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2016 Annual Report to the School Community

School Name: Strathmore North Primary School

School Number: 4821

Nicole Di Marco

Name of School Principal:

Kate Maheras

Name of School Council President:

14/3/2017

Date of Endorsement:

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About Our School

School Context

Our school motto is about students, parents and staff “Learning and Growing Together”. At Strathmore North we pride ourselves on our strong community spirit, academic success and supportive student wellbeing and engagement programs. We live by our Values of Team Spirit, Respect, Personal Best, Independence, Caring, Responsibility, Honesty and Friendliness. Our mission statement is: To support the social, emotional and academic growth of all Strathmore North students, so that they are able to make informed, responsible choices throughout their lives and make meaningful contributions to the community. The school was established in 1961 and is in the South Western Region of the Department of Education. It is 10km from the CBD, in a well-established residential area which is rich in sporting and service clubs. The school mainly takes enrolments from Strathmore and Pascoe Vale and a small number from Oak Park and Strathmore Heights. During the last 5 years there has seen a significant demand for enrolment with the increased housing density. The vast majority of our Prep students have attended preschool and most of our Year 6 students enroll at Strathmore Secondary College.

In 2016, we had 398 students organized in 16 straight class home groupings. The number of English as an Additional Language students continued to increase. Our strong leadership structure encouraged and supported the growth of our highly effective teaching and educational support staff. Throughout the year we worked closely as professional learning communities; analysing our teaching, assessing and monitoring student progress and planning at the point of need for all children. 2016 was the first year of implementation of our new Strategic Plan (2016 – 2019). It was a time of significant change with the appointment of a new Principal and Assistant Principal to lead the school in its identified direction. Our Annual Implementation Plan gave leadership clarity in the intended outcomes and guided the work of the school in 2016 through continual monitoring and reflection. Our core student learning focus was in Mathematics and in the implementation of a whole school instructional model based on ‘Classroom Instruction That Works’. Two curriculum leaders supported our staff and students through directed team planning and classroom coaching. Educational highlights included the Performing Arts concert and the implementation and the launch of the Year 3 and 4 Bring Your Own Device program. Our school in 2016 had 28.76 equivalent full time staff. This was broken into 2.0 principal class, 19.7 teachers and 7.06 education support staff. We are committed to maintaining a culture of continual improvement by reflecting on our performance. We value our great students, committed staff and our supportive community.

Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO)

The 2015 Peer Review data indicated that a safe and collaborative culture was in place at SNPS. Although this area was monitored for effectiveness in 2016, the focus of our work was on: Initiative 1: Building Practice Excellence: The most commonly cited characteristic of an effective school is one which has high quality instruction in every classroom. At SNPS we chose McREL’s ‘Classroom Instruction That Works’ as the instructional model that was adopted. This was combined with a collaborative approach to professional learning through our PLC structure and the introduction of reflective professional walks and observations centred on building quality, consistent teaching practice. Initiative 2: Curriculum Planning and Assessment: The school’s second priority was to develop a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum with a focus on Mathematics in 2016. This helped to ensure that all teachers are aware of the content that they are responsible for teaching and that teachers actually implemented it consistently across the school. The focus was on teachers’ assessing the impact of their Mathematics learning programs and adjusting them to suit individual needs so that students could reach their potential. Essential Learning Maps detailing key vocabulary and what children should be able to Know, Understand and Do for each unit of work were developed. These will be embedded in 2017 through Professional Learning Community teams planning with curriculum leaders.

Achievement

Strathmore North Primary School continued to be recognised as a high performing school as evidenced by the AusVELS/ Victorian Curriculum and NAPLAN results. The school's improvement strategy in 2016 allowed for team planning and regular moderation of student performance. Each semester teachers participated in moderation sessions within and across teams. In 2016 Literacy intervention programs targeted students assessed as below the expected achievement level in our Early Years classrooms. Programs such as LEXIA Core 5 and Reading Plus were also embedded to support and extend all students literacy skills. Our Professional Learning Community (PLC) team structures and processes were strengthened in 2016 with an SNPS PLC model developed, implemented and published to guide how our teams operate with a relentless focus on student learning rather than team administration. Our PLCs focus on the four key questions:

1. What is it we expect students to learn 2. How will we know when they have learned it? 3. How will we respond when they don’t learn it? 4. How will we respond when they already know it?

Our pedagogy team also published the SNPS Teaching and Learning handbook in 2016 that documents all key expectations and agreements of staff at our school. We have also found this very useful for recruitment and staff induction. Comprehensive planning

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and programs in the teaching of English and Maths, incorporating the use of ICT will continue to be the focus of targeted improvement in 2017

Curriculum Framework implemented in 2016

Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework

AusVELS

Victorian Curriculum

X

A Combination of these

Engagement

At SNPS a climate of mutual good will, trust and co-operation was clearly evident in the 2016 school year. Our school community was actively involved in the life of the school and participation was valued and promoted. This was reflected in our classroom programs, numerous school events, parent forums and our five active School Council Sub- Committees: Education, Buildings and Grounds, Finance, Out of School Hours Care (YMCA), and Fundraising. In 2016 our school had a dedicated and supportive School Council and we continued to share a good relationship with our broader school community, which was valued and promoted. Our school continued its commitment to a strong educational focus in partnership with the students and their families. This was achieved through clear and consistent communication via Compass, three way conferences, newsletters and parent forums. Attendance patterns were tracked across the year by our Attendance Officer and we moved to Compass communication with families to help track explanations for unexplained absences. Calls were made to families of children with attendance concerns and Student Support group meetings were arranged as necessary. The importance of school attendance was highlighted in the school newsletter and at assemblies to clearly promote the message ‘it’s not okay to be away.’ The school also focused on student lateness with leadership staff being active in the yard at the start of the school day. Attendance was recorded on student reports and so was the number of late days. This is a continued focus in the current Strategic Plan for 2016-2019. In 2016 our school offered a broad range of enrichment programs including School Choir, Chess Club and interschool tournaments, You Can Do It, Family Life, Life Education and school camps. We offered a comprehensive transition program to support students moving into, within and from our school onto Secondary College. Some of these included the Prep Buddies and Pastoral Care Program, visits to the kindergartens, Year 6 Parent Transition Forums, Student Transition and Visiting Speakers Programs and the P-6 Step Up and Meet the Teacher Initiatives. Our Specialist Programs included Physical Education, Japanese, Performing and Visual Arts and Library. We continued to offer interschool Summer and Winter Sports, Athletics, Cross Country, School House Sports, P-2 Swimming, and a Prep Perceptual Motor Program.

Wellbeing

The school built on its well-established Welfare Program to continue to accommodate a number of students with additional needs. Our intervention and support programs included a Language Support Program, Lexia/Core 5, Bridges, EAL support and the Wise Ones Program (for gifted students). We continued to implement a welfare tracking system recorded on Compass. This enabled all staff to access the most up to date information (e.g. medical, incident reports) when following up any welfare issues. Our school continued a strong commitment towards maintaining a high standard of discipline and an established culture where students felt valued and engaged, by having meaningful opportunities to contribute to the school. We continued to pride ourselves on developing student leadership and voice though the mentoring of School Captains, the establishment of a Junior School Council and class council meetings, the Sports House and Vice Captains Program and other leadership roles across the school.

For more detailed information regarding our school please visit our website at http://www.snps.vic.edu.au/

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Performance Summary

The Government School Performance Summary provides an overview of how this school is contributing to the objectives of the Education State and how it compares to other Victorian government schools. All schools work in partnership with their school community to improve outcomes for children and young people. Sharing this information with parents and the wider school community will help to deliver community engagement in student learning in the school, which is a state-wide priority of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes. Accessible data tables are available for all schools separately – please refer to 'AR_Appendix_Data_Tables' which can be found on the School Performance Reporting website.

School Profile

Enrolment Profile A total of 398 students were enrolled at this school in 2016, 183 female and 215 male. There were 22% of EAL (English as an Additional Language) students and 1% ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) students.

Overall Socio-Economic Profile Based on the school's Student Family Occupation and Education index which takes into account parents' occupations and Education.

Parent Satisfaction Summary Average level of parent satisfaction with the school, as derived from the annual Parent Opinion survey. The score is reported on a scale of 1 to 7, where 7 is the highest possible score.

School Staff Survey Measures the percent endorsement by staff on School Climate derived from the annual School Staff Survey. The percent endorsement indicates the percent of positive responses (agree or strongly agree) on School Climate from staff at the school. Data are suppressed for schools with fewer than three respondents to the survey for confidentiality reasons.

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Performance Summary

Achievement

Teacher judgment of student achievement Percentage of students in Years Prep to 6 working at or above age expected standards in: • English • Mathematics For further details refer to How to read the Performance Summary.

Student Outcomes

School Comparison

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Performance Summary

Achievement

Student Outcomes

School Comparison

NAPLAN Year 3 The percentage of students in the top 3 bands of testing in NAPLAN at Year 3. Year 3 assessments are reported on a scale from Bands 1 - 6.

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Performance Summary

Achievement

Student Outcomes

School Comparison

NAPLAN Learning Gain Year 3 - Year 5 Learning gain of students from Year 3 to Year 5 in the following domains; Reading, Numeracy, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation. NAPLAN learning gain is determined by comparing a student's current year result to the results of all ‘similar’ Victorian students (i.e. students in all sectors in the same year level who had the same score two years prior). If the current year result is in the top 25%, their gain level is categorised as ‘High’, middle 50%, is ‘Medium’ and bottom 25%, is ‘Low’.

NAPLAN Learning Gain does not require a School Comparison.

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Performance Summary

Engagement

Student Outcomes

School Comparison

Average Number of Student Absence Days Average days absent per full time equivalent (FTE) student per year. Common reasons for non-attendance include illness and extended family holidays. Absence from school can impact on students’ learning. A school comparison rating of ‘lower’ indicates that the absence rate in this school is greater than what we would estimate, given the background characteristics of their students. Average 2016 attendance rate by year level:

Low absences <------> high absences

Low absences <------> high absences

Prep Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Yr4 Yr5 Yr6

96 % 93 % 94 % 93 % 93 % 93 % 94 %

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Performance Summary

Wellbeing

Student Outcomes

School Comparison

Students Attitudes to School - Connectedness to School Measures the Connectedness to School factor derived from the Attitudes to School survey completed annually by Victorian government school students in Years 5 to 12. The school's average score is reported here on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest possible score.

Students Attitudes to School - Student Perceptions of Safety Measures the Student Perceptions of Safety factor derived from the Attitudes to School survey completed annually by Victorian government school students in Years 5 to 12. The school's average score is reported here on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest possible score.

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How to read the Performance Summary

What are student outcomes? Student outcomes show the achievements of students in this school in English and Mathematics. They also show results in national literacy and numeracy tests and, for secondary colleges, the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) examinations. They provide important information about student attendance and engagement at school. For secondary, P-12 and specialist schools, the Performance Summary also provides information about how many students at this school go on to further studies or full-time work after leaving school. You can see these results for the latest year, as well as the average of the last four years (where available).

What is a School Comparison? The School comparison is a way of comparing school performance that takes into account the different student intake characteristics of each school. A School comparison takes into account the school’s academic intake, the socio-economic background of students, the number of Aboriginal students, the number of non-English speaking and refugee students, the number of students with a disability, and the size and location of the school. The School comparison measures show that most schools are doing well and are achieving results that are ‘similar’ to what we would estimate given the background characteristics of their students. Some schools are doing exceptionally well with the students they have, and have ‘higher’ performance. Some schools have ‘lower’ performance after taking into account their students’ characteristics – these schools will receive targeted support to ensure that there is improvement.

Looking at both the student outcomes and school comparisons provides important information about what a school is doing well and the areas that require further improvement. More information on school comparison performance measures can be found at: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/manage ment/pages/performreports.aspx What is the meaning of ‘Data not available’? For some schools, there are too few students to provide data. For other schools, there are no students at some levels, so school comparisons are not possible. Newly opened schools have only the latest year of data and no averages from previous years. The Department also recognises the unique circumstances of Specialist, Select Entry, English Language and Community Schools where school comparisons are not appropriate.

What is this school doing to improve?

All schools have a plan to improve outcomes for their students. The ‘About Our School’ statement provides a summary of this school’s improvement plan.

The Performance Summary also allows you to compare student outcomes for students at this school with the outcomes of students in all other Victorian government schools.

Additionally, NAPLAN learning gain charts are provided for each of the NAPLAN domains. These compare a student's current year NAPLAN result to the results of all ‘similar’ Victorian students (i.e. students in all sectors in the same year level who had the same NAPLAN score two years prior). If the current year result is in the top 25% their gain level is categorised as ‘High’, the middle 50% is categorised as ‘Medium’ and the bottom 25% is categorised as ‘Low’.

What are the changes in student achievement? The Victorian Curriculum F–10 has been developed to ensure that curriculum content and achievement standards enable continuous learning for all students, including, students with disabilities. The objectives of the Victorian Curriculum are the same for all students. The curriculum offers flexibility for teachers to tailor their teaching in ways that provide rigorous, relevant and engaging learning and assessment opportunities for students with disabilities. The ‘Towards Foundation Level Victorian Curriculum’ is integrated directly into the curriculum and is referred to as ‘Levels A to D’.

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Financial Performance and Position

Financial performance and position commentary

In 2016 the program budgets, receipts and expenditure were monitored through our finance committee and school council. Government revenues were also subsidised by our parents’ strong support with school voluntary contributions. The fundraising team provided outstanding support by raising nearly $38,000 which was mainly used to finance the purchase of new classroom furniture. Bendigo Bank has continued to support the school with a grant of $2000 so that disadvantaged students could be included in all optional school activities, such as camps as well as funding our Year 6 Excellence Awards. The school ended the 2016 year with a surplus however most of this is committed for expenditure at the start of 2017 as well as being built into the 2017 budget. We also have a preserved staffing fund of $131,000 to cater for possible future staffing needs in our Workforce Plan.

Financial Performance - Operating Statement Summary for the year ending 31 December, 2016

Financial Position as at 31 December, 2016

Revenue

Actual

Funds Available Actual High Yield Investment Account $104,920

Official Account $21,272

Other Accounts $161,302

Total Funds Available $287,494

Student Resource Package

$2,650,676

Government Provided DET Grants $414,274

Government Grants Commonwealth $8,813

Revenue Other $8,754

Locally Raised Funds $373,709

Total Operating Revenue

$3,456,226

Expenditure

Financial Commitments

Operating Reserve $119,687

Asset/Equipment Replacement < 12 months $29,406

Revenue Receipted in Advance $4,928

School/Network/Cluster Coordination $1,997

Provision Accounts $131,075

Other recurrent expenditure $400

Total Financial Commitments $287,494

Student Resource Package

$2,599,599

Books & Publications $12,915

Communication Costs $7,454

Consumables $83,442

Miscellaneous Expense $201,932

Professional Development $17,361

Property and Equipment Services $240,455

Salaries & Allowances $111,222

Trading & Fundraising $40,815

Utilities $28,832

Total Operating Expenditure

$3,344,027

Net Operating Surplus/-Deficit

$112,199

Asset Acquisitions

$5,340

Student Resource Package Expenditure figures are as of 03 March 2017 and are subject to change during the reconciliation process. Misc Expenses may include bank charges, health and personal development, administration charges, camp/excursion costs and taxation charges. Salaries and Allowances refers to school-level payroll.

All funds received from the Department, or raised by the school, have been expended, or committed to subsequent years, to support the achievement of educational outcomes and other operational needs of the school, consistent with Department policies, School Council approvals and the intent/purposes for which funding was provided or raised.