Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017

(Based on 2016 data)

Blackall Range Independent School is a non-denominational, independent school operating on the Sunshine Coast for over 40 years. Students are recognised for the uniquely gifted and talented people they are. Individualised education programs are established to enable each student to reach their full potential through the

educational journey. All programs are aligned with the Australian National Curriculum.

School Sector:

Independent

School’s Address:

551 Mapleton Rd; Kureelpa, 4560

Total Enrolments:

August 2016 Census

Total Enrolments: 48 students

Primary: 28

Secondary: 20

Year Levels Offered:

Prep to Year 12

Co-educational or Single Sex:

Co-Educational

Characteristics of the Student Body:

BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL attracts students from the entire Sunshine Coast region, from Caloundra to Eumundi and across the Hinterland Range. The school welcomes diversity amongst its school population, celebrating the uniqueness of each individual. The school has always had strong links with

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

homeschooling families and many of the students have come from a homeschooling background. At BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL, the primary and secondary curricula are developed from the Australian Curriculum documents. There is a community focus in the curriculum with opportunities for peer mentoring encouraged. BLACKALL RANGE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL’S community focus around curriculum dovetails with our goals to ensure our students’ social and emotional wellbeing is the foundation of all we do at the school.

Distinctive Curriculum Offerings:

In 2016 Blackall Range Independent School offered a Year 11 program. This cohort became our Year 12s in 2017.

Blackall Range was also able to offer specialized teaching in Art and Music Programs for all students.

Our Kitchen Garden Program was also strengthened by employing a team of two to deliver the program: one team member working in the Garden with students and the other team member in the Kitchen teaching students food preparation and nutrition using the fresh produce from the garden, including eggs from the chickens. The school subscribes to the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. The weekly Tuckshop are meals produced by a group of students from Prep to Seniors working with the Kitchen Garden Team. The students will also prepare refreshments for special events such as the Gratitude High Tea. Often the students are involved in Pizza making for events too using our Cob Oven.

The Eumundi Market Program: is run as a Workshop on Thursday afternoons. In the Workshop students will create items to sell at the Eumundi Markets the last Wednesday of the term. The students attend the markets and are expected to set up the stall, serve customers, handle money and record transactions. An excellent experience for the students involved.

Workshops : Every Thursday afternoon Workshops are held. Students select the Workshop they would like to participate in for four weeks at a time. The Home Schooling Community is invited to join us and there is strong attendance by the Home Schoolers. Workshops may include sport, clay, independent studies, movie making, lego, science experiments, screen printing, mural and art activities. Frequently the students run workshops e.g. nature craft and digital game making.

Sports Carnival: Our very first sports carnival was held this year. There are three teams: Gira (Fire), Budlarum (Lightning) and Djaa (Earth). Emphasis is on participation and having a go! Events include sprints, long jump, javelin, shotput and novelty events. Some students also participated at the District Sports Carnival held at the USC.

Beach Safety Day: In Term 4 the students were supervised by Lifesavers teaching them how keep safe in the ocean.

Circle Meeting – held once a week which allows students the opportunity to have a voice in the school’s decision making process.

Extra-curricular Activities:

Each term the school hosts a special community event:

Term 1: Ripple Kindness Project: Students create little gifts to hand out to people at Cotton Tree and to wish them a happy day.

Term 2: WinterFire: A celebration of the Winter Solstice. Held in the evening the community gathers together for the fire lighting ceremony which includes them placing their personal wishes in to the fire. A shared meal follows. The students then put on some performances before a movie and sleepover at the school.

Term 3: Senior Day Book Week: Older members of our community are invited to share a meal with us at

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

school during our Book Week celebration. Students come dressed as their favourite book character. The Senior students organized the day’s events.

Term 4: Camp on the Oval / Team Challenge Day: Students pitched a tent on the oval and enjoyed freshly made Pizzas. Next day the students problem-solved their way through a variety of team challenges including obstacle course, orienteering, puzzle solving etc.

Term 4: Family Fun Day: Each class presents some fun activities for the community to participate in. The day finishes with The Giant Water Slide – excellent fun had by both the sliders and the audience.

Term 4: End of Year Celebration: Community shares a meal together and enjoys performances by the students and Art Exhibition.

Kids In Action: Students can nominate to be part of a team that creates a workshop or presentation to be shared with other school students at a conference throughout the year. Always receive positive feedback.

Work Experience: Senior students can participate in work experience throughout the year. This may also lead to School- based Traineeships for the student and/or enrolling into VET courses.

School Representative Council: Students can nominate to be on the Student Council. In 2016 they met once a month to organize events such as the School Disco.

Social Climate:

The school is part of the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program and as such employs a dedicated Student Welfare Officer.

The Welfare Officer is able to offer a number of programs to students and families including; individual and family support and referrals, student mediation, leadership programs, family and parent workshops and staff support.

In addition to this the Welfare Officer coordinates links to community programs and resources for students such as conferences, camps and community services (TRU and Family Planning) to enhance the students social and emotional experiences at school.

Art Therapist: In Semester 1, 2016 we were fortunate to have the services of an Art Therapist.

Ripple Kindness Project – the school held its very first Ripple Kindness Day at Cotton Tree this year. Spreading Kindness and having a Gratitude Attitude is our approach to creating a social climate within the school that promotes student well-being.

Breathe Project – students were demonstrated by Kat and Bohdi a breathing technique to help them manage their day well. Each day, for a minimum of three minutes a day students are encouraged to have a quiet time and breathe deeply.

Parental Involvement:

Community is integral to the philosophy of the school. When a student is enrolled in the school the whole family is! The positive effect of parental involvement on the school environment is acknowledged.

In 2016 the P&F held monthly meetings. The President met with the Principal the following week to develop action plans. This resulted in the P&F becoming a very strong and supportive presence in the school. They view their role as helping to create a caring community and to fundraise for resources and experiences for the benefit of the students. The Cent Auction is one example of a fundraising event they held.

The Student Representative Council is also supported by parents who attend the meetings and work with the students to host events.

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

Parents are very welcome in the classrooms to work with the students including hearing them read.

Parents are encouraged to share their skills by running workshops. This year parents have taught clay workshop, drawing cartoons workshop for example. Parents have also given talks in the classrooms re their careers.

Parents are always invited to community events.

Parents are also elected on to the School Executive and therefore play a vital role in the decisions that impact the future direction of the school.

Parent, Teacher and Student Satisfaction with the School

Where schools already undertake yearly surveys or studies of parents, students and teachers for the purpose of marketing and school improvement, it will involve preparing a relevant report, in plain English, on the findings of those surveys or studies.

If a school does not currently undertake any such studies or surveys, consideration might be given to such a project; or alternatively, the school should consider any other data or information that it may have which could be the basis of a report on parent, student and teacher satisfaction. For example, letters and testimonials from parents; enrolment retention rates over time; increasing enrolments over time, teacher retention rates over time.

The school has grown considerably in the last four years with enrolments increasing from 18 students in 2013 to 48 students in 2016. This growth in enrolment has been due to word of mouth by our existing families. A waiting list is in place as classes are capped to ensure we deliver programs that meet our students’ needs.

Contact Person for Further Information:

The title of a school-based contact person for further information on the school and its policies

Title: Louise Cameron John Rasmussen Co-Principals

School Income Broken Down by Funding Source

Note: Reporting on these outcomes may be addressed simply by inclusion of a reference to the My School website http://www.myschool.edu.au/ under this section of the report.

Staffing InformationStaff Composition, Including Indigenous Staff:

The teaching staff employed in 2016 have an extensive range of skills:

The Prep - 2 room was staffed through a shared teaching load approach. Teacher A: worked in the classroom Monday to Wednesday – holds a degree in Early Childhood and is a qualified Special Needs teacher with experience working with students with a disability from Prep to Year 12, along with 20+ years as a classroom teacher, primarily in multi-aged classrooms, from Prep to Year 5. On Thursdays and Fridays she worked in her Administrative Role re Co-Principalship, Special Needs and Literacy Specialist.

Teacher B: Wednesday as Art Teacher across the school. Thursday and Fridays P-2 room.

Year 3 – 5 Class

Teacher C: Fulltime Classroom Teacher. Also holds a degree in Nursing.

Year 6 – 9 Class

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

Teacher D: worked full-time in Yr6 – Yr 9 classroom. He holds degrees in Information Technology and Middle Years of Schooling. He has worked with Indigenous students. Has a background in the IT industry. Worked Tuesdays on Administrative duties re role as Co –Principal.

Year 10 -11 Class

Teacher E: Fulltime Senior Teacher with extensive experience in teaching Intensive English in a variety of settings including remote communities, East Timor, Darwin. Focused on developing Work Experience and VET opportunities for Senior students.

Teachers were supported in the classroom by 4 Teacher Aides who worked across the school to support students with special needs. 1 x TA also co-ordinates the PE program.

Social Welfare Officer: 2 days a week.

Art Therapist: 1 day a week in Semester 1.

Music Teacher: One day a week.

Librarian: One day a week.

Community Project Officer: 10 hrs a week. Creation and maintenance of school garden.

Kitchen Garden Coordinator: 10 hrs a week. Qualified Chef and Teacher Aide Worked with students to create healthy, nutritious meals.

The non-teaching staff consisted of 3 part-time Administration staff and one part time IT Technician.

Qualifications of all Teachers:

QualificationEither detail the number or the percentage of classroom teachers and school leaders at the school who hold this qualification

Doctorate or higherMastersBachelor Degree 100%DiplomaCertificate

Expenditure on and Teacher Participation in Professional Development:a) Teacher Participation in Professional Development

Description of PD activity Number of teachers participating in activity

Sue Larkey Online Autism Training Course 5IT Training for Laptops 5Kathleen Kryza Differentiation 1Study Tour Play Matters 1Wonder and Learn Conference 1Create Culture of Thinking 1Digital Storytelling 1Environmental Expo 1Total number of teachers participating in at least one activity in the program year

5

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

b) Expenditure on Professional Development

Total Number of TeachersTotal expenditure on teacher PD (as recorded in Financial Questionnaire)

Average expenditure on PD per teacher

$ 5888.21 $1177.64

The total funds expended on teacher professional development in 2016 $5888.21

The proportion of the teaching staff involved in professional development activities during 2016

100%

The major professional development initiatives were as follows: Strategies to work successfully with students on the spectrum, using IT and digital resources effectively, Early Years Curriculum including use of digital resources, differentiation strategies and Environmental Education.

Teachers As Researchers Project: As a staff we conducted an Action Research Project on encouraging students on the spectrum to engage in the writing process. A report was written and presented at the ISQ Colloquium in November 2016.

Average staff attendance for the school, based on unplanned absences of sick and emergency leave periods of up to 5 days:

Number of Staff Number of School Days Total Days Staff AbsencesAverage Staff Attendance Rate

4 (fulltime) 195 17 97%

For permanent and temporary classroom teachers and school leaders the average staff attendance rate was 97% in 2016

Proportion of teaching staff retained from the previous year:

Number of permanent teaching staff at end of previous year

Number of these staff retained in the following year (the program year)

% retention rate

3 2 66%

From the end of 2015 66 % of staff were retained for the entire 2016 school year

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)

Key Student Outcomes:

Average student attendance rate (%) for the whole school:

The average attendance rate for the whole school as a percentage in 2016 was 90.97%

Average student attendance rate for each year level:

Year levelsAverage attendance rate for each year level as a percentage in 2016

P-2 93.18 %

3-6 90.58%

7-9 88.77%

10-12 91.37%

A description of how non-attendance is managed by the school:

Individual student attendance is monitored by classroom teachers primarily. Should concerns arise, there is a process of communication and consultation with parents/families and, if necessary, the Co-Principals.

NAPLAN results for Years 3, 5 and 7 and 9 in 2016Privacy and Interpretation of Data

A small number of students participated in Naplan in 2016. We are unable to publish their results due to the need to protect individual student’s confidentiality.

My School website http://www.myschool.edu.au/.

Blackall Range Independent School Annual Report 2017 (2016 Data)