St George Girls High School Annual Report 8136 Reports/2015 Annual Report.pdf · St George Girls...

St George Girls High School Annual Report 8136

2015

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2015 is provided to the community of St

George Girls High School as an account of the school’s operations

and achievements throughout the year.

It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made

to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students,

as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self-

assessment that reflect the impact of key school strategies for

improved learning and the benefit to all students from the

expenditure of resources, including equity funding.

School contact details:

St George Girls High School

Victoria Street

KOGARAH NSW 2217

www.sgghs.com.au

[email protected]

(02) 9587 5902

Message from the Principal

St George Girls High School is an academically selective state high school with a well-respected history of providing exceptional educational outcomes and opportunities for gifted and talented young women since 1916. St George Girls High School creates a supportive and inclusive environment where gifted and talented students are encouraged to explore their potential and achieve their personal best in all aspects of school life.

The school offers a broad curriculum and a range of opportunities allowing students to achieve excellence in academic, creative, social, cultural, sporting, leadership and community endeavours. The school values collaborative learning, positive relationships and building capacity amongst the students to effectively allow them to engage in the world of the future, where problem solving, evaluating, working in teams, communicating, creating and innovating are not only valued concepts, but expected skills, attributes and capabilities. The school has a very effective individual support and wellbeing framework that allows every student to thrive as they work towards achieving their personal best performance. St George Girls High School sets high expectations for its students and safeguards positive emotions across our school community. Our highly experienced teachers are partners in learning with the students and seek to deepen their knowledge, provide enriching and innovative learning experiences, while also gently urging the girls out of their comfort zone to attempt new challenges. Students graduate from St George Girls High School with the skills, mind-sets and qualities that will best equip them for success in the world of the future. Our girls are intelligent, resilient, creative, imaginative, disciplined, dedicated to life-long learning, respectful and ethical. They are the future leaders and role models of society.

We value relationships and connections with the community. We encourage our students to develop respectful relationships with their peers, teachers and the broader community. We instil in our girls a keen social conscience and the capacity to make ethical decisions. We work hard to develop and sustain productive partnerships and connections with our parents, local schools and businesses and leading tertiary institutions. We are proud to be a high performing public school and strive to be the selective school of first choice for all families within our community.

A high performing school, such as ours, achieves its success and reputation as a direct result from the combined efforts of the entire student population, the dedicated teaching and administrative staff and a supportive and engaged parent and community body. At the end of my first year as Principal at St George Girls High School it has become very evident how each of these three elements, unite and work together here at St George to create the conditions that allows us to continue to enjoy this well-deserved reputation.

I am very proud of the School Plan our school community developed collaboratively and I am committed to ensuring that our three strategic directions; Quality Teaching and Learning, Quality Systems and Quality Relationships become further embedded into our practice over the life of the plan. I am so pleased to have joined a school community that has such strong and valued traditions, yet excited by the possibilities and opportunities that a change in the senior executive leadership team will provide to further enhance the quality learning outcomes experienced by the students at St George Girls High School in the years ahead. Over the past year, I have enjoyed being inducted into the school and have come to understand and appreciate some of the philosophies, traditions and ideals that make up the fabric of the school and have begun to appreciate what it is to be a St Georgian. I have had the privilege of witnessing a number of these aspects demonstrated across the school every day and I know the school community will also enjoy reading about these aspects in the pages of the 2015 Annual Report. Ms Betty Romeo Principal

Message from the P&C and Mothers’ Committee

St George Girls High School has two parent bodies (the Parents and Citizens Association and the Mothers’ Committee) that collaborate together and play a significant role providing an active community of support for students and teachers at our school. The school encourages and values the contribution of parents and believes that this connection is an essential safeguard to students’ learning and engagement during their high school years. A summary of the key contributions made in 2015 are listed below:

Parents served on the Finance Committee, Years 7-11 Selection Committees and staff selection panels.

P&C held a farewell dinner for retiring Acting Principal Mr. Ponder on the 20th February 2015.

P&C held a Year 7 Family Picnic Day at Carss Park in March. This was a fun day by the water and a great opportunity for the students and their families to meet and make many new friends.

The P&C funded learning resources for faculties to the value of $12,734.10. The funds were used to purchase resources such as electronic balancers for Science, new fiction books for English and headsets for TAS. The P&C also funded the Presentation Day awards to students to the value of $1,050. These projects were funded by all parents who contributed to the P&C’s resources levy in 2015 and proceeds from fund raising activities.

The P&C had a joint meeting with Sydney Technical High School in May that featured a guest speaker, Professor Andrew Martin, who spoke on student motivation. The presentation focused on ‘Positive Aspects and Strategies for Parents and Teenagers.’

The P&C organised a Family Dinner and a Multicultural Food Festival to unite the community together.

The P&C donated $550 to the Enviro Club’s trip to Norfolk Island in 2015. From 2016 onwards, the P&C will be contributing $1,200 to the trip annually.

The P&C held four fundraising BBQs at Bunnings Warehouse Rockdale in March, May, July and December. Total funds raised were $ 2,282.00

P&C invited Head Teachers from a number of faculties in the school to inform the P&C and the community on educational matters and activities taking place at SGGHS.

P&C also provided support to the school through its participation at information evenings, Orientation Day, Annual Presentation Day and Year 12 Graduation Assembly.

The Mothers’ Committee co-ordinated volunteers to staff the uniform shop under the direction of a Uniform Shop Co-ordinator and managed the shop finances. All profits from the Uniform Shop are returned to the school. The 2015 calendar year was very successful and generated a profit of $27,072.

The Mothers’ Committee funded $12,734.10 to meet annual Faculty Funding requests for 2015. This funding provided English, History, Latin and Economics textbooks, Science laboratory equipment, Mathematics classroom equipment, Art and Design DVD’s and teaching resources, Careers subscriptions, library books, stage blocks for the Drama Studio, scan and cut machine for Textiles, contributions towards ceiling fans for the gymnasium and contributions towards a Soprano saxophone.

The Mothers’ Committee provided funding for Academic, Subject and Community Service Awards with each recipient receiving an OfficeWorks voucher.

The Mothers’ Committee organised the Annual Mother Daughter Dinner held in May and raised over $1700.

The Mothers’ Committee designed and contributed $30,092.70 towards the renovation and upgrade of the Senior Study.

Katia Vardakis, P&C President Debbie Wong, Mothers’ Committee President

Student’s Representative Council Message

The Student Representative Council of 2015 had a very successful year organising many different events, and contributing to the achievements and developments of the school community. A new Year 11 SRC Executive position was added to the SRC as a representative for new students in Years 8 to 12.

The SRC’s focus was on student welfare, mental health and providing a safe space for students to feel included. Throughout all events an underlying message resonated as a school community - St George is never one to shy away from addressing issues affecting student welfare and is always ready to celebrate diversity and individual strengths in our school community.

The SRC representatives participated in an incursion to develop their skills

in leadership. The first half of the day was spent working through a series

of activities to help the girls understand their leadership style as well as a

chance to work with the SRC executive to plan the SRC events for the year.

The second half of the day was spent discussing welfare issues that the

students may experience at school or in the wider community. Issues of

racism, gender and multiculturalism were discussed with students.

One of the most successful mufti days was the Autism Awareness Day in support of Autism Spectrum Australia, complete with a blue wall celebrating those who are ‘a different brilliant’. Other events held throughout the year included the annual dance with Sydney Technical High School, Unplugged @ the Library which saw students and staff perform in a casual non-competitive atmosphere, Wear it Purple Day and SRC week ,themed ‘Around the World in Five Days’ where the council provided entertainment for the students to raise funds for the SRC.

Funds raised from annual school events and profits from other projects allowed the SRC to choose the 2016 school project: examination desks for the hall.

Helen Keller once said, ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much’, and this group of girls proved this to be true.

Stephanie Noronha SRC President

School background

School vision statement

St George Girls High School aims to create a supportive and inclusive environment where gifted and talented students are encouraged to explore their potential and achieve their personal best in all aspects of school life.

Students will be challenged and engaged through authentic learning opportunities, that will inspire them to develop creativity, confidence and resilience to become independent and ethical life-long learners.

School context

Established in 1916, St George Girls High School is an academically selective school with a long tradition of academic excellence in girls’ education. Situated within walking distance of Kogarah railway station, the school attracts students from all areas of Sydney. The school creates a supportive environment of high expectations where gifted and talented students can thrive and realise their full potential to become resilient, well -rounded high achievers with a keen social conscience and a desire to enrich and lead society in the future. St George Girls High School has a philosophy of developing the student’s cognitive, emotional, social, physical and spiritual wellbeing through a broad curriculum, information technology, wellbeing structures and co-curricular programs including the creative and performing arts. Year 7 placements are administered by the High Performing Students Unit and are based on primary school assessments and state-wide examinations in Mathematics, English, Writing and general aptitude. These examinations are held in March for Year 6 students. Very few vacancies occur in Years 8 – 11 each year. Selection entry into these year groups is based on testing and assessment of the applicant’s last two school reports as well as any other supporting documentation supplied with the application to be reviewed by the school’s enrolment Selection Committee. A written Higher Ability Selection Test administered by ACER which assesses reading, written expression, mathematical reasoning and abstract reasoning together with a interview all form part of the selection process. In 2015 at St George Girls High School, no students were invited to enrol in Year 8 as there were no available places. However, 5 places in Year 9, 3 in Year 10 and 18 in Year 11 were offered due to available places. As the school maintains only 150 places in each of the year groups from Years 7 to 10, new students can only come into these year groups if a current student leaves the school to go to another school. In Year 11, the Principal determines the number of new students in this year based on their performance in the ACER Higher Ability Selection Test. This number will vary from year to year.

Self-Assessment and School Achievements

This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework, our school achievements and the next steps to be pursued. The Framework supports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

This year, our school undertook self-assessment using the elements of the School Excellence Framework to inform, monitor and validate the progress and impact of our teaching and learning strategies throughout the year. We thoroughly examined the school plan to determine the elements of the School Excellence Framework that the plan most strongly addressed. Staff worked collaboratively in reflecting on the progress being made across the school based on the expectations identified in the Framework. Staff needed to determine where the school sits within the Framework in terms of delivering, sustaining and growing or excelling and then justify their selection with sufficient evidence that currently exists within the school.

A summary of the findings from the Self-Assessment survey are outlined below for each of the three domains.

Domain 1: Learning

In the domain of Learning our efforts have primarily focused on Assessment and Reporting. The strong commitment of the school in creating a consistent approach to assessment and procedures has been a key feature of our progress. The fundamental importance of wellbeing in our school context continued to provide and encourage a culture of trust, respect and acceptance of each individual. A more focused approach to personal learning plans was a component of our progress throughout the year. Students with additional learning needs were identified early and their parents/carers were increasingly involved in planning and supporting their learning directions. Faculties programed and implemented stages of the Australian Curriculum, reviewed and modified different teaching and learning strategies to engage and motivate gifted learners and promoted 21st century learning skills. We continued to monitor and analyse student performance and value-added results using external measures and will investigate ways to use internal data with more impact on teaching and learning strategies across all stages and faculties.

The Self-Assessment survey outlined the levels where we currently sit for the following elements: Learning Culture; Wellbeing; Curriculum and Learning, (Sustaining and Growing) Assessment and Reporting; Student Performance Measures (Delivering)

Domain 2: Teaching

Our major focus in the domain of Teaching has been on collaborative practice for staff members. Opportunities were provided to staff in relation to planning, teaching and growing as a team. Staff collaborated on the development of the school plan and strategic directions and cross-faculty time was allocated during School Development Days to work cohesively and contribute to whole school focus areas discussions. Teachers regularly reviewed and revised teaching and learning programs as part of their classroom practice. The importance of data analysis to inform decision-making and the growing of teaching practice through classroom observations, reflections and feedback all highlight a teaching culture that is moving student learning to a new level. The practice of incorporating data analysis in planning for learning was evident with the executive and whole school undertaking analysis of HSC and NAPLAN results. Importantly, staff are developing evidence-based practice through their reflections and evaluations as part of the PDP process of the Professional Development Framework.

The Self-Assessment survey outlined the levels where we currently sit for the following elements: Data Skills and Use; Collaborative Practice (Sustaining and Growing) Effective Classroom Practice; Learning and Development; Professional Standards (Delivering)

Domain 3: Leading

In the domain of Leading, our priorities have been to progress leadership and management practices and processes. The consistency and effectiveness of implementation of our key strategic directions throughout the year has been due to a strong foundation of leadership capacity building across the school. This approach recognises that leadership development is central to the achievement of school excellence. Succession planning, distributed leadership and organisational best practice were a focus of the schools’ leadership strategy and an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process was developed to provide opportunities for staff to build capacity in leadership. The development of strategic teams aligned to the key projects of the school plan provided a further opportunity to promote and encourage leadership building in the school community.

The Self-Assessment survey outlined the levels where we currently sit for the following elements: Leadership; School Resources (Sustaining and Growing) School Planning, Implementation and Reporting; Management Practices and Processes (Delivering)

The new approach to school planning, supported by the new funding model, is making a major difference to our progress as a school. The achievements and identification of next steps are outlined in the following pages of this report. Our self-assessment process will further assist the school to refine the strategic priorities in our School plan leading to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students.

Strategic Direction 1

Quality Teaching and Learning

Purpose

To create a supportive school environment that provides engaging and challenging learning opportunities for gifted and talented students to achieve their personal best and become resilient and creative life-long learners.

Overall summary of progress

In 2015 the school engaged in a rigorous data analysis of NAPLAN, HSC RAP and the findings from the Tell Them from Me survey. This analysis has resulted in the school forming strategic teams with clear terms of reference that have been derived from this analysis in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy, Student Engagement and Gifted and Talented Education. This process has allowed staff to deepen their understanding and skills in data analysis and value the usefulness of using data to identify areas for growth and improvement. Professor Andrew Martin was invited to present an afternoon session of professional learning to staff and a parent and student information evening on enhancing student motivation, the importance of quality feedback as a strategy to improve achievement and the concept of Personal Best. This has helped embed the personal best concept into the mind-sets of the school community.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures Resources (annual)

Improvement measure (to be achieved over 3 years)

Progress achieved this year Funds Expended

80% of students (including equity groups) achieve greater than or equal to growth in the aspects of writing in NAPLAN data from a baseline of 63.3% and grammar and punctuation from a baseline of 61.2%.

Analysed and presented the 2015 NAPLAN data to the staff, which identified areas of strength and areas for further development. Cross-faculty groups collaborated to identify trends in Year 7 and 9 results and identified a range of possible strategies to be incorporated into teaching and learning practice. These findings were used to inform the terms of reference for the cross faculty school strategic team focusing on Literacy and Numeracy to be created in 2016.

$4,000

RAM Socio-economic

Students report in the Tell them from me Survey an improvement in the levels of classroom instruction having a clear purpose with appropriate feedback that helps them learn from a 6/10 to 8/10.

The 2015 Tell them from me survey data was analysed and presented to staff, which identified areas of strength and areas for further development. All teaching staff successfully completed their Performance Development Plans in accordance with DoE policy and developed an understanding of how to best set their own plans for professional growth, actively using colleague observations and feedback as a tool to enhance their teaching practice. All senior students were interviewed by teacher advisors twice per year (when school reports were issued). At these meetings individual student performance and progress were discussed, personal best goals set and possible strategies to help students achieve their personal best goals in the future were developed.

$4,000

RAM Socio-economic

Next steps

In 2016 the Literacy and Numeracy cross faculty strategic team will meet twice per term to fulfil their

identified terms of reference. The team will create a staff survey to collect qualitative data around the

specific Literacy and Numeracy needs identified in our school community as well as develop a range of

appropriate strategies to target the literacy and numeracy needs of the students to be incorporated

into teaching and learning programs

The full cycle of the Performance Development Framework will be realised in 2016 with goals aligning

more explicitly to the school plan and the identified faculty areas of need as revealed through detailed

data analysis

Embed a student feedback policy into the Assessment Policy that explicitly states the school’s

expectations regarding quality teacher feedback as a tool to improve performance.


Quality Systems

Purpose

To refine and create flexible and transparent administrative, communicative and procedural systems that equitably cater for the needs of the school community and enable the facilitation of high quality teaching and learning and positive relationships across the school.


In 2015 the focus was on developing a whole school Assessment Policy in line with BOSTES procedures. The school executive discussed the key elements essential to a policy, which were then collated and a draft document issued to all faculties for discussion and feedback. This process has allowed the school to develop a policy that ensures a consistent approach to assessment and clearly outlines expectations for all students and the parent community. All faculties submitted assessment schedules that clearly outlined specific requirements of tasks, and assessment dates that were then placed on the school calendar. Professional Learning in SENTRAL enabled key personnel to investigate the most effective ways to use the available modules to streamline communication to staff. A Structural Review team was formed with clear terms of reference derived from the school plan and linked to the Curriculum and Timetable project.




Well-developed and current policies, programs and processes identify, address, monitor and communicate student learning and welfare needs in a timely manner.

Discussed the requirements of an assessment policy and analysed the current school assessment procedures. Information regarding assessment procedures from BOSTES was used to align the development of the school policy. Planning with the executive contributed to drafting the policy which was discussed across faculties to gather feedback. The HSC assessment policy was issued to Year 12 students at the start of Term 4 and implemented into school practice for their first HSC assessment block. All junior and senior policies were completed for implementation in 2016.

$2,000

RAM Socio-economic

Staff survey results reveal a 25% increase in their overall satisfaction with the daily structure, as well as the administrative and communicative systems in place from 2015 baseline (to be determined).

Daily organisation was communicated to all staff using Edval and SENTRAL and the staff transitioned to using the online calendar in SENTRAL to improve communication. Letters of concern and N Awards were generated and available in student profiles for staff to see. The Wellbeing team began to include the use of the Data Record facility on SENTRAL to communicate both positive and negative incidents to staff.

$4,000

RAM Disability

Next steps

Review the implementation of the Junior and Senior Assessment Policy and create a clearly stated

Feedback Policy to be included for 2017 booklets.

Utilise the Documents Folder available in SENTRAL more effectively to communicate whole school

information and documents, to enhance administrative, and communicative systems among staff. This

will include minutes and agendas of all meetings, school policies and procedures, examination and

assessment information.

Continue to review and update existing policies including the school emergency management plan in

line with WHS requirements. A two-day Wellbeing conference will look at the Wellbeing Framework

and how the elements of this framework will be used to form the basis of developing our new school

Wellbeing Policy.

Blank


Quality Relationships

Purpose

To foster a culture of trust and respect that enables all members of the school community to feel connected and included. This will be achieved through developing a supportive environment that values positive relationships and where all members are equipped to face the social and emotional challenges of a changing world.


In 2015 the Wellbeing module of SENTRAL was purchased to support the school in better communicating and tracking the individual wellbeing needs of the students. All existing and new Personal Learning Plans (PLP’s) including any learning adjustments, ware created, recorded, communicated and accessed using this module. All members of the wellbeing team have been trained in using this module to create PLP’s and all staff have been trained in using the wellbeing module to access this information for their students. This has improved the communication, support and monitoring of student’s with wellbeing or learning needs.

Two teaching and learning mentors have been employed to work with students individually to support them in achieving their personal best goals. Student mentors work with individual students in the areas of organisation, time management, resolving outstanding course work and study routines. The mentors have provided a stronger, more focused individual learning intervention and have provided greater support and

advocacy for the students.




Students report in the Tell them from me Survey an improvement in the levels of advocacy at school (having someone at school who provides encouragement and advice) from 1.9/10 to 6/10 and a reduction in the levels of moderate to high levels of anxiety from 25% to 15%.

Teacher mentors employed 2 days per week to support students with any identified learning needs.

Year 10 into 11 and Year 11 into 12 Subject selection interviews were held to support and guide students in their decision-making processes around curriculum decisions.

All year 11 and 12 students interviewed twice per year when their reports were issued to discuss their progress and develop personal best goals to work towards

$20,000

RAM Disability

$3,000

RAM Socio-economic

Improved tracking and communication of students experiencing wellbeing concerns through the effective use of available technology systems and communication processes amongst all members of the school community.

All Year Advisors and Wellbeing team members were trained in developing and recording PLP’s using SENTRAL. All existing PLP’s were transferred into SENTRAL and all new PLP’s are created and communicated using SENTRAL.

$2,000

RAM Disability

Next steps

Establish a Learning and Support Team to strengthen the support provided for students in their

learning which will include managing all learning PLP’s, referrals and the 2 teacher mentors employed.

Establish an afternoon Homework Centre staffed by past student volunteers to provide mentoring and

support for students with their studies in Maths, Science, English and Humanities areas.

Establish a senior student mentoring program where All Year 12 students for 2017 will have the

opportunity to nominate and be allocated a teacher mentor to guide them through their HSC year.

Next Steps

Key initiatives and other school focus areas

Key initiatives (annual) Impact achieved this year Resources (annual)

Aboriginal background funding

All Aboriginal students have an Individual Learning Plan developed and evaluated in consultation with parents. The target areas of the plans created encourage Aboriginal students to actively engage, participate, and immerse themselves in a range of extra-curricular activities in particular the music programs within the school and region. Funds were also utilised to hire instruments for student use such as a Euphonium and enhance participation in programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh camps.

$410

Socio-economic funding

A school forum encouraged collaboration amongst the school community to inform the development of the 2015-2017 School Plan. A two-day Executive Conference facilitated the collation of the findings from the forum to develop the strategic directions and processes to be implemented using a detailed data analysis from NAPLAN and the Tell Them From Me survey. Faculties collaborated to review teaching and learning programs to embed strategies to further engage and challenge gifted students. The school developed Junior and Senior Assessment Policies and Procedures to ensure consistency across the school.

$22,000

Low level adjustment for disability funding

The Wellbeing module of SENTRAL was purchased and training was provided for the Executive and Wellbeing teams. All existing PLP’s were reviewed and transferred into SENTRAL. Two mentor teachers were employed to work individually with students to support them in their learning. All senior students were interviewed at key times throughout the year, for example prior to subject selection decisions and when reports were issued.

$28,000

Support for beginning teachers

The funding support for beginning teachers was used to provide professional learning days, mentoring, release time and access to beginning teachers’ networking opportunities. It also allowed for professional development in working towards accreditation at Proficient Teacher, programming, lesson observation and reflection.

$42,356

Student Information

It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all students be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Student enrolment profile

In 2015, Year 7 students were enrolled from eighty three primary schools. Seventy-one per cent of Year 7 students were the only ones to enrol from their particular school.

There was a total enrolment of 923 students. This total is comprised of:

Years 7-10 – 150 students, total enrolment 600.

Year 11 – 161 students

Year 12 – 162 students

Ninety-one percent of students were from a language background other than English (LBOTE). The largest LBOTE background groups are of Chinese background (61%), Vietnamese background (11%) Indian background (5%) and Korean background (4%).

Student attendance profile

A concerted effort to track and monitor student attendance from 2009 to 2015 has resulted in attendance rates above state average across all years of the school. The school marks electronic rolls each period using SENTRAL and makes contact with parents/caregivers via SMS messaging in the event of non-attendance each morning. The wellbeing team monitors overall attendance rates at their fortnightly meetings, identifying any potential attendance concerns and develops early intervention plans to support students improve their overall attendance rates.

Retention Year 10 to Year 12

The retention rate for St George Girls from Year 10 to Year 12 continues to be well above that of the state. From 2014 (with the discontinuation of the School Certificate), the retention rate has been determined on those students who sat for NAPLAN in Year 9 and continued to the Higher School Certificate. The retention rate at St George Girls in 2015 was 92.5%, well above the state average at 68.9%.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Stu

de

nts

Year

Enrolments

Male Female

0

25

50

75

100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Att

en

dan

ce r

ate

Year

Student attendance rates

School State DoE

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

SC07-HSC09 SC09-HSC11 SC11-HSC13 NAPLAN 12-HSC15

Retention to Year 12 (SC to HSC / Year 9 NAPLAN to HSC)

School State

Post-school destinations

Proportion of students moving into post-school education, training or employment

Year 10

%

Year 11

%

Year 12

%

seeking employment 30% P/T 30% P/T 30-40% P/T

employment 0% 0% <1% Cadetship

TAFE entry 0% <1% (TVET)

<1% (TVET)

university entry 0% 0% 99%

other 0% 0% <1% Private College (degree)

unknown 0% 0% 0%

In 2015, 160 students sat for their HSC. 100% of the 2015 candidates received offers to University or a Private College to complete a degree. The main Universities chosen were University of New South Wales (52%), The University of Sydney (20%), The University of Technology Sydney (11%) and Macquarie University (8%). Students also accepted offers to Australian National University, Western Sydney University, University of Wollongong, University of Newcastle, University of Queensland, James Cook University and the University of Melbourne. Three students chose to study at a Private College; THINK Education (APM), AFTRS Film School and the Academy of Information Technology. Courses chosen by our students were: Business, Commerce & Economics (27%), Arts, Social Science, International Studies & Communication (15%), Science, Engineering & IT (18%), Applied Science and Allied Health (Optometry, Pharmacy, Oral Health, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology etc) (11%), Combined Law (11%), Education, Social Work, Criminology & Psychology (8%), Medicine & Medical Science (1%), Design & Architecture (1%). Of these course offers made, 51% were dual degrees.

Year 12 students undertaking vocational or trade training

One Year 12 student undertook a TVET course in Event Management in 2015.

Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalent vocational educational qualification

100% of the 2015 St George Girls High School Year 12 cohort attained an HSC qualification.

Workforce Information

Reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Workforce composition

Position Number

Principal 1

Deputy Principal(s) 2

Head Teachers 10

Classroom Teachers 43.6

Learning and Support Teacher 0.4

Teacher Librarian 1

Careers Adviser 1

School Counsellor 1

School Administrative & Support Staff 11.372

Total 71.372

The experience level amongst teaching staff is varied, ranging from beginning teachers to staff with extensive experience.

The Australian Education Regulation, 2015 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce.

In 2015, no indigenous staff members were employed by the school.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools.

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 26

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

In 2015 teacher professional learning related to the strategic directions of the school plan and reflected the learning needs that had been identified by staff members through staff surveys and school development day evaluations. The allocated professional learning afternoons twice a term, as part of the school’s meeting structure, as well as the five school development days, were used to allow targeted professional learning opportunities in line with identified milestones of each strategic direction.

Focus areas included Student Wellbeing, Curriculum and Assessment, Technology, Compliance, School Plan and the Professional Development Framework. Staff participated in workshops and activities that included HSC data analysis, faculty programming, consistent teacher judgement, RoSA grading, analysis of the Tell Them From Me student survey and NAPLAN data, lesson observations and feedback, ICT, CPR and mandatory training including Child Protection and Code of Conduct. Professor Andrew Martin also addressed the school community on academic buoyancy and the concept of personal best. A two-day Executive Conference facilitated the collation of the findings from the forum to develop the strategic directions and processes to be implemented using a detailed data analysis from NAPLAN and the Tell Them From Me survey.

Staff accessed a range of courses within the wider educational community that brought ideas on current educational theory and practice back into the school community. These included professional learning workshops in consistent teacher judgement, accidental counselling, computer programming and designing positive education. These provided opportunities to enhance teaching and learning, student engagement and wellbeing, career development and school policies and procedures. Funds were directed to build teacher and school leader capacity to support school improvement and student learning consistent with the school plan.

In 2015 one beginning teacher was appointed to our school and funding was also used to support another teacher in their second year of teaching. Induction programs in Workplace Health and Safety and general school Policies were undertaken and a mentor teacher was provided. The funding support for beginning teachers was used to provide professional learning days, mentoring, release time and access to beginning teachers’ networking opportunities. It also allowed for professional development in working towards accreditation at Proficient Teacher, programming, lesson observation and reflection.

One staff member attained teacher accreditation at Proficient Level in 2015. Others continued to work towards maintaining their accreditation through ongoing professional learning and development. A number of staff members investigated the expectations and processes involved for Highly Accomplished accreditation.

Financial information

Financial summary

This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance.

A full copy of the school’s 2015 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the parent and/or community groups. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.

Date of financial summary 30/11/2015

Income $

Balance brought forward 414,827.03

Global funds 538,229.63

Tied funds 188,303.21

School & community sources 1,026,001.36

Interest 12,916.18

Trust receipts 134,167.45

Canteen 0.00

Total income 2,314,444.86

Expenditure

Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 0423,438.16

Excursions 409,083.56

Extracurricular dissections 93,240.29

Library 15,486.77

Training & development 0.00

Tied funds 141,548.62

Casual relief teachers 126,611.80

Administration & office 318,545.98

School-operated canteen 0.00

Utilities 107,740.52

Maintenance 61,974.09

Trust accounts 116,083.42

Capital programs 225,714.00

Total expenditure 2,039,467.21

Balance carried forward 274,977.65

School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 7 and 9 Literacy and Numeracy assessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10. The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments.

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing. Click on the link My School and insert the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.

http://www.myschool.edu.au/

Year 7 NAPLAN - Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

Students achieved overall results well above state average in all aspects of Literacy tested.

YEAR 7 NAPLAN - Numeracy

The Numeracy results for 2015 were outstanding with students achieving overall results well above the state average. 93.3% of students achieved a result in the top band, compared to 12.8% of the state. All Year 7 students achieved in the top two bands.

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Percentage in bands:Year 7 Reading

Percentage in Bands

School Average 2010-2015

State DoE % in Band 2015

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Percentage in bands:Year 7 Writing

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Percentage in bands:Year 7 Spelling

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Percentage in bands:Year 7 Grammar & Punctuation

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Year 9 NAPLAN - Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

Students achieved outstanding overall results in all areas of Literacy tested. The tables below indicate that the school’s literacy results continue to be significantly above state averages. Particularly pleasing were the results in reading and spelling.

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Percentage in bands:Year 7 Numeracy

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YEAR 9 NAPLAN - Numeracy

The 2015 Numeracy results continued to be outstanding with 89.3% of students achieving the top band, as compared to 12.7% across the state. 99.4% of Year 9 students achieved in the top two bands.

Higher School Certificate (HSC) In the Higher School Certificate, the performance of students is reported in bands ranging from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest).

The graduating Class of 2015 achieved outstanding HSC results.

Students of Ancient History achieved an average of 87.09, 16 marks greater than the state mean with 36% of students receiving band 6 (over 90 marks) which is over 4 times the state rate, with all students receiving a mark of 80 or more compared to 33% state-wide.

With an average mark of 82.61, 11 marks greater than the state mean, 73% of our Biology students achieved a band 5 or 6 compared to 28% state-wide.

56.52% of our Business Studies students received marks of 90 or more, compared to 8.38% state-wide and 34.78% of students were awarded a band 5, compared to 27.5% state-wide.

With an average mark of 80.63, 5 marks greater than the state mean, 59.73% of our Chemistry students achieved a band 5 or 6 compared to 41.05% state-wide.

With an average score of 88.28 (10 marks above the NSW mean), 56.25% of Drama students achieved marks over 90 compared to 14% state-wide.

In Economics, our students achieved an average mark of 81.98, 10 marks above state average, with 65% in the top 2 bands compared to 45.85% state-wide.

English Advanced results were strong in 2015 with 29.45% of students receiving marks over 90 compared to 15.4% state-wide. 21.42% of English Standard students received a mark of 80 plus, compared to 8.31% across the state.

With an average mark of 43.39/50 our Extension 1 English results saw 100% of students in the top 2 bands compared to 94% state-wide.

Our Extension 2 English results were impressive with 50% of students in the top band (E4) compared to 26.13% state-wide.

57.14% of our Food Technology students gained a band 6, compared to 8% across the state. 71.42% students achieved a band 5 or 6, compared to 28% state-wide.

Geography students achieved an average mark of 90.49, 17 marks above the state mean, with all students awarded a band 5 or 6, compared to 41.3% state-wide.

100% of students who studied Information Processes and Technology were awarded either a band 5 or 6, compared to 32.03% across the state.

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With an average mark of 90.86, 16.26 marks above the state, 65.85% of Legal Studies students achieved 90 marks or above, compared to 10.62% of the state.

With an average of 19.35 marks above the state, 57.14% of Mathematics General 2 students achieved a mark of 90 plus, compared to 5.6% state-wide.

With an examination mean of 86.85, 38.77% of our 2 Unit Mathematics students were awarded a band 6, compared to 19.63% state-wide. 45.91% of students achieved a band 5, compared to 32.68% in the state.

97% of Mathematics Extension 1 students received marks in the top two bands, compared to 84% state-wide.

97.42% of students in Mathematics Extension 2 achieved marks in the top two bands, compared to 86.14% in the state.

Modern History students received very solid results with 50% achieving band 6 (compared to 11.47% state-wide) and 45% achieving a band 5 (compared to 32.18% of the state.

Students of Extension History received an average mark of 41.62/50 and all students received marks in the top 2 bands.

Music 2 results were strong with students receiving an average mark of 89.53. 54.54% of students were awarded a band 6, compared to 36.59% state-wide. 100% of students gained marks of 80 or more.

100% of Music Extension students were placed in the top two bands.

36.36% of students studying Personal Development, Health and Physical Education were awarded a band 6, compared to 8.68% in the state. 90.9% of students were placed in the top 2 bands compared to 29.62% state-wide.

54.16% of students in Physics were awarded marks in the top two bands, compared to 28.75% state-wide.

With an average examination mark of 88.09 (10.5 marks above state average), our Textiles and Design students achieved great success with 44.4% receiving marks of 90 or above, compared to 15.27% state-wide.

With an average examination mark of 90.69, 68.75% of our Visual Arts students were

awarded a band 6, compared to 12.68% state-wide.

100% of our French Continuers students gained marks in the top two bands, compared to 66.29% in the state.

66.66% of Japanese Continuers students achieved a band 6, compared to 18.91% across the state. 100% of all students were placed in the top 2 bands.

100% of our Japanese Extension students were placed in the top band (E4), compared to 33.17% state-wide.

88.88% of our Latin Continuers students achieved marks in the top two bands, compared to 82% state-wide.

57.1% of Latin Extension students were awarded a top band (E4) and 42.9% achieved a Band E3 compared to 20.5% state-wide.

The summary of results described above, has demonstrated that our students have again achieved quality HSC results that we as a school community are very proud of. This is further supported through the following successes:

Caitlin Semsarian and Michelle Wu share the Dux of the year, each attaining the very impressive ATAR of 99.95.

Eleven students were named as HSC All Rounders Distinguished Achievers for achieving the top band in 10 or more units at the HSC. They were Yoshni Chandra, Rachel Cheung, Emma Chow, Cynthia Feng, Katharine Huynh, Victoria Ito, Jenny Lin, Caitlin Semsarian, Mandy Wong, Michelle Wu and Cathy Xu.

Seven students were named as HSC Top Achievers as they gained some of the highest places in a number of HSC courses.

These students for 2015 included Caitlin Semsarian who was placed 1st in the state in Modern History, 10th in the state in English Extension 1 and 14th in the state for English Advanced, Mandy Wong who ranked 3rd in the state in Japanese Continuers, Imogen Yeomans ranked 4th in the state in Visual Arts, Emma Chow ranked 4th in the state in Economics, Bernice Cheung ranked 5th in the state in Food Technology, Mabel Li ranked 7th in the state in Drama and Yoshni Chandra who ranked 12th in the state in Mathematics General.

In the Creative and Performing Arts and Textiles and Design we had a number of students whose work has been acknowledged as exemplars. Each year

exceptional major works and performances are nominated for inclusion in exhibitions which showcase the very best in NSW schools.

In 2015 four students were nominated for ARTEXPRESS, Sidney Tulau ‘For Nan’, Iris Wang ‘Our Godly Beasts’, Sally Yang ‘These Hands Are Not My Own’and Che Rin Kwon ‘But first, let me take a selfie’. Two of our nominees were selected for inclusion (Sidney Tulau at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery and Sally Yang These Hands Are Not My Own at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre)

Eight students were nominated for OnSTAGE (2 Individual Performances and 1 Group Performance) The nominated students included; Madison Jackson (IP) ‘Goneril’ From King Lear, Mabel Li (IP) ‘Inner Baby’ and Florence Cheng, Bronte Noakes, Madison Jackson, Niki Kalimnios, Mabel Li and Amy Tong for their GP ‘We are all Individuals’. Madison Jackson was actually selected to perform her Individual Performance ‘Goneril ‘from King Lear in Program 2 of OnSTAGE.

In Music 2 Mary Jo Carrillo was nominated for ENCORE and Samantha Yau who completed her Dance HSC in 2015, was selected to perform in CALLBACK for her Core Performance.

Sidney Tulau had her HSC Textiles and Design Major Project selected to be exhibited in the 2016 TEXSTYLE Exhibition held in March at Rosehill Racecourse.

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Higher School Certificate relative performance comparison to Year 9 NAPLAN (value-adding)

The graph below reflects value added data significantly above SSG in the middle category and comparable in the high category. It should be noted that value added state-wide, by definition is zero, and that the school’s improvement is above that achieved by the similar school group in all categories. Of particular note is the exceptional performance in the middle performance band with the school achieving almost twice the growth of the similar school group.

Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction

In 2015 the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. This occurred through discussions at P&C, Mothers’ Committee, staff, executive and faculty meetings. The school also conducted the Learning Bar’s Tell Them From Me student, teacher and parent surveys to gain valuable feedback from members of the school community. The results of the Tell Them From Me surveys are outlined below.

Parent survey 122 parents completed the Partners in Learning parent survey, based on a comprehensive questionnaire covering several aspects of parents' perceptions of their children's experiences at home and school. The survey provided feedback to schools about the extent to which parents feel the school supports learning and positive behaviour and promotes a safe and inclusive environment. Parents rated the school as follows:

Parents feel welcome when visiting the school, are well informed about school activities and parent activities are scheduled at appropriate times (7.2/10)

The school supports learning, teachers have high expectations for my child to succeed and my child is encouraged to do her best work (7.2/10)

The school helps prevent bullying, my child feels safe at school and behavioural issues are dealt with in a timely manner (7.3/10)

Parents are informed about their child’s progress in school subjects, social and emotional development and positive or negative behaviour at school (6.6/10)

Parents identified school reports and formal interviews as the most useful types of communication at St George Girls, and the school’s newsletter and emails as the most useful

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HSC: Relative performance from NAPLAN Year 9 (Cohort Progress)

School 2015

SSG Average 2015

communication types to find out school news. The data provided and analysis of the survey results will assist future school planning under the Strategic direction of ‘Quality systems’.

Student survey 729 students completed the Tell Them From Me student survey which included ten measures of student engagement alongside the five drivers of student outcomes.

77% of students were identified as having a

high sense of belonging; they feel accepted

and valued by their peers and by others at

their school.

87% of students were identified as having

positive relationships; friends they can trust

and who encourage them to make positive

choices.

Positive Teacher-Student Relations rated 6.4

out of 10, with students identifying that

teachers are responsive to their needs and

encourage independence with a democratic

approach.

Teacher survey 52 staff members completed the Focus on Learning teacher survey, a self-evaluation tool for teachers and schools. The questions in the survey were grouped to assess eight of the most important Drivers of Student Learning (leadership, collaboration, learning culture, data informed practice, teaching strategies, technology, inclusive schools and parent involvement), and dimensions of classroom and school practices.

It is pleasing to note that areas which had been part of our school plan, and therefore the focus of our professional learning throughout the year, were rated highly by our teaching staff. Learning culture, teaching strategies and data informing practice were rated over 8/10 and collaboration and inclusivity just under 8/10. The other ‘drivers’ still rated well but have been considered as areas for development in future school planning. Leadership and parent involvement did not rate as highly and will be further developed as part of the quality feedback and communications projects of the school plan.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

An Aboriginal perspective is taught in an integrated way across all KLAs. This enables staff and students to develop knowledge and understanding of and respect for Aboriginal Australia as highlighted in the Aboriginal Education Policy.

Stage 4 History examines significant features of Aboriginal cultures prior to colonisation and the impact of colonisation on indigenous peoples.

Stage 5 History examines the changing rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples, including the study of the stolen generation, land rights, suffrage and reconciliation.

Stage 4 Geography studies the origins of the continent from an Aboriginal and geographical perspective.

English and Drama students study plays such as ‘Box the Pony’, ‘Seven Stages of Grieving’ and indigenous poetry, which invite students to view the world from an Aboriginal perspective. Year 11 study ‘First Australian’, and ‘Who do You Think You Are’ as part of the unit, Representing Indigenous History.

In Food Technology, students have the opportunity to study, prepare and taste traditional Aboriginal food.

Acknowledgement and respects are paid to the traditional custodians of the land at school

assemblies and important ceremonies such as Presentation day.

Special assemblies are held throughout the year to mark significant events such as Reconciliation and NAIDOC Week.

Stage 5 and 6 Music students study the traditional and popular music of Aboriginal cultures through the topics of Australian music, popular music and music of a culture. Through engagement in performance, composition and listening activities, students develop an appreciation and understanding of the dynamic nature of Aboriginal cultures.

In Visual Arts, students examine in depth the cultural, historical and political forces which have shaped the art making of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In particular, the Stage 6 syllabus places emphasis on both traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art forms.

In PDHPE, Stage 6 students examine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health issues. Stage 5 students experience Aboriginal dance. The PDHPE faculty delivers an indigenous games unit.

Multicultural Education and Anti-racism

All NSW Government schools are committed to the elimination of racial discrimination and are directed in this endeavour by the Anti-Racism Policy. Actions such as direct and indirect racism, racial vilification and harassment are unacceptable in all aspects of the learning and working environment. St George Girls High School has an Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) representative whose role is the contact between students, staff, parents and community members who wish to make a complaint. The Principal is ultimately responsible for decisions regarding racism within the school.

Multicultural perspectives are a compulsory component of all teaching programs. This is also evidenced in many curricula and extra-curricular programs throughout the school.

All Year 9 students participated in the St George District’s Mosaic Writing Project in collaboration with the University of NSW. The project enabled students to explore, through writing, their own cultural heritage and their place in a multicultural society.

In Visual Arts, students study art from a wide range of cultures including Asian, Oceanic, African, Islamic and Aboriginal art forms.

All students in Years 7 and 8 study at least one foreign language. The school’s languages program encourages students to study and engage with other cultures and to develop an appreciation of other cultures.

Interpreters in our main community language are provided for important parent meetings such as parent-teacher interviews.

The school community celebrates our cultural diversity at the Parents and Citizens’ Multicultural Food Festival which is held annually, prior to the Summer Festival of Music.

Competitions

Westpac Mathematics Competition

The Westpac Mathematics Competition provides challenges to students to engage with mathematical concepts embedded in questions in ways that may not be familiar. In 2015, 620 St George Girls High School students sat the competition at the various levels of Junior (Years 7/8-286), Intermediate (Years 9/10-268) and Senior (Years 11/12-66).

All students are encouraged to take on this opportunity to explore a more creative challenge in mathematics. This test highlights the importance of Mathematics in the curriculum, provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability

and talent and provides resources and topics for further discussion in the classroom.

2015 RESULTS

Students gained 3 High Distinctions, 128 Distinctions and 377 Credits.

Idy Zhao (Year 7) received the Prudence Award. This award is given to the student who received the highest number of consecutive correct answers.

Nine students finished within the top four percentile bands in the state. These students included;

100 percentile - Idy Zhao (Year 7), Hannah Shi (Year 8)

99 percentile - Majar Vasic (Year 8)

98 percentile - Anna Cheng (Year 7), Karen Lau (Year 9), Yvonne Thich (Year 10), Anny Yang (Year 10)

97 percentile - Tiffany Fung (Year 7), Gabrielle Tran(Year 8)

Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians

Nine students took part in this independent problem solving challenge over a three-week period conducted by the Australian Mathematics Trust. The girls had a six-week period in which to develop solutions to 24 questions.

Awards received for this challenge were as follows:

High Distinction - Vicky Chen (Year 9)

Distinctions - Carmen Zhang (Year 9), Grace Zhang (Year 9), Yurou Fu (Year 9), Michelle Lee (Year 9), Shayla Nguyen (Year 10), Tam Nguyen (Year 10).

Credit - Florence Foon (Year 8)

Mock Trial

Participation in the NSW Law Society's 2015 Mock Trial Competition saw some exceptional performances from a committed team of Year 11 students. While the participants were eventually eliminated from the competition, the standard of performance was indeed very high. The following students Rubsat Amin, Christiane Haitidis, Jennifer How, Daisy Kelly, Lily Lasic Latimer, Richelle Lau, Stephanie Norohna and Jessie Su should be commended for their efforts.

UNSW Australian Business and Economics Competitions

Students participated in the Australia-wide University of New South Wales Australian Business and Economics Competitions for Stage 6 students.

The participation of students in these competitions was noteworthy and their performances equally praiseworthy. In relation to the Business Studies Competition, Kaesia Chan, Rachel Cheung and Jovita Wong (Year 12) each received a $75 prize for their meritorious performances. In connection with the Economics competition, Elizabeth Melkonian (Year 12) received a $50 prize; Rebecca Pereira, Michelle Wu and Katharine Huynh (Year 12) each received $75 prizes; while Clarise Koh (Year 12) received a $100 prize for her performance, being awarded a Distinction. In addition to these award winners, special recognition was given to Maggie Lu, Lily Zhang, and Annie Liang from Year 12 Business Studies as High Distinction performers.

National Computer Science School Challenge

Students participated in the National Computer Science School Challenge conducted by the University of Sydney. The following students achieved an outstanding perfect score:

Year 11 - Connie Zhang and Evelyn Yew

Year 10 - Jessica Alchin, Jessica Gu, Joanna Liang, Rachel Liang, Jessica Liu, Anjelica Williams, Annie Yang and Angela Zheng.

Science Competitions, Quizzes and Olympiads

Years 7-12 participated in the ICAS Science Competition. Students performed very well and awards received for this challenge were as follows:

High Distinction - Anne Chen, Angela Deng, Jacinda Santoso (Year 7), Nicola Cafcaros, Micky Chen, Cecilia Chenh, Darshni Rajasekar, Maja Vasic (Year 8) and Aleksandra Akulova (Year 9).

A large number of junior students joined senior Chemistry students in sitting the Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Chemistry Quiz. Awards received for this competition were as follows:

High Distinction: Cecilia Chenh, Carmen Zhang, Connie Zhao (Year 8), Vicky Chen, Fiona Roberts (Year 9), Surabhi Shrestha (Year 10), Christine Azer, Cindy Chen, Jennifer How, Harpreet Kaur, Patricia Kesuma, Tania Lu, Shanshan Qi, Amy Wang (Year 11)

High Distinction Excellence: Clarissa Lau, Maja Vasic (Year 8).

Year 7 participated in the Big Science Competition. Congratulations to the following students who achieved High Distinctions; Angela Deng, Anne Chen, Cristina Koprinski, Jacinda Santoso, Joyce Wang, Pamela Rehberg and Zoe Gajus.

Year 8 completed their statewide VALID Science test online.

Students also sat the qualifying examinations for one or more of the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Olympiads. The students studied university level material in preparation for these challenging exams and deserve recognition for their efforts. Awards received for these Olympiads were as follows:

Distinction in the Biology exam - Grace Chiu (Year 11) and Surabhi Shrestha(Year 10)

Distinction in the Chemistry exam - Grace Chiu (Year 11)

Credit - Kristy Ghosh, Rachel Liang and Lauren Malanos (Year 10).

30 students from Years 8 and 9 sat the qualifying exam for the University of Sydney’s Gifted and Talented Discovery Program. Over 2500 students sat this exam and 3 students from St George Girls had been invited to attend a day of practical activities in Biology, Chemistry and Physics at the University of Sydney in 2016. Congratulations to Maja Vasic, Vicky Chen and Cecelia Chenh (Year 8) on their outstanding performance in the challenging qualifying examination.

More than 20 Year 12 Chemistry students also took part in the RACI NSW Schools Titration Competition.

NSW Youth Parliament

Youth Parliament is an apolitical program that empowers young people to be advocates for their community. Young people have the opportunity to create solutions to the problems facing NSW and debate those ideas in NSW Parliament House in front of current MPs. The Youth Parliament program is run by a team of 28 volunteers called ‘The Taskforce’. All taskforce members are past participants of the program. They are there to guide the participants on the development of their leadership ability and advocacy skills.

This year, the program attracted over 250 applications and a record 160 were chosen to become Youth Parliamentarians. Of these 160, Rachael Lee, Janis Wu and Carolyn Tran (Year 12), were selected to participate in this prestigious program and become Youth members of the Legislative Council (NSW upper house).

Language Perfect Competition

In 2015 students from Years 8 to 11 participated in the Language Perfect World Championships which took place over eight days.

St George Girls placed 2nd for French in Australia for our category and 3rd for French in the world. Overall, in all languages included, we were placed 10th out of the 160 competing schools in our category. The girls answered almost 211,000 questions and scored over 84,000 points.

The following students were awarded Credit certificates:

Year 8: Nicola Cafcaros, Emily Chan, Rouya Deng, Bonnie Dong, Veronica Li, Maria Liem, Shaily Shrestha, Aimee Soenarjo, Rebecca Zhang, Krystal Zhang, Jakey Zhang, Catherine Zhao and Katrina Wu.

Year 10: Genia Furlong, Zoe Li, Surabhi Shrestha and Jamie-Lee Xu.

Year 11: Daisy Kelly and Talissa Jondral.

The following students were awarded Bronze certificates and were placed in the top 10% of 300,000 competitors:

Year 8: Celia Beed, Chloe Chan, Maggie Chau, Anuki Jayawardana, Kiera Hinton, Katherine Lee, Da Lin, Kate Ou, Grace Park, Aboli Pawar, Preety Thapa, Kathy Xia.

Year 10: Jasmine Wong.

Year 11: Spriha Goswami.

Two students achieved a Silver Award and were placed in the top 5% of the 300,000 global competitors:

Year 8: Sharon Luo and Kitty Ringdahl.

The following students achieved a Gold Award and were placed in the top 2% of 300,000 competitors from around the world:

Year 8: Erika Carrillo, Sophia Chia, Josephine Chin, Miranda Feletar, Lisa Gronich, Ana Ona, Mikayla Perry, Aalya Sukkarieh and Angela Wu.

Year 10: Annie Yang.

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Language Perfect World Championships.

Da Vinci Decathlon

In Term 2 40 girls from Years 7-11 competed in the annual Da Vinci Decathlon held at Knox Grammar School. This competition is fiercely competitive and over 2,800 students competed. The competition involved a series of topic booklets and activities that the team had to complete within a set time limit, working together and using personal strengths to complete each assigned task. The topics assigned included engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, cartography, drama, philosophy and general knowledge. Results for the competition were:

Year 7 ranking 6th in Drama and 7th in Code Breaking.

Year 8 ranking 1st in Philosophy, 3rd in Drama, 4th in Cartography and 6th in Code Breaking.

Year 9 ranking 4th in Drama and 5th in Science.

Year 10 ranking 4th in Philosophy, 5th in Science, 5th in Code Breaking and 8th in Mathematics.

Year 11 ranking 5th in Code Breaking, 7th in English, 8th in Engineering and 9th in Drama.

Sport

The great tradition of sport as being an integral part of school life continued in 2015. The aim of sport at St George Girls is for students to develop the skills needed for a wide variety of physical activities, to enhance their lives through motor learning, teamwork and socialisation. In addition to this, sport endeavours to enhance cognitive development and encourage students to adopt exercise patterns that they may maintain throughout their lives.

The 2015 School Sport program for Years 7-11 provided opportunities for participation in a large range of activities. These included:

Dance and Fitness style activities, team and recreational sports e.g. Jazz Ballet, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, Ballroom Dancing Fitness at school and Jetts Gym, AFL, Oz Tag, Flag Grid Iron, Self Defence, Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, Zumba, walking and modified games.

Local and community sporting clubs and information was also advertised to the students with an aim to increase participation levels in sport outside the school curricular environment.

St George Girls participated in the following Knockout competitions in 2015:

Open Netball, Basketball, Softball, Football (soccer), Futsal, Cricket, Tennis, Touch, Volleyball, Hockey, Table Tennis, Under 13, 15 &16 Netball and Under 15 Football.

Students are always encouraged to get involved in trialling for these teams in an effort to be a school sporting representative.

Our talented sporting students achieved Area selection and competed in carnivals.

Lauren Hook (Year 8) represented Sydney East region at NSWCHS Gymnastics at Glendale.

Keona Lee (Year 10) and Belinda Ji (Year 7) were selected in the Sydney East Golf Team

Aya Mikukami (Year 7) and Talissa Jondral (Year 11) competed in the NSWCHSSA individual Tennis State Championships in March. Aya was also selected as a member of the Sydney East Tennis Team.

Kaelyn Rahardja (Year 11), Florence Cheng (Year 12) and Kim Nguyen (Year 11) were selected in the Sydney East Volleyball team which achieved third place at the NSWCHS Volleyball Championships in Temora in April this year.

Many students competed at Zone, Regional and State carnivals in Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country.

In 2015 the following students were awarded School Blues:

Sport – Sidney Tulau and Annie Tsang (Year 12)

Swimming - Chrisann Huynh and Emily Wang (Year 12)

Cross Country - Anita Cui (Year 12)

Sidney Tulau (Year 12) was also the recipient of the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin Award.

Sportsperson of the Year in 2015 was awarded to Kaelyn Rahardja (Year 11) and the Premier’s Sporting Challenge Medal was awarded to Kathleen Tan (Year 11).

Achievements in the Arts

Co-curricular Performing Ensembles Program

The Music Performing Ensembles Program focusses on musical excellence, inspiring talented musicians to enjoy music making, reaping the social, academic and emotional benefits of co-curricular music, while entertaining the wider school community.

In 2015 approximately 290 students (almost one third of the student population) participated in the

Performing Ensembles Program. These include the Instrumental ensembles: Concert Band, Intermediate Band, Orchestra, Stage Band; and Vocal - Vocal Ensemble, and A Cappella Plus. The official accompanist for Vocal Ensemble was Jamie-Lee Xu (Year 10).

Small ensemble tutorials included saxophone ensemble, advanced and intermediate percussion ensembles, brass ensemble, flute ensemble, senior, intermediate and junior string quartets. All ensembles rehearsed regularly throughout the year and performed both within the school community and beyond.

Early in Term 2, the Vocal Ensemble was selected to perform in the 2015 Arts Unit concert: In Concert as part of a 850-voice combined NSW Public Schools’ Choir at the Sydney Town Hall. The instrumental ensembles went on a three-day intensive Music Camp in preparation for a busy term of performance competitions.

The Intermediate, Concert, and Stage Bands experienced great success at the 2015 Engadine Bandfest, receiving all Gold Awards. These bands, along with the Percussion Ensemble, also competed in the 2015 Sydney Eisteddfod, with both Concert and and Percussion Ensemble receiving Highly Commended.

The Intermediate Band was invited to take part in the first ever Ramsgate Band Festival at Ramsgate Public School in Term 3.

The Concert Band and Orchestra successfully auditioned for a place in the NSW Public Schools’ Primary Proms, and performed repertoire at two evening concerts at The Sydney Town Hall.

In Term 4, A Cappella Plus performed in The Arts Unit Sydney Secondary Schools Choral Festival, and participated in a vocal workshop with internationally acclaimed, Australian A Cappella group - The Idea of North. A Cappella Plus received a Silver Award for their final performance.

The major annual music evenings for 2015 were the Gala Music Evening in July and Summer Festival of Music in November, held in conjunction with the P&C’s Multicultural Food Festival.

Student Achievements in Music

Jessica Zhu (Year 12) was the school pianist for 2015.

Sylvia Wang (Year 11) was inducted as the school pianist for 2016.

The following students were recognised for their participation in the various NSW Public Schools and The Arts Unit ensembles:

Tasya Bhuiyan (Year 7) – Sydney Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Jessica Wang (Year 7) – Sydney Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Zoe Morris (Year 8) – Orchestra.

Mikayla Perry (Year 8) – Symphonic Wind Orchestra.

Alice Wang (Year 8) – Sydney Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Sarah Yoon (Year 8) – Sydney Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Rebecca Hocking (Year 10) - NSW State Choir, Senior Singers.

Alice Hu (Year 12) - Millennium Marching Band.

A number of students were selected to perform in various music ensembles for the 2015 Schools Spectacular:

Talia Quartullo (Year 8) – Orchestra.

Rebecca Hocking (Year 10) - Core Choir.

Alice Hu - Millennium Marching Band.

Salina Myat (Year 12) - Millennium Marching Band.

The following students were finalists and scored Highly Commended in the 2015 Sydney Eisteddfod in various music performance categories:

Annie Ma (Year 10) - ‘Classical Piano Concerto’ (any age); ‘20th & 21st Century Piano’ (16 yrs. & under), ‘Classical Piano Sonata’ (18 yrs. & under). Annie Ma also placed 3rd in the Sydney Eisteddfod Piano Recital Finals (15 & 16yrs).

Rebecca Qu (Year 10) – ‘Contemporary Voice’ and was a finalist in the Senior Singer of the Year (yrs. 16-25).

In the 2015 St George Eisteddfod, Annie Ma (Year 10) placed 1st in ‘20th Century Piano’ (any age), 3rd in the ‘Intermediate Pianoforte Championship’ and Highly Commended in the ‘Sonata & Sonatina’ category.

Achievements at the 2015 St George and Sutherland Youth Music Awards:

Veronica Tsang (Year 11), 2nd place, composition.

Hannah Chiu (Year 11), 3rd place, composition.

Alice Hu (Year 12, vibraphone) 2nd place, performance – vibraphone.

Annie Ma (Year 10), 3rd place, performance – piano.

Salina Myat (Year 12) received “most promising young talent” for performance – vibraphone.

Veronica Tsang (Year 11) had her original music soundtrack accepted into the APRA TropScore as part of the 2015 TropFest Festival.

Veronica Tsang also received her A. Mus A in Piano.

Student Achievements in Drama

In 2015, 5 St George Girls Drama students successfully auditioned to represent the school in the elite State Drama Ensembles. These ensembles are run by the DoE Arts Unit and feature outstanding Drama students in NSW.

Luce Neilson and Zoe Morris gained places in the Year 8 State Ensemble.

Angela Tran was selected to be in the Year 9 State Ensemble.

Christiane Haitidis (Year 11) gained a role in the Senior Drama Ensemble.

Mabel Li was selected to be a part of the elite Year 12 State Ensemble, Company.

Students selected for these ensembles attended regular workshops and programs, worked with industry professionals, performed in the State Drama Festival at The Seymour Centre Theatre and presented a Drama performance in the annual Schools Spectacular.

The school’s annual Drama Showcase evening featured performances from Years 8-12. This night brings together staff, students, parents and families to celebrate student learning and success and gives the students opportunities to be involved in all aspects of the production, including front of house, promotion, stage management, sound and lighting, as well as developing valuable teamwork and leadership skills.

The Annual HSC Showcase evening provided Year 12 students the opportunity to present their major works to an audience and allowed them to receive crucial feedback on their performances.

Student Achievements in Visual Arts

Four Year 11 students were selected to participate in the National Art School HSC Extension Intensive Studio Practice. This provided an opportunity for students to work in an intensive workshop environment with artists and art educators in their specific field.

Nina Pirola was accepted for Black and White Photography.

Michelle Luo and Wing Cheung for Painting.

Yujing Lin for Sculpture.

The Art Exhibition features artworks by every student who studies Visual Arts. The exhibition saw works from an array of different mediums including painting, drawing, clay, sculpture, photography, design, digital media and printmaking. Students attended excursions to exhibitions and galleries which were influential in their own practice and understanding of art.

The St George Art Society awarded Celia Tulau and Cathy Wu, as joint winners of the 2015 Outstanding Year 10 Visual Art Award.

Celia Tulau Cathy Wu

Student Achievements in Technological and Applied Studies

Textile and Design students exhibited their work at the annual evening fashion show, ‘Inspired’. The Year 8-9 category winner was Darshni Rajasekar (Year 8) and the Year 10-11 category winner was Ivy Chen (Year 10).

Freya Norved and Rebecca Zhuang of Year 11 were both awarded a two-week design illustration scholarship with the Whitehouse Institute of Design.

ShanShan Qi (Year 11) won the Annual Ms Castle Innovative Design Award.

Nieminy Nian and Stella Zhou of Year 10, were both selected as finalists for

their textile design illustrations in the Wool4School fashion design challenge.

Nieminy Nian (Year 10) won the Australian Apex Teenage Fashion Awards (AATFA) in the Wearable Art category for NSW.

Environmental Education

The Enviro club offers the opportunity for students across all years to develop their leadership and problem solving-skills through facilitating a variety of activities throughout the year. The students participate in cross-curricular real world investigations of global environmental issues through hands-on projects.

The Enviro club has three main branches – Paper Recycling, Worm Farm and Gardening, which ae supported by approximately 200 students and led by a Student Executive of 25 students.

Gardening Project - The Enviro Club has grown herbs that have been utilised by the TAS department, weeded and developed the native gardens around the school and supplied 100 native plants to beautify the school and create an oasis for wildlife within an urban context.

Worm Farm Project – This project, run by Year 10, 11 and 12 students, involved taking the worm fertilizer collected and putting it onto the gardens as a way of reducing what goes into landfill from our school bins.

Paper Recycling Project – reduced the school’s wastage and carbon footprint by recycling paper.

The following outlines the environmental events and activities held throughout the year.

The annual Green Day event saw workshops conducted and facilitated by students who became teachers for the day. Past students returned as guest speakers and current students participated in the first GREEN –X talks.

Students developed and showcased their creative talents through the annual “Through the Lens” Enviro Photo Competition and the Enviro Film Competition where students created a film that expressed their concerns about “A Plastic World” in their 3 to 5-minute film clip.

In January 13 students from Year 12 participated in a five-day Wollemi and Secret Creek Environmental Residential Conservation project with Wildmob, and a second group during the April school holidays. Students participated in building the sanctuary for the Spotted Quoll breeding programme, in addition to mentoring feral animals and investigating environmental issues related to farming around Wollemi National park and the impact of people on National parks.

During Term 1 approximately 30 students participated in ‘Clean up Australia Day’ and reduced our carbon footprint in the week leading up to EARTH HOUR by educating the school community on how to participate. Claire Fu and Amy Tong of Year 12 facilitated an Orangutan Awareness week raising $400 to donate to the Orangutan orphanage in Borneo. St George Girls High School continued to

sponsor Rose the Koala and held its annual Bake Sale to raise money for The Australia Koala Foundation. In 2015 almost $1000 was raised which went towards Rose and planting trees for Koalas in the Wild.

In the July school holidays eleven students and one teacher travelled to Norfolk Island and participated in conservation work with Wildmob. They weeded invasive species, planted native trees, visited a farm which supplies fresh food to the locals and tourists, toured the local garbage tip and sewer plant, visited the Bureau of Meteorology and attended a seminar at the quarantine centre about issues facing the migratory birds.

Overseas Tours

In the April school holidays, Ms Georgius and Ms Fisher took 18 students to Japan for eleven days. The Japan study tour visited Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Tokyo and allowed students to gain valuable insight into Japanese traditions and culture, while improving their language skills. Students also visited numerous world heritage sites such as Kinkakuji, Ryoanji and Kiyomizu Temples in Kyoto, Todaiji Temple in Nara and Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima. At Hiroshima Park and Peace Memorial Museum students gained valuable insight into the tragedy of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan at the end of the Second World War 70 years ago. In Tokyo, students enjoyed the hustle and bustle and a return visit to Kojimachi Gakuen High School.

Mr Morrison and 8 students from Years 10 and 11, together with students from Sydney Girls High School, visited Italy and the UK as part of the Combined Schools Classics Study Tour in the September/October school holidays. Students visited a range of wonderful places including a full day at the archaeological site of Pompeii, the ancient sites of Rome, including the Roman forum and Colosseum, the ruins of Bath in England, a visit to Mill Hill School, London, and the British Museum, home to the largest collection of classical artefacts in the world. Students experienced the culture, history and language that they have learnt about in class, and engaged with their learning through rare but real-life experiences.

Wellbeing Camps and Programs

Camps give students the opportunity to develop friendships, build team skills, take risks, and to challenge themselves physically and mentally in a safe environment.

Year 7 camp, held at Vision Valley, was vital in developing friendships and building on relationships that had been established through the transition and Peer support program. For some Year 7 students, this was their first time away from the family unit.

The Year 9 camp, held at Stanwell Tops conference Centre in May, was pivotal in enhancing teamwork and cooperation skills and friendships through challenges and a range of specialised programs, including study skills.

Year 11 students participated in a camp at Narrabeen Sports and Recreation Centre. Specialised programs in team building activities and study skills, along with the mandatory personal development, health and physical education (PDHPE) program, ‘Crossroads’, was delivered.

Peer Support

This year we ran a two-day training course in Peer Support Leadership for all students in Years 9 and 10. This was part of our school plan to transition the role of peer support leader to the Year 10 cohort where previously we had used the Year 11 students. We selected 25 leaders form Year 10 and 25 leaders in Year 11 2015 to undertake the role of Peer Support Leaders. Each group had a leader from each year. This prevented the Year 11 students from missing the opportunity to participate in this role that is highly valued by the students. Peer Support was again a highly valued program with most students reporting they found it very helpful with the transition process and making new friends at high school.

Student Leadership

Opportunities exist for students to develop their leadership potential through the prefect body in Year 12 and the Student Representative Council (SRC) which has representatives from Year 7 to Year 12. Students in Year 11 serve on the SRC executive.

The SRC executive and School Captains met regularly with the Principal to discuss student issues and to plan future initiatives.

The prefect system enabled Year 12 students to become socially responsible leaders in the school. Fifteen prefects were elected by their peers and acted as role models for the student body. They represented the school in the broader community, assisted in the running of school activities and functions and catered for and represented the opinions of Year 12 students.

Students participated in a number of district, regional and state leadership initiatives.

The school is committed to developing the leadership skills of students and will continue to provide all students with the opportunity to take up leadership positions within the school and in the wider community.

Debating and Public Speaking

The following students were involved in debating and public speaking competitions in 2015.

Year 8 Debating Team - Luce Neilson, Maja Vasic, Zoe Morris, Mikayla Perry, Rachel Perera

Year 9 Debating Team - Eloise Cooper, Letitia Carlile-Purcarea, Emily Kasovska, Sophie Lymn, Brenda Tan

Year 10 Debating Team - Hannah Perera, Una Altarac, Kelly Yuan, Eleni Siafakas, Ziggi Zikmann

Year 11 Debating Team - Rubsat Amin, Teodora Bojanic , Chistiane Haitidis, Fiona Pyliotis, Lili Lasic Latimer, Odessa Blain

Year 12 Debating Team Caitlin Semsarian, Bronte Noakes, Jessica Shao, Niki Kalimnios, Vanessa Jan

Public Speaking- Maja Vasic (Year 8), Luce Neilson (Year 8), Una Altarac (Year 10) and Fiona Pyliotis (Year 11)

The Year 8 team debated in the Premier’s Challenge competition and represented the school in the Selective High Schools Competition. Year 9 won the Zone and defeated six Year 10 teams from other schools to reach the Regional quarterfinals.

About this report In preparing this report, the self-evaluation committee has gathered information from evaluations conducted during the year and analysed other information about the school's practices and student learning outcomes. The self-evaluation committee and school planning committees have determined targets for the school’s future development. Betty Romeo, Principal Pamela Abson, Deputy Principal Katia Vardakis, President, Parents & Citizens’ Association Debbie Wong, President, Mothers’ Committee Stephanie Noronha, President, SRC

St George Girls High School Annual Report 8136 Reports/2015 Annual Report.pdf · St George Girls...

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