Newmarket State School Queensland State School Reporting 2015 School Annual Report Postal address PO Box 225 Alderley 4051 Phone (07) 3552 7222 Fax (07) 3552 7200 Email [email protected] Additional reporting information pertaining to Queensland Webpages state schools is located on the My School website and the Queensland Government data website. Vicki Richards Ph: 3552 7222 Contact person [email protected] Principal’s foreword Introduction The intent of this report is to provide parents and the wider school community with information that is common for all state and non-state schools throughout Queensland. It provides an overview of the programs and achievements of Newmarket State School during the 2014 school year. Newmarket is a small but growing inner-city school with a proud history. Excellence in learning and strong community values are two distinctive features of our school. The active role of parents in the P&C and in daily school activities strengthens our community and contributes to the range of opportunities available to our students. The core business of our school is having quality programs to allow students to achieve in the eight key learning areas - and within these programs, a commitment to literacy and numeracy is fundamental. This report also includes important information about student performance as well as links to further information on the MySchool website. I trust that you find the information contained in this report about our school of interest. Should you require any further information, please contact the Principal as indicated above. School progress towards its goals in 2015 In 2015, Newmarket State School was working towards: • Implementing the Australian Curriculum • Inclusion of History • Aligning the Whole School Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Plan with the Australian Curriculum • Engage in school wide and Cluster moderation processes • Develop collaborative teaching practices • Implement a Pedagogical Framework • Continue to embed the 4 Pillars of School-wide Pedagogy and promote high expectations of consistency of practice • Engage in professional development with John Fleming • Promote teacher engagement with data • Collaborative planning processes • Develop processes of feedback to improve workplace performance • Develop productive partnerships with staff, students, parents and the community • Promote the use of ICTs Year 3 79% in Upper 2 Bands for Reading Year 3 100% Above NMS for Reading Year 3 75% in Upper 2 Bands for Numeracy Year 3 100% Above NMS Numeracy Year 5 56% in Upper 2 Bands for Reading Year 5 56% in Upper 2 Bands for Reading Year 5 44% in Upper 2 Bands for Numeracy Year 5 100% Above NMS Numeracy In 2015 staff continued to undertake professional development programs on adopting a school wide pedagogy, Gifted and Talented, Students with Disabilities, Differentiation, the Teaching of Reading, OneSchool and the Australian Curriculum. The major projects for 2015 continued to focus on the development of whole school programs in reading and spelling. The school’s reading and comprehension goals were achieved with the introduction of CARS and STARS to provide consistency across the whole school. The spelling development continua using Words their Way is ongoing in 2015. Intervention to provide additional support to identified students, was another priority for 2015. The Prep program continued to develop and grow as screening services for speech and language along with vocabulary development were implemented. The school employed a speech pathologist to provide small group and individual programs. The aim in 2015 was to have a broader understanding of our students and how they learn. Our English as an Additional Dialect (EALD) program was further boosted with intervention that focused on the use of targeted reading resources and training support staff in the delivery of these services. The Upper 2 Band (U2B) Program focused on Numeracy for 2015 and demonstrated a further increase in the number of Year 5 students reaching the U2 Bands. Student Services continued to work to identify and support students through a variety of services either provided by the school or through consultation with outside agencies. The School Assessment and Reporting Framework was reviewed at the end of 2015 and further refined with the inclusion of targets in reading. This document will be reviewed annually, as we embed our data collection processes. NAPLAN results were a direct reflection of a focused and clear improvement agenda. We celebrated the fact that our school was listed in the top 20 schools for our Year 3 results and also listed according to MySchool data as one of the 53 schools identified as improving across both Reading and Writing. Newmarket State School was additionally listed as the number 8 school for North Brisbane and Moreton according to NAPLAN data. High school links with Everton Park State High School and Kelvin Grove State School continue to strengthen as we further develop our alignment with our local high schools. As a staff, we continued to develop our school wide Pedagogical Framework with a strong emphasis on explicit teaching and the work of John Fleming. The staff attended many professional development sessions with John in an effort to further enhance their classroom practice. We further refined our practices around the Fleming model by inviting John Fleming and his expert teaching team to share their expertise within our school context. This will form part of an exciting roll out in 2016. Teaching staff have continued to ensure consistency of judgements through moderation with our City Cluster of schools. The focus of this work has been to develop a shared understanding of the moderation process. To develop further understanding of a portfolio approach to assessing student achievement. To develop balanced understanding of student achievement via formative & summative assessments, to develop a shared understanding of the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standard and to develop a shared understanding of the function of the QCAA Standards Elaborations- Australian Curriculum Further development was undertaken on our school’s Information Communications Technology for Learning Agreement. This plan ensures we have a replacement schedule for all of our IT hardware and a futures plan. It also illustrates how we will prepare our students for the technological rich world in which they live. In 2015, teachers participated in professional development sessions to increase their skills in the use of online literacy programs, the use of iPads and the use of the Learning Place to enhance learning for their students. We also purchased an extra 15 laptops in November 2015. A number of Newmarket students were identified through a selection process for the City Cluster High Achievers Program. This gives them automatic selection into the Young Scholars Program. This program is offered through the Queensland Academies to provide extension to our high achieving students. Newmarket State School has continued to host Creative Sparks – Mini Writers Festival and Mini Scientists Festival. A number of talented writers from Year 4 attended the writing festival and had the opportunity to work with local author, Julie Fison. They produced an anthology of their work which is available for perusal in the LARC. Some of our students also attended the Mini Scientist Festival run by BUEEC and the Higher Order thinking Program at Ascot SS. In the sporting arena Newmarket State School did well with a number of students competing in District Cross Country (Small Schools Division). We also completed winter sport fixtures in soccer and netball. Musically, our band and choirs entertained us on several occasions throughout the year. The choirs also had several performances at community events which were well received by the audience. Mrs Battersby, Miss Enchelmaier and Mr Ryan continue to do a wonderful job developing the musical talents of our students. We have continued to develop the ‘You Can Do It Program’, social skills program throughout the school. The “Friends’ Program” has continued to flourish under Mrs Connie Hamer’s coordination, through a selection process and now has two courses available over Semester one and two and this assists students in further developing life skills. Schools The success our school has achieved over the past 12 months has been reflected in us growing in enrolments for the 2016 school year. Our current enrolment is 244 and we have expanded to 10 classes for students in Years Prep to 6. Achievements In 2015 School Opinion Survey data demonstrates that 100% of students believe that they are getting a good education at school 100% of students believe that they like being at their school 100% of students believe that their teachers motivate them to learn 100% of students believe that their teachers expect them to do their best A number of facilities issues were addressed during 2015. These included: The development of the Prep eating play facility with roofing, artificial grass and landscaping The creation of a resource and withdrawal room upstairs in A Block. The purchase of new furniture for the Year 1,2 and 3 classrooms. The painting of classrooms in A Block. The purchase and design of new cabinetry in A Block. The creation of a small office space for specialist staff. The purchase of new carpets, fans and LED lighting for classrooms upstairs in A Block. The purchase of sandstone blocks seating and landscaping for our students along pathway to oval. The development of landscaping and a cement pathway leading to the oval. The creation of a school community garden and pathways beside LARC entrance. The mural painting work on water tank designed by Yr6 students as part of their leadership project. The purchase of new chairs with the Newmarket State School emblem for the school hall. The purchase of school emblem embossed entrance welcome matting and runners for school entrances and hall. The internet upgrade to high fibre optic cable from our copper connection.