2016 Gundagai Public School Annual Report - Amazon S3 · 2017. 4. 21. · and basketball courts, a cricket ground, fixed play equipment, sandpit, covered€ outdoor learning area,

Gundagai Public SchoolAnnual Report

2016

2102

Printed on: 19 April, 2017Page 1 of 14 Gundagai Public School 2102 (2016)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2016 is provided to the community of Gundagai Public School as an account of the school'soperations and achievements throughout the year.

It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made to provide high quality educational opportunities forall students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self–assessment that reflect the impact of keyschool strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equityfunding.

Vicki Somerville

Principal

School contact details

Gundagai Public SchoolWilliam StGundagai, 2722www.gundagai-p.schools.nsw.edu.augundagai-p.School@det.nsw.edu.au6944 1811


School background

School vision statement

Gundagai Public School provides high quality educational opportunities for every child every day.

School context

Gundagai Public School provides learning opportunities for approximately 160 students and is located in the Riverinaregion along the Hume Highway 80 kilometres north east of Wagga. The school enjoys the support of a dedicatedteaching and support staff with extensive skills and experience. The school has a positive relationship with the P&C andbroader community.

The P5 school is set in magnificent grounds which cover 5.5 ha (13 acres) and include 2 large grassed ovals, tennisand basketball courts, a cricket ground, fixed play equipment, sandpit, covered outdoor learning area, a school hall andspacious and air conditioned classrooms. The school offers extensive sporting and cultural opportunities and theintegration of technologies into all learning settings.

The school community has changed somewhat overtime, moving away from the traditional farming backgrounds to amore transient population, giving the school a diverse student population. Many families leave the community to sourcework, often returning again. 16% of students identify as having aboriginal background and no students are ESL.

Gundagai Public School continues to build a culture that has learning at the centre of decision making and actions andwhere all learners have a broad variety of strategies to utilise when learning throughout their life across multiple contexts.

The school uses the skills,language and strategies of Positive Behaviour for Learning to reinforce the core values ofSafety, Responsibility and Learning in all school settings. The school is committed to implementing How2Learn acrossthe school and is focusing on building a school culture which will empower students to take responsibility for their ownlearning and see it as a major focus.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework,school achievements and the next steps to be pursued.

This year, our school undertook self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework and participated in an externalvalidation. The framework supports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a cleardescription of high quality practice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading. During the externalvalidation process, an independent panel of peer principals considered our evidence and assessment of the school’sprogress, aligned with the standards articulated in the School Excellence Framework.

The results of this process indicated:

In the domain of Learning Gundagai Public School is Sustaining and Growing. The demonstrated commitment withinthe school community to take collective responsibility for student learning and success has created a learning culture thatis aspirational. How2Learn underpins a productive learning environment ensuring students acknowledge and developresponsibility for their own learning. Positive Behaviour for Learning provides a comprehensive, integrated whole schoolapproach to student wellbeing. Regular and targeted professional learning grounded on student wellbeing has led to theupskilling of staff to efficiently and confidently deliver quality teaching and professional practice that enable students toconnect, succeed and thrive in their learning. The school has been successful in ensuring students, staff and the broaderschool community understand the behaviours, attitudes and expectations that enhance wellbeing and lead to improved


student outcomes. A highly effective Learning and Support Team is integral to learning, implementing and monitoring avariety of educational programs to ensure all students’ needs are catered for. Whole school planning and supportsystems are designed to address the learning needs and engagement of all students. A key feature of this planning is thecollaborative planning between teachers, support staff, inter agency support, DEC support staff,parents/careers andstudents themselves.

In the domain of Teaching Gundagai Public School is Sustaining and Growing. In line with Strategic Direction 2, staffundertook whole school extensive targeted professional learning in the evidence based quality programs of Writing inthe Middle Years, Focus on Reading, TEN,(Targeted Early Numeracy) TOWN,(Taking Off With Number) andHow2Learn. Targeted support programs of L 3,(Learning, Literacy, Language), Reading Recovery, MINILIT (MeetingInitial needs in literacy) and MULTILIT(Making Up for Lost time in Literacy)have ensured student assessment data isreviewed regularly to identify student achievements and progress and inform future directions. These programs are usedto drive and sustain ongoing, school wide improvement in teaching practice and student outcomes. Staff now recognisesthe value of actively committing to collaborative professional learning and the school has focused strongly onCollaborative Practice through such things as collaborative planning days, professional development, peer mentoringand identified Instructional leaders. Identifying expertise within the staff and formulating teams made up of a leadteacher and associate members has ensured professional learning is aligned to the school plan and teachers with aparticular strength or interest can access quality professional learning, often undertaking facilitator training, to initiateprograms in the school and mentor staff requiring support. This ensures that professional learning has awhole–of–school focus, is targeted to supporting student needs and improving outcomes, is matched against theProfessional Standards of Teachers and is underpinned by high quality teaching and leadership.

In the domain of Leading Gundagai Public School is Sustaining and Growing. Strong, strategic and effective planningunderpins all that occurs at the school. The School Plan is at the core of continuous improvement efforts, with theschools vision and strategic directions driving this area. The milestones and school budget are intrinsically linked to thisplan. There is a culture of high expectations with feedback being actively sort and results analysed to ensure clearimprovement measures have been identified in our endeavours of continuous whole–school improvement. Theconsistency and effectiveness sustaining our key strategic directions throughout the year has been due to a strongfoundation of leadership capacity building across the school. This approach recognises that leadership development iscentral to the achievement of school excellence. The schools streamlined communication services with newsletters,weekly radio broadcasts,the Skoolbag App, Payments Online and the school website, ensures communication iseffective and streamlined. Resource allocation is centred on reaching milestones and the school prides itself on excellentphysical resources,increasing technology devices and a high quality administration and teaching staff and leadershipteam.

The new approach to school planning, supported by the new funding model to schools, is making a major difference toour progress as a school. the achievements and identification of next steps are outlined in the following pages of thisreport. Our self–assessment and the external validation process will assist the school to refine the strategic priorities inour School Plan, leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework:

http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about–the–department/our–reforms/school–excellence–framework


Strategic Direction 1

Students: Achievement and Engagement

Purpose

To ensure all students are actively engaged in meaningful and challenging learning experiences.

Overall summary of progress

The school community continues to strengthen and deliver on school learning priorities with staff implementing thequality teaching and learning programs of L3, FOR, MINILIT, MULTILIT, RR, TEN and TOWN. These programs areevident in every classroom, enhancing teacher differentiation and individualised learning, enabling students todemonstrate growth on the Literacy and Numeracy Continuums. There are systematic policies and processes to identifyand address student learning needs and teachers regularly use student performance data and other student feedback toevaluate growth and identify point of need teaching.

Student engagement is pivotal and staff are committed to developing the capacity of all stakeholders to confidently use agrowth mindset which encompasses deep thinking, innovation and creativity. All staff are trained in Phase One ofHow2Learn and are implementing the 6 modules within their classrooms, building learning power and enabling studentsto take responsibility for their own learning.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Progress achieved this year Funds Expended(Resources)

Students will reach stageappropriate outcomes, achieve ator above 12 months yearlygrowth on theLiteracy andNumeracy continuums and moveinto the proficiency bands inNAPLAN.

How2Learn is implementedacross the school, buildinglearning power and improvingengagement and learning.

• L3, GRAD, TEN and TOWN processes areembedded in all teaching and learning programsand 5 weekly data entry is used to explicitly planways to increase student Literacy and Numeracyoutcomes. • Instructional Leader Model is used to mentorstaff ensuring regular data analysis drivesdifferentiation and supports staff set highexpectations for learning to challenge and engagestudents. • School Learning and Support Officers deliverMultiLit to targeted students • A SLSO is placed in every classroom 4 days aweek during Literacy and Numeracy sessions. • All staff completed Phase One How2Learn andare effectively implementing it in classrooms.

• Targeted Aboriginalstudents support programsin Literacy and Numeracy $17701 AboriginalLoading • Targeted in class SLSOsupport $16390 Low LevelDisability • How2Learn Phase Onetraining and mentoring forall staff$16 100 Socio–economicbackground

Next Steps

• Leadership Team underpinned by the school focus areas of How2Learn, Positive Behaviour for Learning andLearning and Support to continue driving student achievement and engagement

• Explicit learning intentions and success criteria are embedded in teacher programs and class lessons • Implement a consistent approach to improving writing across the school • Deliver explicit Professional Learning around the 5 How2Learn dispositions, ensuring students develop a repertoire

of effective habits • Embed split screen lesson delivery to accelerate the learning of all students into teaching and learning programs • Deliver Professional Learning of How2Learn Phase 2 Modules 2 and 3 to whole staff



Staff: Best Practice and Professional Growth

Purpose

To build the capabilities of learning, teaching and leadership in all staff.


Considerable resources were placed upon building teacher capacity with a focus on improved teaching methods inLiteracy and Numeracy. Targeted professional learning has empowered staff to effectively use assessment for, as andof learning, collaboratively analyse this data, record it on the Literacy and Numeracy Continuums and from this plan andprogram differentiated pedagogy to promote achievement.

Teachers continue to demonstrate commitment to their ongoing development as members of the teaching profession andthe implementation of the Performance Development Framework has led to the professional growth of all staff at anindividual and collective level. The school is scaffolding pedagogical practices to ensure a collegial culture and uniformapproach to the delivery of quality teaching and learning programs across the school. Teachers work together providingand receiving planned constructive feedback from peers and school leaders to improve teaching practice. The schoolidentifies expertise within its staff and draws on this to further develop its professional community.




Staff undertake targetedprofessional learning in qualityprograms to drive and sustainongoing, school wideimprovement in teaching practiceand student outcomes.

.

• Professional Learning in L3, TEN and TOWNand Writing in the Middle Years ensured uniformcurriculum delivery centred around evidence basedexemplary practices. • Building Capacity Leading Learning projectundertaken, focusing on improving Numeracyresults through authentic data collection andanalysis.

• Staff training andsupport in quality programsto ensure uniform deliveryacross the school$26100 Socio –economicbackground

Teaching staff shows growthagainst the National TeachingStandards and School ExcellenceFramework.

.

• Setting common professional goals , targetedprofessional learning and collaborative practices. • The School Excellence Framework, AustralianProfession Standards for Teachers and "WhatWorks Best" were localised to the school settingand used to reflect on and plan for improvement.

• Teachers provide andreceive support within andacross stages from peers,Instructional Leaders andMentors$5181 Socio –economicbackground

A school wide assessmentschedule and data recordingsystem drives differentiated futurefocussed teaching and learningprograms.

.

• School wide assessment schedule with 5 weeklydata being recorded electronically. • Continuums used to track student growth andplan differentiation.

• Instructional Leader andMentor support$4000 Socio–economicbackground

Next Steps

• Staff undertake High Impact Leadership project to initiate improvement in comprehension outcomes for all students • Professional Learning undertaken in Building Blocks in Numeracy to improve Numeracy outcomes for all students • Staff PDPs are used to drive improvements evidenced by the Australian Teachers Standards, School Excellence

Framework and personal aspirations



School: Dynamic Educational Community Culture

Purpose

To create a positive culture within the school community where all stakeholders feel a sense of belonging and wellbeing.


The continued and consistent focus on Positive Behaviour for Learning has seen the school achieve a successfulapproach to wellbeing and learning culture resulting in positive changes in behaviour and more respectful relationshipsthroughout the school community. The use of a consistent approach to the teaching of appropriate behaviours and theexpectations around these behaviours in all contexts, in all school wide settings is clearly evident amongst staff.

Extra curricula and enrichment opportunities continue to allow staff to develop their leadership experience and studentsto enhance their interests and capabilities through life long learning opportunities whilst building communityconnections. The school actively engages in community projects and is utilising the knowledge and expertise of localidentities in relevant areas. Local community links were strengthened through partnership programs formed withspecialist groups such as REEC, Greening Australia and Landcare.

Transition programs between our pre services agencies and our local high school continues to strengthen, resulting inmore effective and supportive transitions into and out of our school. The school’s links with the local Indigenouscommunity have been strengthened through Aboriginal art workshops, student recognition at NAIDOCcelebrations, commencing an Aboriginal Outdoor Learning Area and executive representation at AECG meetings.




The school has a comprehensiveand inclusive framework toimprove the individual andcollective wellbeing of all studentsas evidenced by PositiveBehaviour for Learning and TellThem from Me data.

• Allowing parents to complete the Tell Them fromMe survey electronically greatly improved thenumber and distribution of parent responses. Theresults from staff, parents and students were usedto evaluate school programs and culture. • PBL purpose and processes are beingembedded into the wider school communitydeveloping greater understanding and support.

• Completion of PBLsignage • Implementation ofelectronic data recordingsystem • Professional Learning–Internal Coach and wholestaff$7000 socio–economicbackground

Parents and the wider communityare given opportunities to engagein a broad range of schoolinitiatives and develop a deeperunderstanding andconnectedness.

• Students embraced a wide variety of extracurricula opportunities provided to enhance theirinterests and capabilities and were excellent schoolambassadors. • Due to unforseen external issues theEnvirochamps have not completed their project thisyear but will continue to work on the AboriginalOutdoor Learning Centre in 2017.

• Enrichment programs • Increasing ipad bank $3000 socio economicbackground • Aboriginal OutdoorLearning Area • Indigenous workshops,NAIDOC activities$2000 aboriginalbackground loading

Next Steps

• Implementation of Phase 2 PBL, with classroom matrix, procedures and routines • Student Wellbeing explicitly taught across the school through the implementation of Bounce Back • Technology used to develop stronger community connections and provide greater learning and engagement

opportunities for students • Continuation of the Aboriginal Outdoor Learning Centre • Transition programs for students entering and exiting Gundagai Public school strengthened


Key Initiatives Impact achieved this year Resources (annual)

Aboriginal background loading • All Aboriginal students are expected toreach Stage outcomes in Literacy andNumeracy. To support this students have anIndividual Learning Pathway (ILP) linked tothe Literacy and Numeracy continuum. • Students not achieving expected growthtargets are identified by the Learning andSupport Team and their needs areaddressed through an explicit focus on differentiation of curriculum delivery. • Students identifying as Aboriginal hasincreased significantly and a number ofspecific programs were implemented to raisethe Aboriginal identity in the school, raise theprofile of Aboriginal culture and build strongcommunity links and partnerships betweenthe Aboriginal community and the school.Reference: Strategic Direction 1 and 3

$17 604

Teacher relief– planningdays for professionalsupport with writng,communicating andimplementing PLP's

$2104

SLSO– MultiLit Support

$13500

Enrichment opportunities toenhance the interests andcapabilities of Aboriginalstudents

$2000

Low level adjustment for disability • The school Learning and Support Team meets fortnightly to ensure all students arecontinuing to demonstrate growth against thecontinuums and design and implement support where needed. • Targeted in class and specialist supportprograms are delivered by the LaST andSLSO's to identified students. Progress isreviewed each term.Reference: Strategic Direction 1

$16390

SLSO Wages

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

• Targeted collaborative practice and peermentoring programs have been undertakenby identified teachers, including PeerCoaching Training and The Middle ExecutiveLeadership Project, to allow expertteachers to mentor colleagues in theimplementation of quality teaching andlearning programs. • Mentoring teachers have been released towork with staff on the collection and use ofstudent performance data and other studentfeedback to evaluate and modify theirteaching practices. This data analysisinforms the schools learning goals andmonitors progress towards them.Reference: Strategic Direction 2

0.116 staffing allocation

Teacher Wages

Staff release for mentoring,peer coaching andcollaborative practice.

Socio–economic background • A strong focus on providing explicit,systematic support to students not reachingexpected growth targets is a major role of the Learning and Support Team. Year Onestudents access Literacy support throughMiniLit (Meeting Initial Needs in Literacy) and students in Year 2–6 access Multilit(Making Up For Lost Time in Literacy) .Purchasing resources for bothprograms, extensive professional learning and the daily implementation of the programby School Learning and Support Officers isfunded through this area.Reference: Strategic Direction 1 • Staff are committed to using the How2Learnpedagogy to build the capacity of

$62 500

Teacher Wages: IncreaseLeaning and Supportallocation from 0.7 to 1.0allowing LaST to implementtargeted programs, up skillstaff and supervise SLSOstaff and associatedprograms. Extra LaST timepurchased

$46 000

Training: Teacher wages


Socio–economic background all stakeholders to confidently use a growthmindset which encompasses deep thinking,innovation and creativity. The 3 schoolHow2learn lead trainers have now trained allstaff in Phase One of this program. Time wasallocated to prepare for the delivery of thesemodules , support staff within their classroomsettings and evaluate deliverables.Reference: Strategic Direction 1

$16 100

Professional Learningundertaken by all staff inthe delivery andimplementation of PhaseOne

Support for beginning teachers • Beginning and New Scheme Teachers have been provided with a range ofopportunities and activities to support thedevelopment of their skills. These activitiesinclude coaching and mentoring sessions withtheir supervisor, and the establishment ofpeer mentoring and collaborativepractice lesson observations, specificallytargeting professional learning on classroommanagement and differentiation. • Support was provided to teachers in the gathering and annotating appropriateevidence to contribute to their accreditation,and for those who have achieved this, beginthe Maintenance period.Reference: Strategic Direction 2

$13377

Beginning Teacher Course

$1198

Teacher wages

Mentoring, targetedcollaborative practice andextra release

$11 802


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2013 2014 2015 2016

Boys 73 92 95 93

Girls 78 79 78 66

It is a requirement that the reporting of information forall students be consistent with privacy and personalinformation policies.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

K 94.1 90.9 92.7 90.9

1 94 91.8 93.6 91.2

2 93.6 92.6 95 91

3 92 92.9 89.3 91.8

4 94.1 92.9 94.7 91.6

5 94.2 92.7 91.6 91.7

6 93.4 93.3 92.9 93.6

All Years 93.6 92.5 92.7 91.8

State DoE

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

K 95 95.2 94.4 94.4

1 94.5 94.7 93.8 93.9

2 94.7 94.9 94 94.1

3 94.8 95 94.1 94.2

4 94.7 94.9 94 93.9

5 94.5 94.8 94 93.9

6 94.1 94.2 93.5 93.4

All Years 94.7 94.8 94 94

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Assistant Principal(s) 1

Classroom Teacher(s) 6.59

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.21

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.7

Teacher Librarian 0.4

School Administration & SupportStaff

2.02

Other Positions 0.06

*Full Time Equivalent

The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requiresschools to report on Aboriginal composition of theirworkforce. At present no staff members at GundagaiPublic School identifies as being of AboriginalHeritage.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirementsfor teaching in NSW public schools.

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 40

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Staff at Gundagai Public School participate inProfessional Learning activities and maintain aProfessional Learning Plan aligned to the StrategicDirections within our school plan. Professional Learningis recognised as providing vital training for improvingskills, competencies and knowledge for all staff and inturn improving learning outcomes for students. In 2016activities were undertaken at Staff Development Days,Staff Meetings, Professional Learning Team meetingsand selected professional development courses whichwere financed through the Professional Learning tiedfund and from the school’s global budget.

In 2016 staff participated in professional learning onusing data to inform practice, incorporating the Literacyand Numeracy continuums, PLAN and Best Start dataanalysis. Literacy training focused on MultiLit,


MiniLitand Language, Learning and Literacy (L3) andNumeracy training focused on Targeted EarlyNumeracy (TEN) and Taking Of With Numeracy(TOWN) training. Professional Learning around theimplementation of the new History and Englishcurriculum was a focus of whole staff training. 3 staffmembers undertook training in Writing in the MiddleYears with the intention of delivering professionallearning and support across the school in 2017.

How2Learn saw 3 staff lead trainers deliver the 6modules of Phase One How2Learn to all staff andsupport the implementation of this across the school.Positive Behaviour for Learning continued to underpinWellbeing and our Internal coach undertook training tofurther support this role. Executive Development forSchool Leaders, Financial Management, Oliver trainingand Performance Development Framework trainingensured staff kept abreast with current practices. Staffalso undertook mandatory training in CPR, ChildProtection, Code of Conduct, Workplace Health andSafety and Anaphylaxis e– learning.

One new scheme teacher gained Board of StudiesTeaching and Education Standards (BoSTES)accreditation, two new scheme teachers entered theirfirst period of maintenance at proficiency and two newscheme teachers entered their second maintenancecycle.

Our commitment to professional learning has ensuredthat professional dialogue has been productive and wellreceived and a sustainable model for improvement andgrowth exists.

Financial information (for schoolsusing OASIS for the whole year)

Financial information

This summary covers funds for operating costs anddoes not involve expenditure areas such as permanentsalaries, building and major maintenance.

A full copy of the school's 2015 financial statement canbe obtained by contacting the school.

Income $

Balance brought forward 74 771.80

Global funds 136 159.88

Tied funds 154 996.18

School & community sources 60 708.58

Interest 2 676.07

Trust receipts 3 862.20

Canteen 0.00

Total income 433 174.71

Expenditure

Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 24 559.93

Excursions 29 631.72

Extracurricular dissections 26 347.67

Library 4 052.54

Training & development 4 554.02

Tied funds 110 257.55

Short term relief 11 135.36

Administration & office 19 153.29

School-operated canteen 0.00

Utilities 23 931.36

Maintenance 25 678.52

Trust accounts 3 862.20

Capital programs 8 240.47

Total expenditure 291 404.63

Balance carried forward 141 770.08

A full copy of the school’s financial statement is tabledat the annual general meetings of the parent and/orcommunity groups. Further details concerning thestatement can be obtained by contacting the school.


School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results acrossthe Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy andnumeracy assessments are reported on a scale fromBand 1 to Band 10. The achievement scalerepresents increasing levels of skillsand understandings demonstrated in theseassessments.

The NAPLAN results show continued improvement inYear 3 Literacy results over the past 4 years. Extensivesupport in our Stage One classrooms now sees nostudent in Year 3 below minimum standard and a hugeincrease in the number of students moving into theproficient bands in in all Literacy areas. The biggestarea of growth has been in writing where 65% ofstudents are in the proficiency bands. Year 5 resultsshow less significant growth, however explicit programshave been put into Stage 2 and 3 classrooms toaddress the needs of the students . Results indicatethat students are performing adequately howeverreading and writing have been explicitly targeted asidentified areas where gains can be made with moreexplicit and targeted strategies.


The NAPLAN results show continued improvement inYear 3 Numeracy results over the past 4 years.Extensive support in our Stage One classrooms nowsees no student in Year 3 below minimum standard anda huge increase in the number of students moving intothe proficient bands in in all Numeracy areas. Year 5results also highlight the success of support programswith no students now in the bottom bands. Enrichmentprograms have now been implemented in Stage 2and 3 classrooms to address the needs of the studentsachieving middle bands results with the aim of steadyimprovement seeing more students move into theproficient bands.


Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Each year schools are required to seek the opinions ofparents, students and teachers about the school.

In 2016 the school sought the opinions of parents,students and teachers in a variety of ways. Theseincluded: Tell Them From Me Survey, Online surveys, aquestionnaire and meeting feedback from staff, parentsand students.

Responses indicated that parents continue to be happywith the school. They have been informed about theprogress of, and are in agreement with the SchoolPlan. Parents articulated that they feel welcome whenvisiting the school and feel they are confident inapproaching their children's class teacher. They valuethe methods of communication including the newsletterand Schoolbag App. They have acknowledged thatcommunication between parents and class teachershas improved and value and appreciate the two parentteacher information evenings and the contact madewhen students are receiving support. The lack ofattendance at P&C meetings continues to concern theP&C body and a more distributed involvement in allP&C events is an area that has been identified asneeding to improve.

The students indicated that they are well supported withtheir learning and understand the significance ofconstructive and timely feedback. They feel confident intheir understanding of Positive Behaviour for Learningand can articulate and explain the schools 3 values.How2Learn pedagogy resonates strongly with thestudents and they express that it has made them valuethe learning process more. They appreciate the extracurricula activities on offer and identified wide sportingopportunities and the initial implementation of theAboriginal Outdoor Learning Centre as the mostpositive of these. Greater opportunities with technologywere identified as an area they wish to engage morewith.

Teachers are very proud of the school and the job theyare undertaking as leading learners and are commitedto setting high standards of achievement for allstudents at the school. Staff indicated that they werepleased to be heavily involved in professional learningopportunities this year and value the impact it has hadacross the school in delivering quality teaching andlearning opportunities. They felt that involving all staffin many of the professional learning opportunitiesimproved professional dialogue and collaborativepractice. The on line Personalised Learning coursefurther improved their knowledge of the importance ofand ability to deliver differentiated learning within theirclassrooms. How2Learn, TEN, TOWN and Writing inthe Middle Years were highly valued with staffrequesting further consolidation in 2017. The use of theInstructional Leader and Peer Coaching model hasgreatly improved the professional networking andcollegial support amongst all staff.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Our school is strongly committed to improving andenhancing learning outcomes for indigenous studentsand their wellbeing. Aboriginal Perspectives areintegrated across Key Learning Areas, with a particularfocus on the newly written History and ConceptualEnglish Units, ensuring all students are provided with arange of aboriginal experiences and perspectives.Protocols have been enhanced within the school torecognise the importance of culturalspecificity. Acknowledgement of Country is said on allformal occasions and at school assemblies. Indigenous students have been publicly recognised fortheir success at the Proud and Deadly Awards.NAIDOC Day is celebrated. All aboriginal students havePersonalised Learning Pathways linked to the Literacyand Numeracy continuums which are communicated toparents. Further connections with the AECG and LocalIndigenous community were greatly increasedthroughout 2016 and we value the connections wehave with our Aboriginal families and the widercommunity and continually strive to strengthen this link.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Gundagai Public School values the diverse multiculturalnature of Australian society and celebrates the diversityof nationalities represented at our school. MulticulturalPerspectives are integrated across Key LearningAreas, with a particular focus on the newly writtenHistory and Conceptual English Units ensuring allstudents are provided with a range of culturalopportunities. Students celebrate Harmony Dayfocusing on the cohesive and inclusive nature of ournation. Students enhanced their understanding ofmulticulturalism by delivering speeches on topics fromthe Multicultural Perspectives Public Speakingcompetition. The anti–racism contact officer isavailable to build understanding of cultural diversity orrestorative practices if needed.


Documents

2016 Gundagai Public School Annual Report - Amazon S3 · 2017. 4. 21. · and basketball courts, a cricket ground, fixed play equipment, sandpit, covered€ outdoor learning area,