ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL

Transcription

1 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY Nazareth College Noble Park North REGISTERED SCHOOL NUMBER: 1899

2 Contents Contact Details... 2 Minimum Standards Attestation... 2 Our College Vision... 3 College Overview... 4 Principal s Report... 5 College Board Report... 6 Education in Faith... 7 Learning & Teaching... 9 Student Wellbeing Leadership & Management College Community Financial Performance Future Directions VRQA Compliance Data ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 1

3 Contact Details ADDRESS Manning Drive NOBLE PARK NORTH VIC 3174 PRINCIPAL PARISH PRIEST SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR Mrs Anne McDonald Reverend James Clarke PP Mrs Tamara Dell Aquila (Acting) TELEPHONE (03) WEBSITE Minimum Standards Attestation I, Anne Elizabeth McDonald, attest that Nazareth College is compliant with: All of the requirements for the minimum standards and other requirements for the registration of schools as specified in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) and the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2007 (Vic), except where the school has been granted an exemption from any of these requirements by the VRQA; Australian Government accountability requirements related to the 2015 school year under the Australian Education Act 2013 (Cth) and the Australian Education Regulations 2013 (Cth). 20 May ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 2

4 Our College Vision Nazareth College is a Catholic Co-educational Regional Secondary College established in 'He returned to Nazareth, and became strong, filled with wisdom; And the favour of God was upon Him.' (Luke 2:40) Nazareth College is a learning community centred on the person of Jesus Christ. Through learning and teaching in the Catholic tradition, we foster a culture of faith, wisdom and knowledge. College Prayer Holy Family of Nazareth Be our inspiration and our guide. Jesus of Nazareth Help us to grow in Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 3

5 College Overview Nazareth College was established in 1986 by the four parishes of St Elizabeth s (Dandenong North), St Justin s (Wheelers Hill), St Gerard s (Dandenong North) and St Simon s (Rowville). While these four schools are priority feeder schools, Year 7 enrolments come from the regional primary schools of St John Vianney s (Mulgrave) and Resurrection Parish (Keysborough), and from more than ten other schools, both Catholic and government. Situated in Noble Park North, the College is in a residential area but borders the Monash Freeway. The area is becoming a low to no growth suburb and decreasing numbers attending the four parish schools have impacted on enrolments at Nazareth. Enrolments have declined from 836 in 2012 to 757 in A College bus service provides transport for students from Lysterfield and Keysborough, both perceived to be areas of more growth. The school is multicultural with more than forty-two (42) nationalities represented. Students who are new arrivals to Australia are provided with quality refugee support. Nazareth's multicultural faith community draws on a richness of tradition and diversity and treasures the contribution of each member. The International Education Program, which has been a feature of the school for many years, continues to be an important part of the Nazareth College Community. Appointed in late 2015 is a Chinese national, a teacher of Science and RE, who is experienced in a range of Australian school settings. The Executive Team comprises the Principal, Deputy Principal, two Assistant Principals (Learning, and RE and Wellbeing) and the Business Manager. In 2015, the school moved from a horizontal structure to a vertical one, and introduced single gender classes in core subjects in Years 7-9, an Acceleration Program, a pre VCAL Program, and an ipad Program for Years Plans have been approved for an Applied Learning facility, the Joseph's Centre for Applied Learning and Pathways. Supported by a state government grant of $1 million, this facility is to be completed by February The College is governed by a Board of Management under delegation from the Canonical Administrators. Each of the four parishes is represented. Further support to the College is provided by the Nazareth College Parents' Association ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 4

6 Principal s Report FROM THE PRINCIPAL 2015 was a year of embedding our initiatives in the areas of personalised learning and student wellbeing. College leaders worked over the 2014 school year to provide teachers with professional learning opportunities in the areas of: 1. Single gender classrooms; 2. Accelerated learning for more able students; 3. elearning; 4. Vertical Pastoral programs so that all would be prepared and sufficiently skilled to introduce these programs in Students, staff and parents have responded most positively to these initiatives, with students telling us that they are more engaged in their learning and more confident to answer questions. All students are telling us that they value their multi-aged pastoral groups as they now know other students across all year levels and they believe a stronger community has developed. As well as being a year of initiation, Nazareth College had a year of celebration in Over the year, we celebrated 30 years of Catholic Co-education at its best. We put our new facilities to work with extensive use of both the Gymnasium and the Wheeler Auditorium. Our Music program was enhanced through our partnership with Nazareth College Adelaide and our students gained much from their four day stay there and their participation in a joint Choir and Orchestra. Sports programs, Social Outreach and academic Pathways all strengthened over the 2015 school year. Our 2015 Year 12 cohort achieved impressive tertiary offers, with 92% of students receiving first round offers, 85% receiving first or second preference and 82% of offers from universities. In 2015 we were also informed that the State Premier, Mr Daniel Andrews, had allocated substantial funding to enable us to refurbish our old Performing Arts rooms to become JOSEPH S CENTRE FOR APPLIED LEARNING AND PATHWAYS. This project is overseen by both the Department of Education and Catholic Education Melbourne and, when completed at the end of 2016, will provide outstanding facilities for senior students who have chosen the Applied Learning pathway. We continued to grow in Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge in 2015 and proudly celebrated our 30 years of Nazareth College Catholic Co-education at its very best! Mrs Anne McDonald Principal 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 5

7 College Board Report The Nazareth College Board of Management places an emphasis on supporting the Principal and Canonical Administrators in the excellent running of the College. The Board adheres to the Constitution as approved by the Archbishop of Melbourne, and also contributes to the governance of the College. We take pride in this leadership role and fully support the professional integrity of College leaders. We are delighted to keep abreast of all College activities and participate in all that reflect our wonderful faith and learning community. We congratulate all involved in the development of three significant initiatives over the 2015 school year. Under the heading of PERSONALISED LEARNING, Nazareth College has developed strategies to enhance teaching and learning, in particular in Years 7, 8 and 9. Parent feedback has been most positive and the College Board encourages staff in their continued development of these initiatives. The new Wheeler Auditorium and the Gymnasium have enabled many additional programs, ceremonies and events to take place and have certainly enhanced the opportunities of our students. We are appreciative of the grant from our Premier, Mr Daniel Andrews, which will provide excellent state of the art facilities for our Applied Learning and Pathways department when completed at the end of In all, 2015 has been a significant year of consolidation and growth at Nazareth College which has been fully supported by the College Board of Management. Mrs Tamara Dell Aquila Acting Chair Nazareth Board of Management 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 6

8 Education in Faith Goals & Intended Outcomes To further develop Nazareth College as a community of Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge. 1. That student involvement in the broader community will increase. 2. That parents' involvement in their children's school life will increase. 3. That staff experience an improved sense of belonging through the College Community. 4. That the standing of the College in the local and broader community will be further enhanced. Achievements o Strong Catholic Identity as reported in ECSI data; o Increase in number of social outreach programs and number of students and staff involved in them; o Stronger link between College Vision and every day life as seen in students' ability to verbalise who they are as students in a Catholic school; o Greater use of the term 'Nazarene'; o Greater use of the College Prayer each day and at various times within each day; o Continuation of 'Thanksgiving time' prior to lunch bell ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 7

9 VALUE ADDED o Reflection Days for each year level o Year 12 Retreat o Whole school Masses across the year levels o Mini Vinnies o Social action including soup kitchen nursing home visits blood bank food and clothing appeals o CSYMA Youth Ministry o Building Bridges a program of interfaith for Year 10 students o Active Faith Team that includes parish priest to plan liturgies and other expressions of faith 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 8

10 Learning & Teaching Goals & Intended Outcomes To enable students and staff to be successful, engaged and purposeful learners. 1. That purposeful teaching will be strengthened through teacher understanding and practice of contemporary pedagogy. 2. That student learning outcomes continue to be strengthened. Achievements o Improved VCE results with increase to 30 median score and increase in 40+ results to 4.2%; o Increased use of data to inform pedagogy and to raise internal standards with a greater emphasis on a scaffolding approach to skills, literacies and content across Years 7 12; o Involvement in the Secondary Literacy Improvement Project (SLIP) has provided a cornerstone for examining and improving explicit literacy teaching and focus on direct instructions through the teaching and learning cycle; o Review of Year 10 courses resulting in better prepared students for VCE and VCAL; o Specific attention of girls' learning styles and boys' learning styles through single gender classes; o elearning through 1:1 ipads in Years 7 9 and BYOD in Years 10 12; o Programs of Acceleration for more able students; o Enhanced staff Professional Learning ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 9

11 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES Student learning outcomes are affected by many factors, some within a school's control, others external to the College. The student population over the course of this strategic period has declined, with some impact on the profile of incoming students. The effect in the top three NAPLAN Bands (using the averaged percentage of National Bands in all 5 areas) is a crease in the top three NAPLAN bands from 2011 to 2015 of 1% at Year 7 and 8% at Year 9. More effective teaching of high achieving students is addressed in the next section. A matching patters of this lower academic profile comparing 2011 with 2015 is evident in the bottom two National Bands, with 2% more in Year 7 and 8% more in Year 9. The pattern does not appear quite as stark when comparing Nazareth with the State profile. Year 7 Nazareth 2011 students were above the state 75 th percentiles in all areas bar Numeracy and Writing, but only above 90 th in Spelling. In 2015, the Year 7 Nazareth cohort was above the state 75 th percentiles in all bar Reading and Writing, and are now above the 90 th in both. Grammar / Punctuation and Spelling The 2011 Year 9 Nazareth cohort was below the state 75 th percentile in all bar spelling and below the state in all areas at the 90 th percentile. The 2015 pattern was almost identical, below the state 75 th percentile in all bar Grammar / Punctuation and below the state in all areas at the 90 th percentile. POST-SCHOOL DESTINATIONS TERTIARY STUDY 55.9% TAFE / VET 21.4% APPRENTICESHIP / TRAINEESHIP 5.5% DEFERRED 6.2% EMPLOYMENT 11.0% 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 10

12 Student Wellbeing Goals & Intended Outcomes To strengthen our understanding of contemporary wellbeing issues to better inform our policies and enhance our practice. 1. That students' connectedness to school, their peers and staff will be strengthened. 2. That the wellbeing of students will be addressed and strengthened. Achievements o Vertical to Pastoral structure; o Enhanced role of Heads of House and Pastoral Teachers resulting in a greater sense of being known and belonging complemented by our o Focus on personalised learning; o Enhanced teacher understanding of and commitment to: Consistency Relationships Communication; o Explicit College expectations regarding student and teacher behaviour; o Prompt follow up to inappropriate behaviour; o Engagement of parents in addressing student concerns. Over the last three years, the College has successfully implemented the Vertical Pastoral Structure and introduced two new Houses. In this structure, we have maintained the same Heads of House and, in the vast majority of cases, also maintained the same Pastoral Teacher for each student. This has allowed us to really grow in our knowledge of our students and hence be in a position to better understand their needs and therefore care for them. The building of smaller communities through greater connectedness to the House groups aims to flow into increased student connectedness to their school, their peers and staff. How non-attendance is managed by the School 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 11

13 Marking of the daily attendance roll, Electronic Roll Marking, at each period. Parents contacted each day of child absence by SMS. Homeroom Teacher contact with parents. Set up of software to detect patterns in student absences. Counselling of parents and students in the case of long term and/or frequent absenteeism. VALUE ADDED Wellbeing through lens of Faith; Development of Self Harm Policy; Emphasis on Pastoral Program and Vertical Pastoral structure; Broader extracurricular activities to respond to a variety of student skills. STUDENT SATISFACTION Increase in SIF data from 2014 to 2015 in the areas of Student Morale Student Distress Connectedness to School The Connectedness to School actual score has increased from moving into the top 25% from the bottom 25% (53.7 to 61.84). Student Connectedness to Peers has also increased moving from in 2012 to and a percentile rank of in ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 12

14 Leadership & Management Goals & Intended Outcomes To promote shared leadership to ensure a culture of excellence, ethical governance and accountability. 1. That the leadership capacity of staff and students is enhanced. 2. That staff are supported in their roles. 3. That appropriate management programs and protocols direct practice. Achievements o Strengthening of Executive Team thus placing an emphasis on senior leadership and accountability; o Appointment of Deputy Principal to College Board of Management and to Board Finance Committee; o Strengthening of Heads of House in their POL2 leadership; o Principal Appointments in areas of: Learning Acceleration Transition Events Marketing and Promotions o Adjusted staffing to commence meeting norms for like schools in terms of staffing ratio and funding; o Strengthened partnerships with: Parish feeder schools through work of Transition Coordinator Universities and tertiary providers ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 13

15 EXPENDITURE AND TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING All staff participated in inhouse Professional Learning in Outside Professional Learning involved some 136 full days of learning, 35 half days and 41 days of out of hours training. The concentration of professional learning during the year was on technology, pedagogy, student welfare and particularly emphasised leadership training for middle management. There was a strong focus on literacy with SLIP training and Literacy for Learning and also on the preparation for VCE Australian Curriculum subjects. NUMBER OF TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN OUTSIDE PL AVERAGE EXPENDITURE PER TEACHER FOR PL $375 TEACHER SATISFACTION Teacher satisfaction for 2015 dipped below that of It is believed that the impact of redundancies contributed to this. As well, the first year of implementing three significant school initiatives placed greater pressure on teachers regardless of the very positive and successful outcomes of their staff ownership, student management, teacher confidence, quality teaching and school improvement which remained equal to 2014 with curriculum processes achieving a slightly higher outcome ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 14

16 College Community Goals & Intended Outcomes To further develop Nazareth College as a community of Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge. 1. That student involvement in the broader community will increase. 2. That parents' involvement in their children's school life will increase. 3. That staff experience an improved sense of belonging through the College community. 4. That the standing of the College in the local and broader community will be further enhanced. Achievements and Value Added o Significant achievement in student involvement in the broader community: increase in students in Mini Vinnie (St Vincent de Paul) conference; increase in students in Year 10 Youth Ministry Programs providing Confirmation programs to students in feeder parish primary schools; increase in number of students involved in Social Outreach programs; strengthened programs of VCAL students to parish primary schools; strengthened Year 10 participation in multifaith Building Bridges program; 15% growth in SIF figures from of raw scores in the area of Students Connectedness and Connectedness to peers. o Substantial increase in parent engagement and involvement in their children's education in the areas of: face-to-face meetings; communication; participation on Student Progress Meetings and Information Nights; attendance at special events. o A substantial growth in the membership and activity of the Nazareth College Parents' Association (NCPA); o Greater involvement of staff and students in the Nazareth in the Parishes Program; o Contribution to feeder parish fetes by staff and students; o Partnership with St Elizabeth's in areas of Music program, Social outreach and Maths and Science competitions; o Partnerships with Monash and Deakin Universities ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 15

17 PARENT SATISFACTION SIF 2015 data indicates an increase in Parent Satisfaction in most areas. Partnerships, approachability, parent input, school improvement, learning focus, transition, homework, stimulating learning and teacher morale have all shown an increase over the 2014 SIF results ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 16

18 Financial Performance REPORTING FRAMEWORK Recurrent income School fees Other fee income Private income State government recurrent grants Australian government recurrent grants Total recurrent income MODIFIED CASH $ Tuition 2,729, , ,538 1,588,050 6,786,911 11,780,370 Recurrent Expenditure Salaries; allowances and related expenses Tuition 9,415,369 Non salary expenses 2,732,912 Total recurrent expenditure 12,148,281 Capital income and expenditure Tuition Government capital grants - Capital fees and levies 485,729 Other capital income 2,663 Total capital income 488,392 Total capital expenditure 200,660 Loans (includes refundable enrolment deposits and recurrent, capital and bridging loans) Total opening balance 5,063,669 Total closing balance 4,775,397 The information provided above does not include system levies charged to individual schools, intra-systemic transfers and, for primary schools, the diocesan supplementary capital fund supporting primary schools capital borrowings. The information provided in this VRQA template is not comparable with other educational sectors or to ACARA school-level income reports displayed on the MySchool website. ACARA school level reporting requires system level income from Government grants and some private income to be allocated to each school resulting in a small adjustment to the total level of school resources. Currently, recurrent income from Government sources, school generated income and capital expenditure are reported by schools. When assessing the private income of the school, both recurrent and capital school fees are included ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 17

19 Future Directions Nazareth College continues to strive to be the 'School of Choice' for students from Catholic schools in our feeder parishes. Our learning initiatives, strengthened teacher skills and enhanced pastoral programming, together with excellent facilities, place us in good stead to achieve this ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 18

20 VRQA Compliance Data E1343 Nazareth College, Noble Park North PROPORTION OF STUDENTS MEETING THE MININUM STANDARDS NAPLAN TESTS 2013 % 2014 % Changes % 2015 % Changes % YR 07 Reading YR 07 Writing YR 07 Spelling YR 07 Grammar & Punctuation YR 07 Numeracy YR 09 Reading YR 09 Writing YR 09 Spelling YR 09 Grammar & Punctuation YR 09 Numeracy ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 19

21 YEARS 9 12 STUDENT RETENTION RATE Years 9 12 Student Retention Rate 90.74% AVERAGE STUDENT ATTENDANCE RATE BY YEAR LEVEL % Y Y Y Y Overall average attendance ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 20

22 TEACHING STAFF ATTENDANCE RATE Teaching Staff Attendance Rate 84.95% STAFF RETENTION RATE Staff Retention Rate 88.46% TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS Doctorate 1.54% Masters 21.54% Graduate 43.08% Certificate Graduate 3.08% Degree Bachelor 92.31% Diploma Advanced 20.00% No Qualifications Listed 0.00% STAFF COMPOSITION Principal Class 4 Teaching Staff (Head Count) 86 FTE Teaching Staff Non-Teaching Staff (Head Count) 39 FTE Non-Teaching Staff Indigenous Teaching Staff ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 21

23 MEDIAN NAPLAN RESULTS FOR YEAR 9 Year 9 Reading Year 9 Writing Year 9 Spelling Year 9 Grammar & Punctuation Year 9 Numeracy SENIOR SECONDARY OUTCOMES VCE Median Score 30% VCE Completion Rate 99% VCAL Completion Rate 99% 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 22

24 SURVEY RESULTS 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 23

25 Parent Approachability 85.29% Attitude to Survey 74.79% Behaviour Management 84.31% Classroom Behaviour 50.00% Connectedness to Peers 88.24% Connectedness to School 79.41% Extra-Curricular 76.47% Homework 88.24% Learning Focus 82.35% No# of Parents 17.00% Parent Input 80.00% Parent Partnerships 77.94% Reporting 80.00% School Improvement 80.88% Social Skills 94.12% Stimulating Learning 75.00% Student Motivation 76.47% Student Safety 88.24% Teacher Morale 78.82% Transitions 80.88% Staff Act on Results Personally 67.86% Act on Results School 47.62% Acted on Previous Surveys Personally 60.71% Acted on Previous Surveys School 52.38% Issues Coverage 72.62% No# of Staff 85.00% Overall Enthusiasm 60.71% Survey Usefulness School 55.95% 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 24

26 Student Classroom Behaviour 62.66% Connectedness to Peers 92.55% Connectedness to School 79.19% Learning Confidence 90.03% No# of Students % Purposeful Teaching 86.40% Stimulating Learning 78.87% Student Distress 79.36% Student Morale 76.85% Student Motivation 95.92% Student Safety 86.95% Survey - Easy 77.91% Survey - Enthusiasm 64.47% Teacher Empathy 86.51% 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 25

27 2015 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 26