John Palmer Public School Annual School Report 2013 · In closing 2013, John Palmer Public School had an ... water safety. 5 During Term 4, Bounce Sports ran a gymnastics program

John Palmer Public School

Annual School Report 2013

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School context

In closing 2013, John Palmer Public School had an enrolment of 659 students, including sixteen students in the Early Intervention support class. Our school continues to grow rapidly and is now fifteen times larger than it was when it first opened six years ago with an enrolment of 44 students. In 2014, we expect to begin the year with in excess of 720 students.

Fifty two percent of our students have a language background other than English, with 45 different language groups being represented. Hindi is the most common language spoken after English.

Student information

It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all students be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Student enrolment profile

John Palmer Public School serves a diverse community within the fastest growing suburb of Sydney. Enrolment growth has been substantial over the past six years, as evidenced in the graph above. Student numbers will continue to increase as further land is released off Fyfe Road and smaller numbers in senior years are replaced with larger groups of Kindergarten students.

Students worked in 27 classes, including five multi-stage or multi-age classes. A record seven and a half Kindergarten classes were formed to cater for the 154 students in Kindergarten this year. A Western Sydney Region Early Intervention support class made our 28th class.

Student attendance profile

Full day student attendance continues to be very good and partial attendance has improved. Kindergarten attendance was excellent, with

parents becoming increasingly aware of the importance of this grade in determining future learning success.

More than 300 students were recognised throughout the year for outstanding attendance in either Semester 1 or 2. Of these students, 30 were presented with a 100% attendance award for the whole year at our Annual Excellence Assembly.

Year 08 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Sch

oo

l

K 95.5 96.0 95.9 95.8 97.0

1 95.1 94.3 95.3 95.1 95.5

2 97.0 95.6 95.1 94.8 96.4

3 97.5 95.4 95.2 95.0 95.5

4 96.1 96.7 95.7 94.2 95.1

5 96.7 97.7 94.1 94.3 95.4

6 93.4 94.8 95.2 93.5 94.3

Total 97 95.9 95.8 95.3 94.9 95.9

Re

gio

n

K 94.1 94.6 94.7 93.9 94.9

1 93.5 93.9 94.1 93.4 94.2

2 93.8 94.2 94.1 93.8 94.6

3 94.1 94.4 94.4 94.0 94.9

4 93.9 94.4 94.4 94.1 94.7

5 94.0 94.3 94.3 94.0 94.6

6 93.4 94.2 93.9 93.5 94.2

Total 94 92.1 94.3 94.3 93.8 94.6

Stat

e D

EC

K 94.3 94.7 94.7 94.3 95.0

1 93.7 94.2 94.2 93.9 94.5

2 94.0 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.7

3 94.1 94.5 94.4 94.4 94.8

4 94.0 94.5 94.3 94.3 94.7

5 94.0 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.5

6 93.6 94.0 93.8 93.8 94.1

Total 94 92.1 94.4 94.3 94.2 94.7

0

200

400

600

800

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Stu

de

nts

Year

Enrolments

Male Female

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Management of non-attendance

The number of students arriving late to school, while still concerning, has improved this year. A combination of increased school intervention, as well as increasing student independence has led to this improvement.

Students whose attendance is causing concern are referred to the Home School Liaison Program if school based interventions have not met with success. A small number of referrals were made in 2013.

The number of students seeking exemption from school for extended periods of overseas travel continues to increase markedly with significant impact on student learning. Parents are strongly encouraged not to take their child out of school for overseas travel except in exceptional circumstances. Absences due to exemptions are not reflected in student attendance data.

Workforce information

It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Workforce composition

Position Number

Principal 1.0

Deputy Principal(s) 0

Assistant Principal(s) 4.0

Classroom Teacher(s) 23.0

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.5

Teacher Librarian 1.2

Teacher of ESL 0.6

Part Time Teacher 1.1

RFF Teacher 1.218

Early Intervention (EI) Teacher 1.0

EI School Learning and Support Officer 0.5

School Counsellor 0.4

District Guidance Officer 1.0

School Administrative & Support Staff 3.412

General Assistant 1.0

A significant number of temporary teachers were engaged during 2013 to cover permanent positions which had not been filled by the staffing unit at the beginning of the year. This was far from an ideal situation as several classes had two or more teachers during the year. Other temporary teachers replaced permanent teachers who were on extended leave, including maternity leave.

Several classes worked in a job share arrangement due to teachers taking part time leave. This worked well as these classes were able to work with a fresh teacher towards the end of the week as well as having teachers with different skills and expertise.

The Relief from Face to Face (RFF) teacher taught Science to every class across the school for one hour per week.

The Australian Education Regulation, 2013 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce.

Currently no Indigenous staff is employed at John Palmer Public School.

A Site Manager is employed by Spotless.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools.

% of staff

Degree or Diploma 92

Postgraduate 8

NSW Institute of Teachers Accreditation 41

Teachers who have gained employment with the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) since 2005 are required to be accredited with the NSW Institute of Teachers. This is not a requirement for teachers employed prior to this time.

Long term service with the DEC was acknowledged with the presentation of 20 years of service certificates to Dr Bruce, Mrs Gilmour and Mrs Payne at our Annual Excellence Assembly in December.

Financial summary

This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance.

A full copy of the school’s 2013 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the John Palmer Public School P&C Association. This meeting will take place on Wednesday 5 March 2014. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.

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Date of financial summary 30/11/2013

Income $

Balance brought forward 232201.52 Global funds 246914.92 Tied funds 147157.11 School & community sources 294425.98 Interest 10281.91 Trust receipts 26651.95 Canteen 0.00

Total income 957633.39

Expenditure

Teaching & learning Key learning areas 98712.55 Excursions 35715.00 Extracurricular dissections 144514.91

Library 15682.13 Training & development 10479.98 Tied funds 114550.70 Casual relief teachers 109904.10 Administration & office 63141.12 School-operated canteen 0.00 Utilities 3124.46 Maintenance 6355.45 Trust accounts 25321.09 Capital programs 0.00

Total expenditure 627501.49

Balance carried forward 330131.90

Intended use of the balance carried forward:

Unpaid orders and invoices $9629.16

Unpaid casual salaries $20272.00

Provision for additional assets $120000.00

General purposes $112639.32

Income from the leased canteen is included in the item ‘School and community sources’.

School performance 2013

During 2013, students participated in a variety of activities in the areas of academic learning, sport and the arts. Activities offered were designed to provide students with a diverse range of experiences and give every student the opportunity to be successful.

The dedication of our staff in providing additional experiences beyond the six Key Learning Areas is highly valued by our students and community.

Academic achievements

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10.

The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments.

Year 3: from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest for Year 3)




The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN).

Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au and enter our school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.

Eighty four students in Year 3 and fifty six students in Year 5 sat for the NAPLAN tests at John Palmer Public School in 2013.

NAPLAN Year 3

Percentage of Year 3 students achieving at or above minimum standard (exempt students

excluded)

Reading 100.0

Writing 98.8

Spelling 100.0

Grammar & Punctuation 98.8

Numeracy 97.6

Literacy

Strengths – spelling words with double blends, identifying and correcting spelling errors

Areas for further development – inferring information not directly stated, identifying adverbs, correct use of speech marks and other punctuation

http://www.myschool.edu.au/

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Numeracy

Areas for further development – recognising half of a collection, interpreting a picture graph

NAPLAN Year 5

Percentage of Year 5 students achieving at or above minimum standard (exempt students

excluded)

Reading 100.0

Writing 96.4

Spelling 98.2

Grammar & Punctuation 100.0

Numeracy 94.6

Literacy

Strengths – interpreting information from a photograph, identifying a character in a poem, inferring an opinion in a movie review

Areas for further development – identifying adverbs, correct use of the apostrophe

Numeracy

Strengths – interpreting information in a picture graph

Areas for further development – identifying largest fraction/decimal, elapsed time, adding and subtracting mixed numeral fractions

Other achievements

Sport

In 2013, students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have been involved in regular weekly sport. Kindergarten and Stage 1 have focused on fundamental movement skills while Stages 2 and 3 have continued to develop these skills through modified games.

2013 saw our continued participation in the Ridges Primary School Sport Association (PSSA) competitions. During winter PSSA we participated in newcombe ball and soccer, as well as being able to offer netball for the first time this year. In summer PSSA we joined the cricket, tball and oz tag competitions.

Students proudly represented our school and enjoyed competing against other local schools. Our girls’ tball and junior oz tag teams finished the year as premiers, while both junior and senior cricket teams were runners up. We aim to enter additional teams into the competition in 2014.

John Palmer Public School ran swimming, cross country and athletics carnivals and sent teams from these three sports to the Ridges Zone Carnivals. Three students progressed to the Sydney West Area Carnival in swimming, four in cross country and three students for athletics.

In Term 2, our school had the opportunity to participate in the Sport in Schools Australia program which teaches fundamental movement skills using modern and engaging equipment.

Term 3 saw nearly 100 students participate in swim school held at the Norwest Carlile pool. Over two weeks of intensive lessons, we saw many of our non-swimmers finish the fortnight with new skills and an increased awareness of water safety.

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During Term 4, Bounce Sports ran a gymnastics program designed to teach students basic balancing, rolling, tumbling and jumping skills, while promoting the importance of core strength exercises.

Throughout the year we have also been able to offer sport clinics in AFL and basketball. The clinics focused on the skills required for these sports as well as enjoyment gained from participation.

Approximately 600 students participated in the Premier’s Sporting Challenge, with twenty classes reaching gold level, and five classes reaching the prestigious diamond level.

John Palmer Public School is a certified Crunch and Sip school with students enjoying a ten minute break each day to consume fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and water. We are also part of the Live Life Well at School initiative which encourages a healthy and active lifestyle for our students.

The Arts (Drama)

2013 saw the formation of our first drama group, ‘Acting Bugs’. Seventy three very keen students from Year 1 to Year 6 formed the group under the direction of three equally keen teachers – Mrs Creer, Mr Hofman and Miss Nash. Most of the group was involved in the acting but several students decided they were more suited to

production work and worked tirelessly behind the scenes.

During Term 1, the focus was on the development of acting skills such as voice projection, facial expression, and using the body to express emotion.

Serious work began in Term 2 on our play, ‘Fractured Fairytales’ which consisted of seven mini plays based around a fairytale theme. The mini plays were drawn together by a common thread, promoting the reading of fairytales and encouraging imagination during Book Week.

‘Fractured Fairytales’ was a huge success with students performing to an outstanding level. The parents proudly applauded from their seats and discussed the talents of the students at the ‘after

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party’ which was organised to thank everyone for their support and dedication. Thanks is given to the students for all of the time and effort they put into learning their lines, to the teachers involved for their tuition and support, and to the parents who organised some outstanding costumes for the plays and were a fantastic audience.

Significant programs and initiatives

Aboriginal education

All staff has been trained in the implementation of the Aboriginal Education and Training Policy, most specifically in the targeting of resources and professional learning to promote quality teaching, and the inclusion of Aboriginal perspectives and content across all Key Learning Areas (KLAs).

Our Aboriginal education programs are embedded across the KLAs and aim to provide culturally sensitive and appropriate learning experiences for all students. Students at John Palmer PS learn about aspects of Aboriginal Australia, including the significance of culture, language, history and traditions.

In promoting Aboriginal people as the first owners of our land, custodianship is recognised through protocols such as Acknowledgement of Country at all assemblies and the flying of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside the Australian flag.

Our staff is also committed to the achievement of increased learning outcomes for Aboriginal students and will develop personalised learning plans for Aboriginal students enrolled.

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Multicultural education

With a significant growth in the number of students from a non-English speaking background, our school recognises the importance of supporting and valuing the diversity of culture.

Teaching practices ensure that learning activities reflect the cultural diversity in each class group as well as the wider community.

Welcome signs have been placed in strategic positions around the school in the most common languages of our families. Many classes have also learnt to say hello and goodbye in the languages of the students in their class and this has been extended to some assembly items.

Multicultural perspectives are well addressed in planned student learning, particularly within the study of texts in literacy and units of work in Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE).

During the year, Stage 2 students celebrated cultural diversity with a ‘Celebration of Nations’ culinary experience as part of their HSIE work on celebrations.

The needs of students from a language background other than English are well supported through the school’s English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) program. NAPLAN results for students who are EALD learners are either comparable to or exceed our English speaking background students.

The school has an Anti-Racism Contact Officer who is a member of staff specifically trained to manage incidents of a racist nature. Fortunately, there is little work for this officer at our school.

Harmony Day art and craft activities organised by the SRC focused on the values of understanding, tolerance and respect.

School planning and evaluation 2012—2014

School evaluation processes

NSW public schools conduct evaluations to support the effective implementation of the school plan. The processes used include:

Analysis of external data

Analysis of school based data and programs

Surveys

Interviews and focus groups

School planning 2012—2014: progress in 2013

School priority 1 – Leadership and Management

Target 1 – Business Reform Action Plan

Learning Management Business Reform (LMBR) will be fully operational within the timeframe provided by the DEC.

Our achievements in 2013 include:

Principal and School Administrative Manager participated in professional learning activities to increase understanding of budgeting processes.

Principal shadowed other Principals involved in the first roll out of LMBR in the areas of budget set up and general ledger training

Strategies for 2014 include:

Further professional learning for key personnel.

Changes to the role of administration staff to facilitate the introduction of LMBR.

Information provided to parents on changed office procedures.

Allocation of funding to support the change from current practices to LMBR.

Target 2 – Strengthened Leadership Development and Succession Planning

Increased number of leadership opportunities provided for aspiring staff.

Aspiring Executive encouraged to work towards Professional Accomplishment and Professional Leadership.

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Staff continued to assume the same responsibilities (2012-14) which are linked to the school plan.

One Assistant Principal was released from a class load to focus on student welfare, attendance and teacher professional learning.

Procedures for excursions/incursions and attendance were documented for ease of succession.

Several class teachers successfully led grade teams and/or in the role of Relieving Assistant Principal.

One Assistant Principal led and managed the school during an extended period of leave by the Principal.


Improving systems that support aspiring leaders and implementing structured mentoring practices throughout the school.

Ensure staff familiarity with the Australian teacher standards and develop school practices in line with the Teacher Performance and Development Framework.

School priority 2 – Curriculum and Assessment

Target 1 – Quality Teaching

Professional learning goals are set by all teachers and executive staff.

Monitoring and evidence of professional learning and quality teaching are linked to the Teacher Assessment Review Schedule (TARS) and Executive Assessment Review Schedule (EARS).

All staff is engaged in two way feedback as part of TARS and EARS processes.


Development of individual teacher professional learning plans (2012-14) for all teachers aligned to DEC and school priorities.

Progress towards individual teacher goals and professional learning goals formed part of the TARS and EARS processes.

Three Assistant Principals were released from class for one day each fortnight to support stage teachers in the development and delivery of quality learning programs, to monitor student progress and team teaching or demonstration teaching as appropriate.

Evidence of differentiation to cater for the needs of all learners was evident in English programs. Differentiation in Mathematics activities was a particular strength of Kindergarten and Stage 1 programs.

The part time teacher was used to support students with additional learning needs.


Expand mentoring practices, supporting all staff to assist the school in meeting identified targets as well as meeting personal professional goals.

Improve data collection, enabling staff to identify students for targeted programs and improve staff capacity to measure the effectiveness of programs.

Target 2 – Innovative Practices for 21st Century Learners

At least 80% of teachers use guided inquiry for HSIE and Science activities.

All teachers use criteria based assessment tasks.

At least one thinking tool is incorporated into each HSIE and Science unit.


Class based guided inquiry in HSIE and Science was supported through the work of the teacher librarian. Work in these two KLAs also focused on the development of thinking tools.

Criteria based assessment tasks for HSIE and writing were developed across Stage 1. Students were given the criteria before beginning the task and were able to see how

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they could improve their assessment response.

Teachers became more familiar with using multimedia texts across the KLAs.

Investigations were made into the purchase of class sets of cameras to assist with movie making and animation.

A class set of BeeBots were purchased to support the acquisition of simple programming skills. These were mainly used in Stage 1.

Further teachers joined Pathways for Learning, Anywhere, Any time – a Network for Educators (PLANE) in an effort to access professional learning that is innovative and exciting. Cutting edge technology is used to empower teachers to learn, create, collaborate, innovate and transform teaching practices to inspire and enable their 21st century learners.

A further six interactive whiteboards were purchased.


Each stage will develop writing criteria for imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to be used by students to monitor their own writing.

Teacher professional learning activities to develop an understanding of the Literacy Continuum Aspects of Writing prior to use of the matrix.

Teachers use Aspects of Writing K-6 Matrix to assess students’ writing.

Target 3 – Australian Curriculum – Implementation of NSW syllabuses for the Australian Curriculum

Phase One of the NSW syllabus (English) will be implemented in 2014.


Completion of teacher professional learning modules:

- The Learner and the New Curriculum.

- Teaching for the New Curriculum.

- Your School and the New Syllabuses (English K-10).

Development of a plan for implementation of the new English syllabus in 2014.

Participation in ‘Opening Pandora’s Box’ by Executive and key members of the literacy committee.

Development of a Stage 2 unit of work for critique by consultancy team.

Teachers began to explore the Board of Studies Program Builder.

Further class sets of novels were purchased to support the new syllabus.


Increase teacher capacity to use the English syllabus through the training of one teacher per stage to guide the use of the syllabus throughout the year and develop or adapt units of work.

Assess current units of work through Survey Monkey to gain an insight into how teachers are viewing and using the units.

Release a team of teachers from class load to develop and adapt units of work.

Purchase of resources to support the English K-6 Syllabus, particularly in the areas of multimodal texts, Aboriginal and Asian texts.

Increase teacher understanding of the Literacy Continuum.

Target 4 – PE

At least 80% of students will meet end of stage outcomes for PE/Sport.

20% of students in Years 3-6 will be involved in PSSA sport.

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Adequate resources will be provided (physical and personnel) to meet the outcomes of the PE programs.


Approximately 82% of students K-6 met the end of stage outcomes for PE/Sport.

Approximately 37% of students in Years 3-6 are involved in both summer and winter PSSA teams.

Provision of Sport in Schools Australia program that explicitly taught the fundamental movement skills, resulting in increased student confidence and skill during sport.

Provision of the Bounce Gymnastics program that targeted core strength and skills associated with the PDHPE Gymnastics curriculum.

Continued development and evaluation of our K-6 school sport program that aims to teach the fundamental movement skills that students must master if they are to enjoy the wide range of physical activities, sports and recreational pursuits offered at school and within the community.

Participation in the Jump Rope for Heart Program to encourage physical fitness and coordination.

Implementation of an AFL program in Stage 2 that taught the specific skills required to play the game as well as developing fundamental movement skills.


Continued evaluation and refinement of K-6 scope and sequence for the acquisition of fundamental movement skills.

Introduction of K-6 dance program – Footsteps linked to PE outcomes.

Open days for parents to view skills acquired at the conclusion of some units of work.

Target 5 – Student Tracking (focus Stage 2/3)

Assessment data is accurately maintained and reflects student attainment.

Consistency of teacher judgment is evident in the assessment of students.


All Stage 2 and 3 students are assessed in the following areas:

- Spelling (South Australian Spelling Test)

- Reading (Waddington)

- Writing (school developed assessment criteria)

- Mathematics (Mathematics Diagnostic Test)


Alignment of the Reading Recovery levels with the PM Benchmarking and the Clusters of the Literacy Continuum.

Planning time to direct teachers on the use of the new levels.

All teachers enter data into PLAN to track learning in Literacy and Numeracy. Stage leaders will guide team members.

Develop consistent teacher judgment of reading records when using PM Benchmarking Kit. Prescriptive procedures for assessment will be developed and outlined in stage meetings.

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Detailed analysis of Educheck assessment with Year 1 and 2 students.

Implement phonemic awareness program to enable students to achieve Cluster 8 in Phonics Aspects by end of Year 2, and Cluster 6 in Phonemic Awareness by end of Year 1.

School priority 3 – Student Engagement and Attainment

Target 1 – Positive Mental Health and Resilience

Increased levels of positive mental health amongst students.

Increased capacity of students to display resilience and deal appropriately with disappointment and other challenges.


Welcome signs reflecting the main language backgrounds of our students have been positioned strategically around the school.

Some classes have learnt to say good morning in other languages.

Staff was trained in the planning and implementation of Component 2 – Social and Emotional Learning for Students.

Bounce Back program was purchased.

Scope and sequence for the teaching of Bounce Back was developed for each grade.

Introduction of the perpetual Bounce Back award sponsored by the Singleton family. The first ever recipient was Tim Jelacic who always wears a smile despite battling a recurring brain tumor.


Release time for a team of teachers to write Bounce Back program for all stages to ensure consistency across the school.

Purchase of resources to support the Bounce Back program.

Development of a school mascot which reminds students to be resilient in times of difficulty.

Target 2 – PBL

Decrease in the number of student referrals from the playground.

Increased consistency in using the PBL framework within the classroom setting.

Increased number of parents supporting our three core expectations – be safe, be respectful, be a learner.

PBL/KidsMatter/Learning and Support are aligned.


A decrease in the number of student referrals in the playground:

- Staff is regularly trained in defining levels of behaviour in the playground.

- Playground procedure is followed consistently by all staff and followed up by Executive staff when required.

- Playground data is used to define the focus behaviour for each month.

- Posters outlining the focus behaviour are displayed in every classroom.

- A prize draw is held each fortnight for students who earn a STAR award.

- Students know that positive behaviour is valued at John Palmer PS through verbal praise and rewards.

- Social Skills groups were implemented and two further staff members were trained in programs in preparation for 2014.

Increased consistency in using PBL framework within the classroom setting:

- Three teachers attended PBL refresher and update training.

- Three teachers attended Tier 2 Targeted Interventions training.

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Increased number of parents supporting our three core expectations through information being added to our newsletter and website.

PBL, KidsMatter and learning support frameworks are aligned:

- Student welfare teams work together to ensure continuity of frameworks.

- A new roles and responsibilities structure is being developed to cater for alignment.


Teacher professional learning in targeting interventions.

Professional learning in teacher identified priority areas:

- Consistency in consequences for inappropriate behaviours.

- Regular opportunities for teachers to engage in observation, instruction, coaching and mentoring.

- Engagement for academic success.

- Clear definitions of appropriate classroom behaviours.

Developing clear guidelines to assist in consistent teacher judgment.

Creating systems for improved school community communication of focus areas.

Implementing social skills programs on a regular needs basis.

Target 3 – Student Leadership

Increased profile and leadership skills of SRC and student leaders.


Greater student involvement in the running of the SRC – chairing meetings, taking and distributing minutes, determining activities.

Participation of the six student leaders in the Young Leaders Conference.


Purchase of a student leadership training program.

School priority 4 – Literacy

Target 1 – Reading

All Year 3 and 5 students meet National Benchmarks for Literacy.

All students meet the former Western Sydney Region (WSR) targets for literacy.

All students meet the JPPS targets for literacy.

Our achievements for 2013 include:

National Benchmarks for Literacy for Year 3 met by:

- 100% of students in reading

- 98.8% of students in writing

- 100% of students in spelling

- 98.8% of students in grammar and punctuation

National Benchmarks for Literacy for Year 5 met by:

- 100% of students in reading

- 96.4% of students in writing

- 98.2% of students in spelling

- 100% of students in grammar and punctuation

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75% of Kindergarten students are reading at

RR8 or beyond (former WSR target) while

60% of Kindergarten students are reading at

or beyond RR10 (JPPS target).

71% of Year 1 students are reading at RR18 or

beyond (former WSR target) while 58% of

Year 1 students are reading at or beyond

RR20 (JPPS target).

75% of Year 2 students are reading at RR26 or

beyond (former WSR target) while 53% of

Year 2 students are reading at or beyond

RR28 (JPPS target).

62% of Year 3 and Year 4 students are

reading beyond RR30 and 84% of Year 5 and

Year 6 students are reading at an

independent adult level.

Continued success of a Peer Reading Program

(first implemented in 2012) which utilised

Stage 3 students as tutors to help improve

the reading levels of students reading below

former WSR targets. All students on the

program have improved their reading level by

a minimum of two levels. More than 80% of

these students have shown an increase of

four levels or more.

Training of staff working in the Learning and

Support role in the Catch Up Literacy

Program (CUP). CUP aims at working with

students in Stages 2 and 3 with significant

gaps in their literacy learning. One hundred

percent of the students on the program have

improved their reading levels with 70% of

students increasing their reading by a

minimum of four or more levels.

The implementation of a Kindergarten

Phonemic Awareness Program in Term 4

which aimed at improving student

recognition, retention and recall of alphabet

sounds and common sight words. All

students on the program showed

improvement in both focus areas over the 8

week period.

The successful application of the Every Student Every School (ESES) Grant. The project aims at providing teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills and resources so that they may be better able to support

students with targeted or intensive learning needs in the area of Fine Motor Skill Development.


Implement ESES Lily Fine Motor Program

with Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students.

Learning and Support Team use assessment

data (NAPLAN, Educheck, writing samples) to

identify students with additional learning

needs and focus on developing specific skills

in these students.

Learning and Support Team use assessment

data (NAPLAN, Educheck, writing samples) to

identify whole school areas for further

development and upskill teachers so that

they can support students more effectively.

Target 2 – Speaking and Listening

Scope and sequence for the acquisition of talking

and listening skills developed.

Increased opportunities for formal presentation of

talking and listening skills.

School debating team established.


Extensive professional learning for all teachers

in the new English syllabus, including the new

mode of Speaking and Listening

(Communicating).

Stage teams worked collaboratively to

develop a scope and sequence for Speaking

and Listening (Communicating) that informed

an extensive document compiled by the

Literacy team.

Stage 2 and 3 students presented a short talk

to their class with finalists progressing to a

stage competition, and ultimate entry into the

Ridges Public Speaking Competition.

Stage 2 and 3 students entered the former

WSR Multicultural Public Speaking

competition.

All students were provided with public

speaking opportunities through the hosting of

fortnightly Excellence Assemblies.

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A group of students who were involved in a

series of informal debates in 2012 were given

opportunities to further develop the skills

necessary to participate in debating

competitions.


English as an additional language/dialect

(EALD) teacher will work in Early Stage 1

classrooms to preteach EALD students with

language related to Speaking and Listening

units.

School debating team will be established and

entered into interschool debating

competitions. Permanent staff members will

mentor the students to ensure consistency

over a number of years.

School priority 5 – Numeracy

All Year 3 and Year 5 students meet National Benchmarks for Numeracy.

All students meet former WSR targets for Numeracy.

More than 80% of students meet JPPS targets for Numeracy.

Improved student ability in Stages 2 and 3 to work mathematically to solve problems.


National Benchmarks for Numeracy for Year 3

met by 97.6% of students.

National Benchmarks for Numeracy for Year 5

met by 94.6% of students.

Scope and sequence for new Mathematics

syllabus developed for Stages 2 and 3.

$18000 was spent on equipping classrooms

including new demountables with basic

mathematical equipment to implement the

new Mathematics syllabus. $9000 was also

spent on wish list items to enhance teaching

and learning. Wish list equipment included

teacher resources, computer software and

manipulative equipment.

Focus on Maths Problem Solving Program was

made available to all Stage 1-3 teachers.

Teachers were encouraged to include problem

solving in every lesson using various resources

and technology.

Teacher confidence in teaching quality

numeracy lessons was enhanced using

interactive whiteboard resources.

SMART data was used to direct teaching and

learning activities. A document containing

hyperlinks directly related to questions

causing difficulty in NAPLAN was developed.

Demonstration lessons were provided by team

leaders for some teachers.

Maths resources, ideas and lesson plans were

shared in stage meetings.


Increased use of the Numeracy Continuum to

guide programming and assessment practices.

Increase student familiarity with a variety of

questioning strategies, both formal and

informal.

Allocation of funds for basic equipment for

new demountable classrooms.

Implement professional development

modules for the new Mathematics Curriculum

School priority 6 – Aboriginal Education

Target 1

Achievement level of Aboriginal students will match that of non-Aboriginal students in literacy and numeracy.

All students have planned opportunities to engage with Aboriginal students and their culture.


All students were provided with opportunities

to engage with Aboriginal culture through

HSIE lessons and some literary texts.


Purchase of Aboriginal multimodal texts to

support learning within the new English

syllabus.

Additional resources purchased to support the

teaching of Aboriginal culture.

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Professional learning

Whole school and individual teacher professional learning took place throughout the year. Professional learning was delivered as part of school development days, online, and face to face both within and outside of the school.

All staff received training in the student medical conditions of hemophilia, anaphylaxis, biliary atresia and portal hypertension, as well as emergency care and CPR. Our staff was also trained in the DEC Code of Conduct, Child Protection, PBL and KidsMatter.

The main focus was on the new Australian Curriculum (English K-10) with teachers becoming equipped with content and how it will meet the needs of our learners. All teachers attended a Norwest Community of Schools full day conference on Middle Schooling delivered by keynote speaker Professor Mike Nagle, University of Queensland.

Individual teachers attended a diverse range of professional learning opportunities. PDHPE featured prominently with staff members becoming more skilled in AFL, student golf, softball and athletics. Two teachers attended a full day sport conference.

A number of staff attended courses in behaviour management and PBL training. Our beginning teachers attended Innovative Education and Training.

The school executive participated in a number of conferences including the Blacktown Primary Principals’ Association Leading Learners Conference, Primary Executive Conference, PLAN, and Opening Pandora’s Box (English K-10).

The following amount were spent on professional learning:

Tied professional learning linked to specific programs

$22883

Professional learning for beginning teachers

$2936

Professional learning for school counsellor teams

$2274

School funded professional learning $10480

Total expenditure for 2013 $38573

During 2013, five new scheme teachers were working towards accreditation with the NSW Institute of Teachers. Eight teachers were maintaining accreditation at professional competence.

Three members of the school executive are also members of the NSW Institute of Teachers.

Parent/caregiver, student, and teacher satisfaction

In 2013, the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school.

Their responses are presented below.

Every parent was provided with the opportunity to access an opinion survey via the school’s website. A link to the survey was also contained within the fortnightly parent information bulletin.

Almost all parents agreed that JPPS was an attractive school, but it was not well resourced, particularly in terms of technology. This was a sentiment also expressed by staff and students.

Every parent who responded to the survey believed that students were the main concern of the school and most believed that supportive welfare and challenging programs were offered.

Concern was raised by quite a number of parents about the number of temporary teachers at the school, along with the amount of leave taken by teachers. Permanent positions which were not filled by staffing at the commencement of 2013 have now been filled and those teachers will enter on duty at the commencement of 2014. Leave is a teacher entitlement and all teacher leave has been taken within individual entitlements.

Most respondents believe that the school promotes and teaches core values along with a healthy lifestyle.

Communication between home and school continues to be an area of negativity despite the introduction of the school app. The school app is directly linked to our website which provides a plethora of information. The app also provides push notifications for upcoming events and reminders. Parents feel that more information is required about the P&C and its purpose, types of welfare programs offered, and the availability of extracurricular activities and how to access them.

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Overall, parents felt that the school provided a safe and secure environment where most teachers were enthusiastic and made learning enjoyable. Parents indicated that their children were proud to be students at JPPS.

During Term 4, a dedicated section to addressing parent concerns was provided within the fortnightly news bulletin. Areas discussed included how the school is catering for student safety given the huge increase in student enrolments and our reward system.

One quarter of our Year 1-5 students were randomly selected to participate in focused discussions related to school life. The majority of students felt proud to be part of our school and cited pride in their uniform most often. Students are generally pleased at how the school is progressing in terms of programs offered and the growing range of resources. All students felt that interactive whiteboards should be available in every classroom and that we should also be investigating the use of tablets within classrooms. Students in Years 3-6 were particularly impressed with the wider range of sports now being offered.

All staff members were given the opportunity to respond to an online survey, with questions being the same as those for parents. Staff responses in all areas were either similar or the same as parent responses with the exception of communication where staff felt that a major improvement had been made with the introduction of the school app.

Uniform Review

During 2013, a review of our school uniform took place. Students in Kindergarten through to Year 5, parents and staff gave feedback on our uniform. The following statistics represent the total number of respondents who felt positive about our uniform:

Boys summer uniform 97%

Boys winter uniform 97%

Girls summer uniform 96%

Girls winter uniform 86%

Summer sport uniform 96%

Winter sport uniform 92%

Some positive comments included that the uniforms were comfortable, fresh and appealing. Negative comments mostly came from parents rather than students and staff. Negative

comments focused on the high expense of the uniforms, the fact that the uniforms are not made from 100% natural fibre, and the lack of warmth of the winter uniforms. Interestingly, of the students who did not like the girls winter uniform or the winter sport uniform, being too hot was the main reason given.

Consistent with DEC policy, our uniform will be reviewed again during 2019.

Program evaluations

Fine Motor Skills in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1

Background

Fine motor skills in the early years of school have become an increasing concern for teachers. Current technologies require touch screen pointing and swipe motions rather than the traditional pincer grip required for writing. This has negatively impacted on hand muscle development and fine motor control.

Postural skills also appear to be less well developed as children have become accustomed to relaxing on soft home furnishings when accessing technologies.

At John Palmer Public School there have been an increased number of referrals to the Learning and Support Team and School Counsellor concerning poor fine motor skills.

In response to this, teachers were asked to observe students and complete a detailed checklist relating to fine motor development.

Findings, conclusions and future directions

A total of 279 students in Kindergarten and Stage 1 were assessed. Of these students, 51% had fine motor difficulties to some degree. A further breakdown of data revealed:

59% of students had difficulty with cutting

46% of students had poor pencil grasp

43% of students had difficulty writing on a line

41% of students had difficulty forming letters

27% of students had poor posture when

writing

The results suggested that problems with fine motor development are widespread and impacting significantly on student performance as a result of low productivity and endurance in writing.

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A successful application was made for an Every Student Every School grant to address these areas of deficit. A school based project has been developed for Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students, with the eventual aim of developing resources for Stage 2 and 3 students. With the support of an Occupational Therapist, teachers will be better equipped to identify and remediate poor fine motor control and postural issues which will result in improved functioning within the classroom. Training for staff and parents will underpin the ongoing success of this initiative and professional learning packages will be developed for other primary schools with our local learning community – Norwest Community of Schools.

Sport (Parent Perceptions)

Background

After six years of sport program development, the PDHPE felt it was timely to gain information on how parents perceived our sport programs. This also arose due to a number of communications with the school from parents about sport programs.

Findings and conclusions

Almost all parents agreed with the following statements:

I am happy with sport at JPPS

Sport at JPPS is well organised

JPPS should continue its involvement in PSSA

My child enjoys participating in sport

My child’s fundamental movement skills have

improved as a result of participating in school

sport

Student fitness is improving as a result of

school sport

There is a direct link between physical activity

and academic achievement

Areas where concerns were raised will be addressed through the following future directions which will span several years.

Future directions

Increased communication to parents

regarding PSSA trials

Development of a reward system for school

sport and PSSA

Better preparation of students for carnivals

Increased number of PSSA opportunities

Reintroduction of AFL as a PSSA sport

About this report

In preparing this report, the self-evaluation committee has gathered information from evaluations conducted during the year and analysed other information about the school's practices and student learning outcomes. The self-evaluation committee and school planning committee have determined targets for the school's future development.

Mrs Deborah Blackwell Principal

Mrs Tiffany Brooks P&C President

Mrs Wendy Creer Class Teacher

Mrs Gayle Henwood Assistant Principal

Mrs Susanne Lakeman Assistant Principal

Mrs Vanessa Leysen Learning Support Teacher

Mrs Louise Payne Assistant Principal

Mrs Tracey Roberts Assistant Principal

School contact information

John Palmer Public School

85 The Ponds Boulevard

The Ponds NSW 2769

Ph: 8882 9480

Fax: 8882 9479

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.johnpalmer-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

School Code: 4648

Parents can find more information about Annual School Reports, how to interpret information in the report and have the opportunity to provide feedback about the report at:

https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/high-

performance/annual-school-reports

https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/high-performance/annual-school-reports

https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/high-performance/annual-school-reports

Documents

John Palmer Public School Annual School Report 2013 · In closing 2013, John Palmer Public School had an ... water safety. 5 During Term 4, Bounce Sports ran a gymnastics program