2018 tathra public school annual report - amazon s3 · consistent and regular data collection and...

Tathra Public SchoolAnnual Report

2018

3173

Printed on: 1 May, 2019 of 26 Tathra Public School 3173 (2018)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2018 is provided to the community of Tathra Public School as an account of the school'soperations and achievements throughout the year.

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

Lisa Freedman

Principal

School contact details

Tathra Public SchoolBega StTathra, 2550www.tathra-p.schools.nsw.edu.autathra-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au6494 1291

Message from the Principal

2018 provided many great opportunities and some incredible challenges for our school and local community.

This year our school's performance showed that the programs and strategies being implemented throughout the schoolcontinue to promote quality teaching and learning for our students.

Student numbers have continued to grow this year. Nine classes were supported and should be maintained in 2019.

Staff have worked together to provide an inclusive environment where all students are nurtured and encouraged toachieve their personal best. The students are motivated and keen to learn and participated in the range of educationalopportunities provided for them at the school including: band and music programs, art classes, Japanese language andculture program, Creative and Talented learning opportunities, academic competitions, excursions, EnvironmentalEducation activities, local Aboriginal language and culture program and a sustainable gardening program.

The school has had ongoing support from our Parents and Citizens Association, parents and the local communityincluding Tathra Lions Club, Bega Rotary and the Sapphire Coast Learning Community of public schools (SCLC).Parents, carers and volunteers continue to support the school through participation in school events, running clubs,fundraising and assisting teachers and students in the classrooms.

School funds have also been used to fund additional support for students through Instructional Leadership. Expertteachers supported staff in their understanding of phonics, phonemic awareness, Language, Learning and Literacy (L3),Drama in Literacy, Targeted Early Numeracy (TEN) and Writing in the Middle Years programs and the tracking ofprogress of students to improve results in Literacy and Numeracy. The Instructional Leadership model has ensured moreconsistent and regular data collection and consistency of teacher judgement. This has supported closer monitoring ofstudents and adjustments for teaching and learning. All staff participated in a range of professional learning to supportthe implementation of syllabus, Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL); Franklin Covey's 7 Habits of Highly EffectivePeople and Quality Teaching strategies.

The continuation of the literacy support programs MiniLit and MultiLit for students in Years 1 – 6 has also deliveredpositive results for targeted students. A deeper understanding of phonemic awareness and the importance this plays inreading acquisition will be a focus in 2019.

Students participated in a range of sporting events and creative arts activities including the SCLC Music Camp, theSCLC Performing Arts Festival, Bournda EEC Creative and Talented STEAM programs and a whole school TathraSpectacular featuring dance, vocal and instrumental performances from every student, K–6. A partnership with The FourWinds enabled us to have two highly talented music tutors working with our students during Semester Two. Stage 2 and3 students performed at the Four Winds Youth Festival this year to showcase their vocal and percussive skills resulting


from the tuition provided.

On Sunday 18 March) Tathra, Reedy Swamp and surrounding communities suffered a catastrophic bushfire whichdestroyed 69 homes and damaged 50 others. The school was in the direct line of the fire front. Some students and stafflost their homes. Whether people lost homes or not, we were all affected by the trauma of the fire. The day of the fire anddays following were extremely challenging for our small community.

Though the fire entered our school boundary, the school buildings were thankfully saved. 120 trees within the northernand western boundaries of our school, butting up to the majority of classrooms, were well alight before the EmergencyServices abandoned saving other properties to save our school buildings. We were very lucky.

After the fires were contained the evacuated residents were unable to return to their homes for several days and theschool was closed during week 8 and some of week 9 of Term 1 until we could be assured the school was fit for thereturn of the staff and students. The classrooms had been filled with smoke and ash and had to be thoroughly cleaned.The gardens, playground and a large shade cloth were badly damaged or destroyed and the damaged trees had to beremoved yet thankfully, the school remained a safe, secure and nurturing place for our children.

Generous donations flooded in after the fires from schools, community groups and individuals across the country. Withthe money received we aim to build a multipurpose outdoor classroom and play area in 2019. We have received supportfrom grants to rebuild our beautiful vegetable gardens.

Bega Rotary donated funds to support us to employ Judith Radin (WebCats) and artist Lucy Macey to work with atalented group of student writers and illustrators who have produced this amazing book. This work reflects the impact thefires have had on our children yet their voices remain positive throughout.

Our whole school community has continued to work together to meet the wellbeing needs of our students, staff andparents/carers. Recovery continues to be a top priority for our community. The impact of the fires on our students andstaff has reinforced the importance and enormous value of a strong school culture.

Our staff, parents and students work together to ensure Tathra Public School is a place of great teaching, learning,friendship and support. Our school's collegial staff, strong leadership, effective wellbeing programs, and broad andengaging programs, alongside abundant parent and community support is pivotal in ensuring our students areconnecting, thriving, and succeeding despite the bushfires of March 2018.

I am very proud of our school community and the positive impact that our quality teaching programs, delivered by ourexcellent teachers, continues to make.

Lisa Freedman

Message from the school community

It's no secret 2018 has been a year of ups and downs for the Tathra Community, and the P&C are no exception to this.On reflection, 2018 has been one long wild ride: twisting, turning, going upside down and spitting us out at the end. Atthe start of 2018 the P & C were all happy to be back, with some returning members and quite a few new faces. Therewas much anticipation and excitement at the thought of what the year may hold and what could be achieved with a verypassionate but time poor group of individuals.

As the year rolled on there were many times when the energy and buzz were high, all of us sitting on the edge of ourseat, waiting for the next twist or turn as the Tathra Public School children, teachers and leaders came forward with theirideas, plans and proposals. Like all rollercoaster rides there times when stomachs fell and a slight feeling of nausea tookover, where we all had to grip the sides of seats and be reassured we were all in this together essentially heading in thesame direction. As always, the reassuring by–standers, parents and extended community were ready to lend a helpinghand and pull together to ensure the ride carried on.

This small, but very compassionate, and caring community we live in managed to raise almost $30,000 for our smallschool. The funds raised went directly to the school and to improving our children's learning, opportunities and everydayexperiences. The Colour Run raised around $13 000 and The Tathra Wharf to Waves, $5000. The other majorfundraisers for the year were the Father's and Mother's Day stalls, canteen, uniforms, donations following the bushfires,coffee stalls and a couple of small grants. Funds raised went towards learning, transport, a table tennis table and othernew resources.

Although fundraising and hard work is a vital part of the P&C it is not the only purpose, we are continually working onways to build our sense of community within the school. This year saw the commencement of the Fathering Project andthe creation of a new Community and Wellbeing role within the committee.

Once again, I am very grateful our children have such a wonderful school to attend and I am very humbled by the


amount of time, passion and generosity our committee continue to contribute to this outstanding school. After all, whatcould be more important than investing in our children's day to day lives.

So, it seems the wild ride has finished for 2018 and while we are all happy and slightly relieved the ride is over, some ofus are ready to move on to a different ride and others will be back to do it all again next year.

Linda McCormack (President, Tathra Public School P&C)

Message from the students

2018, what a year! There were so many things to do at Tathra Public School from robotics, science, band and Japaneseclubs to student parliament and assemblies. I loved participating in the swimming and athletics carnivals. Throughout theyear there were so many different opportunities for us such as the Tathra Spectacular, at the very end of the year andthe SCLC Performing Arts Festival towards the beginning.

On Sunday, 18 March an excruciating bush fire broke out in Reedy Swamp and burned a path straight towards our littleschool in Tathra. At about 3:00pm the fire was tearing through the bush and was burning around the school with 13different helicopters water bombing the school but luckily the school was saved.

Anyway, back to the good stuff. There were other wonderful community and new events such as the bush dance whichraised money for drought affected farmers and the Four Winds Festival and singing and percussion. For the Four WindsFestival we all learnt many songs and performed Mother Mountain, One Day and Bermi and Back.

Even more opportunities offered this year were provided from grants from Sporting Schools such as netball, beach sportsand athletics. I had a great time this year.

Kiara Ferguson (Year 5)


School background

School vision statement

We are dynamic and engaging leaders, confident and creative learners, active and informed citizens.

School context

Established in 1912 Tathra Public School is located on the Far South Coast of NSW in the rural coastal town of Tathra.In 2018 Tathra PS has an enrolment of 230 students. The school is a proud member of the Sapphire Coast LearningCommunity (SCLC) and is one of 15 schools in this community. The school works in close collaboration with the schoolsin the Bega Community of Schools and Far South Coast Principals’ Network. The school has a strong connection to thecommunity and is supported by a dedicated Parents and Citizens’ Association (P&C).

The school receives equity funding through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM) as part of the Local Schools LocalDecisions educational reform. This funding includes a rural and remote component. An equity loading provides funds tosupport our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students (3% of the total population). The school also receives LowSES Equity funding determined by its Family Occupation and Educational Index rating of 63. Targeted funding is alsoreceived for individual students requiring high, moderate or low adjustment for disability.

The school offers evidence–based literacy and numeracy programs such as Language, Learning and Literacy (L3),Targeted Early Numeracy (TEN), MULTILIT, Focus on Reading and Writing in the Middle Years.

The Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) model overarches the wellbeing and discipline policies and practices of theschool. Key initiatives in Japanese and Aboriginal language and culture, creative and performing arts, Coding andgardening programs ensure students have access to a wide range of learning opportunities.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

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

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

The results of this process indicated:

In the domain of LEARNING the External Validation panel supported the judgement that Tathra Public School isExcelling in the elements of Learning Culture; and Wellbeing and is Sustaining and Growing in the elements ofCurriculum; Assessment; Reporting; and Student Performance Data.

The school has a strong positive culture due to wellbeing policies and procedures that support all staff to enable theaccurate and durable implementation of the practices that support students. Data on student behaviour, academicperformance, attendance and other key indicators is considered regularly enabling us to select, differentiate ordiscontinue practices based on need. Explicit teaching of behaviour is ongoing. Our practices are student focused,evidence–based interventions and strategies that support students.

Wellbeing programs are embedded into curriculum delivery and teachers are supported by the leadership team to buildcapacity, develop programs and implement principles of evaluative thinking, continually monitoring the impact ofWellbeing programs and approaches to improve practice as required. Student leadership and voice is promoted and animportant contributor to our positive learning culture. Parents/carers and community members willingly support programsby offering expertise to ensure ongoing opportunities and performance improvement.

The implementation of special programs that cater for the diverse student learning needs in the school such asJapanese, Art, Music, Dance, Science club, gardening and Robotics ensure that our students remain engaged inlearning and want to come to school. With a strong culture and belief in using research informed practices, we ensurethat student individual learning needs are met through implementing phonics, Language, Learning and Literacy (L3),Guided Reading Groups in all K–2 classrooms and reciprocal reading in K–6 with students receiving a minimum of three


guided reading lessons each week, differentiated according to student needs. Through the implementation ofdifferentiated teaching and learning programs, teachers analyse student data and provide each student with individuallearning goals. Differentiated programming across K–6 is vital in improving student outcomes throughout the school.Teachers are asked to develop programs that highlight intervention and explicit teaching strategies, high level ofdifferentiation and small group instruction to provide students with targeted and strategic support. Across K–2classrooms we have highlighted; numeral identification, counting forwards and backwards, Early Arithmetical Strategies(EAS) and Place Value as an area of importance for students moving into Stage 2.

Staff collect data to show student growth and improvement in these targeted areas, along with the implementation ofTargeted Early Numeracy (TEN.) K–2 teachers are grouping students effectively according to their current achievementlevel and provide explicit teaching instruction to ensure that they continue to progress along the learning continuum.

Our NAPLAN Reading results (which have remained above National average in Years 3 and 5 for many years) andgrowth has continued to remain strong through the implementation of the L3 program and pedagogy across the school.Internal school data indicates that our students are performing above average in all areas of reading across the school.Writing was a target area in the 2015–2017 plan due to declining results. However, NAPLAN results in 2017 were verystrong and in 2018 remain above the National average. We attribute the sustained improvement in writing to the L3pedagogy in K–2 and the instructional leadership in this area, targeting Stage 2 and 3 with an emphasis on structure,grammar and punctuation. Grammar and Punctuation in Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN results continues to be above Nationalaverage. Staff have employed a number of strategies to increase student engagement through explicit teaching, studentfeedback and goal–setting in writing and as a result there is a positive impact on student learning outcomes.

Numeracy is a target area for the 2018–2020 plan due to recognition that this is an area of need. TEN has beenimplemented across K–2 and staff teaching Years 3–6 have also been trained in order to support targeted students inStages 2 and 3. In 2018 Year 5 NAPLAN Numeracy results indicate that our students have performed above Nationalaverage. We have lifted our results for Year 3 also, performing at the National average. Tathra Public School iscommitted to enhancing the delivery of learning programs to ensure a shared understanding across the school andprovide teachers with the professional knowledge and support structures that enable them to make informed judgementsabout student learning needs through the delivery of the NSW curriculum. Through consultation with parents, P&Cmembers and teachers we have refined our student report policy to include personal learning goals for all students oncea semester and parents are asked to attend a 3 way interview with the student and teacher at the beginning of eachyear. Parents are involved in the development of their child's initial learning goals and are constantly updated about theprogress of their goals through communication methods. As a result of this process, 73% of parents attended 3 wayinterviews with their child's teacher in Term 1 2018.

In the domain of TEACHING the External Validation panel supported the judgement that Tathra Public School isExcelling in the elements of Effective Classroom Practice; Professional Standards; and Learning andDevelopment and is Sustaining and Growing in Data Skills and Use.

A whole school–approach ensures the most effective, researched informed, evidence–based teaching methods optimisestudent learning progress for all students across the full range of abilities. Teachers collaborate across stages and teamsto share curriculum knowledge, analyse data and plan for future learning. Shared planning and staff collaboration hasresulted in improved planning processes. The implementation of an RFF timetable which enables groups of teachers toplan together as well as collaborative planning days has proved to be a valuable process to support collaboration andsharing of resources.

All staff participate in professional learning to build their capacity. The staff utilise the expertise of Instructional Leaderswho work in classrooms to share expertise. Staff support one another through the observation of practice and arebeginning to establish Professional Learning Communities or alliances.

Participation in Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) has resulted in quality feedback for a group of teachers who havereceived professional development in this area. This has supported teaching culture in the building of trust andcollaboration. Professional Learning Alliances or Communities utilising QTR or action research based on Stage goals isnow a focus of the 2018–2020 plan. Staff are responsible for their individual professional learning through the PDPprocess.

Mentoring Early Career teachers is strongly supported. Beginning teachers receive extra timetabled release to work withtheir mentors once a week to discuss teaching and learning. An Induction model has been developed based on StrongStart, Great Teachers to guide beginning teachers. All teachers are supported to maintain and work towardsaccreditation.

Data analysis to drive teaching and learning is now being embedded in practice and staff are able to program for a rangeof learners by differentiating curriculum and making modifications of teaching and learning cycles to meet student needs.Using learning continuum and now learning progressions, PLAN (and soon PLAN 2), data walls, and specific programssuch as a strong phonics program, L3, TEN and Writing in the Middle Years, has led to a greater understanding andpositive and effective use of data to inform teaching. This has led to greater visibility of student performance across theschool. The school leadership team has a good knowledge of how students are performing across K–6. Teachers can


easily identify the needs of students offering key information about their learning at Learning and Support Teammeetings.

In the domain of LEADING the External Validation panel supported the judgement that Tathra Public School isExcelling in the element of Educational Leadership and Sustaining and Growing in the elements of SchoolPlanning, Implementation and Reporting; School Resources and Management Practices.

Our priorities have been to sustain strong leadership and management practices in the school. The leadership team hasmaintained a strong focus on distributed instructional leadership utilising the expertise and strengths of leaders andexpert teachers. The school aims to sustain a culture of effective, evidence–based teaching and ongoing improvement ofstaff and students through developing strong relationships of support and trust.

Deploying staff to fill the roles of school–funded Instructional Leaders (since 2017) who are focussed on improving theteaching and learning of literacy and numeracy, has had a strong positive impact in a short period of time. All classroomteachers and part–time temporary teachers as well as several non–teaching staff have completed ProfessionalDevelopment in the FranklinCovey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which is a personal leadership system based onthe principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. During the course participants received a 360 degreeprofile of their effectiveness which enabled them to address areas for improvement. During 2018 staff continue toaddress their personal goals in line with the 7 Habits – Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First,Think Win Win, Seek First to Understand Then be Understood, Synergise and Sharpen the Saw. After completing thistraining as staff, the school is now subscribed to the FranklinCovey Leader in Me (student version of the 7 Habits) inorder to create a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader K–6. This programis has a focus in the 2018–2020 plan.

Both teaching and non–teaching staff proactively seek to improve their performance and the school supportscollaborative performance development. SLSOs are offered opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills and havebeen trained in TEN and L3 practices, completed On–line training in Understanding Autism, attend PBL whole stafftraining days and meetings and are included in the development of student IEPs and individual meetings.

New management systems have been put into place to streamline office practices including the implementation of SAPfinance and HR payroll. Further support will be provided to deepen understanding in 2019.

There is a commitment by the school to resource classrooms to ensure all student needs are met. Over the last threeyears, the school has purchased new technology – iPads, interactive panels, laptops, robotics (Spheros, LEGO Wedo2.0, Beebots) to provide future focused learning opportunities. Resources are strategically used to achieve improvedstudent outcomes and high service delivery.

The school has a culture of high expectations and community engagement. The school seeks feedback from the parents,carers and the broader school community to provide the best opportunities for students. Improved communication andengagement has been the result of this being a focus in the 2015–2017 plan. There has been a huge improvement incommunication through the release of a new school app, a new e–newsletter format, Facebook, use by teachers of theSeeSaw learning Journey app to share student goals with families, community members attending focus groupdiscussions, a collaborative and supportive P & C and the development of stronger relationships with communityorganisations such as local sporting clubs, organisations and charities. The school hosts annual events such as anannual school performance or play, family nights, discos, an annual fete and other smaller fundraising drives throughoutthe year which further support the positive school culture.

The school community including students, staff, parents and carers have been consulted in developing the school visionand plan. The school hall is utilised by community groups, the local council and other local organisations and the schoolis seen as a significant hub of the community.

Our self–assessment and the external validation process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to furtherimprovements in the delivery of education to our students.

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

Learning C3

Purpose

To provide a school culture that supports all students to connect, succeed, thrive and learn through engagingcurriculum and learning experiences.

Overall summary of progress

Our school values are well known, understood, supported and promoted by the whole school community. Our wellbeingpolicies and procedures support all staff to enable the accurate and durable implementation of the practices that supportstudents. Our data is used to identify the current status, the need for change and the effects of interventions. Informationon student behaviour, academic performance, attendance and other key indicators is considered by the PBL teamregularly. Data on how well the practices are being implemented is key to improvement. By reviewing this informationfrequently we make decisions to select, differentiate or discontinue practices based on need.

Explicit teaching of behaviour is ongoing and a growing bank of explicit lessons is available to staff on a shared drive.These lessons include student produced and developed movies which teach expectations, shown as part of the scopeand sequence or whenever our behaviour data suggests a reminder is needed. As a result of monitoring, reviewing andgathering feedback from staff and students we have modified playground duties, streamlined communication to staffabout expectations on duty (for consistency) and introduced new programs at lunchtime to engage more students. Ourpractices are student focused and are evidence–based interventions and strategies that support students. Wellbeingprograms are embedded into curriculum delivery and teachers are supported by the leadership team to build capacity,develop programs and implement principles of evaluative thinking, continually monitoring the impact of wellbeingprograms and approaches to improve practice as required.

Our attendance data has been consistently above state average for several years. Our behaviour records indicate areduction in negative notifications and a low suspension rate. Staff, students and parents understand the behaviourconsequences for negative behaviour. Our monitoring of behaviour ensures we are proactive rather than reactive inresponse to students whose behaviours may be deteriorating. The school developed a 'Check in' system based on aGROWTH Coaching model whereby students with five notifications or returning from suspension, set theirbehaviour/social goals with their teacher (coach) and other partners such as parents, the school counsellor and/or LaSTand are given support to work within a time frame to achieve these goals before further consequences may occur. This iswell received by parents and students and has contributed to improved behaviour outcomes for the students whosebehaviour has been targeted on this program. Our PBL team includes staff members who are trained PBL coaches andwho share their expertise through PL at staff meetings and SDDs. They also support other local PBL schools as externalcoaches. Parents are kept informed as per our policy which is also available on our website. Information regarding ourbehaviour systems is shared at parent information sessions (e.g. kinder parent orientation). Parent feedback suggestedthey understand the policy and feel confident a staff member will contact them should an issue arise.

Positive recognition systems are in place and understood by staff, students and parents and align to our school values.Students regularly accrue 100 tokens for individual and whole class rewards and every term we are able to celebratewith a Fun Day as a result.

Student leadership and voice is promoted and an important contributor to our positive learning culture. The StudentParliament, SRC and Senior Leadership program allows students to provide feedback and have a say. Regular feedbackbetween teachers, students and parents/carers is part of classroom processes and procedures.

Community engagement and communication to parents/carers and the community is focused on learning. Throughsurveys and feedback we know the communication methods used are valued. Parents/carers and community memberswillingly support programs by offering expertise to ensure ongoing opportunities and performance improvement.According to feedback from students, the majority of students feel supported and valued.

Tathra Public School is committed to ensuring improved student learning outcomes in all Key Learning Areas, with astrong focus on student achievement in Literacy and Numeracy. During the current school planning phase our schoolleadership team identified the need for consistent and collaborative teaching practices that would carefully monitorindividual student progress, build teacher capacity and differentiate teaching and learning for a wide and diverse range ofstudent needs.

Differentiated programming across K–6 is vital in improving student outcomes throughout the school. Teachers areasked to develop programs that highlight intervention and explicit teaching strategies, high level of differentiation and


small group instruction to provide students with targeted and strategic support.

With a strong culture and belief in using evidence–based practices, we ensure that students' individual learning needsare met through implementing phonics, L3 (Language, Learning and Literacy) Guided Reading Groups in all K–2classrooms and reciprocal reading in K–6 with students receiving a minimum of 3 guided reading lessons each week,differentiated according to student needs.

Across K–2 classrooms we have highlighted; numeral identification, counting forwards and backwards, EAS (Earlyarithmetical strategies) and Place Value as an area of importance for students moving into stage 2. Staff collect data toshow student growth and improvement in these targeted areas, along with the implementation of TEN (Targeting EarlyNumeracy.) K–2 teachers are grouping students effectively according to their current achievement level and provideexplicit teaching instruction to ensure that they continue to progress along the learning continuum.

Tathra Public School is committed to enhancing the delivery of learning programs to ensure a shared understandingacross the school and provide teachers with the professional knowledge and support structures that enable them tomake informed judgements about students' learning needs through the delivery of the NSW curriculum.

During the school planning phase, the need to develop a consistent approach to the delivery of teaching and learningprograms was determined. We are currently in the process of developing new scope and sequences for literacy andnumeracy K–6. With a high turn–over of teaching staff at our school, the majority of permanent and experienced staffmembers were placed in K–2. This was a strategic approach that allowed teachers to work collaboratively in developinga literacy and numeracy scope and sequence in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1. We are currently working with stage 2 and 3teachers using a similar process to develop a scope and sequence in literacy and numeracy for years 3–6. This will allowour school to ensure a consistent and systematic approach in delivering literacy and numeracy K–6.

At Tathra Public School, we have a strong, collaborative and supportive staff who are committed to the overalldevelopment of our students. We have a focus on improved teaching, with embedded professional learning activitiesfocussed on building teacher capacity across the school. Teachers meet regularly in stage groups /teams to ensure thedevelopment and implementation of effective teaching and learning programs and that teachers have consistent teacherjudgement when tracking student progress. Stage teams are asked to develop a common writing task that isimplemented across each stage group. Teachers use these writing samples to collaboratively share their professionalknowledge of the curriculum and continuums to accurately plot students and plan for future learning.

Coaching and professional learning for teachers at Tathra Public School is purposefully structured to ensure thatteachers further develop their skills in delivering effective and engaging lessons for all students at our school. We worktogether to improve teaching and learning in stage groups, use formal and informal coaching (GROWTH coachingconversations) to improve teaching practice and receive constructive feedback from peers and school leaders. We alsoaccess professional learning for our teachers through the SCLC (Sapphire Coast Learning Community) and outsideagencies that provide tailored PL for teachers linked to personal goals in their PDP or the Strategic Directions linked toour school plan.

In our approach at Tathra Public School we aim to create an effective learning environment for all students. To cater forour diverse learning needs we employ a range of speciality teachers from within our local community to implementspecialist programs for our students. We have Friday Fun Day timetables for each class within the school. On a Friday,all students participate in a variety of specialised lessons including Japanese, Art, Music, Dance and PD/H/PE basedactivities. Creative and talented students have access to specialist teaching programs at school, through BourndaEnvironmental Education Centre and the pilot Year 5 Opportunity Class through Aurora Collage. We work with our localpreschool and High School to develop effective transition programs for students moving into Kindergarten and Year 6students moving into Year 7.

Both summative and formative assessment strategies are used by teachers at Tathra Public School to monitor, reflectand improve student learning outcomes. Our teaching staff range in their experience and knowledge of collection anduse of data in the classroom. As a collective group we are working collaboratively to share this knowledge across theschool. We ensure that we follow the NSW DOE reporting policy by reporting to parents twice a year. We ensure that ourreports contain personalised information about individual learning progress and achievement as well as personalisedlearning goals in literacy and numeracy for each student.

Future–focused learning prepares students across all curriculum areas and learning stages with new skills andcapabilities. Teachers at Tathra Public School know and understand the needs and talents of their students and we arein the initial stages of implementing flexible and effective teaching strategies. We are currently using expert teacherswithin our staff to work with small groups of students on a robotics project. Sharing the personal expertise of such staffwith other teachers during PL sessions, supports them to implement future focused ideas and lessons into theirclassrooms.


Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

Culture: An increase incommunity engagement asreported by parents.

School funded Community engagement and communication toparents/carers and the community is stronglyfocused on learning. Through surveys andfeedback we know the communication methodsused are valued. Parents/carers and communitymembers willingly support programs by offeringexpertise to ensure ongoing opportunities andperformance improvement. According to feedbackfrom students, the majority of students feelsupported and valued.

Cross–curricular: • Aboriginal backgroundloading ($3000.00) • Low level adjustment fordisability ($18000.00) • Time allocated forteachers to visit each othersclassroom to observeeffective practice utilising IL– QTSS 0.358

IL utilised to support the observation of practiceacross all staff. Teachers within stage groups arestill working on developing consistent Scope andSequences for Literacy and numeracy across K–6.This will continue to be a focus in 2019. Bothsummative and formative assessment strategiesare used by teachers to monitor, reflect andimprove student learning outcomes.Comprehension will be a major focus in 2019utilising Literacy and Numeracy progressions totrack and monitor progress.

Connectedness: All studentportfolios clearly demonstrateparticipation in the goal settingcycle (identify goals, establishstrategies, implement andreflect).

school funded All students have learning goals which aremonitored by class teachers and evaluated andshared with parents and students in three–wayinterviews, using SeeSaw app and in schoolreports. Parent feedback (focus groups) report anincreased understanding o learning goals andbetter engagement with teacher through use ofschool and seesaw app.

All classrooms have some evidence of flexiblelearning spaces. This is an area of continued focusin 2019, with each classroom being allocated anamount out of the budget the contribute tocontinued development of flexible learning spacesin each room. 2019 will also see the construction ofa sensory garden in our playground that will beavailable as another flexible learning space withinour school.

Next Steps

To further develop our strong culture we are continuing to monitor, evaluate and improve our wellbeing programs,student leadership and behaviour systems. We are currently working with the Regional Positive Behaviour for Learningteam to improve data collection and analysis. An area we are interested in researching more thoroughly is positiverewards systems, the value of these and exemplar models. We will continue to move towards all students having PLPSrecorded and tracked on Sentral or ALAN as we move into using the new learning Progressions in literacy and Numeracyin 2019.

Collection of more comprehensive parent/carer feedback is an area of focus in the 2018–2020 School Plan.

We have begun to implement the FranklinCovey– Leader In Me program after 16 staff (including teaching andnon–teaching staff) have had ongoing PL in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People this year. Leader in Me is asocial–emotional learning process that empowers students with leadership and life skills. It is based on principles andpractices of personal, interpersonal, and organisational effectiveness with a premise that every child possesses uniquestrengths and has the ability to be a leader. This process has begun in Stage 3 to support student leadership but we planto utilise the program's resources to embed the model from K through to Year 6. We feel that this whole–schoolimprovement model integrates leadership development into our existing program and fills the gaps we identify as areasin which we could improve. We continue to work on improving relationships, further strengthen culture, and motivatingstaff and students. We plan to provide further opportunities to share the work and research we are doing in this area with


and the community at large.

Through the implementation of differentiated teaching and learning programs, teachers analyse student data and provideeach student with individual learning goals. Students have 3 goals to focus on including a literacy goal, a numeracy goaland writing goal. These goals are displayed in the classroom for student and parents to refer too. This allows students toevaluate and monitor their own learning.

Through collaboration with a Literacy and Numeracy Consultant, Stage 2 staff have worked on the implementation of aNumeracy Project. The consultation process provided valuable PL for Stage 2 teachers in analysing student data,identifying an area of need and designing a series of explicit lessons to improve student learning. This is a process thatwe will continue to develop and embed throughout the school.

Teacher voice and professional relationships aligned with collaborative practice between staff members has had apositive impact on learning for all our students. Our staff actively participate in all professional learning, attend all staffmeetings, staff willingly volunteer to take on extra responsibilities and we have seen an increase in the area ofdistributive leadership with all staff actively present and sharing new knowledge of expertise that they have acquired.

A positive culture for students through the implementation of special programs that cater for the diverse student learningneeds in the school. Student's survey results indicated that students enjoyed participating in specialised lessons onFriday Fun Days.

Through consultation with parents, P&C members and teachers we have refined our student report policy to includepersonal learning goals for all students once a semester and parents are asked to attend a 3 way interview with thestudent and teacher at the beginning of each year. Parents are involved in the development of the students initiallearning goals and are constantly updated about the progress of their goals through communication apps such asSeeSaw. As a result of this process, 73% of parents attended 3 way interviews with their child's teacher in term 1 2018and we hope to improve this positive attendance in 2019. We aim to continue this trend next year.



Teaching – E3

Purpose

To deliver expert, effective and evidence–based teaching distinguished by high levels of professionalism andcommitment to best practice.


School resources (QTSS, Principal Support and Literacy Numeracy funds) have been utilised to release an AssistantPrincipal from class 4 days per week. She works alongside the principal as an Instructional Leader in the school enablingher to deliver side by side support as per the school plan. She currently works with Kindergarten staff supporting TENand L3 delivery, and the Stage 2 learning community in support of their work in best practice delivery of Numeracy.

A classroom teacher with high levels of expertise, interest and collegial respect has been released one day a week fromclass (with teacher – Literacy & Numeracy Intervention allocation in the entitlement for 2017 i.e. old Reading Recoveryallocation) to work in supporting the transition of targeted students from Stage 1 to Stage 2 and supports teachers todevelop skills in the teaching of Literacy and the collection and analysis of data to inform practice.

The Learning and Support Teacher (LaST) employed three days per week is a Writing in the Middle Years facilitator andthe school utilises her expertise to support targeted Stage 2 and 3 students in literacy with a focus on writing (as per theschool plan). She is working as an Instructional leader within the classroom alongside teachers. This practice has had ahigh impact on student improvement and is shown to be more effective than the previous model of support through smallgroup withdrawal once or twice a week.

Tathra Public School teaching staff have the opportunity to be part of a much greater Professional Learning Communityboth within the school setting (small learning teams focussing on a common goal) and with local schools as part of theSapphire Coast Learning Community (SCLC). Within the wider SCLC, opportunities for PL are shared and supported.The school plan has a focus on Instructional Leadership in order to introduce new innovative methods of instruction toachieve higher learning outcomes. A strategic direction is to build professional learning or inquiry communities i.e. PLCs,which encourage and enable staff to engage in action research to be innovative, not settle for the 'solution of the day'and to refine best practice.

Within the school, the Quality Teaching Framework and Australian Professional Standards are utilised in mentoring andcoaching. The school is in the initial phases (since 2017) to establish Professional Learning Communities to support theprofessional learning and development of staff with a focus on student impact. The focus on developing professionallearning communities began with a group of four staff (including the principal) completing teacher training in theUniversity of Newcastle Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) program. This provided an opportunity for collegial observationsand reflections focussed on the Quality Teaching Framework. The teachers involved completed a round of observationsand lesson coding based on the Quality Teaching Framework. They found the process highly rewarding.

The school engages and embraces the skills, expertise and contributions of staff and the community to deliver engagingprograms. Teachers who have a specific area of interest and expertise are employed to implement programs that extendstudent development and at the same time provide professional development through team teaching, demonstrationlessons and sharing of professional knowledge and programs. Expert teachers and tutors deliver whole school programsin Science, PD/H/PE, Music, Visual Arts, and Japanese language. School resources are utilised to enable staff to deliverprograms in an interest area such as Dance, Drama, Coding, Robotics and gardening.

At Tathra Public School, a positive collegial relationship amongst all staff has been developed which sustains effectivecollaborative opportunities for improvement of practice through mentoring, coaching and peer planning. A focus onbuilding teacher capacity by sharing expertise is key to development and implementation of programs and strategies thatconsistently reflects best practice. Regular and targeted professional learning, aligns with Tathra Public School StrategicDirections and individual teacher PDPs. Each teacher sets one common stage goal that aligns directly with the plan andwhich builds the capacity of teaching staff. Non–teaching staff are also provided with opportunities to improve practicethrough targeted PL.

Coaching conversations are used with students when setting intentional learning goals for PLPs and IEPs. All teachersare encouraged to build leadership capacity and to share professional learning acquired at accredited training in staffmeetings that are allocated for Professional Learning. All teachers maintain accreditation and are encouraged to achievehigher levels of accreditation if they desire.


All staff demonstrate personal responsibility for maintaining and developing their professional standards. ProfessionalStandards are a reference point for whole school reflection and improvement. Professional and informed teachingpractice is evident and teachers feel supported. They have developed and maintained effective data collectiontechniques and use this information to develop differentiated programs for student learning and success. Opportunitiesfor collaboration between staff, observation of demonstration lessons by expert teachers and mentoring are a regular andscheduled priority for teacher development. All teachers have achieved proficiency status in the accreditation processand continue to monitor areas for specific improvement by developing PDP goals through formal Growth coachingpartnerships. Mentoring and professional development is allocated for aspiring leaders and expertise within staff isidentified and utilised to facilitate staff development. As a result of professional development teachers embed researchinformed best practice that is evidenced with growth in student learning outcomes.





Expert: An increase in the driversof student learning as reported byteachers.

Use of InstructionalLeadersh – LaST, RR,QTSS allocations

All stage groups have gathered samples of studentswriting throughout the year. Some teachers havebegun to track students progress using theprogressions, however all teachers are not yetaccurately collecting and analysing student worksamples against the progressions. Teachers stillneed to undertake further PL around the learningprogressions in 2019.

Effective: Use of Instructional leadersto support staff.

Professional learningLit/numeracy and QTSSfunds expended.

Teachers are committed to evidence–basedpractice to identify, understand and monitor studentoutcomes. Despite this we are yet to have all staffmonitoring student performance consistently acrossK–6. Continued development of CTJ and effectiveuse and analysis of individual student datacontinues to be a priority for 2019.

The Leadership team has continued to work withstaff to have a clear understanding of the Literacyand Numeracy Progressions and the processesinvolved to use PLAN2 (ALAN) to consistently trackstudents in Targeted areas.

Evidence –based: effectivePLC's exist to address teacherprofessional learning and staffcollaboration.

Prof learning funds

QTSS and Lit Numeracyfunds expended

The L3 program is conducted with a collaborativegroup of early stage one and stage one teachers.The ongoing professional development enhancessharing opportunities and reflection of best practice.Stage 2 teachers have developed a professionallearning alliance to implement best practice in theteaching of numeracy. Stage 3 teachers areinvolved in co–developing (with Stage 4 staff fromBega High school) an English unit to supporttransition. By networking with high school Stage 4teachers, a continuous program has beendeveloped for Year 6 students that they willcontinue to work through in Year 7. By collaboratingwith expert English teachers the Stage 3 teachersat Tathra Public School are building their capacity inteaching Writing skills.

Next Steps

Looking to the future, we aim to ensure our strong depth of professional knowledge in Literacy is consistent across K–6.We will do this by establishing consistent scope and sequences and teaching instruction. Teachers will share their areaof expertise during staff and stage meetings and model best–practice, as researched and learnt through professionallearning. After best–practice is modelled we would like to allow time for Stage teams to come together as ProfessionalLearning communities to further develop scope and sequences, programs, integrated units of work and to observe oneanother's practice against Stage goals in a more formalised way.

Tathra Public School has used expert teachers to establish strong writing routines in Stages 2 and 3. Using theInstructional Leadership model, teachers have developed consistent programs, explicit instruction, collected routine data


and participated in writing sample analysis to achieve consistent teacher judgement. Moving forward, we aim to expandthis expertise and knowledge into K–2. We will do this by ensuring school resources and planning enables theInstructional Leader to share expert knowledge with K–2 teachers, modelling best–practice, sharing programs andstrategies and supporting teachers in class.

With the release of the Literacy and Numeracy Progressions and Plan 2 we aim to ensure all of our teachers have aproficient understanding of how the Progressions can be used effectively in the classroom. We will do this by ensuring allstaff have been provided with professional learning around the Progressions, Plan 2 and consistent teacher judgement.We will continue to provide opportunities for our teachers to see our trained TEN Instructional Leaders modellingbest–practice and training staff to keep updated with Targeted Early Numeracy skills and strategies. We will ensureconsistent practice is maintained by providing both the preschool and parents with ongoing learning opportunities.

By the end of the 2018–2020 planning cycle we will have embedded a systematic approach to internal schoolassessment and data analysis across K–6. We aim to tighten our Staff and Stage meeting agendas to include time forthis. We will continue to use the data to provide systematic feedback to students, form targeted learning groups, providedifferentiated instruction and opportunities for teachers to understand how students learn and how best to meet theirneeds to ensure best outcomes for all.

The school will continue to explore effective resource management to use expert teachers to engage, extend andsupport students and provide side–by–side professional learning for teachers.

Our staff are provided ongoing Professional Learning according to goals set in PDPs and those that align with our schoolstrategic directions. Our next step is to further develop a dedicated, systematic approach to regular collaborativeplanning in stage groups, cross stages or with expert teachers to create scope and sequences, units of work, record andanalyse data and to implement consistent teacher judgement when reviewing work samples.



Leading – S3

Purpose

To develop strong, strategic and sustainable leadership committed to fostering a school–wide culture of highexpectations and shared sense of responsibility for engagement


The Principal and one Assistant Principal both have experience as 'Instructional Leaders' (IL) as per the Early Action forSuccess model. The expertise they bring to Tathra PS has influenced and supported the focus on an InstructionalLeadership model to foster researched informed effective practice through side–by–side support in the classroom.However they are aware that there is a strong difference between being an expert in a given pedagogy, program orinnovation and being an expert in managing the process of change which is vital to making real impact on studentlearning. The work in the area of Educational Leadership by Michael Fullan (and those researchers who have informedhis ideas) has influenced the leadership approach in the school. The leadership team are aware that it is not enough tojust improve student outcomes but that transforming the culture – changing what teaching and non–teaching staff valueand how they work together to accomplish it – leads to the deep, lasting change we are aiming to achieve.

At the heart of Tathra Public School's capacity, is a leadership team focused on nurturing, motivating and engaging staffthrough the development of building trusting relationships and a norm of sharing knowledge and expertise. The principaland school leadership team model instructional leadership within the school and offer support to the wider SCLC. Furtherdeveloping a culture of public and reflective practice is the focus for effective leadership and the improvement ofinstructional practice.





Strong: Student performancedata shows the positive impact ofinstructional leadership in theschool.

• Use of Staffingentitlement • Principal support funds$5000 expended • PL funds $22 667 • QTSS 0.378 + Lit/numallocation • Use of Regional expertise

42.47% of our Year 3 and 5students are performing in the top 2 bands inReading and Numeracy. 100%of our students are at or above the Minimal NationalStandard.

Our focus on evidence–basedpedagogy in the teaching of Reading such asimplementing L3, the introductionof literacy rotations in Stages 2 and 3, use ofInstructional Leadership andsupport for staff in transitioning students from Stage1 to Stage 2, use ofliteracy continuums/progressions and collection,analysis and monitoring ofreading data has impacted strongly on improvedstudent performance in NAPLANand internal school data. Through theimplementation of guided reading groupsand data analysis in K–6, we have seen growth instudent reading levels. Afocus on the teaching of Numeracy has had a hugeimpact on improved Year 5results. Staff have a greater understanding of theMaths Syllabus, have trainedin TEN to support targeted students K–6, know andunderstand Numeracycontinuums/progressions and are using data toinform teaching. Targetedstudents are being regularly monitored andsupported across the school.Improving Numeracy K–6 will continue to be a






Strong: Student performancedata shows the positive impact ofinstructional leadership in theschool.

focus in 2019.

Reading data and multi–litassessment data is analysed by teachers and theinstructional leader and usedto implement effective tiered interventions forstudents who are at risk of notmeeting minimum benchmarks in reading. Using astreamlined approach to datacollection, analysis and a structured approach tointervention through thetiered model, we have been more effective in theuse and allocation of our SLSOresources throughout the school.

Strategic: Increased number ofTeachers sharing expertise andleading professional learning toevaluate and plan for high qualityteaching.

• PL funds $22,667 • Quality Teaching,Successful Students QTSS0.378 + RR allocation 0.315 • Lit and NumeracyInitiative Funding $7,392

At present three expert teachers are utilised tosupport staff in Literacy and numeracy throughInstructional Leadership model. One teacher iscurrently building a website for students and otherstaff members to give explicit instruction on how tocode from home or to use as a resource for otherteachers to use in their classroom. Teachers areencouraged and supported to lead professionallearning and share expertise.

Sustainable: Self evaluativepractices are embedded andsupport SEF judgements.

Leadership team meetingsand staff developmentdays/meetings.

The school was Externally Validated this year. EVwas a very good process and allowed us to deeplyself–evaluate and set future goals. The EV panelvalidated the school as Excelling in 6 elements andas Sustaining and Growing in the remaining 8. Wehave now developed a system to continue to collectand collate evidence of our practice for ongoing selfassessment.

Next Steps

The school aims to continue to model Instructional Leadership and further distribute this opportunity for staff in the schoolto utilise their expertise and/or to support higher levels of accreditation.

Educational Leadership and teacher collaboration is a major strength at Tathra Public school and staff are committed toensuring that all students experience success and enjoy school by providing engaging learning experiences. We have adedicated and dynamic teaching staff who are willing to implement new teaching programs and work hard to ensure theschool is reaching the targets within each Strategic Direction. Improving our quality of delivery to ensure all students areengaged and feel known, valued and cared for continues to be a priority.

100% of our classrooms this year have evidence of Visible Learning that supports student learning and growth. This willbe continued to be a focus for 2019. Continued support for new and existing staff will provide teachers with a morestreamlined approach to collecting and analysing and tracking student progress. Visible learning within the classroomhas given teachers extra scope to deliver effective feedback to our students and parents about the student's learningjourney and this is an area we aim to learn more about in 2019.

We will continue to develop and monitor systems for the gathering and organisation of evidence of practice against theSEF.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $3,572 – Employment ofSLSO to provide additionalsupport

PLPs were developed for all Aboriginalstudents identifying Literacy and Numeracygoals. Students requiring additional supportaccessed support through the programsimplemented by the LaST and SLSO.

Low level adjustment for disability RR allocation 0.315 used toemploy Instructional Leader+ some QTSS (0.1) K–2 –Literacy (2 days/week)

$18,819 Low leveladjustment funds utilisedemployment of SLSO

LaST 0.6 (3 days)

LaST (3 days per week) utilised to supporttargeted groups in Literacy (Writing),behaviour and numeracy depending on needas identified by internal and external data.Instructional Leader ensured teaching andlearning programs reflect collection, analysis,monitoring and informed decision makingaround best practice which isevidence–based to best meet needs andimprove student learning outcomes. To fundthis project RR allocation for 2018 (0.315)was assigned to K–2 Instructional support.

SLSO support (under IL and LaSTsupervision) implemented MiniLit, MultiLit andTEN and supported targeted students asidentified through LST.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

0.389 utilised to employInstructional leader

QTSS funds were utilised to employ anInstructional Leader to assist teachers withdelivery of quality teaching and learningprograms, collect and analyse data and tosupport observations of lessons.

Socio–economic background $17,759 funds used toemploy specialistteachers/tutors in Music,art, Japanese.

These equity funds were used to supplementthe employment of Music, Art, Guitar andJapanese teachers/tutors. These programsprovide a valuable opportunity for students.As a result of access to these programsstudents were able to perform a Japanesesong, instrumental and dance item at theSCLC Performing Arts Festival, continue aschool choir and guitar group and establish aschool rock band.

Support for beginning teachers $7,392 – carried over These funds were carried over from 2017 andwere expended early in Term 1 to continue tosupport early career teacher to gainaccreditation at proficient.

Targeted student support forrefugees and new arrivals

2 hours SLSO support perday for Term 1.

A Yr 5 student needing support as Englishwas his second language, commencedschooling at TPS in Term 1 and wassupported by an SLSO for English – MultiLit,reading and writing. His family returned totheir home country in Term 2.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2015 2016 2017 2018

Boys 86 94 102 120

Girls 104 107 111 109

School enrolments have continued to rise and wereboosted in 2018 by a larger than normal group ofKindergarten students.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

K 95 94.2 94.7 93.9

1 95.6 93.8 93.6 92.1

2 94.8 92.9 93.9 93.1

3 93.9 95 95.5 92.2

4 94.8 92.5 95.2 94.2

5 92.5 94.3 94 94.3

6 94 90.9 95.1 90.7

All Years 94.5 93.5 94.5 92.9

State DoE

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

K 94.4 94.4 94.4 93.8

1 93.8 93.9 93.8 93.4

2 94 94.1 94 93.5

3 94.1 94.2 94.1 93.6

4 94 93.9 93.9 93.4

5 94 93.9 93.8 93.2

6 93.5 93.4 93.3 92.5

All Years 94 94 93.9 93.4

Management of non-attendance

The school attendance rate at Tathra Public School lastyear was 92.9%. This year due to the fires and theaffect of these, attendance rates were a little belowstate average but this was to be expected.

Information is shared in the school newsletter informingparents about the benefits of regular attendance.Attendance is monitored by class teachers, theprincipal and The Home School Liaison Officer (HSLO).Parents are contacted by class teachers or by the

principal should attendance rates decline. The schoolsupports families to improve attendance or refers themto the HSLO if necessary. Tathra Public Schoolattendance rates have been regularly above Stateaverage for many years.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Assistant Principal(s) 2

Classroom Teacher(s) 8.14

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.32

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.6

Teacher Librarian 0.6

School Administration and SupportStaff

2.32

*Full Time Equivalent

Our school executive is composed of one Principal (nonteaching) and two Assistant Principals who both workedpart–time and were relieved by two other permanentstaff members. We have nine classes.

Temporary teachers were employed to teachLibrary/Science (0.4); PE,PD/Health and RFF (0.6) andLearning and Support (0.6), Music (0.2) and Art (0.2) inrelieving capacities or to accommodate special schoolprograms as per the school plan.

One of our expert classroom teachers was released totarget literacy and numeracy in the early years (0.2). AnAssistant Principal was released to be off class (0.8) towork as an Instructional Leader to support Literacy andNumeracy K–6, the implementation of PBL and tofurther support the principal.

Other temporary staff included a Japanese tutor, Musictutor, and Aboriginal Culture and Language tutor (alocal Aboriginal Elder).

Five School Learning Support Officers were employedon temporary basis to work with students receivingIntegration Funding Support and to support studentsneeding low level adjustments as identified through ourLearning and Support Team.

Teacher qualifications

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


Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 0

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

One temporary teacher completed teacheraccreditation moving from Graduate to Proficient. Allstaff maintained their accreditation.

Professional Learning was delivered targeting keyareas in the school plan i.e. Numeracy (Building Blocksto Numeracy); Literacy (Writing in the Middle Years,Drama in Literacy and Language, Learning Literacy(L3), Introduction to the Literacy and NumeracyLearning Progressions, Best Start 2019 and ongoingtraining in PBL.

We have begun to implement the FranklinCovey–Leader In Me program after staff have had ongoing PLin the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People this year.Leader in Me is a social–emotional learning processthat empowers students with leadership and life skills. Itis based on principles and practices of personal,interpersonal, and organisational effectiveness with apremise that every child possesses unique strengthsand has the ability to be a leader. This process hasbegun in Stage 3 to support student leadership but weplan to utilise the program's resources to embed themodel from K through to Year 6. We feel that thiswhole–school improvement model integrates leadershipdevelopment into our existing program and fills thegaps we identify as areas in which we could improve.We continue to work on improving relationships, furtherstrengthen culture, and motivating staff and students.We plan to provide further opportunities to share thework and research we are doing in this area withfamilies and the wider community.

Financial information

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summaryincludes reporting from 1 January 2018 to 31December 2018.

2018 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 34,640

Revenue 2,274,667

Appropriation 2,076,820

Sale of Goods and Services 35

Grants and Contributions 196,027

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 1,785

Expenses -2,116,887

Recurrent Expenses -2,116,887

Employee Related -1,906,219

Operating Expenses -210,668

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

157,779

Balance Carried Forward 192,419

The financial summary consists of school incomebroken down by funding source and is derived from theschool Annual Financial Statement. This year TathraPublic School continued the implementation of theDepartment of Education's Learning Management andBusiness Reform (LMBR) program encompassing thedeployment of a new SAP Finance and HR payrollsystem.

The Principal, SAM and SAO were intensively trainedthroughout the year in the use of this system withongoing support from the Department. Executive staffwere also trained in aspects of the system.

Our funds were expended in meeting the strategicdirections of the school plan and in the daily running ofthe school.

The school continued to update technology in theschool replacing out of warranty classroom InteractiveWhite Boards with touchscreen panels, and replacingprojectors and computers. This was a major expensethis year.

The school received many donations after the TathraFires surmounting to approximately $80 000 which willbe used in 2019 to build an outdoor sensory learningand play space.

Financial summary equity funding

The equity funding data is the main component of the


'Appropriation' section of the financial summary above.

2018 Actual ($)

Base Total 1,710,167

Base Per Capita 41,188

Base Location 36,891

Other Base 1,632,088

Equity Total 102,617

Equity Aboriginal 3,572

Equity Socio economic 17,759

Equity Language 0

Equity Disability 81,286

Targeted Total 111,558

Other Total 70,128

Grand Total 1,994,471

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.

School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results acrossthe Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracyassessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 toBand 10. The achievement scale represents increasinglevels of skills and understandings demonstrated inthese assessments.

From 2018 to 2020 NAPLAN is moving from a papertest to an online test. Individual schools are migrating tothe online test, with some schools attempting NAPLANon paper and others online.

Results for both online and paper formats are reportedon the same NAPLAN assessment scale. Anycomparison of NAPLAN results – such as comparisonsto previous NAPLAN results or to results for studentswho did the assessment in a different format – shouldtake into consideration the different test formats andare discouraged during these transition years.

Our school sat the pen and paper version of NAPLANin 2018. We understand that there is not high stakesplaced on NAPLAN while schools move to the Onlineversion over the next two years. Despite thediscrepancies found in the comparison of schools whocompleted the Online version and those who completedpen and paper, we are pleased with our 2018 results.

Our focus on evidence–based pedagogy in theteaching of Reading such as implementing L3, theintroduction of literacy rotations in Stages 2 and 3, useof Instructional Leadership and support for staff intransitioning students from Stage 1 to Stage 2, use ofliteracy continuums/progressions and collection,analysis and monitoring of reading data has impactedstrongly on improved student performance in NAPLANand internal school data.

The other main area of focus has been Writingespecially in Stage 2 and 3. We are very pleased withthe Year 5 Writing results in the 2018 NAPLAN whichindicate the positive impact of the use of theInstructional leadership model to support teachers andtargeted students through the facilitation of Writing inthe Middle Years, the breaking down of the writingcontinuum indicators/progressions to set targes andtrack achievement, and the introduction of studentlearning goals in this area.

SCOUT NAPLAN Reading data shows that 48% of ourYear 3 and 44.4% of Year 5 students performed in thetop two bands.

We have no students in the bottom band in yr 3 or 5 inReading and our results are well above State andSSSG.

We attribute the improved results over time to a strongfocus for improving best practice in teaching reading inthe 2015–2017 school plan and our continued focus onbest practice in the teaching of reading K–6.

SCOUT NAPLAN Writing data shows that 57.8% ofYear 3 and 26% of Year 5 students performed in thetop two bands – a significant improvement overthree years of data.

SCOUT NAPLAN Grammar and Punctuation datashows that 48.9% of our Year 3 and 40.7% of Year 5students performed in the top two bands.

SCOUT NAPLAN Spelling data shows that 44.5% ofour Year 3 and 25.9% of Year 5 students performed inthe top two bands.


We attribute the solid results in writing especially forYear 3, to a strong focus for improving best practice inteaching writing through the L3 pedagogy K–2 whichwas first implemented in 2015. As a result of theweaker Writing results in Year 5 over time since 2014,Writing became a focus in 2017 for Stages 2 and 3 andcontinues to be a focus of the 2018–2020 School Plan.We are very pleased with the Year 5 writing results in2018.

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage of students 0.0 11.1 11.1 28.9 8.9 40.0

School avg 2016-2018 1.9 9.3 13.1 23.4 18.7 33.6

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2016-2018 1.9 5.6 15.7 30.6 18.5 27.8


Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2016-2018 0.9 5.6 18.7 29.9 22.4 22.4

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2016-2018 0.9 3.7 9.3 25.2 51.4 9.3

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2016-2018 3.6 16.7 16.7 27.4 17.9 17.9


Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2016-2018 3.6 8.3 19 27.4 27.4 14.3

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2016-2018 3.6 11.9 21.4 38.1 16.7 8.3

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2016-2018 7.1 1.2 40.5 31 16.7 3.6


Our students sat the pen and paper version of NAPLANin 2018. They will move to online testing in 2019. Afocus on the teaching of Numeracy has had a hugeimpact on improved Year 5 results. Staff have a greaterunderstanding of the Maths Syllabus, have trained inTEN to support targeted students K–6, know andunderstand Numeracy continuums/progressions andare using data to inform teaching. Targeted studentsare being regularly monitored and supported across theschool. As the Premier's priorities are to have 35% ofstudents performing in the top two bands across NSW,Tathra Public School is proudly exceeding these targetsin Numeracy.

SCOUT NAPLAN Numeracy data shows that 37% ofYear 3 and 40.7% of Year 5 students performed in thetop two bands.

Improving Numeracy K–6 continues to be a focus in the2018–2020 plan.

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2016-2018 0.9 11.1 19.4 36.1 17.6 14.8

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2016-2018 1.2 13.1 25 33.3 19 8.3

The My School website provides detailed informationand data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Goto http://www.myschool.edu.au to access the schooldata.

In relation to the Premier's Priority that at least 35%of students achieve in the top two bands reading,writing and numeracy by 2019, Tathra Public School issuccessfully exceeding this target. NAPLAN results for2018 show that 42.5% of our Year 3 and 5 students areperforming in the top 2 bands in Reading andNumeracy.

100% of our students are at or above the MinimalNational Standard.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Community engagement and communication toparents/carers and the community is a priority.Parents/carers and community members willinglysupport programs by offering expertise to ensureongoing opportunities and performance improvement.Volunteers run our school brass and wind band andscience club, as well as support reading programs inthe classroom.

According to feedback from students (survey of focus


groups), the majority of students feel supported andvalued.

Student leadership and voice is promoted and animportant contributor to our positive learning culture.The Student Parliament, SRC and Senior Leadershipprogram allows students to provide feedback and havea say. Regular feedback between teachers, studentsand parents/carers is part of classroom processes andprocedures.

Collection of more comprehensive parent/carer andteacher feedback is an area of focus in the 2018–2020School Plan. We have not had a high response rate onTell the From Me parent surveys and other schoolinitiated surveys. We realise that small response ratesmeans the survey data may not be representative ofthe whole school community. Interviewing andsurveying focus groups has worked the best for us.Through surveys and feedback we will have a betterunderstanding of what parents value and areas wherewe can improve.

Teacher efficacy is an area we wish to further develop.Every staff member who completed training in Covey's7 Habits this year was required to complete a 360 tooland have other staff evaluate them. This wasconfronting for many staff but it was done in arespectful manner. This tool has been useful for staff toset personal goals and to work on their own Habits forself–improvement. In 2019 we will further survey staff togauge areas of whole school need and improvement toinform future goals. In 2019 as part of our involvementin the University of Newcastle's QTR research projecttwo staff will participate in self–reflection against theQuality Teaching Framework and it is the aim that bythe end of the 2020 all staff will have participated inQTR training to be able to reflect on practice to improvestudent outcomes.

Parent, Staff and Student surveys will be conducted inearly 2019.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Tathra Public School is committed to increasingknowledge and understanding of the histories, cultures

and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people as the First Peoples of Australiathrough Aboriginal cultural education for all staff andeducation about Aboriginal Australia for all students.

We have worked closely with our local Aboriginalcommunity members to develop Aboriginal Educationprograms in our school. The strength, diversity,ownership and richness of Aboriginal cultures andCustodianship of Country are respected, valued andpromoted. Tathra Public School is committed tocollaborative decision making with Aboriginal Peoples,parents, caregivers, families and their communities.

This year, we worked closely with a local Elder of thecommunity to run local language and culture sessions.All rooms have been given an Indigenous nameselected by the Aboriginal Elder working with the schooland rooms are now signposted. Next year all classeswill be known by their Indigenous room name on ourroll.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Tathra Public School fosters student wellbeing andcommunity harmony through the provision of programsand practices which counter racism and discriminationas part of our core business in providing teaching andlearning programs that develop interculturalunderstanding, promote positive relationships andenable all students to participate as active Australianand global citizens.

Tathra Public School is committed to promotingcommunity harmony and social inclusion throughprograms which counter racism, intolerance anddiscrimination and develop understanding of cultural,linguistic and religious diversity. Through the study oflanguages other than English such as local Aboriginallanguage and Japanese, students are provided theopportunity to learn about other cultures and traditions.

Units of work address perspectives of other cultures.Where possible community members of othernationalities are invited to share knowledge andexperiences.

Weekly wellbeing lessons based on PBL and theBounce Back program address a wide variety of topicsthat aim to counter bullying, discrimination and racism.Tathra Public School ensures inclusive teachingpractices which recognise and respect the cultural,linguistic and religious backgrounds of all students andpromotes an open and tolerant attitude towards culturaldiversity, different perspectives and world views.

We offer Ethics classes as well as non–denominationalReligious Education.

Other school programs

Tathra Public School teachers have a strongcommitment and dedication towards offering ourstudents a number of school programs to enhance their


educational experience. There is the expectation thatall students will participate in extra programs including:

Japanese language and Culture

Students are offered Japanese lessons on a weeklybasis from Kindergarten to Year 6. Our Japanese tutorsupported a student performance in Japanese that wasperformed at South Coast Learning Community'sPerforming Arts Festival. This program has beenoffered since 2015 and many of our students havedeveloped strong skills in speaking Japanese.

Tathra Public School Sustainability Program

This year the school received a "Waste to Resource"grant from the Bega Valley Shire Council. This grantwill allow us to rebuild our vegetable gardens lost in thefires. The Teacher's Mutual Bank also provided a grantto enable us to purchase indigenous bush tucker plantsand vegetables to plant in our garden. Students havehelped in the planning and rebuilding of the garden.The completion of the garden in 2019 will allow us toprovide an added area for lessons and an additionalrecreational / play area for students to use. Theproduce will be again used in our Kids Grow Kids Cookprogram and also supplied to the canteen.

Creative and Performing Arts programs

Tathra Public School uses socio–economic equityfunding to employ a specialist Art and Music teacherone day per week. These teachers provide intensivelessons to each class (K–6) for one Semester a year.All students at Tathra Public School participate in aschool play or music festival. This year we held aTathra Spectacular where all students were given theopportunity to showcase their singing, instrumentaland/or dance skills. This year, over 80 Tathra PublicSchool students performed in the biannual SCLCPerforming Arts Festival held at the Bega Civic Centrealongside students form 14 other local public primaryand high schools. In a partnership with Four Winds, theschool was given two Artists in Residence who workedwith students and staff in the teaching of vocal andpercussion for one semester. At the end of this ourstudents performed at the Four Winds Youth Festival inBermagui in a combined school's choir. One class alsoperformed their percussion piece.

Sport

Tathra Public School offers a range of sportingopportunities and skills training in a variety of sportswhich is often supported by Sporting School Grants.K–2 students participate in a weekly FundamentalMovement program. This year Years 3–6 participated inBeach Sports, athletics, netball, tennis and golf.Throughout the year knockouts, gala days and clinicsare offered in football, rugby league, touch football,AFL, netball and cricket. Our swimming, cross–countryand athletics teams are strongly represented at Zoneand Regional levels. Four students represented theschool at a National level in Snowsports this year.


2018 tathra public school annual report - amazon s3 · consistent and regular data collection and...

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