annual report 2014

Strathalbyn Road Mylor SA 5153www.mylorps.sa.edu.au

2014 saw the demographics of the school shift as we had more student enrolments from outside of Mylor. Many new families are choosing the school due to the smaller group sizes, and the style of teaching and learning we offer at Mylor.

Many parents hold the same educational philosophy as us, that education should meet the needs of the individual learner and provide authentic real life learning experiences to develop well-rounded children.

Context

Governing Council Report

Bonfi re Night was a real highlight in 2014 with record attendance and a fantastic atmosphere. Funds raised have enabled the purchase of new sports equipment and will be further invested in the development of our school grounds and learning programs.

A committee was convened early in 2014 to investigate, plan and implement the renewal of our vegetable garden. In term three a visit was made to Scott Creek Primary to experience their wonderful kitch-en garden program in action and inform our development process. It was decided to develop a water conscience garden using wicking beds. The wicking bed frames have now arrived and I look forward to seeing our new garden take form and grow well integrated with the curriculum. This would be an excellent place to volunteer!

Mylor OSHC has continued to thrive under Jenny Greenow’s excellent and loving guidance, with both morning and afternoon sessions well attended by students from Scott Creek, Heathfi eld and Mylor.

Clair Anderson has hosted a growing Playgroup on Wednesday mornings with 8-10 regular families at present, and children going on into reception feeling very much at home.

We are extremely fortunate to have retained Emily Kidney as our Pastoral Care Worker. Her cooking sessions are highly anticipated by the children, not to mention staff and parents.

Thanks to everyone for your efforts at working bees and bonfi re night, and all the other ways you contribute to our school community.

Being on Governing Council has been fun and rewarding and I highly recommend it.

All the best for 2015.

Trish Lindsay, Mylor GC Chair 2014

above: Fire twirler performing at Bonfi re Night.

above: Liana and Ella help Rahni master the horizontal bars.

2014 Highlights

Two Units - Bandicoot & Magpie

NIT - Indonesian, Art & PE

IT upgrade

Bonfi re Night

At the beginning of 2014 it was decided to set up 2 units across the school, the Bandicoot Unit and Magpie Unit. While students within the units would still work at a level appropriate to their needs the units were set up so each child had a home base and the learning areas could be made age appropriate.

While students worked within their units a lot during 2014, there was still a conscious effort to ensure they were provided with opportunities to work R-7.

Due to the growth in student numbers in term 2 (8 new students) it was decided that our NIT (Non-Instruction Time) be restructured. The school employed Sarah Whelan on Wednesday afternoons to run a PE program alongside the Art and Indonesian program.

Students were still grouped as Beginner, Novice & Advanced learners and spent the afternoon rotating throughout the 3 subjects.

At the beginning of 2014 the school undertook a major IT upgrade. The school purchased 20 new laptop computers and 20 iPads. This upgrade made it possible for all students to have access to a device at any time.

As with anything new the IT upgrade provided a lot of new learning experiences. After running some teacher led R-7 Masterclasses, students then had the opportunity to share their own skills and knowledge with others through the running of smaller Masterclasses.

The use of IT at Mylor is now embedded as ‘anytime, anywhere’ as students access the technology on a needs basis and choose how they use it within their learning.

Our annual Bonfi re Night was once again a very successful fundraiser for the school. Each year the support from the school community to organise this event is amazing and 2014 was no exception.

The Bonfi re Committee worked extremely hard from the beginning of the year, reviewing what worked well in 2013 and tweaking when necessary. On the night all families contributed in some form whether it be helping set up during the day, running a stall or helping with the clean up.

The money raised from Bonfi re Night is being used for a variety of projects around the school, including the upgrading of sports equipment and a new vegetable garden.

R-7 groupings have become a major part of learning at Mylor as it not only provides leadership and peer teaching opportunities it also extends students social network outside of their age group. The students provided staff with positive feedback about the set up of the units as they felt they had an area of the school that they belonged to.

These will remain for 2015 with many students from the Bandicoot Unit excited about moving to the Magpie Unit.

above: Blake & Iggy learning within a personalised framework.

It not only provides leadership and peer

teaching opportunities it also extends students

social network outside of their age

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

Activity Room upgrade

OSHCDuring the term 2 holidays, the activity room was upgraded due to the removal of asbestos. This upgrade saw the removal of the fl ooring and the installation of lino and the repainting of the room.

This upgrade gave Jane the opportunity to transform this room from an activity/storage room to a designated art area. Once the upgrade was completed she worked hard to set the room up as a stimulating art area.

Since then students have been involved in a wide range of activities such as painting, charcoal drawing, sculpting and using clay.

In 2014 OSHC has gone from strength to strength. With Jenny’s positive attitude and genuine love of children, she has created a safe, stimulating OSHC environment. All children at OSHC feel welcome and are able contribute to the daily program.

At the end of the year the morning sessions were averaging 8 children and the afternoon sessions averaging 13. There are now a couple of afternoons a week that are consistently fully booked.

At the beginning of the year the majority of bookings were coming from Mylor and Scott Creek, but towards the end of the year this had shifted to be more balanced between the 3 schools.

above: The children get creative during an art class in the recently upgraded Activity Room.

left: The new vegetable garden construction begins...

above: Olivia, James and Josh in Canberra above: Year 6/7 Aquatics

above: Blake speeds to the fi nish on Sports Day.below: The Wheelie Fast Pedal Prix team.

PLC Learning for staff and students

2014 Highlights continued

2014 saw the relationship between Mylor, Scott Creek and Heathfi eld PS continue to grow. While staff met on a regular basis to moderate work and take part in classroom observations, the relationship between students was also strengthened through different learning opportunities.

Each year students are offered the opportunity to be part of the combined schools Pedal Prix team; Liam and James took up this opportunity and joined the ‘Wheelie Fast’ team. After competing in some shorter races throughout the year Liam and James competed in the 24-hour race at Murray Bridge at the end of the year.

It is hoped that more students will take up the opportunity to be part of the Pedal Prix team in 2015.

Each term R-2 students from the 3 schools visited each other for an afternoon of activities. These activities ranged from

cooking to art to nature play. It was fantastic to see the students from all schools interact so well and to develop new friendships.

Other cross-school activities included:

• Carly Ryan Cyber Safety Workshop

• Small School Sports Day

• Year 6/7 Aquatics

• Year 7 Canberra Trip

• OSHC

It is hoped that these activities continue in 2015 and new ones develop.

below: R-2 excursion to Heathfi eld Primary School for some shared learning.

below right: Dan at the Maths in Art public exhibition at the Lobethal Markets.

below: Bandicoot Unit’s Book Launch, parents eager to taste the food created by the children.

PBL Project-based learning2014 saw the level of PBL projects ramp up, with more focus on the public exhibition of learning. The 2 main highlights for PBL were the Magpie Units ‘Maths in Art’ and the Bandicoot Units ‘Farm to Fork.

Teachers from Mylor and Lobethal Primary Schools collaboratively planned the ‘Maths in Art’ unit and shared the public exhibition at an art show held at the Lobethal Markets. During this unit the students from Mylor visited the Lobethal students for a feedback session.

Students presented their learning and their artwork and received feedback from their peers. This feedback session was a huge success with the students coming back buzzing with excitement about their projects.

The Bandicoot Unit worked hard on their ‘Farm to Fork’ unit, writing information reports about how food is farmed and

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

gets to our plates, and then producing a recipe book to be sold. At the end of term 4 the Bandicoot Unit celebrated their learning from the ‘Farm to Fork’ unit with a book launch. The students cooked recipes from the book, and families were invited to an afternoon tea to try the recipes and view the book.

2015 will see the continuation of PBL and more public exhibitions of student learning.

2014 Site Improvement Plan Review

Raising Achievement

TargetsAll students at Mylor PS are given the opportunity to reach their full potential through innovative teaching and learning programs.

Key focuses• Reading Comprehension• Spelling• Identifying and addressing ‘gaps’ in English & Maths

Assessment for Learning strategies are embedded into practice and used to raise the achievement of all students.

To help achieve these targets we implemented a variety of programs across the school. As reading comprehension had been identifi ed as a key area that needed focus, R-7 reading groups were established. 4 times a week students worked with a small group with other readers at a similar level to read a text and complete different activities. To improve fl uency and understanding students read the same text for a week. After each reading they were given activities to improve different areas of comprehension ranging from understanding the literal meaning of a text to the inferred meaning.

Throughout the year all students were encouraged to participate in the Premiers Reading Challenge. The challenge is designed to assist children in their reading and to develop a love of reading from an early age. We had aimed for 100% of students participate in PRC, however we only had 73% of children participate. While students were given weekly opportunity to

Learner Engagement & Wellbeing

TargetsAll students and staff at Mylor PS have the right to feel safe

Students and staff at MPS want to be involved in setting the directions of the school, and actively participate in fi nding ways to make MPS and exciting and enjoyable place to learn and teach

Staff actively listen to and respond/act to feedback given by students on specifi c learning programs

Throughout 2014 Mylor Primary was involved with the Learning Frontiers project run by the Innovation Unit from the UK. A major focus of this project was learner engagement and co-construction of learning. The Year 2 – 7 students took part in a learner engagement survey and as a result of the responses a trial Maths project was developed with a small Maths group.

Students had the chance to have a say in how they learnt different concepts and could demonstrate their learning with a hands on project. During this short unit of work the level of student engagement rose, with students asking when Maths was and completing high quality fi nal products.

Student Parliament was run on a regular basis in 2014. While it was initially planned to have parliament each fortnight, this was not always necessary.

borrow suitable books and class time to read, not all students completed the challenge by the September deadline. It is hoped that this improves in 2015 with students taking pride in completing the challenge.

To support families with reading at home the school ran a workshop for parents early in the year. This workshop was well attended, with approx. 15 people attending the session and a few requesting the resources be sent home. It is hoped that by providing parents with information about how to help their child become a successful reader a consistent approach is used at home and school.

To address the spelling needs of individual learners it was expected that all staff were involved in training around the Jolly Phonics program. By the end of the year all staff had accessed this training either through Jolly Phonics or Jolly Grammar. These programs or aspects of these programs were then implemented within the classroom.

Students within the Magpie Unit were given personalised spelling tasks each week, based on areas of individual need

To improve teacher quality and practice all teachers took part in teacher observations with staff from Scott Creek & Heathfi eld PS. Throughout the year staff worked in small groups to plan and moderate units of work. In 2014 staff continued this professional learning by observing their peers teach a lesson, and being observed themselves. After each observation session the staff member involved had a discussion with their peers about what went well, areas of improvement and the Assessment for Learning strategies they were implement-ing. These observation sessions have become an invaluable tool for teacher’s professional learning and accountability.

In 2014 our site improvement plan sat under 3 headings, Raising Achievement, Learner Engagement and Wellbeing, and Personalised Learning.

Considerations for 2015Staff will ensure that the needs of all individual learners are met

Staff will continue classroom observations and be actively involved in professional conversations about their practice

Intervention programs will be implemented for identifi ed students

Personalised Learning

TargetsAll students at Mylor PS participate in the co-construction of iPlans to cater learning to the individual.

All families at MPS have access to a fl exible learning program that suits the needs of their children and family circumstances.

All students at Mylor PS participate in the co-construction of iPlans to cater learning to the individual

All families at MPS have access to a fl exible learning program that suits the needs of their children and family circumstances

In 2014 95% of students at Mylor co-constructed their iPlans with their advisory teacher and parents. During iPlan meetings parents, teachers and students discuss how a students learning is developing. Students’ strengths and interests are a main focus, as teachers are then able to draw on these to set up engaging learning programs.

Each week students worked toward their goals during advisory time and then set themselves new goals once completed. Initially students were using their Monitoring and Assessment folders to keep track of their learning, however these did not work as well as in 2013, due to the children not having ownership of how their folders were created and not fully understanding their purpose. These will be revisited in 2015.

Once again we held 2 Science blocks in 2014. These science blocks ensured that all students received the required time on Science, while still being able to follow an area of passion and publicly present their learning to others.

A range of Masterclasses were offered throughout the blocks, ranging from the Scientist in Schools program, John Wamsley from Warrawong to the Star Dome being set up for our budding astronomers. Over the course of the Science Blocks students set up experiments, researched topics of interest and presented their learning using claymation, posters, models and Powerpoints.

Each time the students are involved in these Science blocks the quality of learning and fi nal products improve. We are all looking forward to see what the students discover in 2015.

Better Schools FundingIn 2014 the Better Schools Funding was put toward staff professional learning. At the beginning of the year staff attended ‘Play is the Way’ training with Wilson McCaskill. This training ensured all staff were familiar with the program before implementing it across the school.

Throughout the year all staff took part in teacher observation session at Scott Creek and Heathfi eld Primary School. These observations required some teacher release time covered by a TRT.

At the end of the year all staff attended the Guy Claxton training session held at AAMI stadium. The school paid for the cost of this day.

During student parliament children had the opportunity to share their ideas about how they could improve the school or share any concerns. Student Parliament had been successfully set up in 2013 and students were very comfortable with the process and how it works. We have found over the last couple of year student parliament has become a successful strategy for having authentic student voice within the school.

To further develop student well being all staff were trained in the ‘Play is the Way’ program. This program is based on a philosophy of behaviour education and student self-regulation that fosters independent, self-motivated, empathetic, life-long learners. Students work together to complete different physical tasks and work together when they do not succeed. In 2014 students took part in Play is the Way 3-4 times a week. Students were divided into 3 groups (R-2, 3 & 4, and 5-7) and worked their way through the different activities of the program. After 2 weeks of the program staff saw a difference in the students attitudes towards each other and how to overcome diffi culties.

Every second Wednesday student achievement was celebrated through short assemblies at the end of the day. Students shared their learning from the fortnight and staff awarded different students with awards. Students were extremely proud of receiving these awards and strived to do so.

Considerations for 2015Staff, students and families are involved in developing school values and expectations of learning.

Set up more formal assembly times for parents to attend.

Integrate ‘Play is the Way’ across the school.

Due to departmental constraints we were unable to offer families the fl exible learning programs intended in 2014.

Considerations for 2015Our aim at Mylor is to meet the needs of all learners within our community.

Students will be involved in the development of their own learning portfolio.

iPlans and Advisory groups will be revised to ensure that we are still meeting the needs of the learners.

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

below: Martin O’Leary conductiong a master-class during Science Week

2014 School Data AnalysisNAPLANEach year students in Year 3,5,7 & 9 take part in NAPLAN testing. These tests are conducted at the beginning of term 2 with results sent to schools and families at the end of term 3.

In term 2 we had 8 new students start at Mylor, with some of them sitting NAPLAN for the fi rst time. We also had some families choose to withdraw their children. When analysing NAPLAN results it is important to remember that we have very small cohorts of children and data can be problematic.

If there are less than 5 students in a year level we cannot publish results to maintain confi dentiality.

Note: The NAPLAN scales are constructed so that any given score represents the same level of achievement over time. For example, a score of 700 in reading will have the same meaning in 2014 as in 2010. This achievements by student cohorts or groups to be monitored over time.

For further information visit http://www.nap.edu.au

Student AchievementTo monitor student achievement the school once again undertook 2 data collection weeks. This data was analysed by teachers and used to develop student iPlans. Students worked with their advisory teacher and families to develop learning goals to target specifi c areas of need.

This data was used in conjunction with classroom assessment tasks, observation and to continue monitoring student progress throughout the year.

Overall most students made the expected progress in all areas of learning. In the case of a student not making the expected progress parents were contacted and strategies to improve this were put in place. These ranged from the setting of individual targeted homework tasks, to a professional referral for extra support.

At the end of each year we recognise the achievements of our students. In 2014 all students across the student body were eligible for awards under the categories academia and service. 8 students received awards:

Ella Brogan Citizenship Award

Ned Miller Citizenship Award

Daniel McArthur Academic Award

Liam Betts Academic Award

Elsa Heemskerk Academic Award

Liana Bailetti Academic Award

Logan Phillips-Tugwell Academic Award

Lucia Neave Academic Award

Each year a student from R-7 is awarded ‘Student of the Year’. In 2014 Zoe Bailetti was awarded this for being a persistent, resilient learner who pushes herself outside of her comfort zone and thinks outside the box.

Year 3 Profi ciency Bands by Aspect

Year 5 Profi ciency Bands by Aspect

Year 7 Profi ciency Bands cannot be reported because of the small cohort of students

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

Student AttendanceAnalysis of the student attendance data for 2014 has shown that there was a drop in attendance in comparison to 2013.

The drop in the attendance rate can be attributed to a number of students who were transitioning into a school environment. In 2014 we received enrolments from families who had not been part of a formal school environment and therefore needed transitioning into full time attendance.

However there are still a number of families who are consistently late or absent

throughout the school year. These late arrivals and absences were addressed in 2014 by follow up phone calls each morning requesting a reason for their child’s absence if no contact had been made by the family, all late arrivals were required to sign in at the front offi ce and provide a reason. When necessary emails or letters were sent home to families.

Year 3 Mean Scores

NAPLAN School Growth: Year 3-5

NAPLAN School Growth: Year 5-7

Year 5 Mean Scores

Year 7 Mean Scores

Lateness and absences is an area that will be a focus for 2015 using the strategies from 2014, and by educating parents about the affects of missing school on achievement.

ParentsDuring term 4 all families were sent an electronic copy of the Parent Opinion Survey. Families had 2 weeks to complete and submit the survey online. The response to this survey was lower than in previous years (4 responses) and therefore an analysis of the results cannot be reported.

2014 Opinion Surveys

StaffDue to the small number of staff completing the survey, analysis cannot be reported without identifying individual responses.

StudentsDuring term 4 all students were involved in a comprehensive review of their schooling at Mylor, through surveys by the student leadership team and the analysis of a learner engagement survey.

Through the analysis of this data it was found that:

• Most students enjoyed school, especially Wednesdays.

• Most students feel safe at school.

• Most students understand what they are learning.

Students identifi ed the following strategies that could be used to improve schooling and learner engagement in 2015:

• Providing more hands-on activities

• Providing a more stimulating learning environment

• Receiving more feedback on how they can improve their learning.

above: Jenny (OSHC Director) with Rahni during Book Week.

above: Ella & James attending OSHC.

above: Liam displays his projects during Science Week.

mylor primary school - Building the confi dence to thrive

right: Lily dressing up for Book Week

2014 Income by Funding SourceGrants: State $578,096.73

Grants: Commonwealth $17,296.41

Parent Contributions $17,646.10

Other $44,525.70

Teacher Qualifi cationsAll staff value Professional Development and are continuously attending Training and Development sessions to improve their teaching. With new teaching standards (AITSL) being introduced and each teacher required to undertake 60 hours of professional learning to keep their teacher registration the professional learning is a high priority for all staff.

All staff have the required teaching qualifi cations as per the South Australian teachers registration board.

Workforce CompositionDuring 2014 the staff team changed throughout the year. Term 1 consisted of the principal, three teachers, one language specialist, one arts specialist and one fi nance/school support offi cer.

From term 2 it consisted of the principal, two teachers, one language specialist, one arts specialist, one PE specialist and one fi nance/school support offi cer.

Behaviour ManagementDuring 2014 all students were involved in the establishment of the school rules and behaviour code. On the whole most students adhere to this behaviour code and do not receive anything more than a warning. Students took part in 2 bullying and harassment surveys. Staff analysed the results of the fi rst survey and the issues of feeling unsafe on the oval and talking to someone about bullying were addressed by:

• Ensuring all children knew the rules of the games they were playing.

• Ensuring that if children did not want to play anymore they knew how to exit the game.

• Ensuring children understood exactly what bullying is and were taught strategies .

After implementing these strategies a second survey was taken toward the end of the year. The results of the second survey were very pleasing as they indicated that most students now felt safe on the oval and knew what to do about bullying.

Criminal History ScreeningDuring 2014 volunteers undertook their DCSI screening. The volunteer RAN training session was run by the school for parents to attend.

Qualifi cation Level

Graduate Degrees or Diplomas

Post Graduate Qualifi cations

No. of Qualifi cations

7

0

Workforce

Full-TimeEquivalents

Persons

Teaching Staff

3.9 (t1) | 4 (t2,3,4)

6 (t1) | 7 (t2,3,4)

Non-Teaching Staff

.8

1

mylor primary schoolStrathalbyn Road Mylor SA 5153 | phone 08 8388 5345

www.mylorps.sa.edu.au