Annual School

Report 2014

‘In the Pursuit of Excellence’

Our School

Narrogin Primary School has a proud

history of serving the Narrogin

Community. We value cultural and

linguistic diversity, difference and

individuality, and use inclusive

educational practices. Our school

motto, ‘In the Pursuit of Excellence’,

reflects our belief that every student

can be a successful student and a

lifelong learner.

School Purpose

Narrogin Primary School provides

quality education for all students, based

on the Australian Curriculum,

maximising learning opportunities and

preparing each child for life. Our

curriculum caters for the social,

emotional, physical, academic, cultural

and creative needs of individuals in a

safe and supportive environment. We

take a personal approach to encourage

our students to be lifelong learners and

active citizens in the wider community.

Principal’s Address It is with great pleasure that I present the 2014 Annual School Report to the Narrogin Primary School community. I would like to acknowledge the contributions made by every area of our school community, including staff, students, parents and School Board. It is these supportive team structures that are a strong feature of our school. The year was a year of highlights which resulted in our students and staff having access to a wide range of excellent educational activities. Some of those highlights in 2014 included:

• Academic Excellence was rewarded with three Vi Barham nominees and a winning Mega-Minds team.

• Junior Primary looked closely at our Spelling program and has made significant changes to support all students in this area.

• Being victorious for the first time in many years at the Interschool Swimming Carnival. This set up a huge year of sporting success at Athletics, Cricket, Winter Carnival, District Cross Country and Bendigo Bank Netball.

• We successfully showcased our artistic talents at the Spring Festival Parade and at the Wickepin Art Prize.

• In a first for all schools we farewelled both our Year 6 and Year 7 cohort in a seamless Graduation Award Assembly.

Moving into 2015 we have exciting times ahead as our three years of hard work as a fledgling Independent Public School comes under review. The whole school community will be called upon to communicate our effectiveness and reflect on our targets. As part of the school’s reporting and accountability process, this report provides you with a snapshot of how our school performed in 2014. Achievement results continue to demonstrate that our students are making pleasing progress, although there are always areas for improvement. Achieving our individual level of Academic Excellence is the goal for staff and student alike. David Harrison Principal

08 9881 1200

22-24 Williams Rd

Narrogin WA 6312

www.narroginprimaryschool.wa.edu.au

Vi Barham Award Finalists

Performing Below Like Schools Performing Above Like Schools

Summary To support the school in making judgments for improvement, data was collected through the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests in Year 3, 5 and 7. This testing took place in May 2014 and results were received by the school late in term three. Staff carefully examined the data in order to drive planning for 2015. Writing The writing focus for NAPLAN in 2014 was Persuasive text and our year five students performed well. They showed particular strength in their use of persuasive devices and this was a direct reflection of intensive teaching and regular effective practice. Through analysis of data we found that text structure and paragraphing were specific weaknesses which will be a focus for 2015. Grammar and Punctuation After analysis of 2013 NAPLAN data, staff realized that there was a need for a more intensive grammar program to improve our student results in grammar. We purchased some targeted resources and made sure that we included grammar as a focus area within our classroom literacy blocks and our whole school planning. The results of concentrated teaching and revision have been greatly improved 2014 grammar results in year three, five and seven. We will now put emphasis on punctuation in our literacy blocks to show continued improvement in 2015. Spelling Spelling in year five and seven has been a consistent weakness in our NAPLAN results in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 we

will be introducing our new Whole School Spelling program which has been formulated in association with the Perth Language Development Centre. Our focus in Kindergarten to Year Three will be on the Letters and Sounds program and in years four to six, Words their Way. Both of these programs are highly recommended by the Dyslexia Speld Foundation, after extensive research into their effectiveness. Reading Reading has been a strong focus in our literacy programs and we have begun to show positive results in this area. Comprehension of Narrative text was an area which requires further attention and we have been building our reading resources to reflect this focus area. We have also been using phonic based readers such as the Dandelion series as recommended by the Dyslexia Speld Foundation and the Perth Language Development Centre. Mathematics We have made significant improvements in mathematics over the course of 2013 and 2014. Results have shown that our students are developing strong numeracy skills, however a planning focus needs to be on those areas in which our students

did not perform as well, including fractions, statistics and probability and content vocabulary.

Year 3 Year 5 Year7

NPS

Mean

Like

Schools

Mean

WA

Mean

Au

Mean

NPS

Mean

Like

Schools

Mean

WA

Mean

Au

Mean

NPS

Mean

Like

Schools

Mean

WA

Mean

Au

Mean

Numeracy 362 364 392 402 458 446 480 487 522 512 545 546

Reading 359 368 407 419 459 453 492 501 525 520 544 546

Writing 367 374 397 402 450 431 465 468 484 492 514 512

Spelling 389 382 403 412 465 468 492 498 515 522 543 545

Grammar &

Punctuation

378 366 413 426 453 455 495 504 514 511 543 544

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT NAPLAN 2014

Financial Summary as at 31 December 2014

STARR Students

P&C Triathlon

School Board

The role of a School Board is to work with the Principal and community to achieve the best outcomes for students. One of the most important things the Board does is to establish a vision for the school that reflects the aspirations and needs of the community. The Board can have an important influence on the direction of the school, with members bringing ideas and lending their expertise to strategic planning, and community partnerships. Professional skills in areas such as management, finance, procurement, marketing and cultural knowledge support the Principal and strengthen the schools capacity to meet the needs of its students.

During 2014 the School Board continued to strengthen its capacity to support and guide the school. Some members have been farewelled as their children have moved on to high school and we welcome new faces in 2015. The Independent Public School review in 2015 will be an exciting opportunity for School Board members to promote our school and its capacity to meet the needs of our school community.

Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) Once again we have had a very supportive team of P & C members who have worked tirelessly for the school throughout 2014. The P&C has been very active with lots of fundraising ventures, uniform sales and our fabulous Canteen which has continued to operate with great success. The P&C members work very hard for the Narrogin PS children, volunteering their time and making our school a better place. We appreciate all of their efforts and you can see many of the areas around the school that have benefitted from the fundraising the P&C has completed this year.

Attendance

Non-Aboriginal Aboriginal Total

School State School State School State

2012 93.4% 93.3% 84.6% 81.1% 91.3% 92.3%

2013 93.8% 93.7% 82.1% 80.7% 93.0% 92.6%

2014 91.8% 92.9% 80.5% 80.2% 89.7% 92.1%

During 2014 Narrogin Primary School observed a slight drop in attendance as compared to previous attendance levels and state attendance levels. Measures to improve these results for 2015 and into the future include: - Attendance Intervention Plans which follow the Attendance Policy Guidelines as provided by The Department of Education. - STARR attendance student acknowledgment each week, in the school newsletter, as a note home to parent’s and at assemblies. - Whole school rewards for attendance such as VIP days and Hot Dogs with Mr Harrison

Spring Festival Parade

Swimming Carnival

Highlights 2014

Constable Care Puppet

Parent, Student and Staff Survey of the Community

Feedback from community is seen as an important tool in determining how the school is viewed and provides direction on school planning and improvement.

Parents, students and staff were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the school community via surveys. The questions provided a broad range of topics for parents and staff to respond towards. Responses were consistently positive across topics with an area of concern in “student behaviour” for parents and students. The school has an ongoing focus utilising the STARR Behaviour Expectations to teach positive behaviour to all students. The students and staff have worked hard to develop expectations that are reflective of our school community and although behaviour is still a topic of concern improvements have been seen and are expected to continue in 2015. Parent response to the survey was limited and more proactive strategies will be needed to engage parents in the next survey.

Staff and selected peers were also given an opportunity to reflect on the School Administration team, in particular Principal and Deputy. Again the responses were mostly positive with staff feeling very valued and supported in their work. The need for clearer expectations at meetings was highlighted as well as stronger curriculum leadership. Staff are grateful for the opportunity to engage professionally with like schools and for the leadership opportunities offered for career extension.

Disco Dancing

Mother’s Day Art Interschool Athletics

James Foley Writers Workshop

Highlights 2014

Teacher’s v Students

Mr Nicholas’s pet snake

Bridgetown Camp

NPS Elves

T20 Cricket - WACA

Relay for Life