REGISTERED SCHOOL NUMBER: 1650

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL

COMMUNITY

St Thomas More Primary School Hadfield 2016

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Contents

Contact Details 2

Minimum Standards Attestation Error! Bookmark not defined.

Our School Vision Error! Bookmark not defined.

School Overview Error! Bookmark not defined.

Principal’s Report 6

Education in Faith 8

Learning & Teaching 10

Student Wellbeing Error! Bookmark not defined.5

Child Safe Standards 19

Leadership & Management 21

School Community 26

VRQA Compliance Data 27

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Contact Details

ADDRESS 30 Angus Street, Hadfield, 3046

PRINCIPAL Mrs Marcy DeNardis

PARISH PRIEST Father Peter Hoang

SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR Mr Drew Hildebrandt

TELEPHONE (03) 9306 6225

EMAIL principal@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au

WEBSITE www.stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au

Minimum Standards Attestation

I, Marcy DeNardis, attest that St Thomas More Primary School is compliant with:

● All of the requirements for the minimum standards and other requirements for the registration of

schools as specified in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) and the Education and

Training Reform Regulations 2007 (Vic), except where the school has been granted an

exemption from any of these requirements by the VRQA

● Australian Government accountability requirements related to the 2016 school year under the

Australian Education Act 2013 (Cth) and the Australian Education Regulations 2013 (Cth)

19 May 2017

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Our School Vision

‘We are a Contemporary, Christ Centred, Child Centred Learning Community’ We aspire to be a school that embodies an atmosphere of faith, hope and joy. We aspire to be a school where the parish and school communities work as one. We are a school that strives for excellence, promotes leadership and involvement and where learning is realistic and meaningful. We aspire to be a school where we all understand, respect and value ourselves, others and the environment. We aspire to be a school where there is access to a relevant, dynamic and comprehensive curriculum and all are motivated by a desire to learn and achieve. We aspire to be a school where children work towards fulfilling their dreams and maximising their potential, where they learn leadership and ways to contribute towards making the world a better place. We aspire to be a school where parents and staff work in partnership to foster in students a desire to learn and achieve. We aspire to be a school where the home, the school and the parish communicate in an open and interactive environment, where everyone has a voice and is valued for their unique gifts, talents and cultures. We aspire to be a school where the whole person – body, mind and spirit – is developed, nurtured and celebrated.

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School Overview

St Thomas More Primary School’s population now comprises 394 children from around 20 different cultural backgrounds. The school has stimulating, modern learning spaces that open onto outdoor learning areas and a contemporary Library/Learning Centre - the ‘Discover More Centre’. The multi-purpose hall is utilised for community gatherings, whole school assemblies, cooking, physical education and dance activities and it also houses our school canteen. The school buildings are complemented by a magnificent natural playspace, vegetable patches and shaded playing areas. The natural playspace provides the perfect forum for developmental play as well as nature based learning experiences across the curriculum. The school’s central quadrangle area and the senior and junior football/soccer/athletics playing fields are all surfaced with artificial grass that ensures children are provided with safe and well kept playing areas. At St Thomas More, children are provided with the opportunity to experience the highest quality experiences in all areas of the curriculum so that they may discover their own giftedness. This positive experience builds self confidence which then impacts on achievement in other areas of the curriculum. St Thomas More is a Visible Learning School which means that all children and parents are provided with clarity around the steps of the learning journey. Learning objectives and success criteria (‘We Are Learning To’, ‘This is Because’ and ‘What I am Looking For’) guide children’s learning across the curriculum and help ensure all students are actively involved in monitoring their learning throughout their primary school education. At St Thomas More efforts are focussed on: ● educating the whole child Spiritually, Physically, Socially, Emotionally &

Academically

● highlighting every child’s gifts and talents

● providing the highest quality experiences in all areas of the curriculum

● personalising the learning for every child

● making the curriculum visible and accessible to staff, students and parents

● using data driven teaching

● the delivery of a quality thinking curriculum

● maintaining a shared vision and cohesive team

● effective preparation so children succeed in a constantly changing world .

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Some of the school’s philosophies, programs and facilities that support this aim are:

Philosophies Programs Facilities

● A focus on contemporary learning

● A nurturing Catholic community with Gospel values

● That working with other schools assists increased outcomes for all children

● Data driven teaching ● A visible curriculum that is

accessible to staff, students and parents

● Coding ● MORE Learning transition

program ● Kelly Sports Physical

Education Teachers ● Kelly Sports after-school

sport sessions

● Faith nights for sacraments ● Choir, school band and

Private Singing, Keyboard and Guitar lessons & Homework club

● Resiliency Program, Student Wellbeing, CASEA

● Literacy intervention e.g. Reading Recovery, LLI

● Before and After School Hours Program

● Senior inter-school sports ● Integration and Extension

programs: MOPS, G.A.T.E.W.A.Y.S., Maths Talent Quest, Maths Treasure Chests

● Biennial Concert and Arts Festival

● Whole School Independence/Camping program

● Parent Information sessions and parent helper courses in both literacy and numeracy

● Student leadership Programs: SRC, Leadership seminars, Assembly Award Leaders

● Award winning building designs

● Spacious, bright and flexible classroom spaces

● A safe, secure environment

● A range of current technologies

● Promethean Interactive Whiteboards in every learning space

● Digital video and still cameras

● 2:1 iPads in junior classrooms 2:1 Chrome-book program for middle years and 1:1 for senior school students

● Well equipped playing areas

● New state of the art Natural Play space/ Learning space

● Synthetic turf on the Junior and Senior Sports Green and Quadrangle

● A chicken enclosure ● Vegetable gardens and

industrial interactive kitchen for cooking with children

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Principal’s Report

In 2016, St Thomas More continued its commitment to the three year ‘Visible Learning,’ project started in 2015. This project was funded by CEM and focused on making the curriculum visible to all stakeholders (staff, students and parents). Data collection, analysis and the calculation of ‘effect sizes’ became the focus for the ‘impact coaches’ as did how this information would be used to drive differentiated and more personalised learning for our students. Collaboration with staff determined that the focus for professional development would be on feedback and walkthroughs. The school introduced and trialled the See-Saw app in various grade levels across the school. This app provided the school with a tool with which teachers and students could involve parents in the learning experience and an opportunity for teachers to feedback to students and parents in real time.

The school’s driven and cohesive staff continued to offer a variety of experiences across the curriculum, with specialised opportunities offered to allow each individual to discover their own giftedness. A continued focus was placed on ‘Data-driven teaching’ with data based on comprehensive, ongoing testing informed by the constructivist approach to teaching and learning. This has continued to enable the creation of understanding through rich, real and relevant experiences.

Several new initiatives and resources were implemented during 2016, including the purchase of MAI (Mathematics Assessment and Intervention) kits for each classroom teacher. In Year 2, 2:1 Chromebooks were also introduced, enabling years grade 2 students to utilise their Google accounts to their potential. Purchase of these devices also allowed 2:1 devices in years Prep-2. Ministerial Orders In 2016, One new Ministerial Order was issued.

● Ministerial Order 870 - Child Safe Standards - Managing the risk of child abuse in schools (which has come about as a result of the Royal Commission)

In 2016, one Ministerial Order was updated ● Ministerial Order 706 -Anaphylaxis Management in Schools (update with new

training requirements for staff and for the use of auto injectors)

One of the school curriculum days were dedicated to meeting the requirements of the Victorian Child Safe Standards as there were significant measures that needed to be taken by the school in order to reach compliance. Essentially, all schools were required to bring their policies and procedures in line with seven child safety standards and this has had a number of implications for the school. Noticeable changes have included a significant tightening of security and practices in the school environment. One major action for STM was the cessation of the use of the school hall during the school day by anyone other than students and teachers. This meant that sadly the ‘Golden Years’ Maltese group were no longer able to operate from the St Thomas More School Hall and saw them relocate to the Fawner Bowls Club. This is of course, the end of an era but there was no choice as the law is the law and it was our responsibility to be compliant.

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Reporting Following the publication of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (VCAA) F−10 Curriculum Planning and Reporting Guidelines in February 2014, the minimum reporting requirements for Victorian schools were modified, offering schools greater autonomy for communicating student progress and achievement to parents. These finalised guidelines provided scope for schools to move away from the ‘one size fits all’ formal report card to a range of other approaches, including those that may better address what parents/carers want to know and need to know. These new guidelines allow for the personalisation of information. In order to determine how STM would modify their reports in light of the new guidelines, the school community - staff, students and families - were surveyed to seek their opinion on what they valued in reporting procedures. Staff at STM spent time analysing the data collected around the school’s reporting practices and a basic skeleton of what reports could look like into the future was developed.

Review In 2016 St Thomas More was up for review. This process was implemented by an independent reviewer Ros Leyden, appointed by the Catholic Education Office and the VRQA, Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority. This process took place in the middle of May 2016. Through this review process Ros set a clear path for the next four years. Ros Leyden shared the outcomes of the review with both staff and the school board (SAB). In her presentation of the final report, Ros was able to brief staff and board members on the areas of achievement and areas for ‘Growing the edge’ that form the new School Improvement Plan. This plan will govern the direction of the school in light of each of the 5 spheres (Student wellbeing, Learning & Teaching, Leadership, Religious Education and Community) over the next 4 year period. The school improvement plan (SIP) was broken down with leadership and staff so that it could be managed across the next 4 year period and goals were set so they could be systematically tracked and monitored.

Music Soirees During the last week of Term 3 the STM Instrumental Music students held their Music Soiree over two evenings in the library. There was a fabulous turnout on both nights and the talent was outstanding. The numbers of music students has grown exponentially over the last few years.

More Learning The ‘More Learning’ school readiness program was again offered to children who were enrolled at St Thomas More for Prep in 2017. As in the previous year, this transition program involved children attending school for one hour per week for the whole of terms three and terms four. They worked in groups of twelve to develop familiarity with the physical setting of the school as well as an understanding of the school expectations and pre Literacy and Numeracy concepts. Once again, there were many benefits from this program, with increased familiarity with the school and connectedness between new parents being achieved.

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Education in Faith

Goals & Intended Outcomes

Goal: To strengthen the Catholic identity of the school, as a faith community, where all members are inspired to live their lives according to the witness and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Intended outcomes:

● That all stakeholders knowledge, relationships and sense of justice reflects the teachings of Jesus Christ.

● That the spirituality and faith development is nurtured for all stakeholders.

Achievements

In 2016, St Thomas More saw a change in Parish Priest Administrator and welcomed Father

Peter Hoang. Across the year, strengthening the Catholic Identity of the school has been a

priority and has been addressed through a variety of ways. One of these ways was through

increasing the students’ Mass attendance. 2016 saw students attending regular school masses

in the Parish’s weekly mass timetable in addition to celebrating Masses such as the

Commissioning Masses, Feast day masses, end of term Masses, Mother’s Day / Father’s Day

masses and Holy days of obligation. School liturgies like the Stations of the Cross and

Resurrection have also been celebrated in the church as well as at school, with the school

community invited to attend.

Throughout 2016, the staff at St. Thomas More continued to provide students with many

opportunities to develop their faith, particularly through the sacramental program. School

Leaders attended St Patrick’s Cathedral to celebrate and represent our school on St Patrick’s

Day. In the middle years, students received the sacrament of Reconciliation and First

Eucharist. To prepare for these sacraments, in depth units were planned where opportunities to

spend time in the church and opportunities to examine scripture were provided. The sacraments

were supported by an RE committee and staff attended each celebration. Scripture was used to

promote big ideas for children at all levels and the use of scripture as a basis for classroom

daily prayer and at assemblies was prioritised. During the sacramental preparation period, the

whole school planned and implemented relevant and appropriate units. This was to ensure that

the meaning and importance of the sacraments was understood, as well as to provide the

candidates with support as they made this significant step in the development of their faith.

Staff continued to participate in Religious Education planning sessions with the Religious

Education Leader once a month and during this time, they explored faith concepts,

understandings and scripture readings relating to the units taught. The school continued to

integrate RE planning with opportunities to interact with the Parish Community (e.g. active

participation in the St Vincent De Paul Appeal, linking Confirmation preparation with the inquiry

challenge to be a Spirit filled person in the community and Operation Christmas). Our Parish

Priest Administrator and guest speaker Sister Lorraine engaged with the children preparing for

sacraments and a Parent/ Student faith nights were held before the Sacraments of

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Reconciliation and First Eucharist. Shared Parish Masses were also held on Fridays with both

the whole school and single level grades attending.

Teachers worked towards strengthening both student’s relationships and sense of justice

through social justice initiatives which included a termly focus on supporting peers through the

‘Better Buddies’ initiative (including values based education, safety and anti bullying education),

an annual fundraising for Moira Kelly and her charity, a Caritas incursion and bi-annual

contributions to St Vincent de Paul. Our Parish Priest also engaged with the staff and students

around his works of charity called ‘Father Peter’s Pence’. The year one CASEA program also

continued and was again linked with the Religious Education curriculum to help establish

common values based vocabulary that could be demonstrated by Catholic followers in a

meaningful and practical way.

The Religious Education tracking tool continued to be a successful initiative in tracking the

pathway of attaining the Religious Education standards. This has provided the school with a

framework to deepen its Religious Education pedagogy and its relevance to our students’ lives.

The tool was also again used to strengthen the links between student engagement,

development, assessment and reporting.

VALUE ADDED

● St Thomas More has continued to link the life of the school community with the Catholic

tradition. This has been done through the students attending regular school masses in

the Parish’s weekly mass timetable and through Masses such as commissioning

masses, feast days, end of term Masses, Mother’s Day / Father’s Day masses and holy

days of obligation. School liturgies have also been celebrated in the church and at

school, with the school community invited to attend.

● Throughout 2016 the staff at St Thomas More again provided students with many

opportunities to develop their faith through the sacramental program. In the middle

years, students received the sacrament of Reconciliation and Communion. To prepare

for these sacraments, in depth units were planned along with opportunities to spend

time in the church.

● Social justice initiatives continued to be a focus and throughout the year, students

were involved in supporting various foundations including Caritas Australia, Children

First Foundation and St Vincent de Paul & Samaritan’s Purse.

● The Religious Education Tracking tool continued to be a successful initiative in tracking

achievement against the Religious Education standards. This has provided the school

with a framework to deepen its Religious Education pedagogy and highlight its

relevance to our students’ lives. The tool was also again used to strengthen the links

between student engagement, development, assessment and reporting

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Learning & Teaching

Goals & Intended Outcomes

Goal: To engage all students within an environment that is characterised by active, purposeful, authentic and contemporary pedagogy.

Intended Outcomes:

● That learning standards and outcomes will improve in Numeracy and Literacy from P-6 ● That teacher capacity and self efficacy are developed ● That students become independent and self managed learners ● That students are purposefully engaged in RE to make real life connections

Achievements

● Naplan results showed data that was higher than the state mean ● A systematic focus on developing ‘Teacher Walkthroughs’ (leadership

walkthroughs and peer walk throughs) - focusing on feedback to enhance teacher capacity and self efficacy

● Consolidation of previously introduced strategies and initiatives - such as BAS (Benchmark Assessment System), Visible Learning and Words Their Way

● Revisiting the skills of ‘Reciprocal Teaching’ and ‘Language Experience’ with teaching staff in order to enhance teacher capacity and self efficacy

● Whole school trial of Seesaw where students used Seesaw to track their learning, set goals and articulate their learning intentions (WALTs), success criteria (WILFs), what worked well and what they needed further focus on

● Using RE texts during Literacy time in order to unpack the relevant connections and link to real life

● RE focused units of Inquiry for sacramental years which included significant links to Literacy

● A strong uptake of the Visible Learning pedagogy and related strategies ● Development of Speaking & Listening rubric based on the AusVELS Curriculum

for staff to track students on ● Continued use of and reference to student data tracked against the AusVELS

developmental curriculum ● Dedicated meetings and moderation time (e.g. writing moderation) for developing

teacher capacity and self efficacy according to the AusVELS Curriculum ● Introduction of new assessment practices in Mathematics from P-6

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STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

P-2 Pre-Post Testing Data 2016

As can be seen, the percentage of students achieving benchmark or above increased for:

● Prep students for Text level, Record of Oral Language (ROL), Letter ID, Hearing & Recording Sounds in Words (HRSW) and Concepts about Print (CAP).

● Year 1 students for HRSW and CAP

3-6 Pre-Post Testing Data 2016

As can be seen, the percentage of students achieving benchmark or above increased for:

● Year 3 students for Writing & Speaking & Listening ● Year 4 students for Speaking & Listening ● Year 5 students for Text Level, Writing and Speaking & Listening ● Year 6 students for Text Level, Writing and Speaking & Listening

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PAT Data Nov 2015 - June 2016

As shown in the table above, all year levels with the exception of Year 2, made the expected growth (or above) over the course of 7 months for both PAT R (which addresses Reading comprehension) and PAT M (which assesses Maths ability).

Maths Talent Quest/ M.O.P.S (Maths Olympiads for Primary Schools)

achievements

2016

Maths Talent Quest (MTQ)

● 1 x National Prize winner group (Year 1) ● 1 x High Distinctions ● 1 x Distinction

MOPS 3 students in top 10% of the country 4 students in the top 20% of the country 3 students in the top 30% of the country

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Literacy & Numeracy Results - NAPLAN Chart 1.1 Percentage of students achieving national minimum benchmarks in Grade 3 & 5

Year 3 Reading: From 2013 to 2015, 100% of students achieved the minimum standard for reading. In 2016 this fell slightly with 96.4% of children achieving this standard. Writing: From 2014 - 2016 the number of children reaching minimum standard did not change, with 100% of students reaching the minimum standard for writing. Spelling: From 2014 - 2016 the number of children reaching minimum standard did not change, with 100% of students reaching the minimum standard for Spelling. Grammar & Punctuation: In 2014 100% of students achieved the national minimum standards in Grammar and punctuation. In 205 this fell by 3.5% and in 2016 this increased by 1.7% with 98.2% of students achieving the national minimum standards in Grammar and Punctuation. Numeracy: In 2013 97.2% of students achieved the national minimum standards in numeracy. In 2014 this increased by 2.7% with all students having achieved the national minimum standards in numeracy. Since then, this has remain unchanged with 100% of children achieving this standard.

Year 5 Reading: From 2013 - 2015 the number of children reaching minimum standard did not change, with 100% of students reaching the minimum standard for reading. In 2016 this fell slightly by 4.3% with 95.7% of students achieving the national minimum standard in reading.

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Writing: In 2013 and 2014, 100% of our students were at national minimum benchmark. In 2015 there was a 2.2% decrease with 97.8% of children achieving the national minimum standards for writing. In 2016 this increased by 2.2% with 100% of children achieving the national minimum standard Spelling: In 2014 94.4% of children achieved the national minimum benchmark for Spelling. In 2015 this increased by 3.4% with 100% of children achieving this standard and remained unchanged in 2016. Grammar & Punctuation: In 2014 97.2% of children achieved the national minimum standard in Grammar and Punctuation. In 2015 this increased by 2.8% with all children achieving the minimum standards. In 2016 this fell by 4.4% with 95.6% of children achieving the national minimum standard. Numeracy: In 2014 97.2% of children achieved the national minimum standard in Numeracy. In 2015 this increased by 2.8% with 100% of children achieving the national minimum standards. In 2016 this fell slightly by 6.5% with 93.5% of children achieving the national minimum standard in numeracy.

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Student Wellbeing

Goals & Intended Outcomes

Goal: To create an environment where students feel physically, emotionally and socially

secure enabling them to achieve their highest potential.

Intended Outcomes

● that students’ personal learning skills will be enhanced. ● that students are encouraged to make positive and constructive choices about personal

and social behaviour

Achievements

Throughout 2016, there was a focus on both relationships and wellbeing for students, teachers and parents in the school community. There was also a focus on Social and Emotional Learning as a whole school approach. To create a culture that nurtures respect by using Jesus as the role model for all actions, the year started with an inquiry unit that focused on the social, emotional learning of the students. The use of various resources and theories were used to ensure that our units were well informed. An additional staff member also worked in the wellbeing area in 2016 and assisted with preparing and supporting the wellbeing programs across the school.

Curriculum ● the school focused on implementing personal learning units of work where

students investigated what type of learner they were and how they learnt best ● there was further development with the implementation of personal tracking and

feedback strategies for students e.g. rubrics, feedback on Google drive and cross referencing on WALT, WILF & TIB / warm, cool feedback

● there was a staff focus (through the Visible Learning Project ongoing in 2016) on providing more effective verbal and written feedback to students

● there was a focus on student ability to self reflect through teacher and peer to peer feedback

● there was a concerted focus on exposing students to the importance of a growth mindset

● the translation of the curriculum into child friendly language which has enabled more transparency and ownership of individual learning

● in 2016 some classes participated in mindfulness and meditation to increase and enhance personal learning skills and improve self regulation of emotions

● circle time was used for both community building, social problem solving and social and emotional skill building across the school

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The school year began in a positive way through inviting new prep families to get to know one another, combining the information night with a socialising wine and cheese night. Parent information nights across the year one to six were also held. In 2016 the school continued to consolidate the CASEA program with a focus across all year levels in a whole school approach. Every class ran the program over Term 2 on one afternoon each week. The CASEA program focused on:

· pro-social behaviour · anxiety management · problem solving · negotiation in challenging peer situations · conflict resolution · challenging behaviour management

For the second time the CASEA parent program was offered to interested parents across the school and a small group was facilitated as the ‘Positive Parenting’ group. The implementation of the Positive Parenting program in 2016 aimed to support parents in using consistent and shared language at home, however, only a small percentage of our parent community participated in these programs. In 2016, there was a continued focus in the area of Student Wellbeing on further developing positive relationships, restorative practices and student strategies for positive behaviour. The Restorative philosophy and affective questions were the integral strategies for restoring harm done. In Terms 3 & 4, year levels adjusted their Social and Emotional Learning programs (called Thumbs Up) to meet the needs of their year level using a range of resources including the Resilience Portal. (Department of Education) To foster stronger student connections between peers, lunchtime clubs such as coding club, and choir were offered. These have worked to assist students in meeting new students with similar interests, therefore providing opportunities to make new friends and develop relationships. A focus on encouraging students to take initiative in establishing clubs was evident and students interested in running their own club were encouraged to write a proposal to present to the principal. The Seasons Program did not run in 2016 and possible reasons for this included that a large group of student participated late on 2015.

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Student Attendance in 2016

AVERAGE STUDENT ATTENDANCE

RATE BY YEAR LEVEL

Previous yr

%

2016

%

Year Prep 93.3 93.3

Year 1 94.5 94.5

Year 2 94.5 94.5

Year 3 94.3 94.3

Year 4 93.3 93.3

Year 5 93 93

Year 6 93.1 93.1

Overall average attendance 93.7 93.7

Student non-attendance Student non-attendance is monitored and recorded daily and attendance totals are featured on each semester report. For students who have absenteeism of more than 10 days in any semester this is noted as an area of improvement on their report. Parent meetings are held for consistent non-attendance and in extreme cases, significant non-attendance is reported to Child First. Parents are encouraged to work with Child First but do so in a voluntary capacity.

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VALUE ADDED

● The Positive Parenting program ran with a small number of parents who needed support

● School community building with a whole school Christmas Carols- families, members of the community, school board, past students and families with guest MC Emmanuel Kelly

● Assemblies which include a focus on values awards, celebration of talent through performances (musical and dance), celebration of achievements and parent information

● A focus on enabling children to discover their talents e.g. through the Art Show where 3 individual pieces of artwork were displayed and the opportunity provided for children to let their talents shine in the STM Factor

● A focus on Parent Reps building community and organising social events ● Father’s day/Mother’s day breakfast/pizza nights ● Participation in National Day Against Bullying and Violence ● Voluntary lunchtime clubs- for children, run by children and staff to identify common

interest and facilitate friendships ● Organised small group social skills intervention/ games run by Masters of Social Work

students ● Better Buddy days- formal (one per term) informal (determined by teachers) ● Guest performance from the NED show- values based resilience show ● Kinder visits- Principal, Deputy Principal and leadership members visiting kinder’s

prior to open days to establish relationships with members of the wider community ● ANZAC Memorial visit- annual seniors students visit to ANZAC House to interact with

war veterans ● Graduation dinner- all staff members attend along with year six families

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STUDENT SATISFACTION

Student Wellbeing has remained at a consistent level over 2015 and 2016 for

Student Morale and Connectedness to school. There has been a slight decrease in

student distress in 2016. Teacher Relationships have overall remained equivalent

for Teacher Empathy and Stimulating Learning. There has been an increase in

Purposeful Teaching.

Engagement in Learning indicates a slight decrease in Learning Confidence in

2016 with a more significant drop in Student Motivation.. Connectedness to Peers

has remained the same over 2015 and 2016.

Future areas for improvement and focus include Student Motivation and Learning

Confidence.

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Child Safe Standards

Goals and Intended Outcomes

● St.Thomas More worked towards the compliance deadline in August 2016 and

signed the attestation that all areas were being developed to meet compliance

● St. Thomas More is continuing to work on all Child Safe Standards to improve

and achieve best practice

Achievements

The development of policies and commitments

The initial phase of consultation began with a presentation to the School Advisory

Board (SAB). The SAB were invited to be a part of the working group with the

Student Wellbeing Leader and Leadership Team. A member of the SAB

contributed to ideas and risk assessments associated with Standard 5. The Chair

of the SAB attended a leadership working group day in July set aside to work on

the policy and tasks associated with meeting the compliance deadline in August.

Training and awareness raising strategies

In mid August a school closure day was organised to inform and train all teaching

and non teaching staff about the Child Safe Standards. This included

maintenance workers, contractors, office staff, OSHclub staff, instrumental

teachers, Kelly Sports Staff.

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Consultation with the community

At all stages of the process the school community has been informed via

newsletters and specific Child Safe Standard emails including the Child Safe

Commitment Statement. A meeting was offered for further explanation with 6

parents attending. The prep orientation meetings at the end of 2016 also

included information about the standards.

New Human Resources practices

New questions and templates were used when interviewing for staff positions

and reference checks. From 2016 new volunteer and contractor application

processes will be adhered to.

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Leadership & Management

Goals & Intended Outcomes

Goals

● To ensure the development of staff professional culture to sustain the conditions which maximise student learning.

● To continue to build capacity through leadership. Intended Outcomes

● That staff learning is strengthened. ● That capacity, self efficacy and empowerment is strengthened in all stakeholders

Achievements

● trial of SEESAW across the school for tracking students learning and making learning

visible to parents

● trial of ‘Class Dojo’ for tracking behaviour in the middle and senior classes

● personal goal setting walkthroughs for classroom teachers during the second half of the

year

● sustaining and consolidation of visible learning skills and strategies to personalise and

make learning explicit and trackable by students, teachers and parents

● empowerment of staff to select goals to work on individually (based on visible learning

survey data)

● focus on refining staff and student feedback

● consolidation of visible learning ideas, the BAS reading assessment system, PAT

comprehension and maths assessments, GAFE (Google Apps for Education) & the

‘Words Their Way’ spelling program

● professional development curriculum days & training in anaphylaxis/reporting

● Review professional learning days (4 days)

● curriculum days, staff meetings, PLTs and planning time used to systematically address

all spheres and develop teacher knowledge of these

● 1staff member completed their masters

● mentoring of new graduates and new staff members

● school board involved in school decision making

● surveys of whole school community (Staff, Students & Parents) to assist with classroom

climate, visible learning and behaviour management

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ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 23

EXPENDITURE AND TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

EXPENDITURE : $35,324.01

TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

CEOM - Parish Priest and Principal

Briefing CEOM - Catholic Identity: Reading Your

School's ECSIP Data

CEOM - Administrative Officers' Conference 2016

CEOM - Northern Reg. - Students with Disabilities Application Guidelines

CEOM - Clusters North 11 - 12 CEOM - Supporting Students with ASD

CEOM - Reading Recovery Ongoing PL: Initial Day & Seminar

CEOM - Evidence Into Action Day 3 - Cohort 1

CEOM - Reading Recovery: Ongoing Group 10

CEOM - Building and Developing the Visible Learner - Cohort 1

CEOM - Assessment & Reporting - Victorian Curriculum Languages

CEOM - Feedback That Makes Learning Visible - Cohort 1

CEOM - Additional Learning Needs Coordinators Network

CEOM - Visible Learning Into Action For Teachers (CLC)

CEOM - Learning and Teaching Leaders Network

CEOM - Impact Coaches - Visible Learning

CEOM - Northern Region: Religious Education Leaders' Network CEOM - Instructional Leadership

CEOM - Cued Articulation CEOM - Cohort 1 Visible Learning Feedback That Makes Learning Visible

CEOM - Northern Region ICT Network Term 2

CEOM - Restorative Practices: New Teachers and Refresher Course

CEOM - Deputy Principals Network North Western Term 1

CEOM - Student Wellbeing: Connect, Grow, Learn, Flourish (North & West)

CEOM - Deputy Principals Network North Western Term 2

CEOM - Creative Connections- building learning communities through arts.

CEOM - Deputy Principals Network North Western CONFERENCE Term 3

CEOM - Child Safe Standards:A Guided Workshop (Northern & Western)

CEOM - Deputy Principals Network North Western Term 4

CEOM - Child Safe Standards:A Guided Workshop for Secondary Schools

ST THOMAS MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL HADFIELD

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 24

TEACHER SATISFACTION

Staff school climate Index : (2016 Aggregate Indices)

74.80%

* all percentages gained from the 2016 InsIght SRC survey

As indicated by the Insight SRC Data, the teacher satisfaction score for 2016 scores

remained the same or slightly above for 15 out of the 23 areas. The areas of ‘Supportive

Leadership,’ ‘Student Behaviour (school),’ ‘Curriculum Processes,’ ‘Student Motivation,’

‘Respect for Students,’ ‘Parent Partnerships,’ ‘Teacher Confidence,’ ‘Engaging

Practice,’ ‘Quality Teaching,’ ‘School Improvement Focus,’ were the highest scoring

areas. The areas of Curriculum Processes,’‘Engaging Practice’ and ‘School

Improvement Focus,’ scored in the top 25% of Australian schools. The majority of staff

scores corresponded with the scores of Victorian schools in the middle 50 % to top

25%.

Staff retention for the 2016 period saw four teachers leave the school. Two of the staff left to go on Maternity leave, one staff member sought a position closer to home as they had been traveling 2 hours per day to get to work, and one staff member gained employment as a music teacher at another school. This staff member is still employed as the STM choir teacher for half a day per week. A total of 4 new Learning Support Officers were employed across the year as funding was obtained for students with additional needs.

STAFF RETENTION RATE

Staff Retention Rate 86.51%

ST THOMAS MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL HADFIELD

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 25

TEACHING STAFF ATTENDANCE RATE

Teaching Staff Attendance

Rate 96.77%

STAFF COMPOSITION

Principal Class 2

Teaching Staff (Head Count) 34

FTE Teaching Staff 25.90

Non Teaching Staff (Head Count) 18

FTE Non Teaching Staff 10.846

Indigenous Teaching Staff 0

TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS

Doctorate 0%

Masters 25%

Graduate 12.5%

Graduate Certificate 0%

Degree Bachleor 87.5%

Diploma Advanced 16.67%

No Qualifications listed 4.17%

ST THOMAS MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL HADFIELD

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 26

NUMBER OF TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN PL 27

AVERAGE EXPENDITURE PER TEACHER FOR PL $1308

Teacher

Satisfaction

The Teacher satisfaction levels in terms of organisational and teaching climate have dropped slightly from 2015 77.93 to 74.81. Organisational climate went from 82.30 to 81.58.

ST THOMAS MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL HADFIELD

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 27

School Community

Goals & Intended Outcomes

Goals

● To continue to engage the community more in the life and learning at Saint Thomas More Primary School.

Intended Outcomes

● That the collaborative relationship between the school, home, parish and the wider community will be strengthened.

Achievements

● The introduction of Seesaw across the school has been a significant contributor to the community’s engagement with the school. This has allowed parents the ability to observe student learning in real time and comment on various work samples.

● Class Dojo was introduced on a whole school level as a way of sharing feedback on student behaviour and self management

● Class Dojo was also introduced as the secure way of sharing camp and excursion photos with parents - opportunities for parents to respond and communicate in this forum were provided

● As in past years, feedback forms have been sent out requesting parent feedback for all major events. Feedback from years prior has been acted upon to refine and develop events in 2016.

● The scores for the parent community stayed the same or increased for 15 of the 19 areas surveyed in 2016.

● The highest scoring areas for parent satisfaction as indicated by the insight SRC data were ‘School Improvement,’ ‘Stimulating Learning,’ ‘Teacher Morale’ and ‘Connectedness to School.’

ST THOMAS MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL HADFIELD

ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY pg 28

PARENT SATISFACTION

Community Engagement Index: Based on all the indicators within School Climate, Relationships & Engagement

from the Parent Survey

72.7%

* all percentages gained from the 2016 Insight SRC survey. There was an increase in the index by 2.7 between 2015 and 2016. The scores for the parent community stayed the same or increased for 15 of the 19 areas surveyed in 2016.

VRQA Compliance Data

NOTE:

The School’s financial performance information has been provided to the Victorian Registration

and Qualifications Authority and will be available for the community to access from their website

from October 2017.

Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority