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Ballina Public School

Annual School Report 2014

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1

School context statement Ballina Public School is situated in the large

regional community of Ballina, on the Richmond

River in northern New South Wales. Ballina

stands on Bundjalung land and continues to have

a thriving Aboriginal Community. It has a long

history as being a regional centre, servicing the

rural, tourism, fishing and agricultural industries

of the district. Ballina Public School was first

established in 1861. The school is part of the

Plateau to the Sea Learning Community.

There are currently 271 students enrolled at the

school in 12 classes. Of these, 32% identify as

being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Students come from diverse cultural and family

backgrounds including some in care through the

Department of Community Services. The school

is staffed by a dedicated team of 18 teachers.

The team is supported by School Learning

Support Officers, an Aboriginal Education Officer

and a professional team of administrative staff.

The school has strong links with the Ballina‐

Cabbage Tree Island Aboriginal Education

Consultative Group.

Ballina Primary School provides a wide range of

educational opportunities across the six key

learning areas and also many additional extra

curricula activities. The staff and students strive

to maintain a positive learning and social

environment through the implementation of the

Positive Behaviour for Learning Program.

Relieving Principal’s message 2014 has been an exciting year for Ballina Public

School. Our committed and dedicated staff

worked extremely hard to ensure students have

had a year of opportunities and exciting learning

experiences. Some of the extra curricula

activities include: choir, band, public speaking,

spelling bee, book parade, a variety of visiting

sporting clinics, team building days, Musica‐Viva,

Life Education and a variety of visiting

performances and numerous sporting

opportunities.

Our school continues to foster the Positive

Behaviour for Learning Program which maintains

positive recognition systems within the school

whilst explicitly teaching required student

behaviours to Be Safe, Be Fair and Be a Learner.

A focus for this year was to ensure all students

had the right to come to school to be safe, to

learn and to have fun. The teachers have worked

extremely hard this year to ensure consistency

across the area of student welfare and well‐

being. An awareness day for Anti‐bullying was

held in October and was a huge success. 2015

will see an action team developed to continue

the work in this area to develop an anti‐bullying

policy, update our student welfare and discipline

policy and implement programs to support

students in this area.

There were numerous highlights and

achievements throughout the year and these will

be reported on in the following pages.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize

the commitment and dedication of all our

wonderful staff at Ballina Public School. They

continually strive to improve and provide the

best possible learning outcomes for all students.

Janet O’Shannessy RELIEVING PRINCIPAL

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P & C Association message 2014 was yet another successful year at the

Ballina Public P&C thanks to hard work of our

members, staff and volunteers. Our members

met monthly with representatives of the school

executive to discuss school policies and practices,

managee the canteen, plan fund‐raising events

and decide on the distribution of funds raised.

Some of our financial contributions to the school

included $500 to the school band program, $500

to the library for the cost of an online

encyclopedia subscription, $2500 to air‐condition

the school canteen, $750 for football‐post pads

and $200 for the school garden and $250 toward

an attractive new sign for the school canteen.

We also made contributions towards increased

seating in the playground and a mural project to

take place in 2015.

Our success in 2014 is once again thanks to the

care, time and energy contributed by our

motivated P&C members, canteen staff and

volunteers. Members worked together in a spirit

of friendship and dedication to making a positive

impact on the students of Ballina Public School.

The P&C would like to thank the school executive,

staff, volunteers and the broader parent

community for supporting their efforts in 2014.

Karen Scott

P&C PRESIDENT 2014

Student Representative’s Message This year Ballina Public school developed a Stage

2 and 3 SRC program to encourage students to

become actively involved in their school and to

provide an opportunity for promoting the views

of the students. SRC members were able to have

their say on a wide variety of issues, for example

students gave input in regards to aspects of

school life such as purchasing sports equipment

and how to abide by school rules. Additionally,

they also participated in the development of

fundraisers and whole school activities.

The SRC provided members with leadership

opportunities by asking for input from peers,

holding meetings where all students were invited

to personally voice their opinions and by holding

special fun or themed activities/events in which

the whole school participated in.

The SRC student representatives were actively

involved in coordinating a whole school

fundraising sports event. The students gained

respect from their peers by running tabloid

activities and showed initiative whilst running the

event for the school.

The SRC coordinated a whole school sports

afternoon to raise funds to buy the school

sporting equipment. The event was a huge

success and allowed SRC members the

opportunity to display their leadership qualities

amongst peers and teachers.

Fergus Burke, Jacinda Dunwoodie‐Halverson, Zac

Hartley & Tykia Lapic‐Donovan

SCHOOL LEADERS 2014

Student information

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

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Student enrolment profile

Student attendance profile

Management of Non‐attendance

Attendance is closely monitored by teachers and SASS staff. A thorough system of interventions is engaged when non‐attendance for particular students reaches a certain level, maintained by the school’s Learning and Support Teacher. Parents are contacted quickly if non‐attendance is recorded. Trends in non‐attendance are discussed regularly by the school’s Learning and Support Team, with support strategies for parents introduced when necessary.

Workforce information

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

Workforce composition

Position Number

Principal 1.0

Assistant Principal(s) 3.0

Classroom Teacher(s) 8.0

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.5

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 1.5

Teacher Librarian 0.8

School Counsellor 0.4

School Administrative & Support 3.722

Total 18.922

The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. Currently we have four staff members who identify as being of Aboriginal descent.

Teacher qualifications

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

Qualifications % of staff Degree or Diploma 100%

Postgraduate 20%

Beginning Teachers

Ballina Public School has one permanent beginning teacher who has received funding under Great Teaching, Inspired Learning. Julie Streader has used part of this funding to attend professional learning in her capacity as teacher librarian and in 2014 completed a post graduate Diploma in Teacher Librarianship through Charles Sturt University. Further access to these funds will be used in 2015 to complete training and professional learning.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Students

Year

Enrolments

Male Female

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

K 91.7 92.1 93.1 93.3 94.7 92.4

1 94.3 91.0 92.5 92.3 95.4 93.7

2 92.6 93.5 92.5 91.7 93.9 94.9

3 90.6 93.4 93.5 91.6 91.2 92.4

4 91.8 92.1 90.1 91.3 92.8 93.7

5 90.7 90.7 92.7 91.5 90.4 94.2

6 91.2 89.2 90.2 90.2 92.6 93.1

Total 91.8 91.6 92.0 91.7 92.9 93.4

K 94.3 94.7 94.7 94.3 95.0 95.2

1 93.7 94.2 94.2 93.9 94.5 94.7

2 94 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.7 94.9

3 94.1 94.5 94.4 94.4 94.8 95.0

4 94 94.5 94.3 94.3 94.7 94.9

5 94 94.4 94.2 94.2 94.5 94.8

6 93.6 94.0 93.8 93.8 94.1 94.2

Total 92.1 94.4 94.3 94.2 94.7 94.8

State

DEC

School

Student Attendance

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Financial summary

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

Date of financial summary 30/11/2014

Income $

Balance brought forward 475402.20Global funds 197962.80Tied funds 572682.25School & community sources 68137.94Interest 15875.35Trust receipts 32858.30Canteen 0.00

Total income 1362918.84

Expenditure

Teaching & learning Key learning areas 6472.89Excursions 8743.82Extracurricular dissections 51592.24

Library 2504.67Training & development 0.00Tied funds 439216.65Casual relief teachers 80728.48Administration & office 69443.44School‐operated canteen 0.00Utilities 46917.48Maintenance 20229.94Trust accounts 22226.91Capital programs 2156.91

Total expenditure 750233.43

Balance carried forward 612685.41

A full copy of the school’s 2014 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the School Council and/or the parent body. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.

School performance 2014

As well as whole school plans and initiatives that targeted its stated priority areas, Ballina Public School has made significant achievements in a variety of areas.

Academic achievements

NAPLAN

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

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

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

Year 5: from Band 3 (lowest) to Band 8 (highest for Year 5)

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

NAPLAN Year 3 ‐ Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 3 Reading

Percentage in Bands

School Average 2010‐2014

SSG % in Bands 2014

State DEC % in Bands 2014

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NAPLAN Year 3 ‐ Numeracy

0

10

20

30

40

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 3 Writing

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 3 Spelling

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 3 Grammar & Punctuation

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

10

20

30

40

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 3 Numeracy

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


6

NAPLAN Year 5 ‐ Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

0

10

20

30

3 4 5 6 7 8

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 5 Reading

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

10

20

30

40

50

3 4 5 6 7 8

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 5 Writing

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

10

20

30

3 4 5 6 7 8

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 5 Spelling

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


0

10

20

30

3 4 5 6 7 8

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 5 Grammar & Punctuation

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


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NAPLAN Year 5 ‐ Numeracy

Other achievements Music This year students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participated in specialised music lessons as part of the Release from Face to Face teaching program. Lessons taught by Mr McLean had a focus on percussion and dance. Lessons taught by Mrs Drinkwater focused on recognition of the beat, learning to read music in treble clef and playing tuned instruments (recorder) and un‐tuned (percussion). Visiting Performances This year the students have enjoyed visiting performances by Lucas Proudfoot, an Aboriginal performer, who shared the music, history and culture of his people.

We were also entertained by Musica Viva’s “Gypsy Tober” who performed a Capella involving 3 part harmonies and some interesting instruments used in world music. The Chatswood High School Concert Band also performed for the whole school during the final week of term. They highlighted some of the features of specific instruments within the band as well as being an interactive and fun way for our students to finish off their school year.

Music Count Us In On the 30th October K‐2 from Ballina Public School joined with St Francis Xavier School at their school hall to join in the simultaneous singing of the song “Paint Me a Song” co‐written by Harry Angus (of the Cat Empire) and John Foreman (Australian musician, composer and TV personality). This song was sung at 12.30 AEST by more than 500,000 students from all around the country. Choir This year the students in Stage 2 and 3 had the opportunity to audition to become a member of the choir. 60 students were successful in their audition and were selected for either the soprano or the alto section. The choir was part of some wonderful performances and opportunities during the year. They performed at the school ANZAC Day service, the Ballina Night Markets, Coastal Kids Concert, Ballina Life Care Nursing Home, Lismore Eisteddfod (where they were awarded 1st place in the choir any age section, as well as being given the adjudicators choice award), Relay For Life, Council Chambers for the opening of the council meeting, Wendy Ball’s Memorial service, Riverside Carols and many school based assembly performances.

0

10

20

30

40

50

3 4 5 6 7 8

Percentage

of students

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 5 Numeracy

Percentage in Bands


SSG % in Bands 2014


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Specialist Choir This year, our audition for entry into the Festival of Choral Music was successful and in August, 25 students (plus some senior band students who came as audience members) travelled to Sydney to perform at the Sydney Opera House. The students were part of a 700 piece Choir who performed 11 unison and 2 part harmony songs to a capacity audience in the Opera House. During this 4 day trip, students visited Taronga Zoo, The Aquarium, Sydney Centrepoint Tower, walked across the Harbour Bridge and went on a cruise of the Harbour. They stayed at the YHA in The Rocks.

School Band ‐ “Ballina Bandits” This year the school ran a Junior Band and a Senior Band (with students from both Ballina High School and Ballina Primary School). The Junior Band students began the year with small group lessons on their individual instruments and towards the latter half of the year began to rehearse as a whole group. Their first performance was at the Whole School Presentation Assembly where they performed two songs; “Mexican Fiesta” and “On The March”. The Senior Band performed at the Ballina Cenotaph for the official ANZAC service, “Coastal Kids Concert” at the Ballina RSL, the school’s Talent Quest as well as at the Whole School Presentation Assembly. Talent Quest – “Ballina Public School’s Got Talent” More than 50 acts auditioned to be a finalist in the Ballina Public School Talent Quest. 15 acts were successful and wowed the crowds at the final on Thursday night 20th November 2014. The Senior Band performed as well as the choir. Finalists sang, danced and did stand‐up comedy routines in their bid to win. The coveted trophy was taken home by year 6 students Paige and

Coda who performed a duet of “Read all about it” singing and playing the piano. They wowed judges Kim Hernage and Fiona Clarke.

Wet and Wild Theme Park Members of the School Choir, the Junior Band and the Senior Band all enjoyed a trip to Wet and Wild at the end of the term as a reward for their commitment and dedication over the course of the year.

PDHPE Our school has been implementing the Live Life Well @ School program this year to take a whole of school approach to the nutrition and physical activity of our children. This has included: School Community Partnerships:

Encouraging active transport

The school newsletter promotes healthy eating, physical activity and limiting small screen recreation

Fundraising is healthy or neutral

Parents and/ or local sports groups are invited to participate in healthy food preparation or sports events

School Ethos & Environment:

School has promoted nutrition campaigns such as “Fruit & Veg Month”, “Crunch & Sip®” or “Go for 2 & 5”

There is an edible garden and/ or playground markings are in place

Sports equipment is available at recess and lunch

Healthy food is provided at school functions

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Teaching & Learning:

Students learn about healthy eating and physical activity

Students participate in hands on nutrition learning experiences

Food or PE related topics are linked across the KLAs or canteen

Students are involved in 120 minutes of physical activity a week

Fundamental Movement Skills taught across K‐6.

SCIENCE Ballina Public School students took part in a

variety of exciting science experiences

throughout the year within their classes. This

gave them an opportunity to discover,

hypothesise, create and share their scientific

knowledge with others. This year, during Science

Week students were involved in a day of scientific

exploration. They journeyed throughout the

school classrooms and took part in a variety of

scientific discoveries. Competitions held on the

day allowed students to work independently or

collaboratively to create their science projects

related to the 2014 Science Day theme of ‘Food

for Our Future: Science Feeding the World’.

Following this they had the opportunity to

showcase their masterpieces for the entire school

before the winners were announced in a whole

school assembly.

SPORT

Ballina Public School students had a strong participation in district, regional and state carnivals in swimming, cross country and athletics. The senior students participated in the Primary Schools Sports Association Knockouts in cricket, netball, touch football and rugby league. Several students achieved success reaching regional and state in Athletics, Cross Country and Touch Football. The girls Touch Football Team were crowned Far North Coast Champions in the PSSA Knockout competition. A fantastic achievement!

LIBRARY

This year has been a year of consolidation of the systems and procedures that were set up last year. The focus has been more on the student requirements, teaching of information literacy, promoting the online resources, establishing a reading culture in the school, and a year for adjustments and making future plans.

As a physical space, the library has continued to develop as a comfortable and bright place where students and staff want to be. This was improved in 2014 by the addition of Wi‐Fi access, IPads, leather lounges and the colourful and welcoming environment which caters for the needs of lunchtime students. Games, music, computers, great texts and friendly staff make this a place of preference for many students. This centre also hosts delivery of professional development, clubs, public speaking, Tournament of the Minds or a quiet safety retreat for those in need.

The physical library allows room for enquiry based tasks. This library provides a collaborative space, with access to technology appropriate to manipulate information. Current computer terminals have been retained along with the interactive whiteboard and IPad facilities. Shelving continues to be moved against the walls to bring light to the space and accommodate a wider range of learning styles. Continuous change in learning and pedagogy dictates that this space needs to be flexible, with moveable furniture and shelving to accommodate these changes, user needs and technology.

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Significant programs and initiatives –

Policy and equity funding

Ballina Public School is deemed as being within an area of low socio economic advantage and as such received equity funding in 2014. This funding was utilised to support school initiatives in reducing class sizes, the employment of School Learning Support Officers, an Assistant Principal Curriculum Coordinator and the purchase of resources in Literacy and Numeracy.

A speech therapist was employed to target expressive language of students. This program also saw a trained SLSO providing a speech program so as to ensure the continuation of the program into the future.

Aboriginal education

2014 was again a very big year for Ballina Public

School in terms of Aboriginal Education. We had

a number of new and returning programs for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, a

variety of performances and events that were

significant and we even introduced some new

faces with Famee and Trevor joining our team.

We started the year with the introduction of the

“Goori Surfers” program. This program ran for

the majority of term one and involved surf

survival lessons for a group of six lucky students.

The children learned all about how to survive in

and around the water. We even had the

opportunity to go surfing which the students

enjoyed thoroughly. We would like to thank Ben

Dickens and Steve Watts for their involvement in

the program.

Our Aboriginal Boy’s dance troupe went from

strength to strength this year with the boys

ability improving and demand for our services sky

rocketing. We had well over ten different events

and schools in which we performed at over the

course of the year. The High School has also been

incredibly supportive throughout, helping us with

many of our performances.

NAIDOC Week and Sorry Day were the biggest

that Ballina Public School has held in a long time.

Our school made the front cover of The Advocate

with our large scale SORRY which we created on

the back oval. NAIDOC Week involved three days

of activities this year with our aim to have a full

week of cultural activities in 2015.

This year we also introduced the return of our

Girl’s Aboriginal Dancers who had the

opportunity to perform at the White Ribbon Day

parade as well as National Aboriginal and

Islanders Children’s Day which was held at the

Ballina Aboriginal Child and Family Centre. Aunty

Deb Cook and Careena Roberts along with the

“Culture Matters” team were integral in making

this possible. These experiences helped to give

our girls the confidence to create their own

dance group, the “Bundjalung Angels”.

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Boy’s Group, Rock and Water, Outdoor Learning

and Ready Set Go all returned this year with each

seeing varying levels of success. By far the most

successful programs have been Ready Set Go and

the Outdoor Learning Program. In this year’s

Ready Set Go Program we had seven Aboriginal

children attend for the full 15 weeks. These

children improved as the program went on and

we expect to see successful transitions from each

of them when they begin Kindergarten next year.

The Outdoor Learning Program expanded this

year, involving up to 16 students per week. We

saw significant gains in the mathematical ability

for the majority of students who took part in the

program with the aim to make it bigger and

better next year.

We introduced two new programs into our school

in 2014. Stronger Sistas and BroSpeak catered for

Aboriginal boys and girls with the aim of

introducing them to a variety of Aboriginal

mentors in the Ballina/Cabbage Tree Island area.

These programs taught students about local

culture and customs, as well as seeking to

develop their social skills. These programs each

saw success and we hope to continue and

strengthen them for next year.

Bunjum, Bullinah, the local AECG and Solid Mob

again have been heavily involved with our school

in 2014. From assisting us with our Sorry Day and

NAIDOC week celebrations, to providing us with

performances such as the Indigenous Hip Hop

Connections, these agencies have been vital in

maintaining our connection with the Aboriginal

community.

We had the privilege of Lucas Proudfoot and his

“Cultural Rhythm” show coming to our school in

term two. Lucas put on an amazing performance,

educating our students on Aboriginal music with

a particular focus on the Didgeridoo. This was an

incredibly engaging and entertaining

performance and we hope to have Lucas back in

the future.

Our students have proven very successful both in

the academic and sporting domain. Six of our

Aboriginal students received AECG NAIDOC

awards for their outstanding commitment and

dedication to their schooling. William also

achieved the exceptional honour of receiving an

award for Outstanding Achievement in Creative

and Performing Arts at the 2014 North Coast

Aboriginal Education Awards.

Illarrah represented the North Coast for the

second year in a row at the state PSSA touch

football championships whilst Justine also

represented the North Coast in athletics. William

was a member of the “Ballina Bullsharks”

representative touch football team at the state

titles. Our girl’s touch football team which

included five of our Aboriginal girls was crowned

the Far North Coast Champions and went within

one try of taking out the North Coast

championship in Coffs Harbour.

Ballina Public School is moving forward with

Aboriginal Education. We continue to strive for

excellence in this area. Our students are

committed and hardworking whilst our

partnership with the Aboriginal community

continues to strengthen with each year. The

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future looks to be bright and we look forward to

maintaining this progress in the coming years.

School planning and evaluation 2012—2014

Ballina Public School's 2012‐2014 Plan identified four key areas as priorities. These are:

• Leadership

• Literacy and Numeracy

• Engagement and Effectiveness

• Partnerships

School Priority Area 1 ‐ Leadership

Targets in this priority area included:

100% of teaching and support staff completes and follows a Professional Learning Plan in 2014.

Provide opportunities for staff to develop leadership capacity beyond their own classroom.

Our achievements include:

• Professional Learning Plans developed by each staff member in consultation with stage supervisor and principal as part of the Teacher Assessment and Review process.

• All staff being given the opportunity to lead program teams and other initiatives.

Future Directions:

Enhancing the leadership opportunities of students, including developing skills in our school leadership team, the School Representative Council and for students K – 6.

School Priority Area 2 – Literacy and Numeracy

Outcomes from 2012–2014


To decrease the percentage of Year 3 students at Below Minimum Standard in NAPLAN for Writing, from 16 % in 2011 to 12% in 2014.

To decrease the percentage of Year 5 students at Below Minimum Standard in NAPLAN for Writing, from 46 % in 2011 to 30% in 2014.

To increase the number of students achieving higher than expected growth in Numeracy for both Years 5 & 7 by 5% in 2014.

Future Directions:

Accessing Department of Education and Communities programs in Literacy and Numeracy, including L3, TENS and Focus on Reading, as well as further implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy continuums.

Focus on evidence based literacy and numeracy practices and programs, and quality evaluation processes.

Support quality implementation of English and Mathematics Syllabi and the teaching of literacy and numeracy in all Key Learning Areas

School Priority Area 3 – Engagement and Effectiveness


100% of teaching and learning programs reflect the Quality Teaching Framework in 2014.

Staff accountability and efficiency developed and refined

Decrease the number of students who have attendance of below 85% from 50 in 2011 to 30 in 2014.


• Quality Teaching Framework maintained as part of school programming policy and procedures.

• Thorough and effective staff efficiency and accountability practices which are linked to the TARS and EARS process being implemented.

• Parent feedback indicates support for school's practices in improving attendance.

The average number of students each term who had attendance of below 85% was 27.

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Future Directions:

Utilising Teacher Professional Learning funds to allow staff to access in‐house expertise, with release provided for staff to share and plan together, to reflect on lesson program success and to utilise the experience and skills of colleagues.

School Priority Area 4 – Partnerships


100% of Aboriginal students having a Personalised Learning Plan developed for them.

Maintaining the number of parents who agree that Ballina PS is a school where positive relationships exist between the school and its community at above 80% in 2014.

Having the number of school website hits increase in 2014.


• Personalised Learning Plans being maintained for all Aboriginal students

• 87% of parents surveyed believe positive relationships exist between the school and its community

The number of views of the school’s website remains at over 600 per week.

Future Directions:

Enhancing the opportunities for parents to have input into school programs and initiatives. This includes feedback and information gathering sessions, parental participation on school teams, focus groups and surveys.

Parent/caregiver, student, and teacher satisfaction

In 2014, the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school.

Their responses are presented below.

Parents & Carers

Great communication between parents and teachers.

See the anti‐bullying approach as a strength in the school.

Caring, dedicated and committed teachers.

Offer a wide variety of additional opportunities for students.

Great connection with Ballina High School. This is very positive for students.

Students are happy and enjoy coming to school.

Fantastic teachers who ‘’know’ the children and genuinely care for them.

Need to provide educational support and challenge students who are excelling.

Less staff changes. Would be great to see teachers spending less time out of class, less casual teachers.

Students

They used words like, fun, enjoyable, interesting, caring teachers

The biggest strength identified by students was the teachers and the friendships they make and have at school.

The major negative was the issue of bullying. Many students believe that the teachers are trying to stop bullying and it’s improved a great deal this year.

A number of students requested air‐conditioning and to have the bindies removed from the oval.

The students love technology opportunities in the school and 80% surveyed mentioned the delight in the schools purchase of I Pads.

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Teachers

100% of staff believe that the school strives to meet the needs of students by utilising innovative teaching methods

100% of staff believe that instances of bullying are dealt with appropriately

All felt that Ballina PS was supportive, accepting, caring, with an excellent executive staff and dedicated teaching and support staff, that creates a wonderful learning environment for students.

Future Directions 2015‐2017 School Plan NSW DEC is implementing a new school planning process for 2015‐17. The new plan will be published on the school’s website from the beginning of Term 2 2015.

During Term 4, 2014 an invitation was sent to

parents, community, AECG and local Aboriginal

organisations to attend an information session

about the new school plan. At this meeting a

power point was delivered and interested parties

were invited to join a school plan team. Five

teachers, and Aboriginal Education Officer and a

P & C representative formed this new team.

The executive team developed survey questions for staff, students, parents and the wider community. These were taken to a whole staff meeting for discussion and approval. Surveys were then distributed to these groups via newsletter, the school website, handed out in class and emailed. The school plan team met and read all surveys and collated all responses on post‐it notes and then into tables. Strengths and weaknesses were identified through this process.

The team met weekly to discuss the feedback. The previous school plan was distributed and discussed, identifying areas that should remain in the new plan.

Strategic directions identified for the 2015‐2017

School Plan are:

Student Learning and Wellbeing

Teaching and Leadership

Our School in the Community

Processes, practices and Products that reflect

these directions will be identified within the plan

itself.

About this report

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

Janet O’Shannessy, Relieving Principal

Mary Cameron, Relieving Assistant Principal

Greg Thomas, Assistant Principal

Julie Streader, Relieving Assistant Principal

Karen Scott, Parent Representative

Eli Cook, AECG Representative

Lyn Parker, Learning & Support Teacher

Amanda Drinkwater, Teacher

Christy Thatcher, Teacher

Bronwen Eady, Teacher

Amanda Taylor, Teacher

School contact information

Ballina Public School

Crane Street, Ballina NSW 2478

Ph: 02 66 862205

Fax: 02 66 860692

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Email: ballina‐[email protected]

Web: www.ballina‐p.schools.nsw.edu.au

School Code: 1112

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

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/emsad/

asr/index.php

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