Willow Tree Public School Annual School Report 2014 [school code] 3451 School context statement Willow Tree Public School is a P5 school with a student population of 42. 12% of students identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The school prides itself on being a cohesive community which works closely with both parents and the wider community. This partnership is critical to the success of our students and all parents are valued and welcomed as part of the whole school community. The school has a highly active P&C who invest highly in the education of the children of today. The school motto is “Aim High”. School enrolments have decreased over the past couple of years with families relocating out of the area however; there has been strong kindergarten enrolment numbers over the past three years. Willow Tree prides itself on having a highly effective transition to school program and works closely with the community pre-school which is located on the school grounds. The school houses modern facilities in an aesthetic and active learning environment. It is located just off the New England Highway, 75kms South of Tamworth and 20kms South East of the Quirindi township. The school is organised into 2 mainstream classes (K/1/2 & 3/4/5/6). The school has 3 teaching staff, including a teaching principal, one part-time office staff (SAM) and a part-time SLSO. Global funds and a P&C allocation subsidise time for both the SAM and the SLSO to provide full time administration. The school has a climate of high expectations for both staff and students. School management focuses on quality teaching and learning. There are clear expectations of all school community members (staff, students and parents) that every child will be learning every day to the best of their ability. The school has kept pace with advances in technology by installing Interactive Whiteboards in every classroom as well as the use of iPad technologies. The school has also recently established a PC technology lab which is fully networked and has access to video conferencing facilities. Willow Tree Public School also has a strong sporting culture where students are very active. Students regularly represent the school at a Zone, Regional and State level. Principal’s Message Before I get into the nitty gritty of my address, there are some people I would like to thank for their efforts in 2014. Staff (Heather, Kate, Amanda, Wendy, Kristy, Howard & Gwen) - thank you for all of your support throughout the year and thank you for the time you all put in to making a difference to the lives and learning of our students. P & C – Massive thank you to this hard working group of people. It is truly a pleasure to work with you all and the fundraising that you do is simply amazing. Your contributions make significant differences to the students at Willow Tree School year in and year out. Willow Tree Community – It never ceases to amaze me the support our fantastic school gets from the wider community. Local business people, property owners, former students or people who have no affiliation to the school except they now live here in this beautiful little town. Thank you for embracing our school and making a difference to the education of our students. Year 6 (Sam, Zara, Giulia, Codeyn and Jack) and their fellow students – I am so proud to be the principal of your school. You make coming to work every single day an absolute dream. Your smiles, your personalities and your attitudes are a 1 credit to yourselves and your families. Don’t change!!! The Nitty Gritty – Make a Contribution, Give Back!!! Twitter, Facebook, Shazam, Instagram, iTunes, SnapChat, Spotify, Podcasts, YouTube, Google, eBay, Kik, Nintendo DS, MySpace, Angry Birds, Wikipedia, Google Maps, DropBox, Skype, Netflix, Adobe!! Raise your hand if you’re already feeling overwhelmed. Well, this is the world our children, your children are growing up in. In fact, by the time they are teenagers, many of these will be long forgotten or apps from the olden days. Teaching is changing. Learning is evolving. And this is the challenge we as educators face. Preparing your children as best we can for what lies ahead. But what are we preparing them for??? That is the unknown in a world that is moving so fast in technological and educational change. My answer – We prepare our kids as best we can to make a positive contribution to society in some way!!! Willow Tree Public School has been preparing students in this way for many years. So many past students have gone on to achieve wonderful things and contribute to society in a positive way. Just reading through the honour board this morning with staff we identified some of the wonderful endeavours our past students have achieved: * Playing in Under 20s St George Illawarra Now preparing for Queensland Cup * Practicing Law * Teaching in Public Education System * Podiatrist * Successful Personal Training Business * Pilot/Aircraft distribution * Local Business Owner - Hairdressing On top of this, I’m sure there are countless more, many of which are running through our community members’ minds here tonight. But put simply my message is this. To the 42 students who are lucky enough to attend such an amazing small school. Open your arms to the opportunities you are given. Embrace every activity as a learning opportunity. And most of all, take yourself and everything you learn in this wonderful school and do your best to make a difference in the world you are living in. P & C Message 2014 has capped off another successful year for our P&C. Now in its seventh year our Horse Sports was the biggest fundraiser. Nearly 10,000 dollars was raised and 160 riders participating. This was a huge effort and thanks must be given to the organising committee. We always get such positive feedback about how well our horse sports are run. The school canteen was operational 2 days a week again this year. Another great fundraiser this year was the play night Zinderalla of Warranella which was a combined effort with the Warrah Creek Hall Committee and managed to raise $5000. The P&C was also active in Catering for events most notably the dinner held for federal agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce. This year also saw the P&C cater for the Spring Ridge small Schools Athletics Carnival, School Cross Country plus zone, Anzac Day our school athletics and presentation night. The P&C was able to assist the school this year in Purchasing 13 new I-pads at a cost of $5000.00 We were also able to contribute $6000.00 dollars towards staffing and planning is well underway for a whole new brick and paved sandpit with covering shade sails P & C was also able to mitigate the cost of school excursions by subsiding transport. 2 Lastly I would like to thank the P & C for their ongoing support no matter how big or small, whether it is cooking a slice or cake when needed. Thank you also to wider community, local businesses and individuals who have also supported us. Our children are exposed to more opportunity and everyone has the chance to participate. We the parents can be active in making decisions and changes can be made. With a small school like ours we gain a feeling of personal possession. Our school is a community center; we get a sense of belonging, identification and personal interaction. Thank you Angus Sevil P & C President 2014 public speaking/debating and at many community functions. Lastly to our year six class mates, thank you for the memories. We would like to thank you for being great peers and we wish you all the best with high school and your future. Zara McCarthy and Sam Avard Student information It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all students be consistent with privacy and personal information policies. Student enrolment profile When announced as the 2014 school captains we were extremely excited about the year ahead. We think we’ve done a pretty good job and have been helped greatly by our year 6 peers. It really is one of the most rewarding roles to be Captain. Students from all years get along and have fun together. We would also like to thank the staff, we are very lucky to have such great teachers and office staff to help us every day. We would also like to thank our parents who have supported us throughout our schooling. Our parents play a huge role in getting us to and from places and we wouldn’t have the opportunities we do without them. We’ve had the opportunity to represent our school and our zone at many sporting events and northwest at state as well as Enrollments were down from 2013 due to a large Year 6 leaving at the end of 2013 and two families relocating. Enrolments 80 60 Students Student representative’s message 40 20 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Year Male Female 3 State DEC School Student attendance profile Workforce composition Position Principal Classroom Teacher(s) Learning and Support Teacher/Librarian School Administrative & Support Staff Total Number 1 2 1 2 6 Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 K 94.2 96.5 96.9 96.3 97.1 95.7 1 91.8 93.3 94.3 94.6 96.6 94.9 2 91.3 95.7 96.3 94.9 94.7 96.3 3 93.8 94.7 94 95.4 97.1 96 4 96.2 96.1 95.3 93.9 95.7 93.6 5 90.9 95.7 93.2 94.2 96.2 97.4 6 94.7 88.8 94.9 94 94.5 93.6 Total 93.5 94.5 95.1 94.7 95.8 95.2 K 94.3 94.7 94.7 94.3 95 95.2 Willow Tree Public School had no staff member who identified as Indigenous. 1 93.7 94.2 94.2 93.9 94.5 94.7 Teacher qualifications 2 94 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.7 94.9 3 94.1 94.5 94.4 94.4 94.8 95 All teaching staff met the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools. 4 94 94.5 94.3 94.3 94.7 94.9 5 94 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.5 94.8 6 93.6 94 93.8 93.8 94.1 94.2 Total 92.1 94.4 94.3 94.2 94.7 94.8 The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. Qualifications Degree or Diploma % of staff 100% Financial summary This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance. Workforce information It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies. In 2014 there was three (3) permanent teaching staff. John Ireland: Principal Heather Jenkins: Class Teacher Kate Ramage: RFF, Librarian & Last (Term 1 & 2) Amanda Bale: Temp RFF, Librarian & Last (Term 3 & 4) Date of financial summary 30/11/2014 Income Balance brought forward Global funds Tied funds School & community sources Interest Trust receipts Canteen Total income Expenditure Teaching & learning $ 121488.73 68241.26 44019.60 0.00 3380.36 2751.00 0.00 239880.95 Key learning areas Excursions Extracurricular dissections Library Training & development Tied funds Casual relief teachers Administration & office School-operated canteen Utilities Maintenance Trust accounts Capital programs Total expenditure Balance carried forward 3623.28 5436.62 6500.40 1123.00 485.82 43307.19 10954.51 35586.64 0.00 11707.77 9163.98 2751.00 10956.00 141596.21 98284.74 4 A full copy of the school’s 2014 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the School Council and/or the parent body. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school. School performance 2014 During 2014 Willow Tree Public School has enjoyed a great deal of success academically, in the arts and on the sporting field. Best Start All Kindergarten students at Willow Tree Public School participate in ongoing formal assessment processes as part of Best Start. Students are assessed each term and their progress tracked as part of the online data collection. Supporting information is reported regularly to parents and is used to inform programming and planning. ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ARTS, SPORT and OTHER SCHOOL PROGRAMS Academic achievements NAPLAN In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10. The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments. Year 3: from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest for Year 3) Year 5: from Band 3 (lowest) to Band 8 (highest for Year 5) Year 7: from Band 4 (lowest) to Band 9 (highest for Year 7) Year 9: from Band 5 (lowest) to Band 10 (highest for Year 9) The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN). Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au and enter the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data. Arts The school looks for many opportunities to involve students in various arts based programs and the support from the schools P & C in this area is very strong. Quirindi Small Schools Arts Festival Willow Tree Public School participated in QSSAF along with five other local small schools. QSSAF is kindly coordinated by Mr Chris Jackson from Wallabadah PS. Each school performed an individual item and also came together for massed choir items. Some individuals from each school were selected as soloists to perform on the night. The focus for 2014 was a Christmas theme. Zinderella of Warranella Zinderella of Warranella was a production produced by past teacher, Elizabeth Gallagher, from Willow Tree Public School. A number of students participated in the play that was a fundraising initiative between the school P & C and the Warrah Creek Hall Committee. Public Speaking A select number of students participated in the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition held in Tamworth. 5 Spelling Bee Willow Tree Public School hosts its own school Spelling Bee where inclusion and participation is a focus. 100% of students participated in 2014. This Spelling Bee is also used as a selection process to determine representatives for the school to attend the Regional Final of the Premier’s Spelling Bee. Sport Highlights for 2014 Willow Tree Public School had a large number of students represent the school at Zone, Regional and State levels in a number of sports. Sport The Willow Tree Public Schools Physical Education and Sport programs are developed in conjunction with the K-6 Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Curriculum. The children are provided with a balanced program which emphasis fundamental movement skills, healthy lifestyle choices and the development of the whole child. The children participate in PE lessons twice times a week, with the emphasis on developing individual skills using minor games and individual skill development activities as part of the FMS program. Students represented Quirindi PSSA at Regional trials/carnivals in Swimming, Athletics, Touch Football, Netball, Soccer, Tennis, & Cross Country. The sport program, which runs on Fridays, allows children to participate in major games and was made more successful through the use of community facilities for athletics training after school, the Quirindi Pool for two weeks of intensive swimming in Term 4. Parental help enabled us to have smaller groups to better concentrate on specific skills. Some students participated in the Intensive Learn to Swim Program with all students improving on their skills. The school also had a number of students attend various Horse Sports Days held throughout the local area. Special mention should be made of Emily Wamsley who was named champion for her age division at every Horse Sports event she attended in 2014. 6 Other School Programs DEBATING In 2014 two debating teams were established, a junior team and a senior team. Both teams travelled to Timbumburi PS to participate in a day of debating with students from Timbumburi, Oxley Vale and Nemigha. Mr Rob Lewis worked as our adjudicator and also provided students with a short debating workshop. perspectives into other key learning areas as mandated. This is in accordance with the Department of Education & Community Aboriginal Education Policy. In accordance with ATSI Education Action Plan, all Aboriginal students are catered for in accordance with the relevant domains. Students enrolling in Kindergarten participate in transition to school lessons to increase school readiness. The school also works very closely with the pre-school on site to readily prepare incoming students. Strong connections are made with families to increase student engagement and attendance. Parents and students also create Personal Learning Plans for all ATSI students to address learning goals for Literacy and Numeracy and goal setting for the future. VISITING PRODUCTIONS Throughout the year we had a number of visiting productions to reinforce learning concepts happening in the classroom. This year we had a Science Discovery presentation, Puppet Tricksters for PDHPE, Responsible Pet Education and Life Education Bicycle Safety Days The school held two bike safety days throughout the year looking at Road Safety and other bicycle related issues. Local police attended and talked with the students on the topic of bike safety and students also put their bikes through a selfevaluation before participating in riding and skill activities. EXCURSIONS In 2014, students from years 3/4/5/6 had the opportunity to attend the Great Aussie Bush Camp for their school excursion. The major trip for K/1/2 was a day excursion to the Australian Reptile Park on the Central Coast. These excursions were well supported by all families. Significant programs and initiatives – Policy and equity funding Aboriginal education Each year at Willow Tree Public School all students participate in lessons across the curriculum which specifically educates students about Aboriginal history, culture and current Aboriginal Australia. Staff incorporates Aboriginal A small amount of equity funding that was provided went towards the employment of an SLSO to work with students in the classroom. The SLSO provided support specifically in Literacy and Numeracy subject areas. Willow Tree has made progress in 5 of the 6 areas outlined in the (ATSIEAP) Readiness For School – Our Kinder Smiles and Kinder transition program in conjunction with the on-site Pre-School provides future students with plenty of opportunities to visit the school. All incoming students are also provided with a Ready for School Kit containing Literacy and Numeracy activities/resources that can be used at home. Engagement and Connections – The school works continually with parents and the wider community to ensure positive connections between students, parents and the school. We do this through parent/teacher interviews, weekly newsletters, permission notes and holding school/community events. Attendance – The school works closely with all families to maintain a high level of attendance. Parents are often called directly when students are away to determine a reason for absence. The school also follows policy using a letter system to warn parents when their child’s attendance might be considered unsatisfactory. We also work closely with the regional HSLO to monitor student attendance. Literacy and Numeracy – See NAPLAN section of ASR. 7 Leadership, Quality Teaching and Workforce Development – All staff at Willow Tree Public School are required to embed Aboriginal Perspectives into everyday teaching and learning activities. The school also works collaboratively with the Liverpool Plains Network of Schools to build teacher capacity and leadership across the network. Multicultural education and anti-racism CWA INTERNATIONAL LUNCHEON Thank you to Mrs Harris and her fellow members of the Willow Tree CWA for their invitation for our years 3/4/5/6 students to attend their annual international luncheon. Students mingled with the CWA members and listened to facts about the country of study this year, Botswana. Mr Tehro Hei Hyvἃἃ Huomenta….Hello, Good Morning was how our captains greeted our special guest from Finland this. Mr Tehro, accompanied by our Director Mr Mark Young, visited Willow Tree Public School as part of an exchange visit between Principals and Directors of Education of Australia and Finland. Mr Tehro spoke firstly with years 3-6 about his homeland and what it was like there, it is hard to comprehend that for two months of the year the part of Finland where Mr Tehro comes from is in complete darkness and whilst we might ‘complain’ about the chilly starts to the morning, this is in fact nearly a heat wave for the visiting guest as he experiences weather up to minus 30°. Mr Tehro moved on into the K/1/2 classroom before accepting some thank you gifts and of course experiencing Mrs Cone’s famous sponge cake! (I think he may have even taken a snapshot to send to his family in Finland). Thank you to Mr Young for bringing Mr Tehro to our school. Kids Matter – Australian Primary Schools Mental Health initiative Willow Tree Public School and Wallabadah Public School are joining forces with other small schools in the area to implement ‘Kids Matter’ in our schools. “Kids Matter’ is a flexible, whole-school approach to children’s mental health and wellbeing for primary schools. It works both on its own and as an umbrella under which a school’s existing programs can comfortably fit. ‘Kids Matter’ provides the proven methods, tools and support to help schools, parents and carers, health services and the wider community nurture happy, balanced kids. Our involvement in this program will begin with a program launch later this term at Wallabadah Public School where we would love as many parents/families as possible in attendance. Buy a Bale Day WOW! What a fantastic day we all had as we gathered with students, staff and parents from Wallabadah Public School to raise funds for the Buy a Bale Campaign. What fantastic community support and spirit was shown as parents and grandparents from our school also joined us to raise funds for this worthy cause. The day commenced with students participating in rotational activities, there were sheep to be made, clucky chickens, scarecrows and a lesson on water cycles. Students enjoyed fresh fruit at 8 morning tea as well as being able to purchase yummy cupcakes made by our parents. The afternoons activities were a great deal of fun, students paid to enter various competitions from the egg toss to the gumboot toss, an egg and spoon race/relay and pin the tail on the cow. Imaginary cowpat lotto was a great success as was the guessing competition where competitors had to guess the number of skittles in the jar! We had cowboys, cowgirls, cows and even Ned Kelly made an appearance. 21 bales of Hay were donated to be sold with all profits going towards the campaign! A huge thank you must also go to the community members who generously donated throughout the day. After the counting Willow Tree and Wallabadah School’s together raised $1,643.50. We are absolutely blown away at the response and are proud to be able to contribute to help our fellow farmers in their time of need. It has definitely improved opportunities for all students in accessing the curriculum and has provided students with individual connections in the classroom. Low level adjustment for disability Funding went towards the employment of SLSO increasing the level of classroom participation and engagement for targeted students. The school has also worked closely with the regional Learning and Support – Assistant Principal to strengthen and improve teacher knowledge in recognizing and responding to students’ additional needs. Individual students have also been identified through the school’s Learning and Support Team to work directly with the LaST on a weekly basis. Areas of focus have included Literacy, Numeracy, Speech and Language. School planning 2012—2014 and evaluation School evaluation processes NSW public schools conduct evaluations to support the effective implementation of the school plan. The processes used include: NAPLAN Smart Data Analysis National Analysis Partnership Evaluation & School planning 2012-2014: School priority 1 Literacy (Target revised from 2012) Outcomes from 2012–2014 Increase the percentage of students achieving at or above in Grammar and Punctuation (NAPLAN) Evidence of progress towards outcomes in 2013: Socio-economic background Socio-economic background funding helped support the employment of an SLSO in the school. This has helped build a strong level of support for all families and helped build a strong school culture of inclusivity where all families feel comfortable in the school environment. - Maintained 100% of Year 3 students achieving at or above minimum standard. - Increased % of Year 5 students achieving at or above minimum standard from 71.4% 83.3%. - 75% of Y5 students meeting expected growth in Grammar & Punctuation. 9 Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014 Teacher analysis of NAPLAN identifying areas of student weaknesses in Grammar and Punctuation. Development of Grammar & Punctuation mini lessons to improve skills of students in need Plotting of student knowledge/understanding on K-6 Literacy Continuum. School priority 2 Numeracy (Target Maintained from 2012) Outcomes from 2012–2014 To increase % of Yr. 5 students achieving expected growth in Numeracy from 45% 55%. To maintain or increase % of yr. 7 students achieving expected growth in Numeracy. Evidence of progress towards outcomes in 2013: 75% of Year 5 students achieved expected growth. 100% of Year 5 students working at or above the national minimum standard. 25% of Year 7 students achieved expected growth. PARENTS – The Quality of School Life parent survey was completed mid-way through 2014. The results of this survey were very pleasing with almost all parents answering ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ for all questions on the survey. One parent outlined that they didn’t feel as though major decisions regarding the school were communicated well. STUDENTS – The School Life student questionnaire also returned positive results for the school. 94% of students outlined they were happy at school and 100% of students said they felt proud to attend Willow Tree Public School. An area of focus will definitely be self-image and self-confidence with 54% of students not feeling as though they were popular in the school setting. TEACHERS – The School Culture Staff Survey outlined more positive feedback with 100% of answers either being ‘always’ or ‘usually’ for all questions. Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014: Look at funding/organising time to continue stage-based Numeracy lessons (issue with school facing staffing changes due to enrolment numbers). Staff Development in teaching and learning of Numeracy. Staff development and awareness of Australian Curriculum Numeracy. Implementation of Parent Power Workshops to support parents in understanding the teaching and learning process of Numeracy concepts. Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction and In 2014, the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. Future Directions 2015-2017 School Plan NSW DEC is implementing a new school planning process for 2015-17. The new plan will be published on the school’s website from the beginning of Term 2 2015. STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1 – Student Learning Purpose: All students at Willow Tree Public School will be actively engaged in meaningful, challenging and innovative learning experiences. Learning opportunities will be differentiated to cater for individual learning needs (intervention strategies) and cross-stage classrooms while embedding current research based pedagogies into teaching practice including 21st Century Learning concepts. Their responses are presented below. 10 STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2 – Building Teacher Capacity Purpose: Our learning community has identified that consistent quality learning opportunities for all children can be provided through collaborative teacher learning initiatives supporting innovative, effective change in 21st Century teaching. Teachers and leaders at Willow Tree Public School and in the LPCS will continue to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning, assessment and measurement through quality professional learning and evidence-based approaches. This will ensure sound student learning outcomes and underpin strategic improvement. STRATEGIC DIRECTION Partnerships 3 – Community Purpose: To continually build and increase community relationships and community support of our students through a school-wide focus on student equity, wellbeing and welfare programs. The Liverpool Plains Community of Schools will be a major focus for staff, students and the school community. About this report In preparing this report, the self-evaluation committee has gathered information from evaluations conducted during the year and analysed other information about the school's practices and student learning outcomes. The self-evaluation committee and school planning committee have determined targets for the school's future development. Mr. John Ireland – Principal Mrs. Heather Jenkins – Classroom Teacher Mrs. Wendy Barnett - SAM School contact information Willow Tree Public School 46 Merriwa Road Willow Tree NSW 2339 Ph: 02 67471371 Fax: 02 67471210 Email: willowtree-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Web: www.willowtree-p.schools.nsw.edu.au School Code: 3451 Parents can find more information about Annual School Reports, how to interpret information in the report and have the opportunity to provide feedback about the report at: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/emsad/ asr/index.php 11