2017 five islands school annual report - amazon s3 · 2018-04-10 · introduction the annual report...

Five Islands SchoolAnnual Report

2017

5723

Printed on: 10 April, 2018 of 13 Five Islands School 5723 (2017)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2017 is provided to the community of Five Islands 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.

Darlene M Jones

Principal

Staff Contributors to the 2017 Annual Report

Sonja Drewitt –Assistant Principal

Ali Landers– Assistant Principal

Meg Murray–Class Teacher

Sue Trezona– Class Teacher

Emma Sable–Class Teacher

Peter Stitt– Class Teacher

Trish Gonzalez– Class Teacher

School contact details

Five Islands School14 Marmong StreetBooragul, 2284www.fiveis-s.schools.nsw.edu.aufiveis-s.School@det.nsw.edu.au49530145


School background

School vision statement

WHERE ARE WE NOW

Five Islands School is valued by its students and community as providing a dynamic educational environment forstudents with special needs in a safe secure and caring learning environment.

WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE

We will continue to maintain a school that:

• Empowers students to be recognised as diverse learners and respected as members of the wider community

.• Ensures staff are highly skilled and professional and who will work collaboratively to meet the needs of the students

• Respects and further develops positive partnerships with families and community

• Promotes equity and excellence.

This vision is closely aligned to the Melbourne Declaration with a view to 2015 to 2017.

School context

Five Islands School is a special school located in Lake Macquarie West. The school is located within a diverseeducational precinct including Lake Macquarie High School and Booragul Public School.

The school offers educational programs for 37 students with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities, physical andassociated disabilities who are aged four to eighteen years. We currently have 6 classes. Many students are transportedthrough Assisted School Transport, and students come from a variety of cultural and socio–economic groups within thewider community. Enrolments are determined by a regional placement process where applicants have been clinicallyassessed for their disability status and suitability to the school. The school has a strong community reputation for qualityprograms and provision of outstanding education services.

We value:

• Students, parents and teachers as partners in learning

• Excellence in Special Education practice

• Innovation and inspiration that impacts positively on quality learning for our students

.• Meaningful curriculum aligned to individualised needs and quality 21st century learning.

The school has a P4 Principal, 2 Assistant Principals, 5 Teachers, 7 School Learning Support Officers, as well asadditional staff for RFF, additional learning support officers, office administration, library and school maintenance. Ourschool receives additional funding to assist students from low socio–economic backgrounds.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

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

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


On 7/09/2017 our school participated in External Validation. In preparation for this meeting, the required body ofevidence was prepared, reviewed and annotated. The following Executive Summary synthesises the annotatedinformation provided in the body of evidence. The sets of evidence gathered were based on the three StrategicDirections from the 2015–2017 Five Islands School Plan and the nine processes within that document. The ExternalValidation process resulted in Five Islands School staff working collaboratively to collect and analyse evidence to supportthe assessment of practices against the School Excellence Framework across the three domains and the fourteenelements. This process ensures the commitment to the pursuit of excellence and the provision of high quality educationalopportunities for all students.

Learning Domain

The results of this process indicated that in the School Excellence Framework domain of Learning:

Learning Culture – Sustaining and Growing

Wellbeing – Sustaining and Growing

Curriculum and Learning – Sustaining and Growing

Assessment and Reporting – Sustaining and Growing

Student Reporting Measures – Delivering

Five Islands School has a strategic and planned approach in supporting the education of students with significantdisabilities. The process and practice of establishing Individual Learning Plans supports positive conditions for studentlearning and builds respectful relationships across our school community. Our staff explicitly teach expected behavioursand calming strategies (such as the calm social story) to support self–regulation. Five Islands suspension protocolsfollow DoE Policy and provide opportunities for contextual decision making and collaborative planning leading toimproved outcomes for students.

Wellbeing is a primary focus at Five Islands School ensuring that our students connect, succeed and thrive. To supportpositive teaching and learning environments and encourage generalisation of skills, our school consistently implementsa whole school approach towards school rules and visual communication.

Quality teaching, curriculum planning and delivery that meets the individual learning needs of students with multipledisabilities remains at the core of curriculum provision at Five Islands School. Students that are in Year K–6 experienceand participate in the curriculum with adjustments as required and students that are in Year 7–12 utilise the Life SkillsSyllabus. Community Access Programs are at the core of our extra–curricular activities which include; Sailability,Hospitality Programs and Integration activities. Teachers at our school differentiate the curriculum and design learningprograms using interactive whiteboards' smart notebook to optimise student engagement.

Assessment and reporting practices are used to monitor, plan and report in line with each students Individual LearningPlans. Our parents/carers are regularly updated on their children's progress using a personalised learning report at theconclusion of Semester 1 and 2. Points of transition require additional support mechanisms for Five Islandsparents/carers, such as Welcome Packs and Post School Options Exhibitions.

Internal performance measures are designed by special education teachers to support assessment strategies based onthe needs of students with intellectual disabilities and communication disorders. Examples of these are the 10 EssentialCommunication Skills Checklist and Assistive Technology Task Analysis. Five Islands School is in the process ofconnecting with Melbourne University and the SWANS Project. This will establish a school wide process of usingresearch based student performance measures.

Teaching Domain

The results of this process indicated that in the School Excellence Framework domain of Teaching:

Effective Classroom Practice – Sustaining and Growing

Data Skills and Use – Delivering

Collaborative Practice – Delivering

Learning and Development – Delivering

Professional Standards – Sustaining and Growing

Effective teaching methods across Five Islands School incorporate the use of various strategies, such as assistive


technology to support individual learning programs and social stories to assist students to productively engage inclassroom activities. As part of the Individual Learning Plan process, teachers regularly use performance data andparent/carer feedback to evaluate their teaching practices.

Owing to the complexities of behaviours inherent within specialist settings, school wide data such as WHS Incidentreports play a role in informing future school directions. The school leadership team regularly assesses this data tomonitor effectiveness of school improvement efforts.

Quality teaching practice is supported at Five Islands School by explicit systems. For example, a revised version ofTeaching/Learning Program Procedures was disseminated to staff in Term 1. This document, alongside with a strategicSupervision Plan supports teachers in receiving constructive feedback from peers to improve their teaching practice.

Five Islands special education teachers participate in site–specific professional learning, which is linked to the SchoolPlan and their professional learning needs. A whole school focus has been aimed at increasing knowledge and use ofkey word signing to improve staff capabilities in supporting students who have significant communication needs.Technology is one of the nine processes in the School Plan and staff regularly participate in professional learning inareas of innovation to support teaching quality. Movie maker software training is one such example.

Owing to Five Islands School culture, staff demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment in their ongoingprofessional development. PDP protocols are embedded into the 2017 PDP/ILP/Reporting Schedule and PDPdocuments reflect connections to School Plan Strategic Directions and Professional Standards.

Leading Domain

The results of this process indicated that in the School Excellence Framework domain of Leading:

Leadership – Delivering

School Planning, Implementation and Reporting – Delivering

School Resources – Delivering

Management Practices and Processes – Delivering

The Five Islands School Leadership Team supports a range of community engagement opportunities. The students thatattend our school come from a large geographic area and placement comes from Access Requests and the sitting of apanel. It is essential to provide our families with a range of school–related activities to support engagement. The schoolhas implemented a Triple P Parenting Course designed specifically for families who have children with significantdisabilities. This school based training for parents/carers was offered to Five Island Parents, other local special schoolsand support unit parents. It was well attended and highly received. The school website was recently updated toencompass new formatting, links to useful Websites such as Down Syndrome Australia, increased use of photographs,examples of whole school visuals, school newsletters, explanations of facilities and programs and a consistently updatedcalendar of events. The school website traffic has shown a marked increase in traffic since the update. The SchoolLeadership Team has deliberately linked to the Lake Macquarie Art Gallery and is in the initial stages of preparing an ArtExhibition to showcase our students abilities in visual arts.

The Five Islands School Plan and its three strategic directions support the whole school focus on identifyingimprovement measures. Milestones are tracked by school staff in Week 5 and 10 of each term utilising SPaRO.Milestones are established during early Term 1, but may alter due to emerging needs of our dynamic environment. 2016/2017 sees a revitalisation of the schools P & C. This group of parents are deeply committed to supporting thecomplex needs of our school. The P & C consistently supports the vision and values of our students, their families andthe broader school community. All students who attend Five Islands have severe expressive and receptive languagedisorders with approximately 90% non–verbal. Therefore Home/School Communication Books are essential to maintainopen communication processes and provide an avenue to celebrate student achievements.

Five Islands School takes great pride in its well maintained facilities and specialist resources. Our student populationrequires high levels of safety in their environment due to inabilities to self regulate behaviours. Our school facilitiesinclude; a therapy spa, assistive technology and a sensory room. The school leadership team meet twice per term for aFinance Meeting, strategically planning to maximise staffing and physical resources to implement the School Plan.

Structures and practices that support school improvement include familiarising staff with the utilisation of theadministrative process of Synergy and EBS. Staff have been provided with professional learning and are consistentlyinputting information and data into these platforms. Site specific professional development is essential to supportstudent engagement and wellbeing, therefore in line with legislative requirements and PDP's the staff development daysfor the entire year are clearly outlined to all staff. Our school Facebook page provides our community with consistentupdates of information regarding school events and activities. There is also the opportunity for our parents/carers toprovide constructive feedback and comments on our journey of ongoing school improvement.


Our self–assessment and the External Validation process will assist the school to refine our School Plan for 2018–2020,leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students.

The peer principals that supported our External Validation prepared a panel report which made a variety ofrecommendations and adjustments to our final internal assessments as we measured our school against the SchoolExcellence Framework. The panel report listed a number of school determined next steps in the process ofself–assessment. They are as follows:

In the area of Learning:

Learning Culture–adaption of Positive behaviour for Learning to meet site specific requirements and inform developmentof our school core values and consistent language to support complex students.

Student Performances Measures–introduction of the Melbourne University SWANs assessment protocols, professionallearning throughout Term 4, 2017. This will inform Individual Learning Plan documentation and class programs. This newprocess will be shared across the school community through ILP meetings in Term 1, 2018. This knowledge will also beshared with our P&C.

In the area of Teaching:

Effective Classroom Practice–Awareness and understanding of the impact of Mental Health issues on curriculum deliverywill be a strong focus area in 2018 and beyond. Extensive professional learning using a distributed leadership model ofdevelopment will include strategies such as: classroom teachers sharing professional research, training anddevelopment in seasons for Growth and Youth Mental Health First Aid, in addition to engagement with Dr DavidDossiters's work in Intellectual disability and mental health.

In the area of Leading:

School Planning, Implementation and Reporting–Further development of Augmentative Communication Systems andStructured Learning Systems will be a strong focus to facilitate curriculum access and student dignity. Communityengagement and sponsorship will support the new School Plan 2018–2020 and be at the core of continuousimprovement efforts.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching–and–learning/school–excellence–and–accountability/sef–evidence–guide


Strategic Direction 1

Excellence in educational practices

Purpose

To promote, build and sustain the professional learning of all staff members, by creating systems for all teachers andleaders to learn from each other which allows for the alignment of policies and practices and provides feedback oncurrent performance in order to enhance student outcomes.

Overall summary of progress

Strategic Direction 1–Excellence in educational practice had a prime purpose to promote, build and sustain theprofessional learning of all staff members, by creating systems for teachers and school leaders to learn from each otherand align professional development with DoE policies and practices.

The School Excellence Framework has underpinned professional dialogue undertaken by staff and executive allowing forreflection, increased monitoring of evidence and assessment of future directions.

As a result this strategic direction has achieved the improvement measures as outlined in the School Plan 2015–2017.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

• All staff are engaged with thenew Performance andDevelopment Framework.

$1100.00 100% of teaching staff have engaged with thePerformance and Development Framework. Schoolwide systems have been established to ensurePDP's are completed to a high professional leveland staff regularly engage in mentoring sessionswith executives.

• Staff will be implementing ascope and sequence for scienceand PD, Health in line with theAustralian Curriculum.

$1100.00 The Curriculum Team have completed seniorschool scope and sequences to support teachingand learning programs.

• All staff will be knowledgeableand aligning their professionalpractice to reflect relevant keyDEC reforms.

$1100.00 100% of teaching and non–teaching staff align theirprofessional practice and their ProfessionalDevelopment Plans with relevant DoE reforms. AllPDP's are fully reflective of Five islands Schoolstrategic directions and state–wide systems.

Next Steps

As Five Islands School prepared for the School Plan 2018–2020 the whole school community participated in a variety ofstrategies (focus groups, surveys and interviews) to establish an aspirational direction for the area of Learning.

Strategic Direction 1 School Plan 2018–2020 will be titled "Future Focus Learning and Wellbeing" and the next steps willbe focused on whole school wellbeing programs and a school wide research based assessment process to inform futurelearning directions.



Enhancing student wellbeing

Purpose

To actively engage all students in meaningful and challenging learning experiences through personalised anddifferentiated learning opportunities. As a result, developing them as learners and promoting the values of respect,responsibility and improving their intellectual, physical, social, emotional development and wellbeing.


Strategic Direction 2–Enhancing Wellbeing aimed to build inclusive, collaborative teams and school networks throughquality community partnerships to increase student engagement, learning and wellbeing.

The Wellbeing Framework and the Wellbeing Assessment Tool became a focus for professional development inSemester 2, 2017 in line with the improvement measures outlined under this strategic direction.






• Improvement in staff andstudent wellbeing as a result ofhigh quality teaching practicesand processes.

$1100.00 Teaching and office staff were provided withprofessional learning in the use of the EBS andSynergy. 100% of significant incidents andwellbeing notes are now recorded on theseplatforms.

• Students and staff will beconfidently utilising technology toenhance teaching and learningexperiences.

$18,000.00 Additional funds were allocated to each class tosupport teaching and learning programs.Technology purchases included additional iPads,Big Macs and Boardmaker Software. Staff wereprovided with training to support confident usage.

• Augmentative communicationsystems are improving outcomesfor students.

$1100.00 100% of school staff have received professionallearning in a variety of augmentative and alternativecommunication systems. There has been a wholeschool focus in key word signing. Anecdotalevidence indicates increased student engagementin learning activities.

Next Steps

As Five Islands School prepared for the School Plan 2018–2020 the whole school community participated in a variety ofstrategies (focus groups, surveys and interviews) to establish an aspirational direction for the area of Teaching.

Strategic Direction 2 School Plan 2018–2020 will be titled "Effective and Explicit Teaching" and the next steps will befocused on effective, explicit evidenced based teaching strategies and a whole school approach to identify studentprogress and inform future directions.



Quality Systems

Purpose

To build inclusive collaborative teams and school networks by leading and inspiring a culture of engaged communication,empowered leadership and organisational practices.


Strategic Direction 3–Quality Systems specific intention was to build collaborative teams by leading and inspiring aculture of engaged communication, empowered leadership and high quality organisational practices.

Over the past three years a significant number of DoE reforms have been launched, these platforms have requiredextensive professional learning and systems adjustments at a school level. The skills and knowledge required to utilisethese practices which improve student outcomes have increased and will become embedded over the life of the newSchool Plan 2018–2020.






• Alignment of the Five IslandsSchool strategic directions,culture and identified studentneeds.

$1650.00 100% of school staff and parents report throughschool surveys a high level of satisfaction with FiveIslands School values and school culture. Teachingstaff are developing a greater understanding of thelinks between strategic directions, identifiedstudents needs and school culture.

• Increase in home schoolpartnerships

$1650 During 2017 Five Islands School established anumber of additional community events with a highlevel of family/carer attendance and satisfaction.Individual Learning Plan meetings were attended by90% of family members or carers.

• Improvement in studentlearning at Five Islands School asa result of quality strategicpartnerships and a focus onwhole of life education.

$5500.00 School staff identified a number of WellbeingPrograms for students with complex needs. Theseprograms were initiated in Term 4 and onceassessed and adapted will continue in 2018. Theseprograms were focused on developing skills forwhole of life education.

Next Steps

As Five Islands School prepared for the School Plan 2018–2020 the whole school community participated in a variety ofstrategies (focus groups, surveys and interviews) to establish an aspirational direction for the area of Leading.

Strategic Direction 3 School Plan 2018–2020 will be titled "High Quality Leadership and Community Connections" andthe next steps will be the optimisation of service delivery where school resources are strategically monitored to improvestudent outcomes and community expectations underpin whole school improvements.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $10,243.00 The Equity Loading–Aboriginal Backgroundwas used to support the purchase ofadditional assistive technology. The impactachieved by the purchase of additional iPads,Big Macs and Boardmaker Software isincreased student engagement in individuallearning plans. The student's ILP's have beencollaboratively designed by special educationclass teachers, parent/carers andparaprofessionals.

ESES Nil Not Applicable


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2014 2015 2016 2017

Boys 27 28 30 30

Girls 11 9 8 8

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Deputy Principal(s) 0

Assistant Principal(s) 2

Head Teacher(s) 0

Classroom Teacher(s) 4.66

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0

Learning & Support Teacher(s) 0

Teacher Librarian 0.2

Teacher of ESL 0

School Counsellor 0

School Administration & SupportStaff

7.82

Other Positions 0

*Full Time Equivalent

Teacher qualifications

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

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 90

Postgraduate degree 10

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

All teaching staff meet the professional requirementsfor teaching in NSW Public Schools.

Financial information (for schoolsfully deployed to SAP/SALM)

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summaryincludes reporting from 1 January 2017 to 31December 2017.

2017 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 52,735

Revenue 1,628,107

Appropriation 1,615,416

Sale of Goods and Services 345

Grants and Contributions 11,874

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 472

Expenses -1,581,742

Recurrent Expenses -1,581,742

Employee Related -1,474,733

Operating Expenses -107,009

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

46,365

Balance Carried Forward 99,101

Financial summary equity funding

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


2017 Actual ($)

Base Total 381,523

Base Per Capita 12,269

Base Location 647

Other Base 368,608

Equity Total 74,836

Equity Aboriginal 10,243

Equity Socio economic 64,594

Equity Language 0

Equity Disability 0

Targeted Total 1,101,796

Other Total 13,628

Grand Total 1,571,784

Figures presented in this report may be subject torounding so may not reconcile exactly with the bottomline totals, which are calculated without any rounding.

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.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Each year schools are required to seek the opinions ofall stakeholders. These surveys or focus groupsevaluate the effectiveness of school programs andsupport the planning for the following year.

Parent/Carers

Five Island School sought the opinion of ourparents/carers by asking them to complete a writtensurvey requiring them to rank their priorities (1–20) ofschool programs. Another aspect of the survey allowedparents/carers to comment on how they view FiveIslands School today and where they would like to seeour school in three years time. 40% of parents/carersresponded to the survey. The resulting informationindicated high levels of parent/carer satisfaction andprovided supporting documentation for the 2018–2020School Plan.

Parent/carer comments are as follows: • Fantastic • Happy and supported • Professional and dedicated staff.

Teacher Satisfaction

Teaching staff participated in interviews with the schoolexecutive and the results of the staff survey are asfollows: • Staff agree that school is an enjoyable and

rewarding place to work • Staff have positive relationships with

parents/carers • Communication is positive between staff and

school executive.All staff participated in a wishbone survey tool whichsupported the planning for the 2018–2020 School Plan.This tool allowed staff to prioritise school programs thatsupport students with multiple disabilities. Thewishbone survey allowed the executive team to identifythe six projects which will be incorporated in the nextthree year planning cycle.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

At our school we have maintained a rich AboriginalEducation focus throughout 2017. This has beenachieved by developing inclusive and engagingprograms that acknowledge Aboriginal and TorresStraight Islander cultures, sound policyunderstanding and implementation, teacherprofessional learning and cross curriculum planningwhich incorporates Creative and Performing Arts.

Five Islands School respectfully acknowledges the pastand present traditional custodians of the land duringassemblies, whole school celebrations and during ourannual celebrations of National Aborigines andIslanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Weekand Harmony Day. RAM Equity funding was allocatedin 2017 to provide assistive technology in support of theimplementation of learning adjustments to increasestudent engagement.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Five Islands School has a diverse and multiculturalcommunity, our school is committed to ensuring thatindividuals and groups are not disadvantaged due tocultural background or ethnicity. Our school has anidentified Anti–Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) and thisstaff members professional learning has been flaggedwith the school executive to participate in the 2018ARCO Training roll out. The ARCO plays a significantrole in the implementation of multicultural proceduresand processes across the whole school. Through crosscurriculum learning and special events during 2017 wehave continued to celebrate our schools diversity.These events have included Harmony DayCelebrations and NAIDOC Week.

Other school programs

Community Access

When designing our Community Access Programs, wefacilitate activities that are based on students individualinterests and goals. Activities also promoteindividual learning programs, skill development,participation and integration into our local community.All classes have some community participation


programs. These encompass walks to local park, visitsto the art gallery, bus excursions to shopping facilities,lake foreshore, playgrounds, schools and locallandmarks of interest.

Community Access may also be linked tothematic programs currently being studied in class andcan occur up to three times per week depending on theprogramming of the class. These programs are vital tostudents at Five Islands School so they can increasetheir social skills and engage as a community memberin their local area.

Wellbeing Programs

Five Islands School strives to create teaching andlearning environments that enable students to behealthy, happy, engaged and successful. OurWellbeing Program features both Drumming and YogaActivities run by professional instructors which seek toencourage self–expression and engagement amongstour students. The benefits for our students participatingin such programs include being actively connected totheir learning, developing lifelong interests, havingopportunities for them to build positive and respectfulrelationships with peers and staff alike and for them toexperience a sense of belonging in their school andcommunity.

Art Exhibition

Five Islands School participated in the “Board”(Curator–Meryl Ryan) exhibition at Lake Macquarie ArtGallery, from December 10th 2017 to February 9th2018. The students made an artwork titled “At TheBeach”. Each student developed their own canvasusing a variety of mediums and techniques, supportedby teaching staff. It was our school’s first artwork to beexhibited at the gallery. The students really enjoyedparticipating in the process, which took seven weeks. The process provided a rich, fun sensory experienceand opportunities for the students to engage in their artwith minimal assistance. Thus, it was a satisfying andrewarding experience for all. The students also enjoyedvisiting the art gallery with their teachers and seeingtheir art displayed. The artwork was popular with thecommunity and the Director, Debbie Abraham wouldlike to continue the successful collaboration with FiveIslands School in 2019, after the completion of the ArtGallery’s renovations in 2018.

Sailability

Students at Five Islands School attend and participatein the Sailability program attached to Toronto SailingClub during Term 1 and Term 4 each year. SailabilityToronto provides the facilities to make sailing availableto each of our students giving them an enjoyable,sailing experience. Community volunteers make this asafe and memorable occasion adapting their teachingmethods to suit individuals of all abilities. Students areengaged in assisting with sailing tasks while being outon the water. Sailability is a positive, fun, learningexperience that enables Five Islands School studentsto connect with our local community while participatingin a physical and social activity.

Hospitality Program

Oxley class operates a lunch order service/canteeneach Tuesday to support their Food Technology LifeSkills Elective. Students participate in shopping foringredients, preparing meals, taking orders anddelivering orders to classrooms. This program providespractical and meaningful experience with numeracy,literacy and communication.

Oxley class also operates a coffee club forstaff/community visitors each Friday. Students takeorders and deliver drinks whilst learning about moneyand practising their social skills. Both programs raisefunds for the Year 12 farewell and the Year 6 transitionlunches and commemorative gifts.

STEM Program

The NSW Department of Education has developed aninitiative that ensures the delivery of quality STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) activities for all students. The students atFive Islands School have been participating inspecifically designed lessons throughout 2017. Theirinvolvement in these activities fosters critical andcreative thinking, problem solving skills, as well asincreasing personal and social capabilities. STEMactivities are based on the theme being studied in eachclass for example "Force and Motion" or "Flight andSound". The students are actively engaged and enjoythe hands on aspects of the STEM lessons.

Sporting Programs

Physical activity programs are vital for the developmentof all students’ gross motor skills, mental and physicalhealth and social development. Five Islands Schooloffer our students a range of activities each day, withmany being embedded into the class routines andothers as specialised programs. Students areencouraged to be active in the playground with bikes,trampolines and climbing equipment readily available.The Sporting Schools program provided us with fundingfor a modified gymnastics program in Term 1. In Term2 and 3 we used the funding to purchase resources forthe school sports program, including a lawn bowls kit,new basketballs and hoops and some gymnasticsequipment (beam, bar and mat). Two staff membersattended a gymnastics coaching course and will beusing the new equipment to run aspecialised Gymnastics Program in 2018. The wholeschool also participated in the Premiers SportingChallenge, achieving gold awards. A number ofstudents were involved in community based sportingprograms including two sports clinics run at NewcastleUniversity and the annual sports carnival hosted byHunter River Community School.


2017 five islands school annual report - amazon s3 · 2018-04-10 · introduction the annual report...

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