Klemzig Primary School and Centre For Hearing Impaired 0898 1317 7080

Annual Report 2012

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

The major highlight of the year was the

commencement of the capital works project which

will eventually see over $7million worth of

improvements to our school.

Whilst progress on the new building has been

frustratingly delayed and we have had to tolerate

noise, dust and vibrations from the building site, the

end of stage one is in sight and we will soon be able

to move into our modern, purpose built learning

facility.

Other highlights of the year include:

The continued academic success and

achievement of our students, particularly in

Literacy. Our test results indicate a

continuation of the growth in reading skills

from 2011.

The (almost) completion of our new

building. This is the culmination of years of

planning and lobbying for funding. We are

excited about moving in to the classrooms

early in 2013.

Continued development of the Children’s

Garden.

Participation in the Model Solar Boat

Competition.

Our singing and signing choirs’

performances at the Festival of Music.

Continued involvement of our students in the

instrumental music program.

Collaborative work with Klemzig

Kindergarten and Windsor Gardens

Vocational College.

A successful Junior Primary Show Day.

Participation and success in academic

competitions.

Successful participation in interschool sport

competitions.

A successful school sports day in term 1.

A high percentage of students completing the

Premier’s Reading Challenge.

A festive and celebratory School Concert.

Recognition of the work of all volunteers and

in particular, Margaret Abbott this year’s

recipient of the Robyn Geraghty School

Volunteers Award.

Our very popular Active After School

program

2013 promises to be another year of challenge and

growth. Upon the completion of the new building,

work will commence on the transformation of the

main two-storey building into an up-to-date, modern

learning facility. This work should be completed by

the end of 2013.

These achievements are due to the outstanding

teamwork and collaboration of staff, parents and

students at Klemzig. I look forward to another year of

success and progress in 2013.

ENROLMENTS STEADY, DESPITE

ZONING

At the beginning of 2012 we were applied to DECD

and were given approval to implement a school zone.

This means that we can restrict our growth while the

redevelopment of the school is in progress and

classroom space is limited.

Our junior primary mid-year enrolment figures over

the past 10 years are as follows:

03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ‘12

59 71 60 74 96 102 106 111 113 103

Our total enrolments for each term over the past 7

years were:

TERM 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

1 161 194 210 223 239 256 244

2 166 203 220 224 245 262 250 3 184 227 238 237 269 271 263

4 199 230 242 250 279 273 272

Although we started the year with less students than

in 2011, by the end of the year the total was almost

the same.

BILINGUAL PROGRAM

2012 saw the beginning of the building of the new

CHI building to house the Bilingual Program. Much

thought and consideration has gone into determining

the best possible learning environment and hopefully

we will be moving in soon. In 2013 the CHI will

expand to four bilingual classes to cater for 18 hearing

impaired and Deaf students.

The Teachers of the Deaf have additional

qualifications as well as Auslan qualifications to

enable them to work in the bilingual classes. These

include Masters in Deaf Education through Macquarie

University which some have completed and others are

continuing working towards, TAFE Auslan

Certificates and NAATI Interpreter qualifications.

In 2011 we employed Kim Adams as a Speech

Pathologist to work with the Deaf students. Kim has

qualifications in Deaf education as a Teacher of the

Deaf as well as in Speech Pathology, enabling her to

bring a range of skills to the position including

Auslan. Throughout 2011 and 2012 the students have

shown enormous progress in their speech and

understanding of phonemic awareness which is an

important factor in developing literacy skills. In 2013

our speech pathology services will expand, with Kim

overseeing a Speech Clinic two days each week. Four

Speech Pathology students will work individually and

with groups of students under her guidance. We are

one of the few schools in the state with this service

and we will be able to offer speech pathology and

group sessions to many more students both Deaf and

hearing.

Additional Professional Development has been

provided at school, state wide and interstate. A group

of teachers attended the biannual Symposium of Deaf

Education in Sydney. Our staff were co-organisers of

the event, as well as presenting an overview of

developments in our state and running a literacy

workshop. Professional development is also

incorporated into fortnightly Bilingual meetings for

teaching and support staff.

The Auslan Early Learning Program reached capacity

for only the second time since it’s inception. The

preschool curriculum is the Early Years Learning

Framework for Australia with a strong focus on

language development through play. Sandra Kelly

continues to be the teacher working part time at

Klemzig as well as at SERU (Special Education

Resource Unit) as an Early Intervention Coordinator.

Through 2012, the Bilingual SSOs were Vanessa

Trenwith, Kathleen Odgers and Robbie Mayne.

Vanessa moved interstate and in 2013 will be replaced

by Sophia Borrrick who has worked at Klemzig

previously.

The preschool is compliant with the National Quality

Framework. Some of the areas that were focused on

for development this year were:

Developing new ways of recording

children’s achievements

Ensuring safety through the building process

Further professional development for staff

Creating new brochures and website

Creating a new induction package

Putting all children’s records on EYS

As can been seen from the enrolment graph numbers

of children are variable because of the low incidence

of deafness but we have maintained the required

enrolments.

Mr Zed’s boat visits the kindy.

In Term 4, we once again ran our annual 6 week

Auslan Course for early childhood workers and

parents. The weekly ongoing Auslan classes for

parents and community members continued on

Thursday mornings.

The Auslan LOTE program supports the bilingual

program by providing a language with which

everyone can communicate with each other. Each year

Deaf Studies is incorporated to further our cultural

understandings.

The Signing Choir continues to be popular with all

age groups and once again the children were guest

artists and also performed the National Anthem each

evening at the Public Primary School’s Music

Festival. They also performed at a variety of other

functions. Two signing choirs provide for the varying

age groups.

ATTENDANCE

The table below shows a slight decrease in attendance

for the last 3 years. Closer examination of the data

reveals that during 2012, 691 absences were due to

exemptions for students to travel overseas with their

families. If these figures were removed from the data

the average attendance for the year would increase by

1.3% to 91.8%

The following graph shows our attendance rates for

each year level for semester one 2012.

Improving Attendance The school Admin. Officer, who maintains attendance

data and contacts parents/caregivers, and the Assistant

Principal-Student Wellbeing formally reviewed

attendance data at the end of each term to identify

patterns or new concerns. We responded to absences

as they occurred by:

Introducing a note to families that teachers

issue immediately after an unexplained late

arrival or return to school without an

explanation.

Investigating causes and issues for the

student and addressing these.

Providing 1:1 attendance counselling with

children and setting attendance targets.

Daily checks of students and follow ups with

families.

Regular conversations with families –

telephone calls, home visits.

Alerting Senior Staff to concerning absences.

Providing Case Management to students with

attendance issues.

Referrals to agencies and support services.

Providing short term transport assistance to

and from school.

Connecting children to neighbourhood

families who do attend.

Finding school families for children to

briefly stay with.

Contacting new/potential schools and

schools that a child had recently left.

Modifying school programs.

Providing learning packages to students

living away.

Reporting to Family Services and planning

with a range of agencies

Contacting Police for assistance

Issuing formal letters to families

Referring absences to the District Attendance

Counsellor

Involving the Aboriginal Student Inclusion

Officer

ICT and LEARNING

With the completion of the new building drawing

near, plans have been made and orders have been

placed to upgrade the school’s technology. Initially,

each new double classroom will be fitted with two

interactive whiteboards. An interactive whiteboard

will also be installed in the new preschool. At the

same time, wireless internet access will be installed,

allowing students and staff to access the internet both

in and around classrooms and the gym.

Five new laptop/tablet computers per class will be

provided for students working in classrooms in the

new building. There will also be two portable, class

sets of laptop/tablets for teachers to access when a

whole class needs access to computers at the same

time. The upgrade to the main building, including

classroom, will also involve the installation of new

interactive whiteboards in each classroom. The

provision of laptop laptop/tablets will be extended to

students and teachers working in those classrooms.

The ICT curriculum is continually evolving in

response to changing technology and the needs of

staff and students. The introduction of new interactive

whiteboards and laptop laptop/tablets will require

intensive training for both staff and students.

TERM 1 2 3 4 YEAR

2005 93.2% 89.7% 89.3% 89.9% 90.5%

2006 93.6% 90.6% 89.6% 91.9% 91.4%

2007 90.9% 90.1% 90.9% 90.2% 90.5%

2008 92.9% 91.4% 90.6% 88.9% 90.9%

2009 93.0% 91.6% 91.1% 89.6% 91.3%

2010 92.9% 90.7% 88.4% 90.0% 90.5%

2011 92.0% 89.6% 90.6% 89.7% 90.5%

2012 92.2% 91.2% 90.2% 90.2% 90.5%

A CULTURE OF SUCCESS

‘Successful Start’ Program This year we introduced a 2 week learning program at

the start of the year which focused on the social,

emotional and behavioural parts to life at school, and

what students need to be successful throughout the

year. Some of the things taught included:

Knowing classmates better through games,

activities and a 2week Identity Project

Friendship and getting along with others

Being in a cooperative group

Ways to solve conflicts

Bullying, harassment and getting help

School values and rules and PBL

Making their classroom rules

Everyday routines for their class

Teachers expectations of bookwork, sheets,

equipment

Healthy eating

Being safe at school and in the community

School Emergency signals

Coming to school every day, on time

PBL- Positive Behaviour for Learning

This year, many more students exceeded our target of

100 ‘GOTCHAs’ per term which are awarded for

displaying positive behaviours around the school.

Two classes trialled an electronic version of

acknowledgement called ‘Class Dojo’. Students could

see their positive efforts, behaviours and encounters

recorded on their class whiteboard against their name

and their ‘avatar’. Dojo was particularly popular with

older students and will be promoted across the school

in 2013.

Our colourful, 30 GOTCHAs postcards to

parents/caregivers were very successful and pictures

will be updated by our students in Term 1.

The success of our PBL and other programs is evident

in the data on incidents of violence or threatened

violence. The number of such incidents (which range

from minor to more serious) decreased by 20% in

2012 when compared to the 2011 data. Likewise, the

number of reported incidents of bullying decreased by

38% from 2011 to 2012. All incidents of bullying

were worked through with all parties concerned and

consequences applied to ensure that they were

resolved.

Active After Schools Program

We were again successful in winning a grant from the

Commonwealth Government to employ community

coaches to lead 7 week activity programs after school

and a healthy snack. Hirva Adhvaryu and Crystal

Boxer were employed to assist coaches and

coordinate the sessions that lasted one hour each.

Activities: softball, netball, AFL footy, dance, martial

arts, basketball, volleyball, athletics, soccer, baseball

and cricket.

Despite 3 activities on offer some terms, there were

still not enough places for the huge demand by

students. Girls, boys, Deaf and Aboriginal children,

JP and upper primary students and children from all

of our school families’ cultures participated in these

activities.

Student Voice and Kids Councils

A Junior and Senior Kids Council operated weekly

throughout the year. 42 Representatives attended

leadership training and served 2 terms. Deaf and

Aboriginal students were represented. Support for

their work and voice in classes varied. They addressed

school spaces; student behaviour; special events;

fundraising; recycling; organising their end of term

Disco; purchasing of equipment and school

improvement.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Students and

Families

The school has a strong commitment to improving the

educational outcomes of Indigenous-ATSI students

and acknowledges that this requires deliberate actions

by the school.

22 students from 13 family groups attended at various

times during the year. Individual Plans were prepared

to maximise student success at school and for

confident transitions to high school. We offered a

range of programs across the school to meet students’

needs and to promote an understanding and

appreciation of Indigenous cultures and history and

the contributions of Indigenous people – developing

strong bonds with our families; APAS tutoring in

Literacy and Maths; fortnightly R-7 Nunga Group; Yr

6/7 Student Elders Program; individual Case

Management; Reconciliation Week in Term 2;

Aboriginal Culture Week in Term 3; school-wide

Aboriginal Cultural Studies Curriculum; sleepover

Term 1; Nunga Students & Friends Camp at the

Adelaide Zoo in Term 4 and support from our school

Aboriginal Community Education Officer (ACEO),

Mignon Wilhelm.

This year the Yr 6/7 Indigenous Student Achievement

Award was granted to Tallara Ledder.

A more comprehensive Report on the Progress of

Aboriginal Students 2012 is available from the school.

NATIONAL TEST RESULTS Across the range of tests conducted in May, in 94.2%

of individual tests our students (excluding students

with disabilities) achieved at or above the National

minimum standard. This is a significant improvement

on recent years (89.3% in 2011, 91.5% in 2010,

92.6% in 2009 and 84.9% in 2008).

We are especially proud of the achievements of 15 of

our students who scored in the highest possible band

in one or more of the National Literacy and Numeracy

tests (up from 11 in 2011, 10 in 2010, 7 in 2009 and 5

in 2008).

LITERACY A STRONG FOCUS AT

KLEMZIG Over the past two years, literacy comprehension has

been the focus of Klemzig’s Site Improvement Plan.

In 2011, two staff members were appointed Literacy

Facilitators. They attended 10 professional

development workshops run by the DECD Northern

Adelaide Region, sharing their knowledge and skills

with other staff members.

In 2012, three more teachers attended the same series

of workshops. This was a deliberate strategy to

increasingly build the literacy teaching knowledge

and skills of all teachers and consistent practices

across the school.

Twice each term, the Literacy Facilitators ran literacy

workshops for the School Support Officers (SSO),

building the knowledge and skills necessary for them

to work effectively with students involved in the

Literacy Intervention Program which has been

operating successfully for two years now.

Teaching staff continually monitor the reading and

comprehension skills of all students. Formal reading

assessments are carried out seven times per year on all

students until they reach an independent reading level.

Data collected allows us to carefully track the

progress of every student. The graph below is an

example of one child’s data, collected over the last

two years.

Our Reading Support Program provides intervention

for students who are in need of support to improve

their reading levels. The following graph shows that

in year 1, the students receiving this support (wave 2

students) made at least as much progress as those the

average of all students.

We measured the achievement of our junior primary

students against the standards set by the Northern

Adelaide Region (by the end of Reception – level 10,

by the end of year 1 – level 20 and by the end of year

2 – level 26).

The following graph shows that significant

improvement was made between 2010 and 2012

We have seen a rise in the number of students

learning English as A Second Language in the school

– from 46% of students in 2010 to 55% in 2012.

Many of these students enter our school with

beginning English skills so we provide additional

learning support through our ESL teacher and

bilingual school support officer. As a result of this

support, 70% of our ESL students progressed by one

or more levels on the ESL scale, which is a measure

of English achievement for ESL learners.

In 2012 we had 5 students studying 3 different

languages after school hours at ethnic schools. By

studying a language these students are enriching the

cultural and linguistic knowledge of their

backgrounds and contributing to the cultural diversity

of our school community. Our ESL teacher, Cula

Nowecki, continued her work with class teachers of

Reception to year 3 classes to support and improve

their Literacy teaching.

In May our year 3, 5 and 7 students participated in the

National Assessment Program – Literacy and

Numeracy (NAPLAN).

The following graphs show the average scores for our

students at year 3, 5 and 7 in each of the components

of the literacy tests for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and

2012.

YEAR 3

300

320

340

360

380

400

420

440

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

ME

AN

SC

OR

E

YEAR

YEAR 3 READING

68% of our year 3 students achieved proficiency band

4 or above in reading in 2011.

YEAR 5

32% of our year 5 students achieved proficiency band

6 or above in reading in 2012

YEAR 7

24% of our year 7 students achieved proficiency band

7 or above in reading in 2012

2011

2011

NUMERACY Maths forms an integral part of the curriculum at all

year levels. Numeracy is integrated across all learning

areas throughout the school.

Our focus on comprehension includes providing

students with the literacy skills and language

requirements that will enable them to access the

numeracy and mathematics curriculum.

The following graphs show the average scores for our

students at year 3, 5 and 7 in each of the components

of the numeracy tests from 2008 to 2012.

OPINION SURVEYS

1.PARENT SURVEY:

A random selection of parents was invited to respond

to an on-line survey which asked to responses to 44

statements about our school. Twenty seven parents

responded to the survey. The statements were grouped

into four areas. The results in all four areas (Quality

of Teaching and Learning, Support of Learning,

Relationships and Communication and Leadership

and Decision Making) were all within the middle 50%

when compared to surveys across the state. 93% of

responses were at or above the average level of

agreement for responses across the state. Higher than

average responses were given in relation to support

for special needs, resourcing and opportunities for

parents to be involved in the school’s educational

activities.

2. STAFF SURVEY:

All staff were invited to respond to 49 questions,

grouped into the same four areas as the parent survey.

Thirteen members of staff responded. Again, the

results in all four areas were all within the middle

50% when compared to surveys across the state.

Higher than average responses were given in relation

to the school’s assessment processes and how

assessment is used to evaluate, develop and refine

teaching programs.

3. STUDENT SURVEY:

Our older students were invited to respond to 47

questions, grouped into the same four areas again.

Again, the results in all four areas were all within the

middle 50% when compared to surveys across the

state. Higher than average responses were given in

relation to support and assistance with learning,

encouragement to achieve their best, their level of

excitement about the work and their desire to go to

school each day.

GOVERNING COUNCIL

Our Governing Council worked collaboratively to

support the school community in a range of areas,

including:

Management of the OSHC program.

Discussion and approval of the School

Uniform Policy.

Overseeing finance and the budget.

Approval of the Materials and Services

charge for 2013.

Organisation and involvement of fundraising

activities.

We also had the support of dedicated and committed

volunteers who worked tirelessly to support our

school in a range of areas, including management of

our uniform shop, helping in the canteen, supporting

student learning in classrooms, helping on excursions,

improvement of the school grounds and raising funds

to improve school facilities. The parent club and

governing council members have been the core of this

dedicated group of parents.

FINANCES IN SOUND POSITION In 2012 we received the following funding from a

range of sources. The figure for Parent Contributions

includes the materials and Services charge as well as

money paid for uniforms, excursions, performances

and swimming.

We have money set aside to purchase new furniture

and IT hardware as our building project continues.

WORKFORCE INFORMATION