2018 Cobar High School Annual Report - Amazon S3 · Introduction The Annual Report for 2018 is...

Cobar High SchoolAnnual Report

2018

8356

Printed on: 5 June, 2019 of 12 Cobar High School 8356 (2018)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2018 is provided to the community of Cobar High School as an account of the school's operationsand 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.

Shane Carter

Principal

School contact details

Cobar High SchoolWetherell CresCobar, 2835www.cobar-h.schools.nsw.edu.aucobar-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au6836 2705


School background

School vision statement

Cobar High School empowers students to be well–rounded, resilient life–long learners underpinned by High ExpectationRelationships enabled to live a quality life and adapt to a changing world.

School context

Cobar High School is located in outback NSW in the mining town of Cobar, population approximately 5000. The nearestregional centre is Dubbo approximately 300 kilometres east. It has a student population of 265 of whom 27% identify asAboriginal and 2% are from a Non–English Speaking Background. Family Occupation and Educational Index (FOEI) of111 is in the average range. Employment rate is approximately 96.5% with over 50% of those employed, working in themining industry. Students predominantly expect to move from school in to highly paid occupations within the miningsector. Staff work collaboratively, are enthusiastic and provide a range of extra–curricular activities for students. Theaverage length of service of teaching staff in their current position is less than 2 years. Cobar High School has followedthe principles of Positive Behaviour for Learning since its implementation began in 2012 it promotes an environment ofrespect, excellence and safety.

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.

The schools on–balance judgement for 2018 in the domain of Learning demonstrated we are sustaining and growing inall elements except Student Performance Measures in which we are delivering.

Staff embrace learning opportunities through participation in professional learning and observation lessons to buildcapacity in order to deliver the school plan. Similarly, the school is actively involved with networks within school andacross the state in collaboration to maintain currency, knowledge and skills in their field. A significant proportion ofstudents are recognised for their effort, application and attendance at school through awards assemblies each term.Students also nominate themselves in the self–select class that included the interest to engage in academic externalcompetitions and commit to home study. The school is a leader in Positive Behaviour for Learning and this systemunderpins the positive wellbeing of members in our school community.

In the domain of Teaching, the schools on–balance judgement for 2018 demonstrated that we were sustaining andgrowing consistently across all elements.

All staff engaged in collaborative cross KLA teams to consolidate their understanding and knowledge in strategiesidentified to serve our student needs. Staff valued feedback from their peers to strengthen their capacity to deliver schoolvision. Students engaged in feedback with their teachers, especially through assessment and reports. Beginningteachers on both temporary and permanent status were supported with mentoring and were enabled to complete theiraccreditation.

The schools on–balance judgement for 2018 in the domain of Leading is sustaining and growing.

Executive members engage other teaching staff who demonstrate expertise in 2LS, ALARM, PLP's, numeracycontinuum, Positive Behaviour for Learning and student leadership challenge to lead professional learning as well. At theend of the year all staff engaged in an evaluation of our PL model to ensure a shared vision was sustained and deliveredwith integrity. Partnerships are sustained in the wider community, for example Glencore CSA Mine sponsor ourHomework Centre and other local businesses support leadership opportunities for our students. Similarly, the widercommunity supports future pathways for our students through their involvement in Careers Expo and University visits.School resources are managed to ensure we maximise teacher resources and are able to deliver a comprehensiveeducation for all our students that is inclusive, equitable and accessible. The school has a comprehensive managementsystem to communicate, share resources and sustain accurate record keeping.

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 School Excellence Framework:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching–and–learning/school–excellence–and–accountability/sef–evidence–guide


Strategic Direction 1

Increasing Student Engagement

Purpose

High Expectation Relationships are facilitated by the teacher to exchange critical feedback in a safe, respectful andinclusive environment. Students are challenged to persevere and master learning for pursuit of excellence in literacy andnumeracy.

Overall summary of progress

Supporting student wellbeing has been underpinned by Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) for many years resulting inprocesses such as stand alone PBL lessons. These lessons were this year used to deliver lessons to explain theLeadership Challenge, launch the new Wellbeing and Behaviour Procedure, to review the Acknowledgement System aswell as teach students about positive social interactions and the importance of listening and following instructions. Timeto develop and evaluate these activities by staff was made available during our weekly HAMMER periods.

To further support student engagement, 2 whole school Professional Learning events were organised. Staff from CobarPublic, Cobar Pre–School and Bourke High joined our staff for an excellent day of learning with Dr Bill Rogers. Hispresentation "Managing the Difficult Class" highlighted simple, yet effective strategies that staff could utilise to keepstudent learning as the focus during classes. This was reinforced with mini lessons during HAMMER as well as points ofinterest during lesson observations.

The second event was a presentation by the founder of ALARM, Mr Max Woods and was organised as a result ofhighlighted weakness from the previous school plan. Staff from other schools again joined, participating in a veryinteractive day with many "hands on" activities. These skills were transferred directly into classroom with many staffembedding ALARM into their teaching practice.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

Increased proportion of studentsreporting a sense of belonging,expectations for success andadvocacy at school.

Time provided in HAMMERto coach staff and analysefeedback.

Professional LearningActivity – Dr Bill Rogers

53% of students have a better understanding of theLeadership Challenge with 26% now more activelyinclined to participate.

All staff participated in peer lesson observationswith evidence indicating that most staff wereutilising strategies from the Dr Bill Rogers training.

Increased proportion of studentsdemonstrating growth in literacyand numeracy.

Quicksmart program.

Professional LearningActivity – ALARM with MaxWoods

6.2% (Grammar Punctuation) and 7% (Spelling)increase in Year 9 students achieving at or aboveexpected growth. 1.1 increase in average numeracygrowth score – 14.7 above state average.

Next Steps

NAPLAN data indicates Reading as an area requiring attention with 43.8 of students achieving at or above expectedgrowth and an average scaled score of 17.9. These are both the lowest scores of any area in the past 5 years.

Tell Them From Me data suggests that sense of belonging, expectations for success and advocacy for school had as awhole continued to decrease. New strategies and activities will need to be explored to combat this situation.



Building Staff Capacity

Purpose

Staff are enabled to be proactive, innovative and collaborative facilitators of learning amongst a collegial community oflearners. Our teachers are at the forefront of their curriculum and deliver quality instructional leadership in everyclassroom that inspires learning. Students are explicitly championed to be active problem solvers and critical thinkers,using future focused skills to enhance their own learning.


Cobar High staff are committed to engaging students through deliver of innovative and exciting teaching programs. Inaddition to the strategies introduced in Strategic Direction 1, 2018 saw the introduction of Project Based Learning into theStage 4 Curriculum. Along with traditional delivery of PDHPE, Music and Visual Arts, students studied 2 streams – STEM(a combination of Mathematics, Science & Technology classes) and PROJECT (a combination of English & HSIEclasses). Staff and students were challenged to develop their skills in collaboration, critical and creative thinking, problemsolving and communication – all 21st Century learning skills. Early indicators are encouraging with student feedback andtask submission rates showing an increase in student engagement. To compliment this 4 staff members visited KurriKurri High School (a leader in Project Based Learning) to gain insight in possible ways we could improve our delivery.

In order to ensure that Cobar High School teaching components are compliant with NESA (NSW Education StandardsAuthority) we had planned to send all Stage 5 programs to NESA for review. Unfortunately this was found to be notpossible so an internal review was decided upon with the initial task being to identify the program features of creativethinking, critical thinking, problem solving, flexibility, resilience, entrepreneurial skill and social awareness. Immediatelythis highlighted major discrepancies across the school with opinions on what constituted various features.





All programs are underpinned byinnovation that feature creativeand critical thinking, problemsolving, flexibility, resilience,entrepreneurial skills and socialawareness.

HAMMER Identified the need for whole school consensus onmeaning for essential features we want embeddedinto teaching programs. Unfortunately time waswasted trying to investigate / organise for NESA toreview our current stage 5 teaching programs.

Increased proportion of formative,innovative assessment tasks thatshow student progression.

HAMMER

Professional LearningActivity – Kurri Kurri Visit

Project Based Learning was successfullyintroduced into the stage 4 curriculum pattern ofstudy.

Next Steps

Through a combination of analysing student / staff feedback and professional learning activities, the organisationalstructure of Project Based Learning will be modified for 2019. Student project time frames will be reduced and shortexplicit teaching sessions increased.

The internal program review highlighted the need for the school to develop a consensus on a meaning of the essentialfeatures that we were have identified for our programs.



Enabling Leadership

Purpose

To provide opportunities to both staff and students to demonstrate leadership in a centre of educational excellence.Students are equipped to transition to life beyond school. Our systems, resources, local procedures and communicationwith the wider community facilitates student success.


CHS Procedures is a tool that staff find essential to manage their precious time efficiently. We endeavour to have alldocumentation / information relevant to Cobar High available in one central location. Apart from minimising time wastageit also plays a vital role in version control on used documents as well as providing useful departmental links. Staff haveundertaken training on how to use this tool and participated in reviewing several sections. One such component is theLearning and Support Team (LST) Handbook that was recently added to CHS Procedures. Adding in training, staff nowunderstand the LST structures and processes allowing greater support of students. This includes streamlining themeeting processes so the high needs students are case managed and classroom teachers are supported with Tier 2strategies for classroom practice development. eg Utilising LaST in the classroom. The impact of this being that thehigher priority students are being dealt with in a more timely efficient manner.

Another leadership initiative undertaken this year is to increase the volume and quality of communication to thecommunity. A community information evening was held off–site early in the year with community attendance being verypoor. Another evening was held mid year combining subject selections with the launch of the Wellbeing and BehaviourProcedure. This event was better patronised but still low in numbers. Feedback however was positive with attendeesfeeling comfortable to share their thoughts. A final showcase evening was held towards the end of the year to display theProject Based Learning "Projects". This was the most patronised evening of the year although student attendance wasdisappointing.





Increased proportion of staffoperating as instructional leadersacross the school in everysetting.

HAMMER Staff are aware of CHS Procedures and havereviewed several processes. This has resulted in agreater focus on supporting students.

Improved communication acrossthe community and increase thevolume of access to allpublications related to schoolmedia as measured from 2017baseline data.

Community Evenings Several community evenings held with attendancerates increasing each time.

Next Steps

Greater promotion of Parent / Teacher interviews. Along with traditional meaning of communication parents will receive apersonal invite by email, Year Advisers will phone parents of select students, advertising will be placed in the local paperand a Facebook event will be posted.

Showcase evenings will be more structured and opened to other subject areas, not just the Project Based Learningclasses. Also need to investigate having a mid–year and end–of–year event.

An investigation will need to be undertaken to select a new platform for CHS Procedures to be located as a result ofchanges to file locations shifting to the cloud.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $12 133 Literacy/NumeracySupport

Employed one permanentAboriginal EducationOfficer.

Equity funding was used to partially employan additional School Learning SupportOfficers (SLSO) to facilitate the administrationof the numeracy program, Quicksmart and2LS.

77.8% of Year 9 Aboriginal students hadattained greater than or equal to expectedgrowth in NAPLAN numeracy. That is, 20.5percentage points per student above NSWstate average.

Low level adjustment for disability $36 398 Literacy andnumeracy support.

SLSO's were employed to support studentswho required adjustments in the school. Thestudents that required support were identifiedby the Learning and Support Team. As aresult, more students accessed learning.

Socio–economic background $52 056 ProfessionalLearning 3 periods/fortnightfor each teaching staffmember.

$30 332 Literacy andnumeracy support

$4000 student wellbeing

$7000 PBL

$22 766 InstructionalLeadership

A teacher was employed to provideprofessional learning network periods andobservation lessons to build teacher capacityin order to deliver the school plan.

Equity funding was used to partially employan additional School Learning SupportOfficers (SLSO) to facilitate the administrationof the numeracy program, Quicksmart and2LS.

Assistance was provided to students toaccess excursions, uniform, food andequipment.

A contribution was made to the PositiveBehaviour for Learning program.

As a result, more students accessedopportunities offered by the school andengaged in learning. Staff engaged in PL andhad increased capacity to deliver the schoolvision.

Support for beginning teachers $71 334 Beginning Teacherrelease time and allowancefor Teacher Mentor

An Induction Leader delivered a structuredinduction program weekly that addressedteacher needs as identified in their PDPs.

Beginning Teachers where allocated areduction in teaching load.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2015 2016 2017 2018

Boys 144 136 134 136

Girls 137 119 117 124

Student enrolments remain relatively stable. Thisreflects the current climate in the local mining industrywhere employment opportunities remain abundant.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

7 92.6 93 92.2 90.8

8 88.4 88.9 89.2 88.5

9 86 87.1 87.3 84.6

10 87.6 86.7 83.3 79.8

11 87.8 91.3 85.4 86.4

12 89.1 90.2 89 89.5

All Years 88.5 89 87.1 86.5

State DoE

Year 2015 2016 2017 2018

7 92.7 92.8 92.7 91.8

8 90.6 90.5 90.5 89.3

9 89.3 89.1 89.1 87.7

10 87.7 87.6 87.3 86.1

11 88.2 88.2 88.2 86.6

12 89.9 90.1 90.1 89

All Years 89.7 89.7 89.6 88.4

Management of non-attendance

Administration staff monitored class rolls. They checkedthey were marked and explained daily. The school usesSentral Truancy Wizard to identify any disparities andthis was followed up by staff using local schoolprocedures outlined for lateness and/or truancy. Emailnotifications were sent to parents for unexplainedabsences from class and/or school the very next dayafter disparities were checked and verified. Letterswere sent home via email on a weekly basis to addressany outstanding non–attendance issues. The schoolalso has a Home School Liaison Officer and AboriginalSchool Liaison Officer to work in partnership with theschool and families to support school attendance. As a

result, using email notifications increased parent/carerresponses provided to the school.

Post-school destinations

Proportion ofstudents movinginto post-schooleducation, trainingor employment

Year 10%

Year 11%

Year 12%

SeekingEmployment

0 2.5 8

Employment 12 17 65

TAFE entry 2.5 2.5 18

University Entry 0 0 21

Other 12 2.5 3

Unknown 2.5 0 3

58% of Year 12 students elected to follow a HSC studypattern that would enable them to achieve an ATAR toaccess university studies which was a similarpercentage to the previous year. Only 36% of thesestudents applied to attend university with 100% of thesestudents being successful with their application. Somegained positions through the Schools RecommendationScheme or direct entry with 12.5% of these studentsdeferring their start date for 12 months to follow full timework options linked to their VET qualifications. 99% ofthe 79% of Year 12 students not attending universityare employed in full time or part time work locally,within NSW or interstate, with 30% enrolled in furthertraining.

Year 12 students undertaking vocational or tradetraining

58% of the students in Year 12 were enrolled in one rmore of the following Vocational Education andTraining (VET) courses offered in our Trade TrainingCentre under the Wagga Wagga RTO 90333.

Certificate II in Kitchen Operations

Certificate II in Construction (Pathways)

Certificate I in Engineering

Another 1% of the cohort were enrolled in TAFEVocational Education and Training through otherRTO's.

Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalentvocational education qualification

87% of Year 12 students attained their Higher SchoolCertificate which is an increase of 3% from the previousyear.


67% gained a full Certificate in their chosen VocationalEducation and Training course from the various RTOsthey were accessing their qualifications. This is a 7%increase from the previous year.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Deputy Principal(s) 1

Head Teacher(s) 4

Classroom Teacher(s) 18.4

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 1

Teacher Librarian 1

School Counsellor 1

School Administration and SupportStaff

8.18

Other Positions 1

*Full Time Equivalent

Cobar High School has one staff member that identifiesas Aboriginal.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirementsfor teaching in NSW public schools.

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 80

Postgraduate degree 20

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

All teachers meet the professional requirements forteaching in NSW public schools and successfullycompleted their annual performance and developmentcycle. Furthermore, Cobar High supports all ongoingprofessional development requirements includingmandatory training requirements such as ChildProtection, Code of Conduct, CPR and Anaphylaxis.

Financial information

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summary

includes reporting from 1 January 2018 to 31December 2018.

2018 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 758,327

Revenue 4,944,258

Appropriation 4,791,964

Sale of Goods and Services 13,875

Grants and Contributions 130,487

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 7,932

Expenses -4,768,954

Recurrent Expenses -4,768,954

Employee Related -4,282,330

Operating Expenses -486,624

Capital Expenses 0

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses 0

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

175,304

Balance Carried Forward 933,631

The Cobar High School Executive act as the school'sFinance Committee. In 2018 significant time wasdedicated to implementing the Department'sSAP/SALM software. The balance carried forwardrepresents targeted funding for projects foreseen over anumber of years including school bus replacement,shade sail replacement, construction of COLA andteaching and learning projects. Teaching and learningprojects are linked to the 2018 – 2020 school plan.

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 3,739,673

Base Per Capita 49,495

Base Location 147,675

Other Base 3,542,503

Equity Total 343,040

Equity Aboriginal 79,932

Equity Socio economic 117,729

Equity Language 2,583

Equity Disability 142,797

Targeted Total 227,840

Other Total 146,083

Grand Total 4,456,636

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.

Reading results across both Year 7 & 9 were poor andwill require greater attention in 2019. Whilst Year 9writing average scores were 6.7 higher than thatachieved by similar, greater attention will be required in2019. 49% of Year 9 students achieved in the top 3bands in spelling – the highest percentage of the last 4years. Other indicators still show greater attentionrequired in 2019. Year 9 students achieved an average

growth score of 41.6 compared to the state average of38.4 with 13.5% of our students also achieving in thetop 2 bands.

Numeracy continues to be our area of strength in termsof student growth. 73.8% of Year 7 students and 72.%of Year 9 students achieved at or above expectedgrowth compared to 66% of Year 7 & 9 students acrossthe state. Year 7 students achieved an average growthscore of 68.4 (compared to 54.2 across the state) andYear 9 averaging a score of 61.7 (compared to 47across the state). There was also an increase in thepercentage of students in the top 2 bands of Year 9students at 14% compared to 9% when the samecohort was in Year 7.

The My School website provides detailed informationand data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Goto http://www.myschool.edu.au to access the schooldata. As schools transition to NAPLAN online, the banddistribution of results is not directly comparable to bandaverages from previous years. While the 10 banddistribution available to schools who completedNAPLAN online is a more accurate reflection of studentperformance, caution should be taken whenconsidering results relative to what was formerly a sixband distribution. As the full transition of NAPLANonline continues, the most appropriate way tocommunicate results for NAPLAN online is by scaledscores and scaled growth. This is the reporting formatagreed by state and territory education ministers, and isreflected on the myschool website.

In accordance with the Premier's Priorities: Improvingeducation results and State Priorities: Better services –Improving Aboriginal education outcomes for studentsin the top two NAPLAN bands and associatedmandatory reporting,10% represents the total averageof students achieving at this level, and of this 3.4%represents Aboriginal students.

Higher School Certificate (HSC)

The performance of students in the HSC is reported inbands ranging from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6(highest).

During 2018, 33 students successfully studied andcompleted their HSC across 20 courses.

The best performance for the school was achieved byGeorgia Nicholson who was named on the HighAchievers list for her band 6 in Community and FamilyStudies. She also achieved band 5 in Geography andBusiness Studies as did Jacob Brown in Music 1.


Subject School2018 SSSG State

SchoolAverage

2014-2018

Community andFamily Studies

65.7 67.2 69.9 65.7

English(Standard)

62.7 61.3 65.0 63.4

HospitalityExamination(KitchenOperations andCookery)

61.0 68.1 70.3 63.0

MathematicsGeneral 2

58.3 60.9 65.1 59.8

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Parents have expressed support for the school throughsurveys, discussions, parent teacher nights, P&CCommittee meetings and other events throughout theyear. The P&C have continued to support the schoolthrough their involvement in merit selection panels in2018.

Similarly, staff have expressed through feedback andsurveys their satisfaction with working at Cobar HighSchool – staff were extended many opportunities todevelop leadership capacity. The students mostlyenjoyed school however there were a small proportion

of students that were keen to leave school and engagein alternative pathways that included work.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Cobar High School received Aboriginal backgroundfunding in 2018. A permanent Aboriginal EducationOfficer was employed all of the year to assist studentswith academic, social and cultural activities.

NAIDOC day was celebrated with the entire schoolpopulation participating. Personalised LearningPathways were developed for 100% of Aboriginalstudents. A School Learning Support Officer wasemployed the assist students in developing theirLiteracy and Numeracy skills.

In the Year 9 NAPLAN test, 77.8% of Aboriginalstudents achieved greater than or equal to expectedgrowth in numeracy compared to the NSW Stateaverage of 57.2%, with an average scaled growth scoreof 56.6 compared to the NSW State average of just47.7.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

The school has one trained Anti–Racism officer withinthe school. In 2018 nil reports were made to the officer.The school used emails, newsletters and Facebook topromote and provide information on cultural andcommunity events that included NAIDOC week.


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