2016 Spring Farm Public School Annual Report · Spring Farm Public School Barley Road Spring Farm NSW 2567 Spring Farm, 2570 [email protected] 4658 3057 Page 2 of

Spring Farm Public SchoolAnnual Report

2016

4657

Printed on: 8 May, 2017Page 1 of 16 Spring Farm Public School 4657 (2016)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2016 is provided to the community of Spring Farm 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.

Donovan Jance

Principal

School contact details

Spring Farm Public SchoolBarley Road Spring Farm NSW 2567Spring Farm, 2570www.springfarm-p.schools.nsw.edu.auspringfarm-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au4658 3057


School background

School vision statement

At Spring Farm, we believe it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every student is provided with opportunities toachieve personal success as they develop skills, knowledge and understandings that will allow them to be successfullearners and active and informed citizens. Students will be resilient, creative learners that are able to workcollaboratively, communicate with others and think critically. They will be able to transfer their skills and understandingsacross all areas and contexts, and develop positive relationships with their peers, teachers and community.

Students will be reflective and engaged lifelong learners that will always strive for their personal best. Staff will deliverexplicit, balanced, differentiated and integrated quality teaching and learning programs designed to meet the diverseneeds of all learners. They will actively participate in professional learning opportunities, both in school and the widereducation community, to support and lead the implementation of innovative, creative and research–based pedagogies.

Staff will use formative assessment strategies and data to provide relevant, differentiated teaching and learningexperiences and inform future programs. The school community will work in a supportive and collaborative partnershipwith the school to ensure our students are successful and engaged learners, active and informed citizens and futurelearners. This will be underpinned by practices that are innovative, authentic and consistent

School context

Spring Farm Public School is a new and contemporary school in the middle of a rapidly growing housing estate nearCamden, in Sydney’s south–west. The traditional custodians of the land are the Dharawal people.

The school’s population currently comprises of 86 students from an increasingly diverse cultural, religious andsocio–economic backgrounds. There is a 22% LBOTE (Language Background other than English) population, withstudents coming from Arabic, Portuguese, Swahili, Urdu, Maltese, Russian and Khmer background. The school has 5ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) students.

As the suburb of Spring Farm continues to grow, our student population will also reflect this growth. From January 2016and our starting enrolment of 60 students, it is evident the expected continued and rapid growth of the school'senrolments will increase student numbers. The school was open from January 2016 on a temporary site at NarellanAnnexe. Staff and students remained at the annexe for the duration of Term One.

The school was completed in early April 2016. It has the capacity to enrol 500 students, including four support classes.Spring Farm Public School is built to support and enhance quality and engaging teaching and learning, where innovationand a collaborative learning culture is embraced. At Spring Farm Public School we aim to: provide quality and engagingeducation for all students; provide students with the academic and social skills to contribute to and create positive futuresfor themselves and the broader community; and encourage students to become global citizens and lifelong learners. Thestudents, staff and community are currently working collaboratively to make the school the hub of the community withlocal residents able to share the facilities such as local church groups, dance groups and the karate group who hire theschool hall.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

For all schools (except those participating in external validation processes):

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. The framework supportspublic schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practiceacross the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

Teachers at Spring Farm Public School have discussed the School Excellence Framework and its implications forinforming, monitoring and validating our journey of excellence. Time was dedicated at our School Development Day inTerm 3 to refine the school plan and refer to the School Excellence Framework so that the school plan could stronglyalign to the various elements. Staff reflected on the progress being made across the school as a whole based on the


expectations identified in the School Excellence Framework. This ensured that our improvement efforts align with thesehigh level expectations.

In the domain of Learning, our efforts have primarily focused on wellbeing, curriculum and learning. The strongperformance of the school in creating a positive and productive learning culture amongst staff and students has been afeature of our progress. The fundamental importance of wellbeing is providing an outstanding way to build a culture oftrust, respect, valuing of each other and developing resilience. The results have been evident in the way that studentsare relating to each other and, importantly, in the increased engagement of students in learning. Attention to individuallearning needs has been another component of our progress throughout the year. Students with high learning needs arebeing identified early due to having Parent Teacher interviews in Term 1. A three–way partnership was establishedwhereby, teachers, students and their parents are increasingly involved in planning and supporting the learningdirections of their child. We have also successfully provided for the strong participation and contribution of our Aboriginalcommunity by engaging and working with the Aboriginal Education Student Liaison Officer, Aboriginal Educational andWellbeing Officers to develop pathways that enable our Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students to engaging in theirlearning and be successful at school.

In the Teaching domain, the school's major focus has been on collaborative practices for staff members. Importantopportunities have been provided to staff members in relation to planning, teaching and growing as a team in each of ourstages. Changes in teacher practice, including the use of technology, data analysis, classroom observations, feedbackand greater reference to the literacy and numeracy continuum. This has resulted in a more accurate understanding ofstudent’s knowledge and their understanding of key concepts. Importantly, staff members are developing evidencebased practice through their reflections and evaluations of collective work against the continuums.

In the domain of Leading, our priorities have been to develop an inclusive culture of active leadership where all teachersand staff actively in leading various practices and processes. The consistency and effectiveness of implementation of ourkey strategic directions throughout the year has been due to a strong foundation of leadership capacity building acrossthe school. This approach recognises that leadership development is central to the achievement of school excellence.The leadership team has been successful in leading the initiatives outlined in this report, building the capabilities of staffto create a dynamic school learning culture.

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 process will assist the school to refine the strategic priorities in our School Plan, leading to furtherimprovements in the delivery of education to our students.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework please visit

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


Strategic Direction 1

Student Engagement, Achievement and Wellbeing

Purpose

To ensure all students are receiving quality teaching, educational achievementsand fostering the wellbeing developmentof students within the schoolenvironment. Students are actively engaged and connected with their learning to achievestage appropriate outcomes. Students are empowered to be tolerant, resilient and successful global citizens.

Overall summary of progress

Our school–wide focus on Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) has enabled us to develop a whole approach in thisstrategic direction through a successful approach to student wellbeing and learning culture. PBL has ensured the use ofa consistent approach to teaching and learning of appropriate behaviours in the various school contexts. Student’sbehaviour features consistent, positive and respectful relationships throughout the school community within the variouscontexts of a school environment.

All staff established learning goals within their classrooms, utilising data walls that were stage appropriate. Throughcooperative planning, teachers collaboratively focused on student learning outcomes and continuously reviewed wholeschool direction.

Students were consistently moving along the clusters in line with the Literacy and Numeracy continuum.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Progress achieved this year Funds Expended(Resources)

• At least 95% of students areable to identify the schools PBLexpectations. • 100% of staff implement thePBL expectations through regularclassroom teaching and learningprograms. • Staff will continue to enterPLAN data every 5 weeks. Staffwill collaborate regularly in stageand whole school meetings todiscuss students learningdirections and outcomes toensure consistent teacherjudgement and student growthacross the stages.

School expectations were established and signageand in class posters were developed and disturbedaround the school for reference and explicitteaching. Staff are entering PLAN data every 5weeks. Staff collaborated regularly across stages todiscuss students learning directions and outcomesto ensure consistent teacher judgement andstudent growth across the school.

$5000

Large PBL signs on theplayground for referenceduring morning, lunch andrecess times.

Next Steps

• Establish a whole school survey to establish the percentage of students who are able to identify whole school PBLexpectations.

• Regular stage meetings focusing on PBL expectations conducted with minutes to demonstrate collaborationbetween classes ensuring consistent teacher judgement.

• Whole school staff meetings to discuss the levels for the merit award system to ensure all new staff are aware.Establish a whole school recoding system to track the levels of awards.



Quality Teaching and Leadership

Purpose

To ensure a school culture and vision of lifelong learning for students, teachers, leaders and the community. To providequality, future–focused professional learning opportunities to all staff with a focus on improving student learningoutcomes and wellbeing. To encourage all staff to take on active leadership as we build and develop our school cultureand community


Cooperative planning with a focus on writing has been a key professional learning focal point in 2016. All teachers haveparticipated in collaborative planning with the goal of improving student learning outcomes, particularly in writing. Thishas included regular moderation of writing tasks in line with the Department of Education literacy continuum andparticipation in regular readings on current research. These initiatives are having significant impact on student learning,particularly in writing, across the whole school.

Project Based Learning (PBL) has been a key professional learning focus in 2016. All staff have participated inprofessional learning on project based learning with a focus on student and community engagement and building lifelonglearners. All students participated in project based learning and self–assessment based on their PBL final product.Students were engaged in collaborative learning, creativity and critical thinking.




• 80% of students achieving atstage expected cluster level forwriting • 90% of students demonstrategrowth over a year in numeracy. • 100% of staff implementingTEN strategies. • 100% of staff set consistentclear learning intentions andsuccess criteria utilisingFormative assessment strategies.

At the end of 2016 over 80% of studentsdemonstrated growth on literacy continuum inwriting. All teachers reported a perceivedimprovement in their delivery of writing lessons as aresult of cooperative planning.

At the end of 2016 all staff were using learningintentions and success criteria as part of theirregular teacher practice. All staff had implementedvisible learning goals in the classroom. Staffreported an increase in student self–regulation inrelation to where they are going next.

Cooperative planningteacher relief

$40 000

Next Steps

• Engage the whole staff in data collection and tracking systems to enhance our focus on impact and to better planongoing student learning growth.

• A combined literacy and numeracy focus, implementing whole school Targeting Early Numeracy’s (TENs)program.

• On going professional learning for all new teachers in Project– Based Learning.



Community Partnerships and Alliances with Schools

Purpose

To ensure strong and meaningful community partnerships with parents and the broader community to support studentengagement and wellbeing. To build and lead alliances with other schools by creating a culture of collaboration, systemleaderships and open and meaningful communication to ensure that all students and staff are lifelong and engagedlearners.


In the development of a new school, a number of measures were introduced to develop open and positivecommunication with parents and the community. The establishment of a school Facebook page saw an average weeklyreach of 600–1000 people, gaining insights to the day–to–day events of the school.

A number of community events were run throughout the year to encourage community participation. These included:Open Day, Education Week, Assemblies, Easter Hat Parade, Sporting Carnivals, Grandparents’ Day,ANZAC/Remembrance Day, 100 days, Parent Café, Parent Helpers, Book Week, Presentation Day.

Staff members participated in a range of professional development opportunities throughout the year that reflectedschool focuses such as writing, Positive Behaviour for Learning, Formative Assessment, Technology, Project–BasedLearning.

Policy and procedure development meetings were also a focus.Establishment of connections with Elderslie High Schoolfor high school transitions, as well as a number of external agencies to ensure that the social wellbeing of all studentswas supported.




• A 5% of student familiesparticipating in school events andextracurricular activities. • All staff participate incollaborative ProfessionalDevelopment opportunities withinand beyond our network ofschools. • 5% increase of outsideagencies assisting the school insocial programs.

An average of 63% of student families participatedin school events and extracurricular activities (72%K–2 and 54% 3–6).

An average weekly reach of 600–1000 from schoolFacebook and 200 from school Twitter counts, andan average of 500 visitors a month to the schoolwebsite.

Parent Induction and Parent Helper programestablished.

100% of staff participated in ProfessionalDevelopment opportunities throughout the year,including 3 teachers at Macarthur Pods, 1 teacherparticipating in Regional Dance Committees, 2teachers participating in PSSA meetings anddevelopment, 1 teacher presenting at TeachMeetsand all teachers participating in TeachMeets

Connections made with ASPECT to supportstudents with ASD, as well as support theestablishment of the MC class*Connections madewith Uniting Care to present at KindergartenOrientation

Camden Community connections made to developrelationships with parents and support them in anew community

Community ConsultationFunding

$3000





• A 5% of student familiesparticipating in school events andextracurricular activities. • All staff participate incollaborative ProfessionalDevelopment opportunities withinand beyond our network ofschools. • 5% increase of outsideagencies assisting the school insocial programs.

Speech Therapist employed once a fortnight toassess student speech needs and makerecommendations for further support.

Connections with Ederlsie High School to ensuresmooth transitions to High School

Next Steps

• Increase the percentage of student families participating in school events and extracurricular activities to 70%. • Maintain and improve connections with outside agencies to support student development. • Develop and participate stronger Community of Schools connections to ensure all staff are participating in a range

of professional development.


Key Initiatives Impact achieved this year Resources (annual)

Aboriginal background loading At Spring Farm Public School, we haveensured that there is a strong three–waypartnership with parents or carers, teachersand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderstudents who worked together to createPersonal Learning Pathways (PLP) thatensure academic, emotional achievement andcultural development.

Each PLP has a focus on improving learningin literacy and numeracy. All parents wereinvolved in the development and monitoring ofthe PLPs. Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander students are making sound progressthrough in school support and throughservices provided by Aboriginal EducationStudent Liaison Officer, AboriginalEducational and Wellbeing Officer andthrough Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation.

Cultural significance are celebrated throughwhole school participation and throughworkshops that individuals Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander students can attend,such as, Macarthur Aboriginal Kids Day andparents and carers attending Macarthur LocalAboriginal Education Consultative Group.

$3,931

Strategic direction 1

Teacher Relief

$1000

$1000

In School support utilisingSchool Learning SupportOfficers and StudentServices

$931

Providing StudentAssistance for AboriginalStudents to attend culturalsignificant programs suchas, Macarthur AboriginalKids Day and transitionalprograms

Low level adjustment for disability Spring Farm Public School have utilised thefunding for teacher time for in–class supportand for release time for class teachers toanalyse their student’s data against thecontinuum and plan fortnightly lessons thattarget specific areas for each student.

School Learning Support Officers wereemployed to assist individuals and smallgroups of students. The school also employeda speech therapist for one day each fortnight.Engagement of a Speech Therapist hassupported students with language needs.

Three teachers including the Learning andSupport Teacher attended courses aboutsupporting students with a language delay.These teachers have modified their teachingprograms and have supported other teachers.Students have moved to higher clusters onthe literacy continuum.

The school’s Learning and Support teamprocesses have been enhanced with a focuson supporting teachers in personalisinglearning and support. The school used theNationally Consistent Collection of Data(NCCD) and the personnel from Educationalservices such as, Assistant Principal Learningand Support teacher to engage teachers inmeaningful professional dialogue about howto cater for the varied needs of students intheir classes. The learning and supportteacher facilitated classroom teachers’discussions about adjustments to supportindividual students.

$61,441

Strategic direction 2

School Learning SupportOfficer and SpeechTherapist


Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

Throught the QTSS funding, the teachers hadthe opportunity to develop a collaborativepractices environment which allowed them tojointly plan and observe each other'slessons.

The Assistant Principal to work with a Stageonce a fortnight. The class teachers and theAssistant Principal were able to identify focusstudents, identifying target behaviours andplanning appropriate fortnightly lessons tosupport student development. Discussionswere had regarding student achievement andclose examination of the continuum markersensured teacher consistency. This intensivefocus on writing saw significant growth in thearea of writing across the school fromKindergarten to Year 6. In each class,70%–75% were working at or above stageexpectation in writing by the end of 2016.

Teachers reported that this assisted them toimprove their understanding of studentlearning and effective classroom practice.

Effective mentoring and coaching practicesprovided constructive feedback to individualteachers on lesson delivery, programming,assessment and classroom management.

All teachers received support withaccreditation processes and the newPerformance and Development Framework.

Assistant Principal andteacher relief

$5000

Support for beginning teachers All beginning teachers receive additionalsupport in the first two years of their career.These teachers are provided with additionalteaching release time to access a variety ofsupport.

As the funding was provided in semester two,half of the total amount has been rolled overto the next year.

In 2016, the funding enabled professionaldevelopment to be conducted throughinnovative ways which was closely alignedwith the school’s Strategic Directions and withthe teacher’s Professional DevelopmentPlans.

Teachers and their supervisor workedcollaboratively to develop explicit ProfessionalDevelopment Plans (PDPs) with closelyreference to the Australian ProfessionalStandards for Teachers. This was regularlymonitored and acted upon by theteachers,their supervisor and mentor.

The Beginning Teacher Support providedopportunities for class teacher to be relievedfrom their class to participate in cooperativeplanning initiatives that allowed them toidentify student literacy and numeracy needs.Teachers were able to consistently planprograms and pool resources to brokeraccess to intervention programs and have acommon goal and agreed focus.

Teacher relief

$40 000


Support for beginning teachersThrough this support, teachers wereempowered to develop their own personallearning networks. This was evident in 2016where two beginning teachers participated inan action research and presented theirfindings to the Macarthur Pods Executiveinitiative.

Teacher relief

$40 000


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2016

Boys 48

Girls 48

In the beginning of 2016, spring Farm Public schoolenrolled 60 students. Throughout the year, enrolmentsgrew due to the school moving into its new premises.New homes were also being completed which resultedin more families moving into Spring Farm andincreasing the school enrolments. This trend ofincreased enrolments will continue in the future.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

K 95.3

1 92.3

2 92.4

3 94.2

4 88.9

5 91.9

6 95.5

All Years 93.6

State DoE

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

K 94.4

1 93.9

2 94.1

3 94.2

4 93.9

5 93.9

6 93.4

All Years 94

Management of non-attendance

Most year groups were close to the state average.Kindergarten attendance exceeded state average. Theschool worked closely with the Learning Support Teamand with the Home school Liaison Officer to assistindividual students and their families attend school on aregular basis.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Assistant Principal(s) 1

Classroom Teacher(s) 2

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.5

Teacher Librarian 0.17

School Administration & SupportStaff

1.56

Other Positions 0

*Full Time Equivalent

The establishment of Spring Farm Public School had aworkforce comprising of a Principal, an assistantPrincipal, three permanent teachers, a seniorAdministration Manager and two support staff. Anadditional Assistant Principal who assisted in theestablishment of the school for Term 2016. As studentenrolments grew, teacher entitlements increased whichenabled more teachers and support staff work at theschool. At the end of 2016, Spring Farm Public Schoolwas appointed an Aboriginal Teacher who continuedher role as an Aboriginal Educational Wellbeing Officerfor 2017.

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

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Significant amounts of professional learning wereundertaken by Spring Farm Public School staff in2016.

A whole school writing task identified a need to supportstudent learning and development in the area of writing.An intensive focus, supported through cooperativeplanning sessions with the Assistant Principal once afortnight saw Stages working on identifying focusstudents, identifying target behaviours and planningappropriate fortnightly lessons to support studentdevelopment. Discussions and reflections were had


regarding student achievement and close examinationof the continuum markers ensured teacher consistency.This intensive focus on writing saw significant growth inthe area of writing across the school from Kindergartento Year 6. In each class, 70%–75% were working at orabove stage expectation in writing by the end of 2016.

Three beginning teachers, in their first year ofpermanent teaching were provided with additionalfunding to work with an experienced mentor. Twoteachers completed their accreditation with BOSTES atthe ‘Proficient’ level and one teacher completed theirmaintenance of accreditation at ‘Proficient’.

All teaching and support staff were trained inanaphylaxis procedures, first aid and CPR. Otherregular compliance training was conducted in areas ofchild protection, complaints handling and code ofconduct.

All teachers collaboratively worked on Project–BasedLearning (PBL) units. An Assistant Principal fromMerrylands East Public School provided professionallearning to Spring Farm Public School teachers on howto design and implement Project Based learning units.This resulted in all Kindergarten to Year Six studentsand their teachers working through their Project BasedLearning units. Students gain knowledge and skills byworking to investigate and respond to an engaging andcomplex question, problem, or challenge. Studentswork collaboratively while engaging with their learningand the world around them. It has encouraged thecommunity be more involved with child’s learning asstudents regularly showcase their learning to thecommunity. Teachers reported that this assisted themto improve their understanding syllabus outcomes,provided more engaging learning opportunities andassisted in effective classroom managementpractices. Due to the collaborative approach to the PBLunits, effective mentoring and coaching practicesprovided constructive feedback to individual teacherson lesson delivery, programming and assessmentstrategies.

Two Spring Farm teachers participated in an actionresearch and presented their findings at the MacarthurPods Executive initiative. This was very beneficial forthese teachers to share best practice and to make acontribution within the network. A Spring Farm teacherwas involved in the Cross Network Project and focusedon the dance initiative. This provided her with valuableexperience in choreographing dance and to lead andmanage various dance groups that contain variousstudents and their parents from different schools andregions.

Financial information (for schoolsusing both OASIS and SAP/SALM)

Financial information

The three financial summary tables cover 13 months(from 1 December 2015 to 31 December 2016).

The financial summary consists of school income

broken down by funding source and is derived from theschool Annual Financial Statement.

Spring Farm Public School received an EstablishmentGrant to purchase necessary items to develop a newschool. Purchasing student and staff resources was thepriority. This included classroom resources and officestationary. The school had to purchase a number ofcomputer desktops and monitors to enable the teachersand office staff to function effectively in the school.General Assistance equipment such as, protectiveclothing, tools and a ride on lawn mower waspurchased for the maintenance of the school grounds.

The biggest expenditure has been the ongoingpurchasing of essential resources for the the growingenrolments of students. This has included, PM readers,mathematics equipment, sports equipment, librarybooks and computer technology such as, iPads.

Income $

Balance brought forward 0.00

Global funds 320 475.42

Tied funds 121 471.91

School & community sources 27 502.75

Interest 0.00

Trust receipts 757.00

Canteen 0.00

Total income 0.00

Expenditure

Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 49 417.53

Excursions 300.00

Extracurricular dissections 6 001.89

Library 1 003.52

Training & development 701.10

Tied funds 46 846.64

Short term relief 1 219.46

Administration & office 29 642.44

School-operated canteen 0.00

Utilities 8 339.51

Maintenance 427.38

Trust accounts 0.00

Capital programs 10 352.32

Total expenditure 0.00

Balance carried forward 0.00


The information provided in the financial summaryincludes reporting from 27 January to 31 December2016.

2016 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 0.00

Revenue 336 837.45

(2a) Appropriation 328 397.29

(2b) Sale of Goods andServices

10.00

(2c) Grants and Contributions 8 129.52

(2e) Gain and Loss 0.00

(2f) Other Revenue 0.00

(2d) Investment Income 300.64

Expenses -71 892.57

Recurrent Expenses -71 892.57

(3a) Employee Related -35 977.73

(3b) Operating Expenses -35 914.84

Capital Expenses 0.00

(3c) Employee Related 0.00

(3d) Operating Expenses 0.00

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

264 944.88

Balance Carried Forward 264 944.88

There is no opening balance recorded in the SAPfinance table. The opening balance for the school forthis reporting period is recorded as the BalanceBrought Forward in the OASIS table.

The OASIS Balance carried forward amount (ie, fundson date of migration) is included in the (2a)Appropriation amount in the SAP table.

Any differences between the OASIS Balance carriedforward and (2a) Appropriation amount is the result ofother accounts and transactions being included in the(2a) Appropriation amount.

Financial summary equity funding

The equity funding data is the main component of the'Appropriation' section of the financial summary above.

2016 Actual ($)

Base Total 674 798.26

Base Per Capita 9 149.77

Base Location 0.00

Other Base 665 648.50

Equity Total 67 185.44

Equity Aboriginal 0.00

Equity Socio economic 0.00

Equity Language 0.00

Equity Disability 67 185.44

Targeted Total 0.00

Other Total 9 062.03

Grand Total 751 045.73

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

School-based assessment

In our foundational year, Spring Farm Public Schoolwas able to show significant growth and development inthe area of student learning and wellbeing outcomes.Students at our school have come from a significantnumber of schools, bringing a variety of backgroundknowledge and experiences in learning and studentwelfare and wellbeing. In Term One, a whole schoolwriting task identified a need to support studentlearning and development in the area of writing. At thecompletion of this assessment, no student was workingabove a Cluster 8 in writing, meaning many studentswere working well below stage expectation.

An intensive focus, supported through cooperativeplanning sessions with the Assistant Principal once afortnight saw Stages working on identifying focusstudents, identifying target behaviours and planningappropriate fortnightly lessons to support studentdevelopment. Discussions were had regarding studentachievement and close examination of the continuummarkers ensured teacher consistency. This intensivefocus on writing saw significant growth in the area ofwriting across the school from Kindergarten to Year 6.In each class, 70%–75% were working at or abovestage expectation in writing by the end of 2016.

The commencement of a new school saw manystudents require additional social and learning supportto engage completely with school and learningprograms. The 5 classroom teachers, school counsellorand executive worked closely to establish clear learningand support protocols. Referral processes were set upand strategies such as the employment of a schoolfunded School Learning Support Officer (SLSO) set up.


As a result, students in Stage One that were identifiedas requiring additional support received consistentSLSO time to support them in the area of phonics andnumeral identification/number sequencing.

Furthermore, students in Years 3–6 could be referred toschool counsellor and other agencies if needed to inorder to further support them with their learning andsocial needs.

At Spring Farm Public School, we place strong value onthe development of the whole child. Academic successand achievement was a core focus for us throughout2016. Sporting success and achievement was also afocus. We ensured students were provided withopportunities to participate in GALA Days in OzTag,AFL and Soccer. AFL and Soccer teams allowedstudents to help Narellan Public School field teams andgain experience in these sports. In OzTag, studentsparticipated successfully in a number of games, the firstteams to represent our school at any GALA Day eventsas our own school. Cross Country and AthleticsCarnivals were also held, which saw students from ourschool move to represent our school at the Zonecarnivals. One student qualified for the Regional CrossCountry carnival.

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.

In Spring Farm Public School’s foundational year, theNAPLAN results showed no students were belowNational Minimum Standards in Year 3 Numeracy,Reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation. InReading, 45.5 % of Year 5 students achieved greaterthan or equal to expected growth. Year 5 studentsachieved 36.4% greater than or equal to expectedgrowth in numeracy.

The My School website provides detailedinformation and data for national literacy and numeracytesting. Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.auand insert the school name Spring Farm PublicSchool and select GO to access the school data.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

In 2016, Spring Farm Public School sought the opinions

of parents/carers, students and teachers about theschool through a Tell Them For Me Survey.

All parents surveyed agreed the school kept theminformed of events and that information shared by theschool was clear and easy to understand. Over 90% ofparents and carers strongly agreed that the school hadhigh expectations for students to succeed and thatstudents are encouraged to do their best. They alsostrongly agreed that there is a clear guideline forexpected behaviours and teachers are consistent whenenforcing these guidelines. 90% of the parentcommunity strongly agreed that the school work hard todevelop the social well–being of students, particularlysupporting students in developing friendships.

90% of students indicated a sense of belonging andwere socially engaged at Spring Farm Public School.Students respected the school’s values andexpectations, which directly related to students highlevel of interest and motivation. 95% of studentsbelieved their success came from high quality teacherinstruction and from a positive teacher studentrelationship. 80% of students indicated that they hadformed positive student relationships.

98% of teachers at Spring Farm Public Schoolindicated they had a sense of belonging to the school’svalues and vision. 100% of the teachers workedtowards developing a positive and inclusive culture whoset a high standard, provide quality instructions andpromote the core values of public education. Allteachers believed in developing the Whole Child, whichmotivated them to provide a wide range ofextra–curricular programs such as sport, dance andpublic speaking.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Spring Farm Public School is committed to improvingthe educational outcomes and wellbeing of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander students and their families.Our goal is to provide cultural awareness to ourAboriginal and non–Aboriginal students and thecommunity. The school utilised a number of keypersonnel from the Educational Services (GlenfieldEducational Office) who assisted the students and staffmake authentic connections with our Aboriginalstudents and their families. The Aboriginal EducationStudent Liaison Officer and Aboriginal Educational andWellbeing Officers assisted the school in mentoringindividual high risk students and assisted teachersimplement Aboriginal perspective in their teaching andlearning programs. Activities were designed to educatestudents about Aboriginal culture and the meaningbehind many Aboriginal traditions and dreamtimestories.

During the year, a senior Aboriginal student attendedthe Macarthur Aboriginal Kids Day and parents andcarers attended the Macarthur Local AboriginalEducation consultative Group. These opportunities area great success and allowed students and their families


to immerse themselves in their culture and meet othermembers of their local community.

In 2016 the school continued working with outsideagencies such as Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation toassist and support Aboriginal students and theirfamilies. As it was Spring Farm Public School’sfoundational year, the staff and the community werevery proud and honoured to have an Aboriginal studentand a teacher, be the 2016 recipients of the AboriginalStudent Achievement Award held at the University ofWestern Sydney.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Spring Farm Public School ensures that multiculturalperspectives are embedded into daily teaching andlearning practice. Students develop knowledge, skills,values and attitudes to truly appreciate and understandour culturally diverse society. Primarily this is deliveredthrough exploring the history and culture that influenceAustralia’s diverse population.

Teachers ensure they foster an inclusive schoolcommunity and provide an anti–discriminatoryenvironment for all our students and families. This year,we participated in Harmony Day and displayed studentartwork around the school and on the school’sfacebook page.

The school also organised several Parent Cafes whichheld focus groups with parents, teachers and studentsduring the year, to gain feedback from the communityand build understanding of cultural diversity in theschool community. Spring Farm Public School was theMacarthur representatives for The Power of PositiveThinking 2016 Parent conference. Eight parentrepresentatives from different ethnic backgroundsattended the conference celebrating the diversity andpositive thinking.


Documents

2016 Spring Farm Public School Annual Report · Spring Farm Public School Barley Road Spring Farm NSW 2567 Spring Farm, 2570 [email protected] 4658 3057 Page 2 of