2019 Taree West Public School Annual Report · Taree West Public School have had many great...

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Taree West Public School 2019 Annual Report 3909 Printed on: 13 May, 2020 Page 1 of 27 Taree West Public School 3909 (2019)

Transcript of 2019 Taree West Public School Annual Report · Taree West Public School have had many great...

Page 1: 2019 Taree West Public School Annual Report · Taree West Public School have had many great achievements this year with our school represented in many sporting teams, debating teams,

Taree West Public School2019 Annual Report

3909

Printed on: 13 May, 2020Page 1 of 27 Taree West Public School 3909 (2019)

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Introduction

The Annual Report for 2019 is provided to the community of Taree West Public School as an account of the school'soperations and 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.

School contact details

Taree West Public SchoolWingham RdTaree, 2430www.tareewest-p.schools.nsw.edu.autareewest-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au6552 1910

Message from the school community

TWPS P & C Presidents Report 2019

The P&C committee have been very busy throughout the year 2019 providing assistance for various school events andprojects. These have included assisting with staff recruitment, running the athletics carnival canteen, providing morningtea for Grandparents Day, Easter raffles, Mum & Dad day stalls, meat tray raffles held at Taree West Bowling Club,school socials & many more. The year ended with our glow stick night for the staff, students & their families. A fun nightto enjoy.

Annually the committee donates $1000 for a school music scholarship to TWPS. This will cover the cost for of the wholeyear for 1 student or 2 half yearly scholarships for 2 students.

The P&C have assisted the families of students in our school sporting teams and academic events with accommodationand travel costs when they have been selected to represent our school at a state and national level. We are very proudof all our students' achievements.

The committee also provides the school bucket hats, to the new kindergarten students starting in 2020 as a welcominggift.

The P&C volunteers run our school uniform shop with a lay–by service available. The uniform shop was open during theschool holidays and it was very successful again. Many thanks, to those who volunteered over the holidays. In 2020 wehave introduced a service for students who need to purchase a larger size sports shirt. They can purchase the shirt fromthe uniform shop and we will order in the shirt and get it embroidered with the school logo. This will cost $25.

The canteen is run by the P&C with a paid canteen supervisor. Many new healthy and fresh menu items have beenintroduced. Our canteen menu meets the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy. A huge thank you to Leanne & thetireless canteen volunteers who do an awesome job.

The online canteen ordering system via Flexischools has been very successful. The orders just keep growing!!

The P&C acknowledges the contribution of all the parents, carers, families, TWPS staff and community members, andTaree businesses, which have supported the school and our fundraising events throughout the year. Without yoursupport it would not be possible to run these activities.

All the funds raised throughout the year are reinvested back into our school to fund improvements.

These items will benefit our students, staff and visitors to our school now, as well as into the future.

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The P&C in 2019 have been a dedicated team of volunteer parents, carers, teachers and community members who areparamount in achieving our goals for Taree West Public School.

I would personally like to thank all the committee members and volunteers over the last 7 years during my time as theTWPS P&C president. I have enjoyed working in collaboration with the Principal and staff at TWPS. We have all workedtogether to help improve our school for the many students and staff.

A final huge thank you to all the volunteers for their time and efforts throughout 2019 and into 2020. Without thesewonderful helpers we could not achieve what we have done. Well done everyone!

Vanessa Bergan – President TWPS P&C 2019

Message from the students

We are very proud to be school captains this year and to have the opportunity to represent our school for many differentthings in 2019. It has been a year not to be forgotten for both of us.

Taree West Public School have had many great achievements this year with our school represented in many sportingteams, debating teams, choirs and many more. We are so grateful to be given these opportunities to represent ourschool.

Our school camps this year were amazing with Stage 2 visiting Great Aussie Bush Camp while Stage 3 visited Sydney.Both stages had a memorable time!

We have really enjoyed being able to wear our school uniform and badges with pride and honour. Being a part of andlistening to what the student representatives have to say in parliament has been a highlight.

Being school captains for 2019 at Taree West Public School has been an amazing experience for both of us and we willremember every moment of it!

Lara Whatson and Noah Jeffries

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School background

School vision statement

At Taree West Public School we are committed to providing a safe, engaging, culturally supportive and inclusive learningenvironment where there is a strong sense of belonging across the community.

We provide student centred, engaging and innovative learning experiences to achieve and increase high qualityacademic, social, emotional, creative, cultural and spiritual outcomes.

Our school community works collaboratively to equip our students for the ever–changing world through the developmentof creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills in becoming responsible global citizens.

School context

Taree West Public School provides high quality educational programs to meet the needs of 511 students from theManning area, including 110 Aboriginal students. Taree is a regional town of 48,000 people with a mix of urban and ruralsettings. The school is held in very high regard by the local and wider community.

We provide outstanding educational opportunities for every child. Our school offers a wide breadth of curriculum andextra curricula opportunities including innovative creative arts and sport programs. We provide a culture of support,inclusion, high level student well–being and individualised quality teaching.

Taree West Public School has the strongest commitment to the teaching of literacy and numeracy and we are part of theEarly Actions for Success initiative. The ongoing and regular monitoring, assessment and the plotting of children'sprogress ensure that literacy and numeracy skills, knowledge and understandings are well developed across all subjectareas.

We actively target, through the Resource Allocation Model funding source and the Early Action for Success initiative,continued growth and improved literacy and numeracy outcomes for all children.

Excellence in teaching and learning is achieved and demonstrated by our highly skilled, professional teaching team. Ourteachers undertake ongoing professional development thereby ensuring the delivery of high quality teaching programs inevery classroom.

Our strong and growing partnerships with our families and the wider community contributes positively to maintaining aninvaluable support network and an open and welcoming school environment.

Taree West Public School is a Positive Behaviour for Learning school. The core values of respect, responsibility andcare are explicitly taught, modelled and embedded in our rich, diverse school culture.

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Self-assessment and school achievement

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 is astatement of what is valued as excellence for NSW public schools, both now and into the future. The Frameworksupports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high qualitypractice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

Each year, we assess our practice against the Framework to inform our school plan and annual report.

Our self–assessment process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to further improvements in thedelivery 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/school–excellence

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Strategic Direction 1

Provision of care, meaningful opportunities and high expectations to engage all learners

Purpose

Every student is actively engaged and challenged in their learning, developing deep content knowledge, a strongfoundation in literacy and numeracy and confidence in their ability to learn, adapt and be responsible citizens.

Improvement Measures

The value added data in SCOUT indicates a movement from delivering to sustaining and growing K–3 by 2020

Increase the proportion of students in the top two NAPLAN bands for reading and numeracy from  29.2% in 2017to 35% in 2020

Increase the proportion of Aboriginal students in the top two NAPLAN bands for reading and numeracy from 16.7% in2017 to 19% in 2020

All students will achieve at least 1 years growth in writing as determined by syllabus outcomes, achievement againstlearning progressions and Individual learning plans.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 1: Research Informed Pedagogy

Instructional Leaders and Curriculum Leaders work in classrooms, shoulder to shoulder with teachers,modelling and providing feedback on the explicit teaching of the writing process using principles ofVisible Learning, L3, and curriculum differentiation, as well as the explicit teaching of number sense andworking mathematically.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: Semester 2 TPL and IL/CL practice evaluations demonstrated that96.33% of teachers rated the quality of school teacher professional learningas good or excellent. In relation to the impact on student outcomes theaverage result demonstrated over the year that 30.5% stated that the TPLwas extremely helpful, 55.1% stated that it was very helpful and 14.3% statedthat it was somewhat helpful. The findings indicate an overall increase from2018 data.

Term 3 Learning Meeting data demonstrated that 84.9% of parents haveattended learning meetings with their child, this is a 5.6% increase on 2018data.

Through a collaborative approach using consistent teacher judgment ofstudent writing and writing rubrics – school wide results demonstrate that82% of students achieved 1 years growth in writing over the school year.

Implications: Executive staff undertake an analysis of the survey findingseach semester and work with stage teams to plan and implement high qualityTPL to increase the impact on student outcomes.

School based strategies will continue to be implemented across the school in2020 to continue to maintain and/or increase parentengagement/participation in the learning meetings.

Student writing samples will be utilized by 2020 teachers as a baseline totrack writing progress over the year and for future years.

Our school participated in Online NAPLAN again this year and anomalieswere evident in the school results therefore data will be treated with care as itcannot be relied upon as accurate data. The data as identified in schoolindicates:

4 Curriculum leaders 2 Instructionalleaders Evaluation tools for TPL andcurriculum leadership

Funding Sources: • Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS) ($23709.00) • Socio–economic background($62750.00)

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Progress towards achieving improvement measures

K–3 value added data indicates that we are currently delivering. This will bean area of continued focus in 2020 with the aim of increasing to Sustainingand growing.

18.47 % of students are in the top 2 bands for reading and numeracy. OurTarget for 2020 is 35% which will need to be reviewed as the data utilisedwhen setting the goal appears to have been incorrect. We will continue ourfocus in 2020 to increase the percentage of students in the top 2 bands.

10.29% of Aboriginal students are in the top 2 bands for reading andnumeracy. Our Target for 2020 is 19% which will need to be reviewed as thedata utilised when setting the goal appears to have been incorrect. We willcontinue our focus and will aim to increase the percentage of students in thetop 2 bands..

Process 2: Effective Teaching Practice

Through Early Action for Success and curriculum leadership initiatives, teachers engage in regular andstructured collaboration, data and student work sample analysis, classroom observations, peerfeedback, modelling of effective practices and targeted professional development.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings Semester 1 and 2 PL survey results indicated that 100% ofteachers found the TPL offered was relevant and supportive of the schoolstrategic directions and 90.6% stated that it supported their identified PDPgoals. A year average of 91.66% of teachers surveyed stated that the supportprovided through EAfS and Curriculum leadership was extremely effective oreffective. The school TPL register demonstrates an alignment betweenschool plan and action. 77.78% of K–2 teachers found the coachingconversations to be extremely helpful or very helpful in the analysis of dataand in identifying the direction for further teaching. 82% of studentsdemonstrated 1 Years growth in writing for 1 years teaching – this was anincrease on 2018 data.

Implications: CL and ILs to continue working with teaching staff in theprovision of coaching conversations and the relevant and supportive TPL in2020 ensuring alignment with both personal goals and school strategicdirections.

4 Curriculum leaders 2 Instructionalleaders Evaluation tools for TPL andcurriculum leadership Time allocatedfor in–school TPL through RFF TPLBT Roster Teaching programs

Funding Sources: • Socio–economic background($62750.00)

Process 3: Student Engagement

The Aboriginal Education teacher works shoulder to shoulder with classroom teachers to develop theircultural awareness and competency to increase student engagement through the implementation of thecurriculum based Biripi cultural immersion program.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: Semester 1 2019 TTFM Aboriginal student survey resultsindicated that 67% (66%, 2018) of students are interested and motivated,84% (85%, 2018) indicated that they are trying hard to succeed, 73% (78%,2018) state they have positive relationships and 71% (72%, 2018) of studentshave a positive sense of belonging. 92% (88%, 2018) of Aboriginal studentsstated that they valued schooling outcomes. The cultural immersion programwas completed in 2018 for Year 3 – 6 however the program was unable tocontinue due staff member leaving the school.

Aboriginal attendance rates for 2019 was 88.8% and in 2018 it was 88.75%.The difference is negligible however the bushfires of November 2019 need to

RAM Aboriginal funding to employpersonnel – 2x AEOs

Funding Sources: • Aboriginal background loading($34359.00)

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Progress towards achieving improvement measures

be taken into consideration as this impacted negatively on all studentattendance.

Aboriginal student suspensions for 2019, as indicated in Scout, demonstratethat there were 19 students suspension (30 student suspensions in 2018) forAboriginal students, the average length of the suspensions were 7 days witha total of 132 (166 in 2018) suspension days. This is a significantimprovement

All staff undertook 10 hours professional learning in the 8 ways program.

Implications: Aboriginal Student attendance and suspension data will bemonitored as a possible reflection of student engagement. It is also notedthat Aboriginal Student enrolments have steadily increased over the past fewyears. Advice from the AECG and interschool networks will be explored in2020 to look at how to provide continued cultural immersion for students andstaff.

Next Steps

• School based strategies will continue to be implemented across the school in 2020 to continue to maintain and/orincrease parent engagement/participation in the learning meetings.

• Student writing samples will be utilized by 2020 teachers as a baseline to track writing progress over the year andfor future years.

• Reading and numeracy will continue to be focus areas for 2020. • Curriculum Leaders and Instructional Leaders will continue working with teaching staff in the provision of coaching

conversations and the relevant and supportive Teacher Professional Learning in 2020 ensuring alignment withboth personal goals and school strategic directions.

• Advice from the AECG and interschool networks will be explored in 2020 to look at how to provide continuedcultural immersion for students and staff.

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Strategic Direction 2

Focussed, persistent and collaborative development of innovative quality teaching and leadership practices

Purpose

Sustained focus on professional learning to increase staff skill and capacity, enhancing a school culture where every staffmember is engaged in relevant, evidence informed practices, thereby maximising student outcomes.

Improvement Measures

An increase in staff skill and capacity to excel in teaching literacy and numeracy.

An increase in Staff Professional Learning satisfaction and Professional Learning coherence from 2018baseline to enable staff to map student achievement against the Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions usingconsistent teacher judgement.  

All classroom practices will demonstrate growth in the visible learning principles of explicit teaching intentions, successcriteria, personalised learning goals and quality feedback processes in writing from 2018 baseline.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 1: Professional Development

All staff actively engage in ongoing performance development and demonstrate a personal commitmentto continual improvement and high quality teaching practices linked to school focus areas.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: 100% of teachers effectively completed all requirements of thePDP process. Teacher PDPs demonstrated that PL over Semester 1 and 2was relevant and supportive of their goals. Semester 1 and 2 PL surveyresults indicated that 100% of teachers found the TPL offered was relevantand supportive of the school strategic directions and 90.64% stated that itsupported their identified PDP goals

Implications: Executive team is to ensure that teachers PL needs arerelevant and supportive of continued growth. Additional support is to beprovided to support staff in the development of goals which are aligned to theNSW Teaching Standards, through a self evaluation and professionalconversations with team leaders.

PDP TPL Survey ILs and CLs

Process 2: Teaching and Learning in Literacy and Numeracy

Instructional and Curriculum leaders provide professional learning and support for teaching staff todevelop deep knowledge of syllabus outcomes, learning progressions and consistency of teacherjudgement using student work samples and assessment.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: In 2019 all K–2 teaching staff used PLAN 2 to record and plotstudent progress in Creating Texts and Additive Strategies. All teaching staffhave been provided with further PL in the Literacy and Numeracyprogressions. Stage 2 and 3 teachers with the support of curriculum leadershave used writing rubrics to assess student achievement in writing.

Implications: Ongoing support is required for all staff in the use of theLearning Progressions and PLAN 2 to ensure a manageable and effectivedata entry and formative assessment strategy, with a particular emphasis inES1 and S1. CTJ in the assessment of writing will continue to be supportedby curriculum leaders through ongoing TPL and use of the writing rubric.

ILs and CLs Learning progressions,syllabus documents, writing rubricsand PL time

Funding Sources: • Socio–economic background($84626.00)

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Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 3:Teaching staff will engage in high quality professional learning to implement research informedpedagogy to plan, program and explicitly teach the writing process through the principles of visiblelearning.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: TPL and in class support, including demonstration lessons havebeen implemented for all classroom teachers. Evidence of practice isobservable in all K–2 classes and most Year 3–6 classes. A guide by the sidein–class support has been provided in K–2 classrooms. K–2 staff haveengaged in coaching conversations using their class EAfS data to determineprofessional development needs and improved educational outcomes for thestudents. 77.8% of K–2 teachers surveyed found the coaching conversationsto be supportive in their analysis of class data and planning for teaching andlearning.

In Semester 2 100% of staff reported that the Professional Learning aboutvisible was effective or extremely effective in supporting student learning andimproved outcomes in their classroom. All teaching staff are nowimplementing the principles of visible learning in their classrooms. InSemester 2 100% of teachers survey reported that they provide students withpersonalised learning goals. 86% stated that they are using success criteriaand 93% of teachers identified that they are providing students with qualityfeedback. 100% of staff reported that the PL about visible learning inSemester 2 was extremely effective or effective in supporting studentlearning and improved outcomes in their classroom.

Implications: Continued PL and with a significant focus on coachingconversations, continued support and monitoring to be provided for allteaching staff in the principles of Visible Learning with continued focus onQuality Feedback in 2020. Four teaching staff members will continue theirinvolvement in research of and participation in QT rounds in 2020.

TPL and timetabled in class support,Teacher programs, EAfS studentachievement data

Funding Sources: • Socio–economic background($43753.00)

Next Steps

• Additional support is to be provided to support staff in the development of goals which are aligned to the NSWTeaching Standards, through a self evaluation and professional conversations with team leaders.

• Ongoing support is required for all staff in the use of the Learning Progressions and PLAN 2 to ensure amanageable and effective data entry and formative assessment strategy, with a particular emphasis in ES1 andS1. .

• Consistency of Teacher Judgement in the assessment of writing will continue to be supported by curriculumleaders through ongoing Teacher Professional Learning and use of the writing rubric.

• Continued Professional Learning with a significant focus on coaching conversations. • Continued support and monitoring to be provided for all teaching staff in the principles of Visible Learning with

continued focus on Quality Feedback in 2020. • Four teaching staff members will continue their involvement in research of and participation in Quality Teaching

rounds in 2020.

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Strategic Direction 3

Provision of an inclusive and supportive school culture fostering whole school community partnerships and parentengagement

Purpose

Student learning and wellbeing outcomes will be optimised through significant, respectful and culturally inclusiverelationships, with ongoing communication, consultation and participation within and across the school community.

Improvement Measures

From 2018 baseline increase the percentage of students who  have a positive sense of belonging at school, havepositive relationships with their peers and who are interested and motivated in their learning to meet or exceed NSWGovernment norms as identified in the Tell Them From Me survey.

Improve parent engagement in student learning, as indicated by an increase in the percentage of parentsattending and participating in student learning meetings from 20% in Term 1 2017 to 85% by 2020

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Process 1: Positive Respectful Culture

School staff will draw on research and high quality professional learning, with the support of anacademic mentor, to model, coach and explicitly teach positive and productive interactions andrelationship development across the school community.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: There is evidence of revised PBL procedures in every classroompromoting a consistency in language.

Issues management data indicates that there are less aggressive incidentsand a reduction in the frequency of incidents.

PBL focus is communicated regularly through assemblies, class lessons andin the newsletter.

The 2019 SET demonstrates an extremely high standard in all areas. A slightincrease is noted in 2019 from the 2018 evaluation. The school is seen as anexemplar and staff have been invited to contribute to PL at interschoolnetworks and in direct support to other schools.

The TTFM student survey results indicate that there is an increase in thenumber of students with positive behaviour at school, experience a positivelearning climate, have strong advocacy at school and have positiveteacher–student relations.

Implications: Our school academic mentor will provide in schoolprofessional development during Term 1 2020 for all staff in creating positiveand effective relationships and school learning environments.

PBL procedures School based data

Process 2: Learning Partnerships

Development and implementation of a platform that builds effective learning partnerships between eachchild's family and the school.

Evaluation Funds Expended(Resources)

Findings: Learning meeting data collated for the year demonstrates that84.9% of parents have attended learning meetings with their child, this is anincrease of 5.5% from 2018. . Feedback obtained through the school P&Cand Staff Feedback indicated an overwhelming positive response to the

Parents

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Progress towards achieving improvement measures

implementation of the process. Data from the TTFM survey scores indicated7.4 in relation to two way communication which is above the state norm of6.6. Parent satisfaction with the school was evident in the results of the TTFMsurvey which indicated that parents rated the school higher that the statemean in all aspects of fostering positive relations between the school andcommunity. 98% parents indicated that school newsletter and 95% indicatedthat Facebook are useful in communicating to parents. 87% of parentssurveyed see the value in Learning Apps as an appropriate form ofcommunication in relation to their child's learning.

Implications: Continued strategies will be implemented across the school tomaintain the positive results and to continue to increase parentengagement/participation in 2020 learning meetings. Information has beenplaced in the newsletter each week, and parents will be contacted directly byteachers to encourage participation during 2020.

The school will continue to share student learning through the schoolnewsletter, social media and learning apps of Seesaw and class dojo.

Next Steps

• Our school academic mentor will provide in school professional development during Term 1 2020 for all staff increating positive and effective relationships and school learning environments.

• To continue to increase parent engagement/participation in 2020 learning meetings with parents being contacteddirectly by teachers to encourage participation during 2020.

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Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading $146 067 Taree West Public school has 108 Aboriginalstudents which make up 21% of the schoolpopulation. One Aboriginal Education Officer(5 days per week) Term 1 – 3 and another inTerm 4 have been employed to facilitateAboriginal Programs.

The school's Aboriginal Education Team heldmeetings twice a term to discuss and reviewAboriginal programs and support forAboriginal students. The committee consistsof two Aboriginal parents, 1 AboriginalEducation Officer, 8 teachers and 1 SchoolLearning Support Officer. Some Aboriginalstudents attend these meetings on occasion.

All staff participated in Aboriginal Pedagogy: 8Ways ofLearning professional development facilitatedby the AboriginalEducation and Wellbeing Officer SEO1 withstaff developing units of workincorporating the 8 Ways of Learning. Thesewere shared with the facilitator tobe used in future professional learning withother schools.

In NAPLAN this year, 33.3% of our Year 3Aboriginal studentswere in the top 2 bands for Writing. Our Year5 Aboriginal student resultsdemonstrated growth greater than or equal tothe expected growth in Reading,Writing and Grammar and Punctuation.

The school's partnership with TIDE (TareeIndigenous Development and Employment)continued in 2019 as part of the PaCE(Parent and Community EngagementProgram) to improve Aboriginal studentattendance, to support the ongoing progressof community/school partnerships and providethe opportunity for all Aboriginal students tobuild their understanding and knowledge oftheir culture and local significant sites. AllAboriginal students were provided theopportunity to help create a community muraland learn about Aboriginal art.

Average attendance of Aboriginal students for2019 was 86.24%.

A member of the school's AboriginalEducation Team worked with staff from TareeHigh School and the Gathang Languagegroup to create 'Gathang in the Classroom'posters with QR codes to hear the languagespoken by a local Biripi man ensuringaccurate pronunciation, so all schools in thelocal Biripi area could have all studentslearning common greetings and classroomlanguage in Gathang.

English language proficiency $12 762 Students who are learning English as anAdditional Language or Dialect (EALD) are

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English language proficiency $12 762 provided with explicit, needs–based supportto develop their English language and literacyskills. This enables them to participate fully inschool activities and achieve equitableeducational outcomes. In 2019, 27 students(5.2%) identified as having a LanguageBackground other than English.

Low level adjustment for disability $254 288 as a staffallocation

Learning support is viewed as a keyresponsibility shared by all. Stage leaderscollaborate closely with teachers, with othermembers of the executive, with parents andwith outside agencies to ensure that students'needs are met.

Classroom teacher programs are monitoredby the Principal and APs to ensure thatlearning activities are differentiated to cater tothe needs of individual learners.

Teachers have developed Individual LearningPlans (ILPs) for students requiring low leveladjustments. These have been developed incollaboration with parents and carers andservice providers and are regularly reviewed.Teachers evaluate the ILP at the end of theschool year and it is handed on to thereceiving teacher in the following year tosupport continuity of learning. Severalstudents have additional therapeutic supportservices delivered at school.

Funding has been used to purchaseadditional teacher and school learningsupport officer time to support students andteachers.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

$96 471 as a staffingallocation

Assistant Principals and Curriculum Leadersdeliver In class support and interventions inwriting. They work with stage teams toestablish collaborative practices in the school,allowing teachers to work together and learnfrom each other by observing and discussinghow they develop lesson plans andassessment tasks. Stage 2 and Stage 3teachers have developed rubrics for writingand use these to track student progress.

An academic mentor has provided highquality wellbeing and behaviour managementsupport to teachers through modelling andcoaching. Assistant Principals have providedadditional support for teachers to ensure aconsistent approach including suggestedlanguage is used by teachers and isintegrated into existing school PBLprocesses.

Assistant Principals have provided focusedsupport for teachers undertaking accreditationprocesses.

Socio–economic background $508 746 Funds have been used to support schoolstrategic directions, maximising opportunitiesto explore innovative practices that supportcontinuous improvement in studentachievement.

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Socio–economic background $508 746 As an identified EAfS (Early Action forSuccess) school we have used funding tosupport quality classroom practices and thedevelopment of resources across Literacyand Numeracy programs and initiatives.

Additional teachers were employed to providelearning support within classrooms and fundswere also allocated for Professional Learningin L3 and intervention strategies to supportstudent outcomes through research basedquality programs.

Support for beginning teachers $28 260 provided as abudget adjustment

Beginning teachers have been provided withcoaching and mentoring support to ensuretheir ongoing improvement and professionaldevelopment. They are provided with anexpert teaching colleague to guide andsupport them in their first two years ofteaching. Instructional leaders engage incoaching conversations with all teaching staffto analyse class data, determine focus areasand plan for future directions.

Beginning teachers are provided with ongoingfeedback and support that is embedded in thecollaborative practices of the school.

In 2019 beginning teachers set goals throughthe development of their ProfessionalDevelopment Plans in consultation withschool executive, ensuring goals were directlylinked to the teaching standards and schoolstrategic directions. Beginning teachers arefurther encouraged to engage in professionaldialogue during stage meetings and learningmeetings to reflect upon personal growth intheir teaching practice.

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Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2016 2017 2018 2019

Boys 253 247 256 248

Girls 256 274 280 263

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019

K 94 95.1 91.7 93

1 93.4 93.8 93.9 92.7

2 91.4 93.5 91.1 93.8

3 94.5 91.6 91.1 92

4 93.6 93.4 90.7 91.3

5 91.3 92.7 92 89.8

6 91 92.5 90.7 93

All Years 92.7 93.2 91.6 92.2

State DoE

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019

K 94.4 94.4 93.8 93.1

1 93.9 93.8 93.4 92.7

2 94.1 94 93.5 93

3 94.2 94.1 93.6 93

4 93.9 93.9 93.4 92.9

5 93.9 93.8 93.2 92.8

6 93.4 93.3 92.5 92.1

All Years 94 93.9 93.4 92.8

School attendance data compares favourably to that of State. The bushfires of November 2019 need to be taken intoconsideration as this impacted negatively on student attendance.

Management of non-attendance

Attendance at school has a big impact on longer term outcomes for children and young people. When a child is not atschool they miss important opportunities to learn, build friendships and develop their skills through play. Regularattendance at school is a shared responsibility between schools and parents. By working together we can have a positiveeffect on supporting our children and young people to regularly attend school.

Our teachers promote and monitor regular attendance at school and all our schools have effective measures in place torecord attendance and follow up student absences promptly. They are guided by the School Attendance policy whichdetails the management of non–attendance.

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Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal(s) 1

Deputy Principal(s) 1

Assistant Principal(s) 4

Classroom Teacher(s) 19.54

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.63

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 1.5

Teacher Librarian 1

School Counsellor 1

School Administration and Support Staff 3.96

Other Positions 1.4

*Full Time Equivalent

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce composition

The Department actively supports the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander employeesthrough the use of identified positions, scholarship opportunities to become a teacher and by providing a culturally safeworkplace. As of 2019, 3.9% of the Department's workforce identify as Aboriginal people.

Workforce ATSI

Staff type Benchmark1 2019 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander representation2

School Support 3.30% 7.20%

Teachers 3.30% 2.90%

Note 1 – The NSW Public Sector Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2014–17 introduced an aspirational target of 1.8% by 2021 for each of the sector'ssalary bands. If the aspirational target of 1.8% is achieved in salary bands not currently at or above 1.8%, the cumulative representation of Aboriginalemployees in the sector is expected to reach 3.3%.

Note 2 – Representation of diversity groups are calculated as the estimated number of staff in each group divided by the total number of staff. Thesestatistics have been weighted to estimate the representation of diversity groups in the workforce, where diversity survey response rates were less than100 per cent. The total number of staff is based on a headcount of permanent and temporary employees.

Teacher qualifications

All casual, temporary and permanent teachers in NSW public schools must hold a NSW Department of Educationapproval to teach. Teachers with approval to teach must be accredited with the NSW Education Standards Authority, andhold a recognised teaching degree. All NSW teachers must hold a valid NSW Working With Children Check clearance.

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Professional learning is core to enabling staff to improve their practice.

Professional learning includes five student–free School Development Days and induction programs for staff new to ourschool and/or system. These days are used to improve the capacity of teaching and non–teaching staff in line withschool and departmental priorities.

Significant amounts of professional learning were undertaken by Taree West Public School staff in 2019. Instructionalleaders and curriculum leaders coordinate and/or deliver targeted professional learning, in collaboration with school

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executive to provide in–class support, demonstration lessons and lesson study processes in the implementation ofEnglish K–6 Syllabus and Mathematics K–6 Syllabus. There has been an ongoing focus on the teaching of writing withVisible Learning strategies included. Teachers are provided with opportunities to collaborate within and across stages toanalyse student progress data and to plan for future learning. Writing rubrics were developed and used by Stage 2 andStage 3 teachers to support consistency of teacher judgement.

Thirty teachers from TWPS completed the Tell Them From Me Teacher Survey in September 2019. Survey resultsindicated that teachers recognised that the school provided significant levels of leadership which were supportive ofteaching and learning. This result was beyond state norms.

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Financial information

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summary includes reporting from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. ThePrincipal is responsible for the financial management of the school and ensuring all school funds are managed in linewith Department policy requirements.

2019 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 609,279

Revenue 6,120,120

Appropriation 5,987,842

Sale of Goods and Services 18

Grants and contributions 130,257

Investment income 2,003

Expenses -5,775,511

Employee related -5,285,516

Operating expenses -489,995

Surplus / deficit for the year 344,609

Figures presented in this report may be subject to rounding so may not reconcile exactly with the bottom line totals,which are calculated without any rounding.

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Financial summary - Equity loadings

The equity loading data is the main component of the 'Appropriation' line item of the financial summary above.

2019 Approved SBA ($)

Targeted Total 401,811

Equity Total 921,863

Equity - Aboriginal 146,067

Equity - Socio-economic 508,746

Equity - Language 12,762

Equity - Disability 254,288

Base Total 3,612,922

Base - Per Capita 125,766

Base - Location 3,151

Base - Other 3,484,004

Other Total 925,406

Grand Total 5,862,001

Figures presented in this report may be subject to rounding so may not reconcile exactly with the bottom line totals,which are calculated without any rounding.

The Principal is responsible for the School Financial Management, although the day to day accounting work isundertaken by the School Administrative Manager. The Annual Financial Statement is linked to the School Plan in linewith the budget set by the Financial Committee who work with the School Executive to plan and monitor the income andexpenditure against the budget on a regular basis. Funds available will continue to manage salaries, school teaching andlearning resources, school maintenance, utilities, administrative resources and contract agreements.

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School performance - NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments arereported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10. The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills andunderstandings demonstrated in these assessments.

From 2018 to 2021 NAPLAN is moving from a paper test to an online test. Individual schools are transitioning to theonline test, with some schools participating in NAPLAN on paper and others online. Results for both online and paperformats are reported on the same NAPLAN assessment scale. Any comparison of NAPLAN results – such ascomparisons to previous NAPLAN results or to results for students who did the assessment in a different format – shouldbe treated with care.

NAPLAN Online

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Go tomyschool.edu.au to access the school data. As schools transition to NAPLAN online, the band distribution of results isnot directly comparable to band averages from previous years. While the 10 band distribution available to schools whocompleted NAPLAN online is a more accurate reflection of student performance, caution should be taken whenconsidering results relative to what was formerly a six band distribution. As the full transition of NAPLAN onlinecontinues, the most appropriate way to communicate results for NAPLAN online is by scaled scores and scaled growth.This is the reporting format agreed by state and territory education ministers, and is reflected on the myschool website.

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Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction

Each year schools seek the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. Taree West Public School usesthe Tell Them from Me survey tool as one method of gathering data.

This year there was a slight increase in the number of respondents with 154 parents completing the survey, comparedwith 144 parents in 2018. The survey includes seven separate measures which are scored on a ten point scale. Theschool mean was higher than the state mean on six of the seven measures. Parents indicated that they are informedabout their child's learning, they feel welcome in the school and they support their child's learning at home.

Students in Years 4, 5 and 6 complete a Tell Them from Me survey each year. 193 students responded to the survey thisyear. Students indicated that they feel they have someone at school who consistently provides encouragement and canbe turned to for advice. They also felt that the teachers were responsive to their needs.

Teachers completed a Tell Them From Me survey during September 2019. Teachers rated the school well above statenorms in the areas of Leadership. 83% of teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that school leaders are leadingimprovement and change. 80% of teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that the school leaders clearly communicatetheir strategic vision and values for our school.

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Policy requirements

Aboriginal Education Policy

The responsibility for enacting the Aboriginal Education Policy rests with all Departmental staff. The policy shouldunderpin and inform planning, teaching practice and approaches to educational leadership in all educational settings.

Evidence of effective implementation of the policy included: • Establishing, building and strengthening relationships with the Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group,

Aboriginal people and communities. • Providing, in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities, education which promotes quality teaching, is

engaging, and is culturally appropriate and relevant. • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students will match or better the outcomes of the broader student population. • Implementation of Personalised Learning Pathways for all Aboriginal students in a school culture of high

expectations.

In Term 3 NAIDOC Week was celebrated across the school in class groups. A week of celebration took placeculminating in an assembly and activity day involving parents and community took place. Aboriginal community membersfacilitated some of the activities as well as staff. At our NAIDOC Assembly 7 Aboriginal students were recognised fortheir achievements at school. The totems of our Aboriginal students were recognised and some Aboriginal students gavethe Acknowledgement of Country in Gathang language. Our boys and girls Aboriginal dance groups performed at theAssembly and a video of some of our students talking about what it's like to be Aboriginal and what they'd likenon–Aboriginal people to know was presented. The videos made were sent to the AECG for approval to be uploadedonto the Storylines platform, to be added to the Biripi site. The Storylines platform provides local community members,schools, organisations and the broader community with a culturally safe online environment to share and celebrateAboriginal, non–secret, non–sacred stories of history culture and achievement. The school prides itself on its inclusiveschool culture where Aboriginal people, culture and values are celebrated.

Anti-Racism Policy

All teachers are responsible for supporting students to develop an understanding of racism and discrimination and theimpact these may have on individuals and the broader community. Principals are responsible for examining schoolpractices and procedures to ensure they are consistent with the policy. All schools have an Anti–Racism Contact Officerwho is trained to respond to concerns in relation to racism.

Multicultural Education Policy

Teachers address the specific learning and wellbeing needs of students from culturally diverse backgrounds throughtheir teaching and learning programs. Principals are responsible for ensuring that school policies, programs andpractices respond to the cultural, linguistic and religious diversity of the school community, and provide opportunities thatenable all students to achieve equitable education and social outcomes.

Multicultural perspectives are integrated across all Key Learning Areas in all classes. Units of work are linked to theachievement of outcomes through the study of countries, cultures and world events. A greater awareness of othercultures was reflected in the celebration of Harmony Day by all students and staff. Students K–6, participated in in–classactivities and a whole school assembly was held. Teaching and learning programs support the celebration of majorcultural events as reflected in the community. Anti–racism programs are actively promoted across the school as part ofthe ongoing teaching and learning programs. The school participated in the Multicultural Perspectives Public SpeakingCompetition.

Other School Programs (optional)

Early Action for Success

Instructional Leaders have continued to operate within the school executive structure to provide a targeted approach forthe improvement of students' literacy and numeracy skills in the early years of schooling. They have used a range ofapproaches including formal professional learning sessions, coaching, reflecting, mentoring and in–class support,consistently modelling best practice.

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Instructional Leaders designed, implemented and evaluated high quality professional learning sessions built uponevidence based best practice. This has included:

• Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions in the sub elements of Quantifying Numbers and Creating Texts • Principles of Visible Learning with a focus on teacher feedback and student self–assessment practices • Effective Reading with a focus on the systematic and explicit teaching of phonics • Big Ideas in Number with a focus on working mathematically • Writing with a focus on sentence structure • Language, Learning and Literacy (L3)

Professional learning delivered has allowed opportunities for reflection, collaboration and rich, sustained professionaldialogue focused on student learning.

15 teachers currently employed have completed L3 training accreditation. Two classroom teachers completed Stage 1L3 training and one classroom teacher completed Early Stage 1 L3 training. One teacher completed the first year of EarlyStage 1 L3 training and one classroom teacher completed the first year of Stage 1 L3 training.

One of the Instructional Leaders participated in a professional learning program, 'Leading and sustaining a qualitylearning culture: an action learning cycle' and has developed and actioned a plan to lead a cycle of continuous learningthat aligns quality professional learning with the Literacy and Numeracy needs of the students. The purpose was toestablish and sustain a quality, collaborative learning culture within the school with a focus on the pursuit of excellence inlearning, teaching and leading through evidence–based practice.

This year Instructional Leaders successfully introduced a formalised process for coaching conversations with staff K–2.They used data as a basis for coaching, and provided staff with opportunities to reflect, evaluate and plan for futurepractice. In addition, Instructional Leaders, School Executive and K – 2 teachers collected and analysed studentnumeracy and literacy data every 5 weeks to strategically plan for targeted interventions.

A reading recovery teacher was employed five days a week to work with identified students. An intervention teacher wasemployed two days a week to implement programs to support those students who were identified as at risk and requiringadditional support. These programs included Lessons in Phonics Instruction, on–going booster reading lessons, guidedwriting sessions and developing number sense. Year 5 and 6 students were trained as reading buddies and supported37 K – 2 students with additional daily reading practice.

New Kindergarten students were offered orientation visits and students with additional needs took part in extraorientation visits to support their transition to school. Additional Story–Time sessions were offered throughout Term 4 forpre–school children and parents. Instructional Leaders, Assistant Principal and classroom teachers visited many of thelocal pre–schools to meet prospective Kindergarten students and make initial observations.

71% of Kindergarten students are on track in reading. More students are reading at these higher levels than in previousyears. 73% of Year 1 students and 76% of Year 2 students are on track in reading.

Formative assessment of writing samples indicates an improvement in spelling strategies children are using K–2. Thismay be an early indication that the revision of the K–2 Spelling and Phonics scope and sequence documents and theword study approach to spelling that has been implemented this year is already showing signs of having an impact.

This year, our school was successful in gaining a position in a numeracy action project– Big Ideas in Number. A team offour staff members consisting of the Instructional Leader, ES1 Assistant Principal, an early career teacher and a teacherfrom 3–6 participated in 6 full days of training alongside Professor Di Siemon and the EAfS State Numeracy team. Teammembers have all been involved in building capacity and understanding of staff through the provision of professionallearning, demonstration lessons, in class support and ongoing professional conversations. This project will continue to bedriven by the team in 2020.

In numeracy, students have been developing positive dispositions towards Mathematics by examining what it means tothink and act like a mathematician. As a result, there has been a significant increase in students using the language ofmathematics to explain and give reason to their mathematical ideas. Instructional Leaders have worked alongsideteachers to demonstrate the instructional framework of launch, explore, summarise as an approach to introducing andexploring new mathematical ideas. Observation of student learning indicates that students are demonstrating greaterperseverance with challenging tasks, are forming stronger connections to prior learning and have significantly increasedboth their engagement and enjoyment in Mathematics.

Reading Recovery

During 2019 one Reading Recovery trained teacher supported the school community with a total of 17 students receivedone–to–one Reading Recovery support. Of this total cohort, 10 students successfully completed Reading Recovery andreached the average level of their class in reading and writing and 4 students were referred for further specialist help.

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Three students did not have time to complete Reading Recovery and will be carried over to complete the program nextyear. On average, students took 51 lessons spread over 14 weeks to successfully complete Reading Recovery.

Quality Teaching Rounds

Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) is a teacher professional learning program that involves teachers learning together atschool or online. QTR involved four teachers working collaboratively in small Professional Learning Communities (PLC)to observe each other teach on a rotating basis and discuss and analyse their observations. As teachers observed anddiscussed their teaching they become more aware of their strengths and what they can improve to help their studentslearn. Research has found QTR builds significant improvements in the quality of teaching and has a positive impact onteacher morale and school culture, with encouragement and recognition of teachers' good work. The 4 participants in thisprogram reported positive outcomes for their professional development as teachers.

Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

2019 saw the growth and further development of Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) educationwithin the school with the formulation and establishment of the Manning Valley Rural and Remote STEM Network. Thissaw 2 staff members from Taree West Public School take on the role of establishing the network and now leading thenetwork which involved 5 other schools from our local area. The STEM Curriculum advisor supported the network withthe writing of STEM units for implementation into classroom programs.

Growth of STEM in our school will continue to be a focus for the school in 2020 with on–going support being provided forall classes through Professional Learning by teachers and executive with expertise in STEM.

Within the classroom in 2019, robotic devices & iPad apps were embedded into programming across various KeyLearning Areas to increase computational thinking and skills in problem solving. A variety of robotics equipment waspurchased with the support of the P&C to support the development of coding. These included Spheros, Beebots andOzobots.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Taree West Public School is proud to be a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) school. PBL employs a whole school,tiered approach to promoting positive expectations of behaviour thereby maximising academic and social success. Byadopting the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) framework we are able to implement strategies and systems that bestsupport the wellbeing of our students.

In 2019 we have continued to embed PBL into our school systems and ethos. We have a committed PBL team who meetregularly to evaluate, refine and improve our systems and processes. We involve our students, parents, communitymembers and all staff in the decision–making processes and in our ongoing evaluation and review of practice.

This year we had Eddie Godschalk come out to our school to complete The School–wide Evaluation Tool (SET). TheSET is an annual assessment that aims to determine how accurately school–wide PBL is being implemented into ourschool setting. In the elements and the sub–scales that we were assessed on, our quantitative measure was 94.6%.

Students are regularly acknowledged and rewarded for following expectations through valued reward systems. Theseinclude: 'Eagle Tokens', pizza parties, computer time, prizes and games. Our PBL Eagle Awards are presented eachterm to a selected student from every class. These students receive special recognition for their outstanding behaviourwith a certificate, a Principal afternoon tea and their photo in the newsletter and on the school Facebook site. Our PBLsystems and practices contribute greatly to an established positive learning culture.

ICASCompetitions

The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools, or ICAS Competitions, are organised each year by theUniversity of New South Wales and provide opportunities for students to test their skills in a variety of subjects and havetheir results compared with students of the same grade from all over Australia. This year we had students from Year 2 toYear 6 enter competitions in Digital Technologies, Science, Spelling, English and Mathematics. Our students wererecognised with 6 Credit and 3 Merit certificates being awarded.

Debating

Students in Stage 3 were given the opportunity to represent Taree West Public School in the school debating team. Wehad five students who were selected for the team who took part in the Primary School Debating Workshop run by TheArts Unit, where they learnt a wide range of skills and strategies to write and present a well–structured debate. Theyfurther developed their debating skills once a week during lunch time where they researched debate topics, wrotespeeches and prepared rebuttals together with the support of the debating coach. The team competed in both the Lower

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North Coast Debating Competition and the Premiers Debating Challenge with great success. In the Lower North CoastDebating Competition, they won three out of four debates against other schools in the local area. In the PremiersDebating Challenge, the team were undefeated and become the winners of the local area and continued on to theregional level. The five students who represented Taree West Public School in debating developed their public speakingskills and ability to form balanced, informed arguments to persuade an audience.

Public Speaking

It has been another successful year for our school in Public Speaking. Two students from Stage 2 and two students fromStage 3 were selected to represent our school at the local level of the Multicultural Perspectives Public Speakingcompetition held at Tinonee Public School. Although none of our representatives progressed beyond this level, thequality of speaking from the competitors was very high and our students presented prepared and impromptu speeches ofan exceptional quality.

In Semester 2, the school held a very successful class–based public speaking competition involving all Year 3–6students that culminated in highly entertaining finals for each year.

Spelling Bee

All students in Years 3–6 were given the opportunity to compete in a school spelling bee. Class spelling competitionswere held, and two students from each class were selected to compete in the stage–based school spelling bee.Students, parents and community members attended our school Spelling Bee and it was a great success. Two Stage 2students and two Stage 3 students were selected to compete in the Regional Premier's Spelling Bee held at ForsterPublic School. The students competed extremely well, with one student making it into the top 3 for the Stage 2competition.

Rock and Water

The Rock and Water program is based on the philosophy of martial arts combined with self philosophy, promotingunderstanding of self–control, self–reflection and self–confidence. Lessons are delivered to small focus groups who havebeen nominated by class teachers and executive staff.

Approximately 40 students from Years 3 to 6 have participated across 2019 in 8 week term blocks. Rock and Water is alearning program based on engaging deeper thinking by the students on their regular behaviours through physicalcompetition between the participants followed by open discussions on how to better regulate their reactions to differentschool and life situations. This physical/social approach supports the focus children in their development by increasingtheir self–awareness, self–confidence, self–respect, physical boundary awareness and intuition to events. This meansthat the physical starting point is a basis for teaching and learning mental and social skills.

At its heart Rock and Water is self explanatory. The exploration of when to be committed and stubborn represents the'rock' aspect. Complemented by the equally important 'water' aspect of when to be flexible or accommodating to others ina situation or life experience.

Choir

Our school was well represented in the choir section at the Taree and District Eisteddfod again this year with choirs fromstages one, two and three performing. Our choirs performed beautifully and with great discipline. The Stage 3 choirgained first place in their section and Stage 2 received an encouragement award and voucher. All choirs performed atour end of Term 2 assembly. The Stage 3 choir learnt a variety of new songs throughout the year, performing at end ofterm and presentation assemblies. Many choir members also demonstrated their community spirit by performing at TareeCarols in the Park.

Dance

Students were provided with a variety of occasions to participate in a range of dance opportunities and performances.The primary dance group participated and performed at the Glasshouse in Port Macquarie at the Lower North CoastDance Festival in front of sell out crowds. The selected group of students rehearsed a jazz/hip–hop–style dance. Thedance group was additionally selected to perform on the Showcase night of the Lower North Coast Dance Festival and atour school's medallion assembly. The Lower North Coast Dance Festival was a great opportunity to celebrate dance asan art form and enjoy a range of dance styles. A K–2 dance group was formed this year and has a selection of boys andgirls from Kindergarten to Year 2. Students have practiced their upbeat dance one lunchtime a week and have performedtheir dance at the End of Year Presentation Day.

Guitar Program

2019 saw the continued development of a school guitar program at Taree West Public School. The guitar program was

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run by a member of the teaching staff who provided the students with explicit tuition on guitar which was held in thestudents' lunch breaks. The program focused on lifting the profile of music within the school and community and alsodeveloping the skills and techniques of the students on guitar. The program was a great success with over 50 studentsparticipating in the lessons throughout the year. The guitar group performed at a number of formal events throughout theyear including a performance at our K–2 Presentation Day Assembly and at our Creative Arts assembly.

School Concert Band

The school concert band program continued to develop in partnership with the Mid North Coast Conservatorium ofMusic. The program, in its seventh full year was a great success as students were able to receive explicit musicaldirection and tuition from our band master Mr Roger Griffiths on their chosen instruments.

We now have students playing instruments including saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, percussion and flute. Several of ourschool band students also received Music Scholarships which were kindly donated from various businesses, groups andindividuals in the area and our school community. This provided opportunities for students to participate in our programthat may not have been able to due to the large financial commitments of participating in the 12 month program.

In 2019 the band performed at many school functions and formal assemblies which included our annual presentation dayassembly.

Sport

2019 has been a busy year again with lots of sporting events taking place. The school had many representativesparticipate in well over 50 events this year. We had teams represent our school in PSSA knockouts, Gala Days,Athletics, Cross Country, Swimming as well as a handful of students being picked to represent the Hunter Region.

The school acknowledges the support provided by the parents in transporting students to these events.

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