices, in many cases leading to the redevelopment of classroom systemsfor the capture of data, moving strongly towards more formative processesrather than summative ones. Caseload meetings provided opportunity tofocus on how teachers were gathering data and more importantly how theythen subsequently used that data to inform classroom practise.

Assistant Principal ProfessionalLearning role and Learning andSupport Teacher(LaST) consultancyand support.

Next Steps

Our next steps in 2020 will include: • a strong focus in professional learning on feedback and how it can be used to greatest effect • continue to build on our use and application of the Learning Progressions.



Leading

Purpose

To create a culture of innovation, housed in a creatively designed learning space, in which future focused learningthrives. The makeup of leadership teams is flexible and responsive to need and expertise.


School spaces are used and organised in ways that optimise learning and reflect the diversity of learners in the school.

There is strong evidence of resources being deployed and managed so that greatest use of available resources isachieved. This includes human resources in terms of time.

Direct and indirect instructional leadership empower innovation and collaboration.


Process 1: Leadership within the school supports future focused learning:

Differentiation not only addresses the different levels and complexity of learning required by the fullrange of students, but also the learning styles and methods through which learners are engaged.


Teachers across the school have continued to investigate and explore theuse of flexible learning spaces in their classrooms. This has included thepurchase of furniture and resources to support learning in their classrooms.


Additional funds have been used topurchase furniture and classroominfrastructure.

Process 2: Timetabling/use of resources to enable collaboration.

Indirect leadership strategies facilitate shared planning, collaboration and analysis of data and studentsprogress.

Direct instructional leadership facilitates teacher collaboration leading to deeper, more productiveprofessional practices.


Release from Face to Face timetabling prioritised the need for teachers tohave time with their partner/team, to enable consistent and sustainedcollaboration. School principal continued to prioritise whole school processesfocused on development of professional practice, eg caseload meetings,prioritised professional learning.


Next Steps

Our next steps in 2020 will include: • continuing to enhance the physical environment for students to enhance learning • sustaining and refining processes such as caseload meetings, by revising how teachers and the caseload team

access and engage with data.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher(LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • Aboriginal backgroundloading ($18 640.00)

LaST supported analysis of data, classroombased consultancy and face to face support inclassrooms.

LaST and Executive team have supporteddevelopment of Aboriginal Learning Plans.

A team have completed Stronger Smartertraining, ready to lead in 2020. An additionalteam attended a First Nations Symposium runby LEAP in Sydney. Staff have also attendedprofessional learning run by the local AECG.

English language proficiency Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher(LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • English languageproficiency ($165.00)

LaST supported analysis of data, classroombased consultancy and face to face support inclassrooms. A limited amount of withdrawalwork was completed with specificallyidentified groups.

Low level adjustment for disability Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher(LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • Low level adjustment fordisability ($109 631.00)

LaST and Assistant Principal work closely inthis area. LaST supported analysis of data,classroom based consultancy and face toface support in classrooms. AssistantPrincipal has assisted in development ofPLSPs and classroom accommodationsincluding those relating to behaviour.

Low level adjustment is integrated into PLSP,collaboration and NCCD processes.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher(LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • Quality Teaching,Successful Students(QTSS) ($54 105.00)

Assistant Principals and LaST providedtargeted professional learning identifiedthrough Performance Development Plans,caseload, collaboration and stage meetings.

Socio–economic background Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher



Socio–economic background (LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • Socio–economicbackground ($44 112.00)


Support for beginning teachers Funds invested inmaintaining the AssistantPrincipal ProfessionalLearning role and Learningand Support Teacher(LaST) consultancy andsupport. LaST workflow isidentified through LearningSupport Team andCaseload meetings.

Funding Sources: • Support for beginningteachers ($37 688.00)

A dedicated Assistant Principal role exists tosupport early career teachers in theprofessional development, with a particularfocus on supporting NESA Accreditationprocesses.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2016 2017 2018 2019

Boys 152 163 164 162

Girls 138 136 146 145

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019

K 95.7 94.1 93.9 92.8

1 95.2 93.6 92.5 93.5

2 92.5 93.4 93.7 94.7

3 94.7 92.3 94 93.3

4 93.7 94 91.7 93.5

5 94.9 94.4 93.9 92

6 91.5 93.8 92.1 92.8

All Years 94.2 93.7 93.1 93.3

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

Assistant Principal(s) 3

Classroom Teacher(s) 11.55

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.42

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.7

Teacher Librarian 0.8

School Administration and Support Staff 2.92

*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 407,094

Revenue 3,096,207

Appropriation 2,889,392

Sale of Goods and Services 1,722

Grants and contributions 200,971

Investment income 4,122

Expenses -2,913,435

Employee related -2,562,712

Operating expenses -350,722

Surplus / deficit for the year 182,772

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 111,791

Equity Total 173,278

Equity - Aboriginal 19,535

Equity - Socio-economic 44,112

Equity - Language 0

Equity - Disability 109,631

Base Total 2,308,428

Base - Per Capita 72,738

Base - Location 4,178

Base - Other 2,231,512

Other Total 169,128

Grand Total 2,762,625

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

This year feedback was gathered from students and staff via a survey whilst parent, carer and community feedback wasgathered through P&C meetings and conversations with parents and community.

Students felt very positively about aspects of school which had reflected student voice. This included the development ofadditional sporting teams, including mixed teams. From senior students there were a number of references to theimportance of students leadership in our school. There was strong reference to friendships and learning as some of themost important aspects of 2019 to students. In terms of what students would like to see improve or become a focus forour school, there were many references to facilities. This included the idea of getting rid of the rest of the pebblecrete inthe school, which is an ongoing capital works project. Students voiced that they would like the canteen to return,including that they would like the canteen to have environmentally friendly practices.

Once again, the strongest response from teachers was about the value of collegiality and collaboration in theirworkplace. Beginning teachers made specific reference to the way collaboration has supported them in their early career,whilst contributing strongly to their learning at the same time. Professional Learning, including through the music mentorprogram, was also mentioned as a positive aspect of the year. Staff identified a range of areas for improvement, oftenrelating to areas of personal interest. One theme apparent in responses was a valuing of professional learning and thatthere are avenues to access learning pertinent to teacher individual needs.

Parents and Carers have indicated that they value the school's focus on student voice and that students are allowed tohave influence. Parents and carers particularly referenced the influence students have had over sporting teams andplayground equipment and use of spaces. Parents and carers would particularly like to see the return of a schoolcanteen in the new 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 wollongbar public school annual report

Documents