2018 Smithfield West Public School Annual Report

Smithfield West Public School Annual Report 2018 4355 Page 1 of 16 Smithfield West Public School 4355 (2018) Printed on: 29 May, 2019 Introduction The Annual Report for 2018 is provided to the community of Smithfield West Public School 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 for all students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self–assessment that reflect the impact of key school strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equity funding. Stephen Gray Principal School contact details Smithfield West Public School Wetherill St Wetherill Park, 2164 www.smithfielw-p.schools.nsw.edu.au [email protected] 9604 3161 Page 2 of 16 Smithfield West Public School 4355 (2018) Printed on: 29 May, 2019 School background School vision statement Smithfield West Public School is a safe and inclusive learning environment, that works in partnership with families and the wider community to maximise opportunities for students to be engaged learners who aspire to reach their full potential and be active contributors today and into the future. School context Smithfield West Public School is a dynamic primary school, serving the Wetherill Park community for over 54 years. Our school prides itself on providing a welcoming and supportive environment, built upon high expectations for all. There is a strong belief in fostering the academic, social and emotional development of all students. Smithfield West celebrates and values our diverse community, with 3% of students identifying as either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and 79% from a language background other than English. There are currently 25 language backgrounds represented, with Arabic and Assyrian the largest of these. The school experienced a significant influx of humanitarian refugees, predominantly from Syria and Iraq, between July 2016 and April 2018. These students currently represent 23% of the school population. A commitment to ongoing school improvement in pedagogy, school management and professional learning acts as an umbrella for teaching and learning, leading to the achievement of school priorities. It provides a vehicle to build the capacity of teachers to deliver programs explicitly, and the capacity of students to be engaged and successful learners. We have a team of highly dedicated teachers, support and administrative staff,ensuring the specific needs of all students are met. Our staffing mix includes very experienced teachers, through to those in their early years. Situated on spacious grounds in south western Sydney as part of the Fairfield Network of Schools, Smithfield West is located in a residential area which accommodates both public and private housing. Parents and the wider community are supportive of the school's goals and celebrate its achievements with pride. 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 (SEF), school achievements and the next steps to be pursued. This year, our school undertook self–assessment using the SEF. The framework supports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading. In the Learning domain, we continued to show strength in 'Curriculum' and 'Assessment'. Smithfield West has a strong commitment to ensuring the school's curriculum provision and evidenced–based teaching practices provide high expectations so all students can effectively develop their knowledge and skills. Throughout the year, there has been a strong whole school focus on formative and summative assessment practices. Teachers use reliable, ongoing summative assessments as a tool to capture information about student learning. Assessment information is then used to drive teaching and learning programs, which include learning intentions and success criteria, ensuring students have a clear understanding of what they are learning and what success in their learning will look like, therefore, increasing student engagement. In the Teaching domain, we concentrated on the elements of 'Effective Classroom'. Through the whole school formative assessment focus, teachers increased their ability to regularly use student progress and achievement data to inform lesson planning. They were given professional learning about how to provide explicit, specific and timely feedback, related to specific success criteria. Through this feedback, teachers noted improved student engagement in their classrooms. 'Professional Standards' is an element of strength within the domain of Teaching. Professional Development Plans (PDPs) have a whole school and stage focus and are supported by the school leadership team which continued to implement mentoring and coaching practices with the staff under their supervision. Teachers were provided with constructive feedback on lesson delivery, classroom management and programming and assessment, with a strong literacy and numeracy focus to ensure they were proficient at meeting the needs of their students. In the Leading domain, our efforts have focused on 'School Resources'. Technology has been a focus in 2018 with Page 3 of 16 Smithfield West Public School 4355 (2018) Printed on: 29 May, 2019 significant financial resources strategically utilised to increase the technology available and used throughout the school. Through ongoing professional learning opportunities and the additional technology resources available, teachers have increased their effective use of technology to enhance learning. Our self–assessment process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students. For more information about the SEF: https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching–and–learning/school–excellence–and–accountability/sef–evidence–guide Page 4 of 16 Smithfield West Public School 4355 (2018) Printed on: 29 May, 2019 Strategic Direction 1 Quality Teaching and Learning Purpose To develop teacher capacity, empowering them to create a stimulating and engaging learning environment in literacy and numeracy. This will be underpinned by high expectations and a differentiated curriculum that is flexible, reflective, relevant and dynamic to meet the diverse needs of our students, staff and community. Overall summary of progress Formative assessment was a whole school focus and teachers engaged in professional learning, professional readings and observations. Through professional learning, teachers increased their understanding on how to design and implement teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of the students in their class. There has been an increase in the ability of teachers to organise content into coherent, well–sequenced lessons and programs that engage students and promote learning. This has included setting explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals for all students. Formative assessment professional learning increased teacher understanding of the use of effective verbal and non–verbal communication strategies to support student understanding, participation, engagement and achievement. They had the opportunity to evaluate their teaching and learning programs using evidence. Feedback from students and student assessment data was used to inform planning and there were opportunities to contribute to collegial discussions and apply constructive feedback from colleagues to improve professional knowledge and practice. School leaders worked collaboratively with their teams to build a culture of high expectations and quality learning. Through the use of Quality Teaching, Successful Students (QTSS) funding, school leaders increased their visibility and assistance in the classroom learning process through co–teaching, program monitoring, lesson observations and demonstrations. Progress towards achieving improvement measures Improvement measures Funds Expended Progress achieved this year (to be achieved over 3 years) (Resources) Increased percentage of students Literacy Resources $12,256 Staff engaged in professional learning around the achieving expected growth in National Literacy Progressions and the links that literacy. Reading and Literacy can be found within the NSW English Syllabus for Interventionist 1.2 FTE the Australian Curriculum. Through using the National Literacy Progressions teachers began to Professional Learning effectively locate a student's current knowledge and $21,000 ability and determine the next steps in their learning. This was evidenced by the growth of Early Action for Success student learning plotted against the literacy (EAfS) – Instructional progressions. Leader Increased percentage of students Numeracy Resources Staff engaged in professional learning around the achieving expected growth in $5,000 use of the National Numeracy Progressions, in numeracy. particular the Quantifying Numbers sub element. Numeracy Interventionist 0.6 FTE School and National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) baseline data was Professional Learning established, with targeted interventions introduced $19,000 for students at risk of not achieving expected growth. EAfS – Instructional Leader 100% of teaching

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