2018 the rivers secondary college, richmond river high ... · introduction the annual report for...

The Rivers Secondary College, Richmond RiverHigh CampusAnnual Report

2018

8214

Printed on: 31 May, 2019 of 17 The Rivers Secondary College, Richmond River High Campus 8214 (2018)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2018 is provided to the community of The Rivers Secondary College Richmond River HighCampus as an account of the school's operations 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.

Mary–Jane Pell

Principal

School contact details

The Rivers Secondary College, Richmond River High CampusLake StNorth Lismore, 2480www.richmondri-h.schools.nsw.edu.aurichmondri-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au6621 3456


School background

School vision statement

Inspired Learning for Lifelong Success

School context

The Rivers Secondary College Richmond River High Campus located in the Lismore township, has an enrolment of 830students, including 80 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students. Richmond River High Campus and our sistercampuses Kadina High Campus and Lismore High Campus work closely together to maximise opportunity for the youngpeople of Lismore and its rural surrounds. We are focused on working with a diverse community to build studentengagement in learning through the implementation of quality academic programs, excellent teaching, learning andwellbeing initiatives. The campus vision of "Inspired Learning for Lifelong Success" is fundamental to the values of highexpectations, collaboration, inclusivity and respectfulness that drive our shared work. This ethos forms the basis forcontinuing to build the capacity of staff to provide high quality teaching and learning practices and programs in highquality learning environments. The school has a small group of dedicated parents who form the Parents and CitizensAssociation. We have an active Student Representative Council who are primarily involved in providing student voice,improving school amenities and fundraising. The SRC also plays an active role along with the school LEO’s club infundraising for worthwhile community causes. Richmond River High Campus enjoys a long and fruitful history with itscommunity and it is with great pride we are currently seeing fourth generation Rivers families enrolling in our school.

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 that in the School Excellence Framework domain of Learning our on–balancejudgement was that for the elements of Wellbeing, Curriculum and Assessment we judged we are currently Delivering.As we are in the first year of a three year cycle we are very comfortable with this and expect to see improvement over thenext two years as these are areas of focus for the school. For the elements of Learning Culture and Reporting we judgedourselves to be Sustaining and Growing about which we are delighted. For the element of Student PerformanceMeasures we judges ourselves to be Working Towards Delivery and look forward to taking up the challenges thatpresents for our school. The results of this process indicated that in the School Excellence Framework domain ofTeaching our on–balance judgement for the elements Effective Classroom Practice and Data Skills and Use was that weare Delivering. Again, this sits comfortably with us as both of those elements are the focal work of two of the school'sstrategic direction steams. For the elements of Professional Standards and Learning and Development we judgedourselves to be Sustaining and Growing and again we are delighted with this. A considerable amount of time and efforthas been invested in these elements and we look forward to further growth. The results of this process indicated that inthe School Excellence Framework domain of Leading our on–balance judgement for the element of ManagementPractices and Processes is that we are Delivering. We are making some fine improvements in this element, particularlyin the theme of Community Satisfaction. For the elements of Educational Leadership, School Planning and Reportingand School Resources we judged ourselves as Sustaining and Growing. With the focus of one of our teams onInstructional Leadership we are very comfortable with this result.

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

Excellence in Leading

Purpose

At Richmond River High Campus leaders enable a self sustaining and self improving community that will continue tosupport the highest levels of learning as a lasting legacy of their contributions. Students will benefit from the schoolsplanned and proactive engagement with parents and the broader community.

Overall summary of progress

The Instructional Leadership team worked with two directions; a top down approach through the school executive tofaculty members and a ground roots approach with staff assisting staff. The executive approach focused on the strengthof the PDP process and its ability to facilitate generative dialogue with staff. The staff approach focused on reflectivepractice and sharing expertise.

The inclusion of new members into the Community Connections Strategic Directions Group for 2019 has injected awealth of fresh ideas. As a group, we are finalising tasks from 2018 and have identified our goals for 2019. We haveresearched opportunities to support and encourage our families and community members to be involved in activities atschool.

During 2018, the Facilities team supported various projects within the school to enhance teaching and learning. RRHCnow has a dance studio and an upgraded gymnasium which can be used for PDPHE classes, teaching and learning,staff wellbeing and cross curricular activities. A PA system was purchased for assemblies, music productions, communityengagement and as a teaching and learning tool for CAPA. A mobile whiteboard was purchased for Room 34 and theAgriculture plot now has a shade cover which will assist Agriculture students and is a WHS sun safety benefit.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

Instructional Leadership:Professional learning in theschool emphasises developingeffective instructional leadershipmanagement skills andleadership attributes to facilitatewhole school improvement.Professional Learning will bemeasured for participation,completion and transfer.

Professional Learning$1,800

The senior executive team have organised multipleopportunities for aspiring leaders and schoolleaders to engage in generative dialogue. Mostschool roles are advertised to staff through emailsand are run through an EOI process. The executiveteam are keen to promote leadership within theirfaculty that can extend to larger whole school rolesif necessary. Generative dialogue within faculties isdeveloping with adjustments made to suit thefaculty and the staff.

Community Engagement: Theschool is recognised as excellentand responsive by its communitybecause it uses best practise toembed a culture of highexpectations and effectivelycaters for the range of equityissues in the school.

Thank you certificates A successful first year with finding some ideas andevents to engage the community and communitymembers with in the school. A number of groupshave commited to supporting the school again in2019 including the local Bee Keepers Association,True North Angus, Lismore poultry, etc. In 2019 wewould like to develop these ideas further andpossibly liaise with other schools around how theyare connecting with their communities.

Facilities: Physical learningspaces are used flexibly to meeta broad range of student learninginterest and needs. The teamtakes a creative approach to theuse of the physical environmentto optimise learning.

$25,000 Dance studio, gymand PA upgrade.

Dance studio, Gym and PA used consistently.

Next Steps


The Instructional Leadership team will focus on staff PDP's to identify the priorities for staff in terms of their professionalgrowth and endeavour to determine the most effective means of meeting those priorities. Using this information, we willcampaign for targeted professional learning and time to implement the learning. We will also be working with staff tocontinue developing reflective practice with a focus on the generative dialogue process and to support staff to shareexpertise or to seek expertise out.

We have plans underway for our thank you 'Paddock to Plate dinner' to thank a number of our community partners fortheir support. We have identified/proposed opportunities to invite communities and family members to informationsessions in a range of areas. We are working with Anne Bowden on a proposed visit from Beverly Hills Intensive EnglishCentre in Sydney where we would house students and teachers.

The next steps for the Facilities Strategic Direction group involve upgrading various facilities in the school such as: blindsin Dance studio and Room 45, application for cooler classrooms, standing work station for the River Theatre, 3D vinyldecals for doors– pilot in CAPA and Mathematics classrooms and library furniture update for study area. Upgradingvarious areas within the school will contribute to optimal learning environments for students and working environmentsfor staff.



Excellence in Teaching

Purpose

At Richmond River High Campus our teachers demonstrate personal responsibility for improving their teaching practicein order to improve student learning outcomes. Individually and collaboratively teachers evaluate the effectiveness oftheir practice.


In 2018, we commenced the two year program on Embedding Formative Assessment. Several staff attended theembedding formative assessment sessions at the thinking and Learning conference in Melbourne.

In 2018 we supported three temporary teachers to prepare their accreditation documents and achieve accreditation atproficient level. This was achieved by regular fortnightly meetings and one dedicated support day where they had accessto help from the accreditation team and their supervising teacher.

With all pre–2004 staff becoming accredited at proficient level, we supported all staff with logging accredited and teacheridentified hours to maintain their accreditation. We also sent regular emails to all staff to alert them to professionallearning opportunities and ran workshops to support engagement in the Rocky Biasi Accidental Counsellor course thatwas offered to all teaching staff in 2018.

System is in place for diagnostic testing of students in year 7, which is used to inform teaching and learning. Staff haveidentified training in G suite and V boards as being a priority. Staff have identified the potential for further training invisible learning/formative assessment with the potential to use the 'MAD' make a difference strategy.





Feedback: Teachers routinelyreview learning with each studentboth in class and on worksubmitted to provide qualityfeedback for 'where to next'.

$10,000 EmbeddingFormative Assessment

Some meetings not successful due to staff withother commitments. Team may need someintensive sessions in 2019. Perhaps whole–daysessions, to ensure parity with the new teamrunning in parallel, who will be doing more intensivesessions.

Accreditation: The schoolmonitors the accreditation statusof all staff and encourages thepursuit of higher levels ofaccreditation.

Beginning Teachers funding$10,820


Comprehensive Accreditation support programoperates at RRHC after school hours on afortnightly basis. Sessions alternate betweenbeginning teacher support and support for those inmaintenance cycles and/or seeking HALT levels ofaccreditation. 2 senior, experienced teachersoperate the program and external advice andsupport from the local Quality Teacher Advisor isregularly scheduled in the program.

Beginning Teachers complete reflection sheetsbetween meetings to support the development ofongoing reflective practice. All staff seekingproficiency were successful in 2018.

2 staff have sought expressions of interest for HATand Lead accreditation in 2019.

Registered Professional Learning (9 hours) wasprovided for all staff in maintenance cycles, free ofcharge in e–learning courses with HumanConnections.

Expertise and Innovation: Staff Learning and support The diagnostic testing is established in a way that is






demonstrate and share theirexpertise within and beyond theclassroom, the campus, thecollege and beyond.

team– diagnostic testing.


sustainable. Year 7 will be assessed at the start of2019. Communication with all staff via staff meetingand sentral established to allow the data to be usedto inform teaching and learning.

Next Steps

In 2019, the feedback team will complete the second half of the formative assessment for learning course and will beginto demonstrate techniques to disseminate the practice throughout the campus.

We are currently supporting five long term casual and temporary teachers through various stages of accreditation atproficient level. Four of these staff members are currently working towards completing their accreditation documentswhile the other is working through the first year program of classroom support and Professional Learning based aroundthe Strong Start, Great Teachers Program.

We are running dedicated sessions to support teachers interested in higher levels of accreditation as HighlyAccomplished and Lead Teachers. We continue to support all teachers with their maintenance of accreditation throughhelp and advice with logging hours and reminders to evaluate their learning. We are hoping to run dedicated sessions forpre– service teachers both in the school and in conjunction with SCU around Phase 1 of the Strong Start, GreatTeachers program.

The main strategic goal for 2019 will be to organise professional training in two areas: technology, including G suite andthe V boards. G suite training will begin with a survey of staff by the accredited G suite trainer. Nominated staff from eachfaculty to complete the training and share with all staff. V board training to occur during next installation. The second areaof professional training is in the MAD 'make a difference' formative assessment strategy to show growth in studentsthrough visible learning. This step requires further investigation.



Excellence in Learning

Purpose

At Richmond River High Campus young people will develop foundation skills in Literacy and Numeracy, strong contentknowledge and the ability to learn, adapt and be responsible citizens. Teachers will use information about individualstudents capabilities and needs to plan for student learning as to engage in rich learning experiences.


Professional Learning. Faculty Differentiation mentors collaboratively completed the 'Strong Start, Great Teachers phase4' professional learning. Curriculum Adviser, Renee Beach delivered whole staff training focusing on differentiationthrough the lens of the 'What Works Best Reflection Guide'. All of which facilitate best practice through developingunderstanding of quality differentiation resulting in a toolkit specific to Key Learning Areas within all faculties.

Successful implementation of VIVO. Used survey data and collaborative discussion to refine and implement the RRHCDiscipline Policy. The RRHC Behaviour Management Framework for Learning Spaces was completed and implemented,including a teacher and student version to support student behaviour and teacher behaviour strategies. Reviewed PBLdocuments and adjusted start date till later in 2019.

All staff have attended professional training and development in accessing, using and interpreting HSC data from theResults Analysis Package (RAP). Procedures have been established for all HSC teachers to document and analyse HSCresults for their classes and to reflect on the data in order to inform ways in which student growth can be improved for thefollowing year.





Differentiation: Teachersdifferentiate curriculum delivery tomeet the needs of students atdifferent levels of literacy andnumeracy achievement. Thisincludes adjustment to supportlearning or to increase challenge.This will be measured by thenumber of teachers seekingassistance with the differentiationof tasks, the number of teachersparticipating in PL aroundDifferentiation both within andwithout the school.

Sentral and LearningSupport Team andDifferentiation facultymentors, supported byRenee Beach.


Differentiation team mentors in consultation withHTs and faculties unanimously supported the needto delay these supports until early 2019 to informprograming for new cohorts.

Student growth: The schoolachieves excellent value addedgrowth, significantly above thevalue added by the averageschool as measured by internaland external data.

HSC Data AnalysisProformas

New Documents


Staff worked on HSC data analysis in the timeallocated on staff development day Term 4. All staffwere provided with NESA online accounts andaccess to RAP. Heidi O'Brien was booked to deliverprofessional development and training and staffenrolled in the RAP training registered course.

Behaviour: Positive andrespectful relationships areevident and widespread amongstudents and staff and promotestudent wellbeing to ensureoptimum conditions for studentlearning across the school.

Vivo and ProfessionalLearning $8,200

Successfull implementation of VIVO. Used surveydata to refine the interim discipline policy. ReviewedPBL documents and adjusted start date till later2019.


Next Steps

Staff Feedback indicated the need for practical support and training in the areas of quality differentiation. The aim is toimplement Do Now Activities and Learning Intentions in order to facilitate structured differentiation activities.

Moved focus to Wellbeing. Gathered base line data on staff wellbeing to analyse alongside TTFM data. Implementingstaff focused PL and support surrounding wellbeing and connectedness to school. Linking Wellbeing programs andPDHPE syllabus across the school.

The main strategic goal for 2019 will be to organise professional training and source resources to train particular staffand then the whole staff in how to utilise SCOUT and to design a template to interpret the trends in the NAPLAN resultsfor particular year groups. Analysis of NAPLAN data will be used to inform ways in which student growth can beimproved.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $80,442 Aboriginal background loading was used forwages of $67,042 to employ our AboriginalEducation Officer and the implementation anduse of the Quicksmart Program which targetsliteracy and numeracy needs for indigenousstudents.

Low level adjustment for disability $303,686 Low level adjustment for Disability was usedto support students who have disabilities butdo not receive funding support. They aresupported by Learning and Support Teachersand this funding predominantly covers thestaff wages, programs and tools to assistthem.

Socio–economic background $211,107 Socio–economic background was used foremploying our Community Liaison Officer andYouth Support Worker. Strategic Directionsupgrade of the dance studio andimplementing the Vivo rewards program.Purchase of touch screens for classroomsand upgrade of notebooks. The upgrades ofour musical equipment and sound andamplification system in our MPU, We alsoused funds towards the year 5/6 activity dayand purchase of the school bus.

Support for beginning teachers $8,828 Support for Beginning Teachers was used ascasual relief costs or course costs enablingthe beginning teachers to have time to bementored or attend Professional Learning.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2015 2016 2017 2018

Boys 448 440 404 379

Girls 384 389 355 342

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

7 92.3 91.4 88.6 91

8 89.9 88.2 88.6 85.5

9 86 85.1 86.5 84.3

10 85.9 85.3 80.9 84.2

11 86.5 85.2 85.9 85.6

12 88.3 87.4 85.9 88.8

All Years 88 87 85.9 86.7

State DoE

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

7 92.7 92.8 92.7 91.8

8 90.6 90.5 90.5 89.3

9 89.3 89.1 89.1 87.7

10 87.7 87.6 87.3 86.1

11 88.2 88.2 88.2 86.6

12 89.9 90.1 90.1 89

All Years 89.7 89.7 89.6 88.4

Management of non-attendance

Management of non–attendance is a shared rolebetween Principal, Deputy Principals, Year Advisorsand the Learning and Support Team. There is aprocess in place to ensure student attendance ismonitored and that student attendance noted to bedeclining or consistently poor is attended to withoutdelay. Parents/carers are contacted and strategies toassist attendance improvement will be implementedand referral to the Home School Liaison Officer throughthe Deputy Principals will be initiated where necessary.

Post-school destinations

Proportion ofstudents movinginto post-schooleducation, trainingor employment

Year 10%

Year 11%

Year 12%

SeekingEmployment

0 10 29

Employment 2 4 9

TAFE entry 3 15 3

University Entry 0 0 24

Other 9 2 17

Unknown 0 0 18

Year 12 students undertaking vocational or tradetraining

33.65% (35 students) completed at least one schoolbased VET program.

3.85% (4 students) studied at TAFE, one doing onlinethrough OTEN.

2.88% (3 students) competed SBAT's.

Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalentvocational education qualification

96.15% (100 students) attained their HSC in 2018.

2.88% (3 students) successfully completed Life SkillsHSC.

0.97% (1 student) obtained a ROSA.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Deputy Principal(s) 2

Head Teacher(s) 9

Classroom Teacher(s) 40.5

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 1.9

Teacher Librarian 1

School Counsellor 1

School Administration and SupportStaff

12.68

Other Positions 1


*Full Time Equivalent

Four staff members identify as an Aboriginal or TorresStrait Islander.

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 11

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

The priority of Richmond River High Campus'sProfessional Learning Plan is to enhance the capacityof all teachers to meet the learning needs of the studentcohort. All professional learning is linked to the schoolplan and all professional learning goes through theSenior Executive Team to ensure compliance to thisexpectation. There remains a significant focus on theQuality Teaching Framework as well as The SchoolExcellence Framework. The document 'What WorksBest' is a feature of our work. Workshops and courseswere attended in the priority areas of Leadership,Beginning Teachers, ICT, Literacy, Numeracy, SyllabusImplementation, Career Development and Welfare andEquity. Most professional learning was strongly linkedto one of the three Strategic Directions. During 2018there has been significant preparation for all teachers totake part in compulsory accreditation from 2019.

Financial information

Financial summary

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

2018 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 1,877,730

Revenue 9,417,402

Appropriation 9,124,474

Sale of Goods and Services -35,252

Grants and Contributions 305,877

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 22,302

Expenses -9,168,477

Recurrent Expenses -9,168,477

Employee Related -8,308,928

Operating Expenses -859,549

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

248,925

Balance Carried Forward 2,126,654

An increase in Revenue from $2,392,301 in 2017 to$9,417,402 in 2018 is due to the Department ofEducation giving each school the responsibility ofadministering their own staff pays. This was previouslydone by the Department of Education and now showsin Employee related expenses with $8,308,928 beingused in 2018 compared to $0 in 2017.

Grants and Contributions of $305,877 include the twodonations from the P & C. $25,000 towards theacquisition of the school bus and $15,000 towards theimplementation of touch screens for classrooms. Theremainder includes school fees and excursionpayments.

Sale of Goods and Services showing a deficit of$35,252 is due to an administrative error which showedour $40,000 Rivers Contribution deducted from theincorrect general ledger account. With this in mind, theactual positive amount in Sale of Goods and Servicesshould be $4,748.

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 7,261,047

Base Per Capita 147,804

Base Location 5,004

Other Base 7,108,239

Equity Total 595,236

Equity Aboriginal 80,442

Equity Socio economic 211,107

Equity Language 0

Equity Disability 303,686

Targeted Total 578,065

Other Total 287,408

Grand Total 8,721,755

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.

The 2018 NAPLAN data for Year 7 indicates thatRRHC students performed at an above average or anequivalent level, in comparison to the 2016–18average, in all areas except Writing. A whole schoolfocus on writing skills has been implemented over thelast two years.


The 2018 NAPLAN data for Year 9 indicates thatRRHC students performed at a below average level incomparison to the 2016–18 average, in all areas.

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

From 2017 to 2019 the outcomes for Aboriginalstudents in the top two NAPLAN in both Year 7 and


Year 9 have had positive upward movement.

Higher School Certificate (HSC)

The performance of students in the HSC is reported inbands ranging from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6(highest).

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

.Key Positives:

RRHC is above state average for positive teacher –student relations

Students are known, valued and cared for

Students are aware of their role in their education

Emailing of assessment tasks is fabulous for bothparents and teachers

Students found teachers very approachable

Stymie is great and seems to work well

Students are aware of and are building the skills forsuccess in the future

Breakfast Club is a great service for all students and Ilove that it is available for all, reduces stigma for thosewho actually need it

School does a good job of caring for and supportingstudents

Majority of parents thought their child was happy atRRHS

The phone calls about positive behaviour andachievements are very welcome

The staff are friendly supportive and helpful


Email and newsletter are a popular source ofinformation

The grounds are spacious and well kept

Majority of parents found information sessions valuable

Strong friendships between students

Wide subject choice

School welcomes all students

Bullying is minimal and dealt with quickly throughstrategies such as 'Stymie'

Strong support for teacher professional learning

Strong support for new teachers

School farm is excellent and so is the show team

Key areas for improvement:

Need to improve School stream, Facebook and theSchools website are less popular

Some classrooms need air–conditioning

Some staffrooms need air–conditioning

Higher involvement with all stakeholders inunderstanding and completion of assessment tasks

Some strong ideas:

Taster days before elective choices would be goodbefore senior subject selections

Students would love practical lunchtime classes suchas green team type activites

Parents would like more involvement with the schoolbut not sure in what capacity

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

The Aboriginal Education Team at RRHC is a dynamicgroup. They have ensured that significant resources inthe form of teaching/learning materials and professionallearning have been spread across the school to supportthe learning of Aboriginal students as well as thecultural awareness of all staff and students. The teamregularly meets once a fortnight. The AboriginalEducation Coordinator and AEO regularly attend AECGmeetings and the Rivers Secondary College AboriginalEducation meetings providing reports and updates. Theappointment of a permanent AEO will further enhancethe work of the Aboriginal Education team inconsolidated and expanding opportunities for Aboriginalstudents. The Rivers Aboriginal Performing ArtsEnsemble has been established and targets ATSIstudents within the Rivers Secondary College to be

engaged and empowered within contemporaryperforming arts. They perform at assemblies, festivals,school tours and NAIDOC days. Students participatedin Widjabal Wiyabal Dreaming including Circle Yarning,Buddy up and Reflection. Students also attended theNAIDOC Celebration Day at the showgrounds as wellas the school formal assembly. RRHC is participating inthe inaugural school student HEALInG Program whichtargets healthy eating principles and lifestyle diseasesprevalent amongst Aboriginal communities. We haveimplemented the Quicksmart Program which targetsindigenous students who are experiencing significantand sustained difficulties in basic literacy. Indigenousstudents have access to the school homework centreand there is also targeted support to enhance theirengagement and improve their academic achievementsthrough the Broncos Girls Academy. RRHC also hasstrong community connections with CONNECT,Lismore Aboriginal Health, Elders and communitymembers. Staff have participated in Sista Speak, 8ways training, Connecting to Country and StrongerSmarter.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Multiculturism is taught across the school and theschool has two anti–racism contact officers (ARCO).Programs that promote multicultural education andanti–racism are evident across all KLA's and develop instudents an understanding of historic, cultural, linguisticand religious similarities and differences. AllKLA's play a role but particular emphasis is given inEnglish through the study of film, documentaries andnovels. In HSIE, multicultural content is taught throughHistory in stages 4 and 5. This occurs through the studyof migration since Anglo settlement in Australia and thefoundations, diversity, history and benefits of modernAustralian life are examined. In the stage 6 course,Society and Culture, students have the opportunity tostudy the attitudes and values of other cultures andmake comparative observations in great depth. InJapanese in stage 4, the history, cultural practices andannual events and festivals in Japan are a focusparallel to the study of language.
