2018 Bathurst West Public School Annual Report...collaboration and the analysis of student performance and wellbeing data. Bathurst West Public School is committed to developing global

Bathurst West Public SchoolAnnual Report

2018

3824

Printed on: 30 May, 2019Page 1 of 15 Bathurst West Public School 3824 (2018)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2018 is provided to the community of Bathurst West 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.

Darren Denmead

Principal

School contact details

Bathurst West Public SchoolSuttor StBathurst, 2795www.bathurstw-p.schools.nsw.edu.aubathurstw-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au6331 1142


School background

School vision statement

Bathurst West Public School strives to be Together in Excellence

School context

Bathurst West Public School is a large primary school of approximately 480 students, located at the Eastern end of theWestern NSW region. It is a well resourced school with large grounds and playing fields. It has highly professional staffwith a mix of experienced and new career teachers and a very supportive community.

Recent professional learning in the implementation of the new syllabuses and sharing of expertise in the planning anddevelopment of high quality pedagogy is valued. Systems within the school are being established and refined to supportcollaboration and the analysis of student performance and wellbeing data.

Bathurst West Public School is committed to developing global citizens who possess a passion for learning, a positiveattitude and the necessary skills to not only thrive in the 21st Century, but also to make a significant contribution to theircommunity. Specific programs and a positive school culture promote wellbeing in our students and community, andassist students from diverse backgrounds to experience hope, gratitude, resilience and access to quality teaching andlearning. Every student is known, valued and cared for at our school, and we consider our community to be our extendedfamily.

A strong connection with the Aboriginal and NESB community informs our school initiatives and overarching schoolculture. A strong, dedicated P & C supports the school in achieving its goals through an open and consultativepartnership.

Research–based remediation and extension programs, as well as classroom practice, ensure all students accessteaching, learning and curriculum at a level differentiated to their needs..

Bathurst West Public School is a committed, active participant of the Bathurst Primary Schools' Alliance.

.

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. The framework supportspublic schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practiceacross the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

Learning

In the domain of Learning, our school has a strong learning culture supported by an integrated approach to qualityteaching, curriculum planning and delivery, and data–driven decision making . As such, our primary focus for the yearwas on the elements of Wellbeing, Assessment, Reporting and Student Performance Measures. The wellbeing ofstudents is a priority for all members of the Bathurst West Public School community with the understanding that a happyand safe school produces happy, engaged and successful students. This year, the school achieved growth in mostareas, with considerable resources and hard work going into further improving our score in the element of StudentPerformance Measures. In that area, we delivering for our community through professional development, instructionalleadership and collegial planning and feedback. All staff are focused on making an even stronger push to improve furtherand become more consistent over the next three years planned. We worked hard through Early action for Success(EAfS) to strengthen individualised learning for students in K–2 and continue to work on this across the whole school.

Teaching

The domain of Teaching was again a major focus in 2018, using our strengths in Effective Classroom Practice andworking within Professional Standards to build capacity and success in all elements. Our continued focus is on growingour skills in data use and analysis, and this will see a strong push into 2019. Our school continued to participate in the


EAfS program across K–2 classrooms. This initiative provides strategic resources, instructional leadership, targetedinterventions for all students and professional development for all staff to improve classroom practice and skills.. All K–3students showed further improved results through this program in Literacy and Numeracy this year and we look forwardto continuing this work across the entire school in 2019 and beyond.

Leading

In the domain of Leading, our school used its sound Management Practices and communication, coupled with informedand sensible distribution of School Resources, to help us focus on School Planning and the reporting of this to all staffand the wider community, as well as strategic Educational Leadership. We achieved solid growth in both of these areasthrough our focus on instructional leadership and a more inclusive approach to school planning and decision making.

Our self–assessment process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to further improvements in thedelivery 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 Teaching and Learning

Purpose

The school community is committed to the pursuit of excellence with a focus on teaching and learning. Effectiveevidence–based, quality teaching methods are used school wide to optimise learning for all students, and teachers willconsistently collaborate and self–reflect to ensure continual improvement. Students will develop strong skills with theability to learn, adapt and be responsible, positive citizens.

Overall summary of progress

During 2018 we made excellent progress and achieved most milestones for the year in this Strategic Direction. Ourtechnological infrastructure was enhanced and broadened to support new hardware purchases, which allowed allchildren and staff to access high quality, engaging technologies. Training was provided to staff to put technology to betteruse and to guide best practice in using technology for 21st century learning. We have completed all planned hardwareand infrastructure purchases for the year, although ongoing budget allocations will be made every year to ensure oursystems are current and reliable. Early Action for Success (EAfS) is in full swing, with all milestones achieved for theyear. This has meant that all K–6 children are more closely monitored and catered for through careful collection andanalysis of data on a five week cycle, with a special focus this year on students from K–4. Our reading results remainedstrong and excellent growth was achieved in comprehension results, as well as continued growth in writing skills. Ourplan to an a school–wide assessment platform in place was delayed somewhat, but will be ready to go and implementedin early 2019. The Personal Development Plan (PDP) process for all staff was refined so that the school plan, theprofessional teaching standards and targeted teacher development became central to professional learning and teachersreceived timely, supportive feedback from peers to improve their teaching practice.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

Increased student growth in allareas, with a particular focus onliteracy and numeracy, across arange of external and internalmeasures.

Interventionist teachersSLSOs • Socio–economicbackground ($200000.00) • Socio–economicbackground ($5000.00)

All positions are in place and all classes/teachershave access to intervention support.Internal and external assessments identified and inplace.All students achieve at least one year's growth forone year of learning, with 80% achievingappropriate learning benchmarks.Observations and surveys of students to determinesuccess and next steps.

Increased number of teachersconsistenly using evidencebased teaching and learning.

Curiosity and PowerfulLearning professionallearning andimplementation.Systems to support teamobservation and feedbacksessions.

Attendance at Curiosity and Powerful Learning(C&PL)Professional Learning (PL). Schoolimprovement team in place and working throughimplementing C&PL strategies. Regular in–schoolPL occurs.

All teachers regularlyand consistently reflect andprovide informed feedback oneach others' teaching practices.

Quality Teaching,Successful Students(QTSS) ($15000.00)

Observation and feedback sessions for all teachers.

Next Steps

• Assessment schedule in place across the school with all teachers using formative and summative assessment toassist with teaching and learning

• Hardware upgrades and professional learning for technology continue to enhance teacher and student access inclassrooms;

• EAfS continues with greater emphasis on Numeracy next year and expanding the program with more consistency


to our 5/6 classes; • update technology available regularly to enhance student research skills and 21st century learning; • more focus on school wide differentiation for more students as part of a long term goal to improve teaching and

learning outcomes for all; • Stage 2 and Stage 3 enrichment – in–house pre and post assessment, NAPLAN, improved percentage of students

in top two bands for reading and numeracy; and • Multi–and–Mini–Lit, Speech Pathology in school, teacher interventionists from school funds and Reading Recovery

to support students having difficulties.



Excellence in Leading

Purpose

Our school will recognise, utilise and further develop the leadership capacity of a diverse staff to embed a professionallearning community which is focused on the continuous improvement of teaching and learning. We will continue to striveto create opportunities for students to not only have a strong voice in their learning and our school, but also build anddemonstrate authentic leadership skills in the broader community.


Through the PDP process, mentoring from the school Executive team and peer collaboration, teacher quality andprofessional delivery of curriculum continued to be a part of each teacher's developmental process. This improvedclassroom practice and across stage collaboration. Our EAfS program provided teachers with shoulder–to–shouldersupport and instruction, assistance with data collection and analysis and support through improved learning resources,teacher intervention and dedicated Instructional Leaders. This greatly improved curriculum delivery and quality teachingin K–4 classes. We achieved all milestones in this area although we are yet to finalise our new induction process for staff– this will occur early in 2019.





Staff engage in ongoingprofessional learning to improvepedagogy and increase learningprogress for students.

Provide teachers for theCSU Hub projectInduction policy update. • Quality Teaching,Successful Students(QTSS) ($5000.00)

Teachers engage in CSU Hub project to improvestudent supervision and teacher practice.

Ongoing professional growth andcontinuous improvement inteaching and learning for all staffis the school focus.

Teacher support forobservation sessions andteam RFF sessions.(Cost previously allocated)

Teachers are increasingly reflecting on their ownpractice, based on peer feedback and knowledge ofbest–practice.

Students increasingly engage indecisions to improve learningachievement.

Professional learningObservation and feedbackteams

All teachers have undergone professional learningon the Curiosity and Powerful Learning programand participate in observation/feedback triads withpeers.

Next Steps

• time allocated in roster for staff to work in feedback triads each week • Extra Executive RFF maintained to help guide lesson feedback and PDPs; • RFF roster maintained for greater collaboration with consistency – extra PL time to be provided; • Review of how we deliver parent forums and how they are communicated; and • refinement of long term plan/goals for better differentiation across the school – individual planning and teaching,

and improve teaching and data driven practice.



Excellence in Community Partnerships

Purpose

Teachers, parents and the community work together to consistently support student learning, wellbeing and citizenship. The school is committed to enhancing communication, building positive relationships with local and wider schoolcommunities and strengthening the wellbeing of each member of our community.


In this Strategic Direction, we continued to have great success with almost all elements for the year, particularly withcommunity engagement and communication, our Wiradyuri program and our PBL results for student engagement andbehaviour.

Our social media and wider communication strategies continue to be a resounding success with considerable positivecommunity feedback and improvement in the community's perception of our school.

We have continued to work hard on our PBL program and although it is very strong across the school, there is more workto be done next year to refine and streamline our processes. We also delayed the implementation of our newwhole–school recognition program until mid–2019 to ensure this was done to the highest standard and best reflected ourstudent's needs. Our Wiradyuri culture and language program continues to be an outstanding success, improving dataaround attendance and behaviour for our Aboriginal students, but even more importantly, enhancing the sense of respectand belonging for all of our students.





An increasingly positive, resilient,hopeful and curious schoolcommunity.

Wellbeing surveys andSentral data such asincidents, suspensions andattendance. • Socio–economicbackground ($2000.00)

Increased scores in Wellbeing surveysImproved Sentral data such as incidents,suspensions and attendance running at or aboveState level.

An increased number ofcommunity partnerships with arange of stakeholders for thebenefit of students, families andstaff.

Communication platformssuch as newsletters andsocial media.

Increased number of internal and externalpartnerships to enhance teaching and learning andthe overall wellbeing of all community members

A learning community isdeveloped and maintained acrossschools, networks and thebroader community.

Working with communitiesof practice such as theTransition to School groupand local high schools

($5000.00)

Working with communities of practice such as theTransition to School group and local high schools

Next Steps

• Wiradyuri program continued, and further planning and consultation undertaken to expand the program acrossschools;

• playground activities further encouraged and expanded; • PBL processes improved; • introduce and implement our whole–school student reward system (Vivo); • research undertaken in the Berry Street framework and implementation of these strategies to begin; and • continue to develop and enhance communication and community engagement processes, including review of all

communication channels in the coming years.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading

Low level adjustment for disability

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

Socio–economic background


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2015 2016 2017 2018

Boys 212 215 224 244

Girls 203 197 207 231

Bathurst West Public School's student population hasbeen growing consistently over the past four years, withan even higher level of growth in 2018. In the last threeyears the school has grown by 20% with growth of over40 students in just the last year.. In 2018, our totalnumber of students was 475, made up of mainstream,support class and district Opportunity Classenrolments.

Our school numbers fluctuate throughout the year andour school has a somewhat transient population,although this trend is slowly declining. We serve adiverse community from a range of socio–economicand cultural backgrounds. Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander students make up 21% of our population, while7% of our students have English as a second languageat home.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

K 93.5 95.2 95.9 92.9

1 93.4 93.9 95.3 94.2

2 93.9 94 95.1 92.4

3 91.8 93.3 93.8 94.3

4 93.8 94.1 94.8 92.9

5 93.2 94.4 94 94.2

6 94.1 94.3 93.9 92.3

All Years 93.3 94.2 94.7 93.3

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

All student attendance is monitored and reported on aweekly basis. Student absences are followed throughwith phone calls within two consecutive days ofabsence. Children who return to school after anabsence are expected to bring a note which provides aspecific explanation. If this is not forthcoming, phonecalls home are made. Families are encouraged tocomplete exemption or extended leave forms for somelong term absences.

Children who present an unacceptable attendancepattern will be referred to the Attendance Coordinatorand the Learning Support Team. Parents will be notifiedby letter and phone. This will result in attendance plansbeing formulated for individual students involved. Theseplans provide a supportive framework for all involvedwith the intended outcome of improved attendance.

Individual cases that continue to not comply withattendance guidelines will be referred to the HomeSchool Liaison Officer (HSLO) and may ultimately faceprosecution.

Students who have outstanding levels of attendanceare eligible for school based rewards and recognition oftheir achievement.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Assistant Principal(s) 5

Classroom Teacher(s) 19.8

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.42

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 1.4

Teacher Librarian 1

School Counsellor 1

School Administration and SupportStaff

9.33

*Full Time Equivalent

The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requiresschools to report on Aboriginal composition of theirworkforce. Bathurst West PS has one AboriginalEducation officer, two Aboriginal School Learning andSupport Officers and one Aboriginal Teaching staffmember.

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

Other than professional learning embedded within ourstrategic directions in the self–assessment summary(see earlier in this document), teachers and supportstaff participated in professional learning in thefollowing areas: • mandatory training completed by all staff, such as

Anaphylaxis, CPR, Child Protection, etc.; • all teaching staff attended professional learning

on Curiosity and Powerful Learning (C&PL) andlearning on Syllabus documents;

• all teaching staff, including regular casuals,completed training on Teacher Accreditation;

• communication team worked with a consultant onsocial media and communication strategies;

• one staff member attended the PBL CoachNetwork day while other members of the PBLcommittee attended PBL Reload and other PBLtraining;

• Assistant Principal Support attended workshopsaround the NDIS; and

• Principal attended principal network meetings toenhance his leadership and management skills,and to connect with other schools.

Whole School Professional Development has alsoincluded workshops in the following areas: • the Theories of Action in C&PL • the school's Learning and Support processes and

procedures; • developing the School Plan; • the School Excellence Framework; • Appreciative Inquiry; • the school's Behaviour and Discipline procedures;

and • writing quality and consistent reports.

Financial information

Financial summary

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

2018 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 62,145

Revenue 5,990,814

Appropriation 5,531,362

Sale of Goods and Services 2,156

Grants and Contributions 455,968

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 1,327

Expenses -5,823,221

Recurrent Expenses -5,823,221

Employee Related -5,325,599

Operating Expenses -497,621

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

167,593

Balance Carried Forward 229,738

Bathurst West Public School is in a strong financialsituation with an excellent finance team using soundpractices and processes to ensure this remains thecase. In 2018, considerable funds went in tostaff–related expenses as well as computer andtechnological infrastructure spending. Costs occurredaccording to budget estimates and noover–or–underspending occurred, although ourexpenses related to staff illness were slightly higherthan in the previous two years.

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 3,018,661

Base Per Capita 88,830

Base Location 2,969

Other Base 2,926,863

Equity Total 664,081

Equity Aboriginal 104,169

Equity Socio economic 339,765

Equity Language 6,138

Equity Disability 214,009

Targeted Total 1,127,829

Other Total 460,070

Grand Total 5,270,640

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 andnumeracy assessments are reported on a scale fromBand 1 to Band 10. The achievement scalerepresents increasing levels of skillsand understandings demonstrated in theseassessments.

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 has worked well over time to supportstruggling children to achieve greater success atschool. This can be seen in the reduction in almost allareas of Literacy of children in the lower two bands.Although we are demonstrating close to or aboveexpected growth for most children, we still have work todo to move our proportionately large middle group intothe top two bands. The EAfS initiative, through regular

data collection and analysis, targeted programs andindividualised interventions aims to focus on thechildren in the middle (as well as lower children) toensure they achieve to the best of their ability andmove to higher NAPLAN bands. Encouragingly, Year 3and Year 5 writing showed significant improvement thisyear, and this should improve further in the comingyears as a focus of the EAfS implementation.



We have reduced numbers in the lower bands inNumeracy and increased the number of students in thetop two bands for both Year 3 and Year 5. Despite this,we also have a proportionately large middle group. Afocus on this area through EAfS (incorporating the BNLprogram) across K–6 should ensure improvement inthis area in the next few years. which will flow intoNAPLAN results as the students move through year

groups.

Our school currently has 12 out of 49 Year 3 studentsachieving in the top two bands for Literacy and 10 forNumeracy. To meet the Premier's target, we need tomove 4 more children into those bands in the next fewyears. In Year 5, we have 13 out of 54 students


achieving in the top two bands for Literacy and 11 forNumeracy. To meet the Premier's target, we need tomove 4 more children into the top two bands. For ourAboriginal students, 3 out of 11 Year 3 students areachieving in the top two bands for Literacy and 3 forNumeracy. To meet the Premier's target, we need tomove 3 more children into those bands in the next fewyears. In Year 5, we have 3 out of 11 studentsachieving in the top two bands for Literacy and 2 forNumeracy. To meet the Premier's target, we need tomove 3 more children into the top two bands. Our EAfSprogram aims at improving the success of all studentswho are achieving in the middle two bands so that theycan move to the higher bands and fulfil their potential inall school areas. Along with EAfS, we have extensionprograms for talented students across the school andtargeted enrichment programs for those studentsachieving in the middle two bands for Years 3, 4, 5 and6. These tiered interventions, better collection, analysisand understanding of student assessment data, andincreasing focus on individualised learning to bettersupport the needs of all students means that we areaiming much higher than the minimum targets asstipulated by the Premier's Priorities.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

In 2018, the school sought the opinions of parents,students and teachers about the school on a regularbasis through informal surveys, two formal surveysmid–way through the year and at the end of the year(Tell Them From Me surveys), and two focus groupsessions. Responses are presented below.

Parents indicated throughout the year that the schoolwas a very calm, inclusive and positive place to visitwhere students are happy, safe and welcoming. Theythought the school offered a good range of events toencourage parent participation, particularly the Father'sDay breakfast and Grandparents Day. Parents hadgeneral concerns about bullying, but felt that the schoolmanaged this well. Students stated that they felt safe,were treated fairly and enjoyed coming to school. Theyliked spending time with their teacher and the range ofactivities offered at our school. Staff valued ongoingprofessional support and collaboration, and felt that ourschool had continued to encourage and foster a caringand inclusive place to come to work each day.

Community members felt supported by the schoolleadership team and valued the hard work of staff at theschool.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Bathurst West Public School is committed to improvingthe educational outcomes and wellbeing of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander students so that they excelas citizens and achieve in every aspect of theireducation. Our Aboriginal Education Team, coordinatedby our Aboriginal Education Officer, meets every

fortnight during the year. An active involvement with thelocal Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG)and Junior AECG was continued in 2018 and thisprovided the school with connections to local expertiseand resources.

Our focus on Personalised Learning Plans and links tothe Aboriginal community through the AECG continuedto strengthen partnerships and promote genuinecollaboration between school, Aboriginal families andthe wider community. Significant funding was allocatedto engaging Aboriginal students which saw improvedattendance rates, as well as targeted Literacy andNumeracy programs to support student achievementsuch as Multi–Lit.

Bathurst West Public School also promotes respect forthe unique and ancient culture of the Aboriginal peoplein other ways, including: • the Wiradyuri culture and language program

across the school for all students each week; • acknowledging the traditional custodians of the

land in all assemblies and gatherings; • the Wagganah Aboriginal student dance group

perform at all formal events both inside schooland in the wider community; and

• integration of Aboriginal perspectives across KeyLearning Areas so students can develop deepknowledge and understanding about Australia'sfirst peoples.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

The role of the Anti–Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) inschools is to be the contact between students, staff,parents and community members who wish to make acomplaint regarding racism. The ARCO for BathurstWest Public School dealt with one reported incident ofracism by an individual student in 2018. Afterinvestigation the incident was established and resultedin behavioural consequences for the student involved inbeing racist, impacting on their behaviour levels. Thestudent was remorseful for their actions, apologised tothose they had offended and did not have any furthertransgressions. The ARCO role involves promoting thevalues of respect for all races and cultures and ourschool rules of showing respect, being responsible,being safe and being a learner help to support thesevalues. Students, teachers, parents and the communityare doing an excellent job of living together in harmony.


Documents

2018 Bathurst West Public School Annual Report...collaboration and the analysis of student performance and wellbeing data. Bathurst West Public School is committed to developing global