2016 Liverpool Girls High School Annual Report · Today it has grown into a successful business,...

Liverpool Girls High SchoolAnnual Report

2016

8176

Printed on: 8 May, 2017 of 27 Liverpool Girls High School 8176 (2016)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2016 is provided to the community of Liverpool Girls' High 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.

David Hargrave

PRINCIPAL

School contact details

Liverpool Girls High SchoolForbes StLiverpool, 2170www.liverpool-h.schools.nsw.edu.auliverpool-h.School@det.nsw.edu.au9602 0083

Message from the Principal

The school continues to explore various ways to provide a relevant and exciting learning experiences for its students.Liverpool Girls' High School provides a supportive learning environment for students and prides itself on being able toprovide numerous learning opportunities for students and a wide curriculum to ensure choice and diversity for life longlearning.

Focusing on teaching and learning enhances student engagement. Through learning teams, teachers explored the useof technology as a learning tool to enhance student learning in a contemporary blended environment. The use ofChromebooks assisted in the provision of an affordable solution for students in Year 7 as a trial of the Bring your owndevice (BYOD) strategy within the school. Many students took up the offer of a partnership with Dell Australia. The useof G Suite and Office 365 platforms provided an accessible way for staff and students to collaborate and co–createon–line. Some excellent work was completed by students using these strategies. The use of G Suite and Office 365 willbe extended across the school in 2017.

The professional learning program also introduced "Twilight" sessions focusing on providing professional learning forstaff to support the achievement of professional learning goals with the introduction of Professional Development Plans(PDPs). This was a most successful way to grow teacher learning aligning and supporting the Teaching Standards.

During 2016, students were actively involved in their learning in and outside of the classroom. Our partnerships withbusiness through I–Manifest, the various universities especially through the COMPASS program, Suncorp, Citibank,Liverpool Hospital, South West Connect and the ABCN business mentoring program provided many experiences forstudents. The school also welcomed the support of the Street University in Liverpool during the year. These partnershipstook student learning into real world applications in authentic contexts, adding to the experiences and opportunities forstudents and their learning.

A group of 25 students in Years 4 and 5 from our partner primary schools took part in a number of gifted and talentedworkshops with student mentors from year 7. The term three workshop focused specifically on STEAM for two days withextensive learning based tasks integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. This partnershipprovided many worthwhile opportunities for our partner primary students to engage in a secondary school setting withsecondary school students. This is part of the schools preparation for high school program.

Many of our learning spaces were updated to create a more flexible approach in the classroom with modern collaborativefurnishings and the removal of the platforms from the front of six rooms, opening them up as larger open collaborativelearning spaces. This will continue over the next few years to enable future focused pedagogy to be supportedby a contemporary flexible learning environment.

During the year, many students participated in representative activities. The Mock Trial team made it through to the semi


finals and did an outstanding job representing our school. Our PACFest team had exceptional success winning sixawards, including the prestigious PACFest International Award and more importantly, were the overall winners forPACFest 2016. Over fifty students were part of the annual Schools Spectacular held for the first time at Homebush.

Opportunities for community involvement in the school grew markedly during the year. The school Harmony Day involvedmore parents, nearly three fold, than in previous years. This day showed the world how many cultures can come togetherand celebrate difference and diversity. Parents were also involved in many parent focused workshops to assist especiallynewly arrived refugee parents in learning about Australia and helping them to settle into a new country, culture andcommunity.

During 2017 the school will continue to grow forward, exploring how to enhance student engagement and learning, andbuild on the success of 2016. As Principal, my ultimate goal is to guide our students in a supportive learning environmentthat provides authentic and real opportunities to grow as individuals, achieve personal best and equip them with skills tobe successful adults and life long learners.

David Hargrave

PRINCIPAL

Message from the students

Liverpool Girls' High School offers its students various opportunities to succeed. Throughout 2016 Liverpool Girls' HighSchool has been involved in significant events such as Schools Spectacular, Bring it on, Mock Trial and PACFest. Thestudents participating in the PACFest achieved first place in this competition. Liverpool Girls' have also been involved inI–Manifest and various charity activities including supporting an organisation that helps young people pursue a career inthe creative industry. Being part of this organisation is such an amazing experience and such an opportunity for bothstudents and teachers.

Harmony Day is held annually, celebrating the school's cultural and racial diversity, bringing the school communitytogether in unity in appreciation and understanding of our differences. It was such a great day bringing as all together asone united school body.

Our school café holds a history of dedication and ambition. Today it has grown into a successful business, selling manydifferent types of coffees and serving delicious treats. The commitment shown by our students to run this student café isoutstanding.

Leadership roles at Liverpool Girls' High School consists within the Year 7–12 Leadership Council (SLC), the Year 12Year Adviser's committee (YAC) and various leadership roles within the library, sporting and cocurricular teams. TheSLC is comprised of representatives from each year group that act as a voice for their peers, giving students a chance tobe heard and have their opinions expressed. The 2016 SLC was made up of 26 students from Years 7–12. This includedthe School Captain, Vice Captain, two school ambassadors and two senior advisers. Students in the SLC are voted totheir positions by their peers and are a dedicated group of students who aim to better represent the student voice in theschool. Our focus involves, improving the quality of the school community for all students. Weekly council sessions areheld on Mondays. The SLC also involved themselves heavily in fundraising to support various charities and causesthroughout the year.

We believe in our school as it is a safe and progressive learning environment where students strive for excellence in thesupportive environment that is our school.

Kayla Woolfe

SCHOOL CAPTAIN


School background

School vision statement

Innovation Excellence Learning

To prepare our students to be young women with integrity, individuality, creativity, confidence and social purpose byinspiring them with educational excellence in an inclusive community that provides opportunity for life–learning byparticipating and collaborating in a modern global world.

OUR PURPOSE • To encourage the school community to cultivate, consolidate and extend academic, social, physical and personal

development of each individual. • To inspire, impassion and build the capacity of the school community for life–long learning and encourage active

engagement within the school and wider community. • To provide staff with opportunities to maintain and develop professionally and encourage high expectations,

providing quality innovative teaching and learning for a modern, challenging and ever changing world. • To foster partnerships with parents and the wider community. • To foster, embrace and celebrate diversity in the school and wider community.

School context

Liverpool Girls’ High School (LGHS) is a learning community committed to achieving goals, working together, continuallysearching for improvement and encouraging and implementing new, innovative ideas. The school is located in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney and is part the Liverpool Network Group of the NSW Department of Education, PublicSchools. The school was established in 1954 replacing the then Liverpool Home Science School which opened in1929. The school is a multicultural comprehensive girls’ high school with over 89% of the students coming from aculturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. The school has students from about 62 different countries withover 50 languages being spoken by the students and their families. Aboriginal students account for 2.2% of the schoolpopulation.

A broad range of curriculum options are offered and have been structured to meet students’ needs, abilities andinterests. There is an ongoing focus on student engagement with students actively involved in their learning. The schoolreceives much well deserved praise from the community and is recognised as having high academic achievers andquality learning through leadership programs, exhibitions, school to work planning, volunteer programs, vocationaleducation programs, a wide range of co–curricular activities and an information communication technology (ICT) focusthat is embedded in all student learning activities.

The school has built a strong community relationship with Liverpool Hospital working in partnership to provide manyeducational and community based experiences for our students and its staff. Community partnerships have also beenformed with many local business, universities and community providers who enhance the educational experiences of thestudents.

The school has received many awards in the past and has been recognised as a School of Excellence. We, as a schoolcommunity, are very proud of our school and work together in harmony to build on the outstanding reputation that theschool has built since 1954. We work to ensure every student excels through Innovation Excellence and Learning.

.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework,school achievements and the next steps to be pursued.

This year, our school undertook self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework. The framework supports


public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a clear description of high quality practiceacross the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading.

In the domain of Learning ... • The school achieves high value added results with many groups of students showing higher than expected growth

on internal and external performance measures as evidenced in the growth data from student mapping relatedto Year 7 to 9 NAPLAN and to the HSC results. Students have demonstrated remarkable growth rates in all areasthan is expected for like groups. The school was identified in the media as a school where students achieveremarkable growth and was placed in the top twenty of low socio economic schools achieving higher thanexpected growth.

• Positive, respectful relationships are evident among students and staff promoting student wellbeing and ensuringgood conditions for student learning as evidenced by the tone of the school captured through photographs andvideos of student's involved in daily life of the school, comments made by visitors into the school, low suspensionrates, and information provided in the Tell them from me survey.

• The school encourages students to recognise and respect cultural identity and diversity as evidenced through theHarmony Day evaluative reports, photographs; students working together in mixed cultural groups each day; familypartnership presentations; parent/daughter events, especially the cooking activities and the general tone of theschool which is welcoming and commented on by visitors to the school.

• Extra–curricular learning opportunities are significant, support student development, and are strongly aligned withthe school's vision, values and priorities as evidenced through the range of activities for students and the highnumbers of student who are involved in the activities such as the knitting group (Wrapped in Love) who createknitted blankets for charity; the student operated café; the Mock Trial team; sporting groups; dance groups;PACFest student group; the school bands; singing groups; drama group; Jane Austen book club; library monitors;philosophy group; yoga group; writer's group and many more. Liverpool Girls High School always has over fiftystudents participate in the School Spectacular each year. The school is structured to support clubs andextra–curricular activities by having the same length beak times in the timetable. Many groups meet after schooland on Saturday morning when Saturday School is in attendance and the school is open.

• Student feedback and reports contain detailed information about individual students learning achievement andareas of growth, which provide the basis for discussion with parents which is evidenced by the bump–up walls inEnglish which outlines learning progression so students can track their development further goal based learning;the focus of school wide professional learning during the year to equip teachers with skills to provide meaningfulfeedback to students in their work products and school based reports. The intensive professional learning sessionswere also supported with a guide for teachers to create meaningful reports and feedback information for students,parents and other people who read student reports. Feedback from parents demonstrate that they find the detailedreports each semester very beneficial in celebrating their child's achievement and knowing where they are headingnext.

In the domain of Teaching ... • Teachers working together to improve teaching and learning strategies across the school sharing learning from

targeted professional development with others evidenced by the teams of teachers working together in learningteams to develop and test strategy in the classroom. This has resulted in staff being able to experiment withstrategy and explore different ways of delivering learning that is student focused. The use of the G Suite and Office365 applications in both student and staff portals have provided a worthwhile accessible tool in making this happenin many classrooms across the school.

• Processes are in place to provide formal mentoring and coaching support to improve teaching and leadershippractice evidenced by the employment of a coach and using experienced staff members as mentors for lessexperienced staff members. The creation of collaborative learning approaches across the school supports thenotion of working and learning together in a collaborative environment. This development has also been supportedwith regular set development sessions twice a term and two weekend conferences attended by all school leaders.

• Beginning and early career teachers are provided with targeted support in areas of identified need evidenced bythe program of support and the reflections completed by teachers indicating the success of the support anddevelopment of their practice.

• Teachers work beyond the classroom to contribute to broader school programs as evidenced by the range ofextra–curricular activities that teachers are involved in, the additional professional learning sessions held out ofhours; the number of staff working with students in the help desk (homework centre) three afternoons per weekand the number of staff who run tutorial sessions for Stage 6 students out of hours including weekends andholidays.

In the domain of Leading ... • Parents and community members have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of student–related activities

evidenced by the number of parents engaging in parent workshops each fortnight in the school run by the CLOs;parent involvement in parent daughter days, family partnership activities, and information sessions and events heldin the school.

• Leadership development is central to school capacity building evidenced by the program of development and


professional learning for the leadership team through the engagement of a professional coach for coachingsessions and active professional learning sessions and retreats.

• The school has productive relationships with external agencies such as universities, business, and communityorganisations to improve educational opportunities for students evidenced by the range of partnerships formedthrough the universities, Liverpool Hospital, local business and big city based businesses, brokers such asI–Manifest, ABCN and South West Connect who provide vital partnerships to enhance students' authentic learningexperiences and opportunities to grow as successful learners.

• Physical learning spaces are used flexibly, and technology is accessible to staff and students as evidence by the'learning space renewal program' to modernise learning spaces so they are functional and able to provide for thedemands of today's learning. This has included new styles of furnishings, access to technology as a tool forlearning; renewing classroom layout by removing the platforms at the front of classrooms and ensuring that roomshave carpet for noise reduction and flexible learning in a conducive space that encourages active learning.

• The school leadership team creates an organisational structure that enables management systems, structures andprocesses to work effectively and in line with legislative requirements and obligations evidenced by the systems inplace through school frameworks that outline Departmental policy into workable school systems that are clear andgive staff clear understanding of expectations, for example, the excursion process.

The self–assessment process will assist the school to refine the strategic priorities in the School Plan, leading tofurther growth in the delivery of education to students at Liverpool Girls High School.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework:

http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about–the–department/our–reforms/school–excellence–framework


Strategic Direction 1

Dynamic learning for a future global world.

Purpose

Inspire and create an educational space, environment and community in which social, emotional, physical, intellectualand critical abilities are developed through holistic, innovative and a dynamic approach to teaching and learning in achallenging world.

Students demonstrate a greater capacity for independent learning and critical thinking.

Consolidate, apply, make connections and refine authentic learning situations so that learners develop the skills forlife–long learning in a variety of contexts.

Understand and practise the process of assessment as part of the learning process and balance assessment for, of andas learning.

Skilling for life after school.

Overall summary of progress

The school continues to grow learning for students moving to a more personalised approach catering for students'specific learning needs. This has been reinforced through;

• use of SMART data to assist in knowing students learning needs and by planning to address these as part of thelearning program;

• teacher learning which has continued in learning teams ensured that teachers have the skills to embed studentbased approaches through collaboration, problem solving, literacy and numeracy skills into the content of allcourses;

• technology which has played a significant role in building student individualised engagement through G Suite andOffice 365 applications; and

• student assessment approaches which have focused on giving students feedback about their learning. This hasbeen reflected in ensuring that teacher comments focus on giving students comprehensive feedback about theirlearning and where they are heading to next.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Progress achieved this year Funds Expended(Resources)

Growth of students as learners isevident in learning assessmentinformation and folios, andtracking mechanisms.

Student attendance remains highwith few students being absentfrom school on a daily basis. (Itis maintained at 92% or above)

All learning programsdemonstrate explicit and plannedlearning programs and are inplace for all courses.

Consistent and explicitassessment practices leading tomeaningful feedback to students.

Value added data in externalSMART data shows a consistentgrowth pattern to previous yearsand above state averages.

There has been a focus on standards andassessing students against standards. Teachershave collected a range of student work samplesfrom a number of tasks to explore student learning,what is demonstrated and where students areheading in their learning. Tasks are more reflective,ensuring that students are reflecting on the learningthey demonstrate in their tasks. All formalassessment tasks follow the same format acrossthe school in all years. IEPs have helped trackstudent progress and has provided an avenue forstudents to set individual learning goals and have avoice in their learning to grow to the next level.

Student attendance over the year has notmaintained the levels of previous years. Overallattendance is slightly below State average by 0.8%.Review of strategies that have been successful inthe past will need to be reevaluated andconsidered. Year 10 attendance indicates lowerthan expected attendance patterns. Although therehas been stronger restrictions on students takingleave for extended periods of time to travel

$20,000.00 for teacherrelease time – LearningInnovations.

$10,000.00 for new syllabusdevelopment in the SocialSciences faculty.

$15,000.00 release time forassessment developmentpractices.

$5,000.00 Bump it up walls.

$15,000.00 release time todevelop embedded learningstrategies for literacy andnumeracy integration.

$15,000.00 Help Centre(Afterschool HomeworkCentre)





Growth of students as learners isevident in learning assessmentinformation and folios, andtracking mechanisms.

Student attendance remains highwith few students being absentfrom school on a daily basis. (Itis maintained at 92% or above)

All learning programsdemonstrate explicit and plannedlearning programs and are inplace for all courses.

Consistent and explicitassessment practices leading tomeaningful feedback to students.

Value added data in externalSMART data shows a consistentgrowth pattern to previous yearsand above state averages.

overseas, many students are still traveling duringschool time.

All learning programs are planned to guide teachingand learning in classes that embed all aspects ofthe BOSTES syllabuses. Teachers use data andinformation about student learning to designprograms that target student need. Learningprograms ensure that assessment process areembedded as part of the learning process and arelinked to students demonstrating their learning inrelation to the syllabus outcomes.

Teacher professional development time during2016 has focused on developing meaningfulfeedback for student learning. Explicit feedbackcelebrating success, and highlighting improvementgoals have given students direct information aboutlearning and how to go about self directing theirimprovement through guided feedback that guidesand demonstrates how they can improve to the nextlevel. Student reports also follow the same structureof explicit feedback that is learning centred.

Our value added data for HSC studentsdemonstrates very positive growth of our studentsin all bands. The value adding data is higher thanstate and similar school groups.

$6,000.00 to supplementthe Year 12 study program.

$10,000.00 Stage 6Passport Program

$7,500.00 for Year 12tutorial program forpreparation for the HSCafter the trial HSCexaminations.

$8,000.00 for student at riskprogram to build literacyand numeracy skills

$8,000.00 to fund access toMathletics for all students.

Next Steps

As the school further grows in its use of technology as a learning tool, the promotion of the bring your own deviceprogram (BYOD) needs further emphasis so that students have personalised access to technology following theintroduction ET4L program. The use of Google Classroom will further enhance students' access to a range ofindividualised learning approaches on–line.

Further exploration of the assessment process that integrates assessment and feedback on the key capabilities needscloser refinement to ensure that processes are in place to support, develop and give feedback on this important facet ofstudent learning.

To further enhance teacher learning of pedagogy an integrated multi–disciplinary course will be implemented through anapproach to STEAM in year 7 during 2017. This course is designed to showcase student centred learning and act as alearning opportunity for teachers to be involved in seeing the action of integrated learning in real classrooms. Teacherswill be able to co–teach and participate in the action of the classroom applying the pedagogical skills that have beenlearned through the learning teams over the last few years.

The last section of transforming learning spaces to accommodate a changing pedagogy will occur, removing the last ofthe teacher platforms at the front of the classroom so as to open the learning spaces to allow greater functionality ofspace. New types of furnishings will also be added to create more collaborative learning that supports the changingpedagogy that is being adopted across the school to support collaborative practices such as Project–based Learningthrough Design Thinking.

Student attendance needs re–evaluation exploring why attendance has slipped. A review of strategies and exploration ofother strategies need to be considered. Once LMBR is in place, a consideration of the introduction of SMS messaging ofabsent students needs to be considered as a way of effectively informing parents / caregivers of student absence eachday.



Leading for learning.

Purpose

Enable and enact leadership opportunities and processes to grow innovative school directions and operations for amodern ever changing world.

Grow and develop embedded professional learning opportunities for teachers and school personnel that provides a basisand support for innovative and creative learning situations to enhance and grow student learning opportunities.

Reflect on learning practices through on–going evaluation practices that drive school direction in common and cohesiveways.


Leadership mentoring and professional learning sessions has continued to grow leadership capacity and confidencethroughout the school. The use of a growth coach for the leadership team has enabled leaders to be confident in movingtheir responsibility areas forward with understanding as to how and why positive change processes are required totransform approaches to fit a changing society. A stronger team focus has been apparent where there is a strongdirection that has been forged through the collaboration of the school leadership team.

Embedded professional learning opportunities has meant that there is a strong culture of staff learning. The Performanceand Development Plan (PDP) has identified a stronger focus on staff individualised learning. Twilight learning sessionshave been added to the repertoire of staff learning and have assisted in providing a varied suite of learning opportunitiesfor teachers.

The use of the Excellence Framework has ensured a more focused approach to reviewing the operations of the school.A closer evidence based approach has been adopted and a rethinking of evaluation processes has begun to bedeveloped to ensure realistic evidence based evaluation takes place and is used to grow the school forward and create agrowth mindset.




All executive staff participate inmentoring and coaching activitiesand there is a shared commondirection of the school leadershipteam.

All teachers are purposefullyengaged in developing andfollowing their own professionallearning goals to improveperformance and maintain orwork towards the accreditationlevels.

100% of teachers accredited bythe end of 2016 and teachers.

There have been three facultyreviews and two program reviewsannually as part of the schoolevaluation cycle that contributesto the changing nature of theschool that comes from informeddata. This is linked to theExcellence Framework whichforms a reference base for

All Executive Staff were involved in the LeadershipDevelopment Program. This involved a leadershipcoach who met with all leadership twice a term withtwo professional learning afternoons and twoLeadership Development Residential Conferences.This resulted in the leadership team having ashared, directed and strategic focus and theknowledge base and understanding in leading theirteams in a changing educational environment thatis adjusting the new demands of a modern society.All teams have detailed plans that relate back to theachievement of school goals.

All staff have participated in the second yearof Personal Development Plans (PDPs). Teachergoals were used to create comprehensive andresponsive programs for staff learning. Theintroduction of twilight sessions enabled staff tochoose professional learning activities to achievetheir learning goals.

All staff have been informed and encouraged toregister 'Working with Children Check' inpreparation for mandatory requirements as part ofthe registration and accreditation process – timeline has been extended. By the end of 2016 62% of

$75,000.00 LeadershipDevelopment

$10,000.00 ChangingPedagogy in SocialSciences – embeddingstrategy into new teachingand learning programs

$10,000.00 Leadershipthrough healthy activitiesprograms (PDHPE)

$2,500.00 Successful meproject

$2,500.00 Peer SupportProgram

$5,000.00 Peer ReadingLeadership Program





evaluations. staff had completed this mandatory task.

One faculty review was held in Mathematics.

The school has changed its direction and approachto evaluation with more evidence based analysis inrelation to the Excellence Framework in a moreholistic and directed way. The leadership team andthe evaluation team have been exploring a varietyof ways to collect information that informs capturinga picture of what is occurring at points in time.Development sessions have been held with theleadership coach working with the teams on adirection and strategy that will be further explored in2017 to put together a comprehensive andworkable evaluation strategy.

Next Steps

A greater focus on providing opportunities for aspiring leaders will be introduced during the next year providing growthcoaching, professional learning sessions, experiences and opportunities to lead the school forward.

Professional learning will be enhanced through providing more choice in the Twilight sessions for staff, allowing for moreoptions that are related to teacher goals and PDPs. Action–based learning will be provided through co–teachingopportunities for teachers with the Year 7 STEAM project allowing for real time application of new pedagogy in action.

Exploration of registering courses with the Board of Studies and Educational Standards (BOSTES), so courses counttowards accreditation and maintenance, to enable staff to use these courses as part of the mandatory hours foraccreditation.

All staff, by April 2017, will have completed their Working with Children Check in preparation for accreditationrequirements for 2018.

Further refinement of evidence based approaches will form a major area of development in the next year. A rethink ofevaluation approaches will occur with the leadership team working with the leadership coach on evidence basedevaluation approaches will lead to a more formalised approach that reflects the Excellence Framework and grows theschool forward with an evidence based growth mindset.



Authentic learning connections and partnerships

Purpose

Grow and build learning partnerships to enrich student experience and learning and provide authentic learningexperiences in a variety of real contexts giving students a realistic view of the world outside of the school.

Transform community partnerships through innovative parent engagement workshops and activities that involve externalpartnerships with the wider community that can contribute to student learning success.

Continue to develop research partnerships with universities in areas of student engagement that enhances theinnovation of school practice.


Learning partnerships continue to grow and there are many opportunities for students to experience authentic learning inthe real world. Partnerships with iManifest, Suncorp, Citibank, PWC, the University of Sydney, the Smith Family, andother major companies have provided learning experiences in the real world for both staff and students. This enhancesand builds on the learning happening within the school.

Parents have strongly been involved in workshops throughout the school, aimed at developing community and buildingrelationships as part of the learning process. The concept of parent daughter days has led to a greater appreciation ofparents of their daughter's learning experiences in a changing learning environment. Parents, during the last year, havebecome more involved in the school activities.

Partnerships continue to grow. Companies are actually seeking our students to be involved and have a voice in theircompany's future. Suncorp chose a number of our students to represent the youth voice at their National Conference inMelbourne.




50%growth from previous year inthe number of parents involved inactivities run by the school thatinvolves parents as learners withtheir daughters.

Parents are involved in schoolactivities with participation ratesgrowing significantly with eachevent.

Three University partnershipsformed and ongoing programsembedded into the schoolorganisation and curriculum.

Strengthened links with businessas partners in our studentslearning by 50%

Two large business partnershipsformed to provide shadowing andmentoring of Years9 and 10students in workplace situations.Comprehensive learning programdeveloped to drive purpose intothe program.

During 2016 there was a significant increase inparent and community attendance and participationin events. There was over a 250% increase inparticipation at Harmony Day. Parent Teacherevenings, and family partnership events maintainedsimilar levels as in the past. The parent forumswere popular with refugee parents and haveexpanded in their frequency and range of areas toassist newly arrived parents to settle as members ofthe local community that is inclusive and assistthem in their resettlement to Australia. Theparticipation rates of about 25 attendees wasconstant throughout the year.

Information to the community was strengthenedwith the introduction of the Mobile Phone SchoolApp.

Our links with the University of Sydney through theCOMPASS program and Doctor Karl has ensuredthat many students in all year groups have had arange of authentic learning experiences throughtertiary assisted programs. A link with University ofTechnology Sydney (UTS) through their projectsdesigned especially for girls such as 'steampunk'targeted a number of Stage 6 students. Studentscontinue to be involved with activities with WesternSydney University (WSU) through excursion events

$108,425.00 employment of1.5 Community LiaisonOfficers.

$5,000.00 CommunityEngagement Project

$1,000.00 PACS project

$5,000.00 Parent DaughterDays

$2,000.00 Parent Picnic

$2,000.00 FamilyPartnership

$4,000.00 GLIDES

$2,000.00 Mobile phoneApp for parents andcommunity

$ 11,500.00 Stage 3 to4 Transition to High School

$8,000.00 Stage 6Transition to post





50%growth from previous year inthe number of parents involved inactivities run by the school thatinvolves parents as learners withtheir daughters.

Parents are involved in schoolactivities with participation ratesgrowing significantly with eachevent.

Three University partnershipsformed and ongoing programsembedded into the schoolorganisation and curriculum.

Strengthened links with businessas partners in our studentslearning by 50%

Two large business partnershipsformed to provide shadowing andmentoring of Years9 and 10students in workplace situations.Comprehensive learning programdeveloped to drive purpose intothe program.

especially in science. A group of staff were alsoinvolved with a team from WSU in the interschoolSystems Leadership Project learning about ways toevaluate impact of strategy in meaningful ways ofdata and information collection to inform progressand growth. Initial contact has been made with theUniversity of Wollongong who are opening acampus in Liverpool. This partnership will grow inthe future.

The school has welcomed active partnerships withCitibank and continued alliances with PWC,Suncorp, and partnerships linked with I–Manifest,ABCN and South West Connect. Thesepartnerships have given many students a range ofopportunities and experiences to learning inauthentic situations alongside mentors and realwork.

secondary school

Next Steps

School promotions and linking our successes to the world need further focus. Strengthening our links with our partnerprimary schools will be strengthened through promotions days and more focused transition activities for Stage 3students. Use of the school web site, Twitter and Instagram will be enhanced to highlight the events of the school and itsstudents.

More community based forums focusing on community issues for parents has been identified by community members asan area that they would like the school to provide in some of the community forum sessions with guest speakers.

Development of a Community Partnership Tool Box will be developed to create a sustainable resource to guidepartnerships in the future.

Closer liaison with the University of Wollongong will be made with the opening of the new campus in the heart of theLiverpool CBD. Continue to grow partnerships with outside agencies and bodies within and beyond the local Liverpoolcommunity.


Key Initiatives Impact achieved this year Resources (annual)

Aboriginal background loading All of our students have developed theirPersonalised Learning Plans which outlinestheir learning goals and strives to build theirlearning skills with support from theirteachers, and mentors. The process ofdeveloping the plans is a joint effort ofconsultation and working together.

With Norta Norta funding the school was ableto assist aboriginal students with a mentor toassist students with the achievement of thegoals and assist them with their learning. Thishas resulted in improved outcomes forstudents who feel supported and see successin their learning. Attendance for Aboriginalstudents is equal to that of otherstudents throughout the school.

$6,486.00 = Aboriginalstudent mentor 0.5 teacherdifference made up fromGlobal.

English language proficiency The English as a additional language (EALD)program supports students who are learningEnglish as their second, third or even forthlanguage. The school provides an extensiverange of support through targeted programs,in class support, additional support programs.Stage 6 students who have been in thecountry less than five years are able tocomplete the ESL English course whichsupports their development and growth inlearning English. In Stage 5 students newlyarrived in the country are supported with theirEnglish learning in a small class group whichfocuses specifically building their basic skillsin reading and writing English as well asunderstanding the spoken word. Students inthese groups have shown much growth andare able to access the language demands ofthe broader curriculum.

4.2 Teaching staff

$31,173.00 , resource anddevelopment time.

$19,234 Refugee Funds =funding 0.2 SLSO resourceand development time.

Low level adjustment for disability All Year 7 students were assessed during thebeginning of the year to identify studentsneeding specific support. NAPLAN resultswere also used to build a program of supportfor those students needing extra assistanceand to ensure that all teachers were aware ofspecific learning needs of students that couldbe addressed in the Year 7 learning program.Students needing specific assistance workedeach morning throughout the year with Year11 peer mentors in reading, writing andnumeracy areas. All students recordedsignificant improvement in their targeted skilldevelopment areas.

The employment of two SLSOs gave studentswho also needed extra support within theclassroom additional help, building theirunderstanding and levels of success toachieve in the classroom setting.

2.7 Teaching staff

$109,225 for HTSupplementation, resourceand development time, kitsfor student engagementand learning

$25,726.00 Integrationtowards the hiring ofSSLOs to assist students.

Socio–economic background Provision of additional funds providedsupportive ways to assist student learningdevelopment. Student learning was assistedthrough the operation of a homework helpcentre three afternoons per week. A numberof teachers were available to help with

2.7 Teaching staff

$1,037,496.00

1 Head Teacher


Socio–economic background subject specific assistance and also withassignments, study and homework.

The school employed a teacher to help Year12 students with their study via the continuedstudy support program through the seniorlearning centre. Each Year 12 student setslearning goals and was assisted in thelearning centre to achieve their goals. Anumber of various study support sessionswere held during the year to enhancestudents' understanding and wellbeing. Thesupport of this initiative has shown markedimprovement in student HSC results andcontributes significantly to the value addedgrowth of student learning.

All Year 7 teaching staff were involved inprofessional learning teams exploring ways toengage students in active learning especiallythough technology and the use of GoogleClassroom and the Office 360 suite. Teachersin their learning teams explored ways tointroduce future ready learning skills throughan integrated and blended approach tolearning. Learning reflectionsdemonstrated growing use of technologyintegrated in to the learning program andgrowing the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)strategy. Teachers demonstrated a growingconfidence in using technology as a tool toassist and motivate student learning making itaccessible and relevant.

2 Additional Teaching Staff

1.5 Community LiaisonOfficers

0.2 SASS Administration ofEquity

1 Technology SupportOfficer

Program Development andResourcing

Support for beginning teachers During the year there were two beginningteachers who were mentored by a beginningteacher mentor and taken through a programof induction throughout the year, focusing ondeveloping the skills of being a teacher.Hands on developmental activities formed theframework for the teacher's development.Practical activities that incorporatedprogramming, creating authentic assessmentlearning components, giving meaningfulfeedback to students, reporting studentachievement for school reports, managingstudents in the classroom all formed a basisto guide beginning teachers through theirprofessional growth.

$24,000.00 – reduction offace to face time.

Targeted student support forrefugees and new arrivals

Ethnic SLSO – 0.4

Arabic SLSO – 0 .2

Parent Volunteer 1 day per week

In class individual student assistance withliteracy development and understanding.

Professional learning sessions for teachers tobe able to cater for the needs of refugeestudents in the general classroom.

$19,000.00 IntegrationSupport


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2013 2014 2015 2016

Boys 0 0 0 0

Girls 1062 1043 1005 986

Enrolment has continued to decline in the last fewyears with the change in the demographics of the area.This though is due to somewhat change over the nextfew years with enrolments predicted to rise significantly.Local partner primary schools are indicating thatenrolments have increased markedly over the last fewyears which inturn will grow the school's numberssignificantly as well. The building and completion ofnew apartment towers around Liverpool has increasedhousing greatly which will grow numbers as newfamilies move into the area.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

7 93.9 94.3 93.4 91.8

8 93.4 92.2 90.4 90.2

9 89.4 91.9 89 87

10 89.3 89.6 88.9 85.6

11 90.7 91 90.1 90.1

12 89.2 88.9 88.2 88.9

All Years 90.9 91.2 90 88.9

State DoE

Year 2013 2014 2015 2016

7 93.2 93.3 92.7 92.8

8 90.9 91.1 90.6 90.5

9 89.4 89.7 89.3 89.1

10 87.7 88.1 87.7 87.6

11 88.3 88.8 88.2 88.2

12 90.1 90.3 89.9 90.1

All Years 89.9 90.2 89.7 89.7

Management of non-attendance

School attendance data indicates that studentattendance rates have fallen below state average.Although there are stronger restrictions on studentstaking extended leave to travel overseas, manystudents are still going overseas for extended periods

which adds to the attendance issues. Families arecontacted when students have not been at school bythe CLOs. Notification letters of absence are sent tofamilies each week. The school will explore the optionof SMS messages when students are absent as astrategy to inform families during the next year.

Post-school destinations

Proportion ofstudents movinginto post-schooleducation, trainingor employment

Year10%

Year11%

Year12%

SeekingEmployment

0 0 1

Employment 0 1 5

TAFE entry 1 2 12

University Entry 0 0 71

Other 2 3 7

Unknown 0 1 4

Our retention of students remains high. There are fewstudents in Year 10 and Year 11 who leave school toprogress to post school options. Most students continueon to the Year 12 school year. High numbers ofstudents continue on to university studies oncompletion of the HSC. The school ensures that thereare options for students to have choice in their studiescatering for student interest for their futures. Manystudents chose a non–ATAR pathway. The careersadviser and transition coordinator provide manyinformation sessions and workshops for studentsensuring that they are aware of the choices availablefor post school options.

Year 12 students undertaking vocational or tradetraining

Fifty one percent of students completed a vocationaleducation subject for the HSC which amounts to 78students. Vocational Education subjects studied at theschool included business services, hospitality – foodand beverage and retail services.

Nine Year 12 students completed their TVET coursessuccessfully in 2016. These courses included beautyand hairdressing, human services, sport fitness andrecreation, tourism and travel, automotive mechanical,and nursing.

Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalentvocational education qualification

Five students did not complete the required units ofstudy for the HSC qualification in 2016. A further threestudents left school before the HSC examinations toeither enter TAFE or employment before they


completed Year 12. With the exception of these eightstudents all students obtained a Higher SchoolCertificate accreditation in 2016.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Deputy Principal(s) 2

Head Teacher(s) 12

Classroom Teacher(s) 48.8

Learning and Support Teacher(s) 2.7

Teacher Librarian 1

Teacher of ESL 4.2

School Counsellor 1

School Administration & SupportStaff

12.17

Other Positions 3.7

*Full Time Equivalent

The Australian Regulation, 2014, requires schools toreport on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. Two members of staff have identified as Aboriginal orTorres Straight Islander decent.

The school uses RAM funding to employ additional staffincluding one Head Teacher, Learning Innovations, fiveadditional teaching positions to provide moreindividualised learning to engage students, one full timeand one part–time Community Liaison Office, a numberof part time school learning support officers and a fulltime technology support officer.

Teacher qualifications

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

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 31

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Professional learning is a high priority at school andaddresses Department of Education and school priorityareas supporting the implementation of the school plan.

Five designated school development days wereallocated to professional learning activities, howevermany courses were conducted outside normal schoolhours including afternoons and weekends. Under equityfunding every teacher was allocated two periods afortnight to be part of a learning team. This worked outas seven additional professional learning days for eachteacher for this one initiative.

As part of the school’s equity strategies the schoolhas created a position of Head Teacher LearningInnovations who works alongside teachers assisting,guiding and mentoring their individual professionallearning plans and supporting staff with professionallearning activities. Professional learning teams are aninitiative of equity funding as evidence demonstratesembedded professional learning is one of the mostsignificant ways to enhance and grow student learningengagement.

Three staff members completed the process foraccreditation at Proficient Teacher level. The teachersmet regularly with the accreditation coordinator toreceive support, assistance and feedback on theaccreditation process. Eight staff members continuedthe process of maintaining teacher accreditation duringthe year.


Financial information (for schoolsusing OASIS for the whole year)

Financial information

This summary financial information covers funds foroperating costs to December 2016 and does notinvolve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries,building and major maintenance.

Income $

Balance brought forward 1 151 560.22

Global funds 570 292.19

Tied funds 1 050 847.64

School & community sources 370 890.84

Interest 31 496.49

Trust receipts 59 598.40

Canteen 0.00

Total income 3 234 685.78

Expenditure

Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 108 777.92

Excursions 62 196.53

Extracurricular dissections 116 988.63

Library 14 542.40

Training & development 1 624.28

Tied funds 1 105 406.33

Short term relief 179 108.43

Administration & office 255 449.21

School-operated canteen 0.00

Utilities 99 791.06

Maintenance 62 785.82

Trust accounts 57 489.26

Capital programs 13 115.00

Total expenditure 2 077 274.87

Balance carried forward 1 157 410.91

A full copy of the school’s financial statement is tabledat the annual general meetings of the parent and/orcommunity groups. Further details concerning thestatement can be obtained by contacting the school.

School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results acrossthe Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy andnumeracy assessments are reported on a scale fromBand 1 to Band 10. The achievement scalerepresents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments.

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

In literacy, 32% Year 7 students achieved Band 7/8 inreading, which was consistent with the school average2014–2016, 36% in writing, with an improvement of 4%from school average 2014–2016, 44% in spelling and38% in grammar and punctuation, with significantimprovement in Band 6/7.

In literacy, 11% Year 7 students achieved Band 8/9 inreading, 11% in writing, 27% in spelling and 13% ingrammar and punctuation. Year 7 students performedconsistently in reading, writing and spelling whencompared with school average 2014–2016.

The percentage of students in all bands overall reflectsthe school average during the last three years in all fouraspects of literacy.

The focus on improvement on literacy for 2017 in allareas is required with close attention to the aspects ashighlighted in the SMART data package. This shouldguide programs and strategy.

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

In literacy, 4% Year 9 students achieved Band 9/10 inreading, 5% in writing, 15% in spelling and 8% ingrammar and punctuation.

All areas of literacy in Year 9 will need to be targetedfor 2017.


Year 7 NAPLAN – Numeracy

In numeracy, 11% Year 7 students achieved Band 8/9with improvement in Band 8 when compared to schoolaverage 2014–2016. Year 7 numeracy data indicatesan improved movement from Band 5 to Band 6 of closeto 10% when comparing 2016 data to the average dataover the previous three years.


Year 9 NAPLAN – Numeracy

In numeracy, 7% Year 9 students achieved Band 9/10with improvement in Band 10 when compared to schoolaverage 2014–2016. Year 9 Numeracy data shows ahigh concentration of Bands 6 and 7 which has beenmaintained over the last three years, with animprovement for Band 10 in the last year's results.

Continued development of focused strategies acrossthe curriculum will continue in 2017.

The My School website provides detailedinformation and data for national literacy and numeracytesting. Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.auand insert the school name in the Find a school andselect GO to access the school data.

Higher School Certificate (HSC)

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


Over the last three years the average HSC score hasbeen maintained at 60% or above in a number of HSCsubjects.


Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

Each year schools are required to seek the opinions ofparents, students and teachers about the school. In2016 the school sought opinions through theparticipation in the Tell them from me survey . Findingsof the survey can be summarised as follows;

Findings – Student outcomes and school climate

727 student respondents on Student Engagement • 60% of students at LGHS reported to have a

strong sense of belonging. • 58% participate in sports or extra–curricular

activities. • 80% positive friendships. LGHS students are

socially engaged and 2% higher compared withNSW Government norms.

• Between 75–90% of students at LGHS feel thatwhat they are learning at school is directly relatedto their long term success and is reflected instudents fairly high attendance rate in mostyears..

• 60% of students make an effort to completehomework.

• 54% of students at LGHS are intellectuallyengaged and find learning interesting, enjoyableand relevant.

• 35% of students are interested and motivated intheir learning.

• 71% of students try hard to succeed in theirlearning.

• 10% of students lacked confidence in their skillsand did not feel they were challenged comparedto 7% of NSW government norm. This is alsoreflected in NAPLAN data.

• Students rated "Effective Classroom Learningtime" – 6.8 out of 10.

• 84% of students have aspirations of pursuingpost–secondary education and plan to go touniversity.

• 40% of students agreed that they "felt pride intheir school".

NEXT STEPS • Further work on assessment for learning and

giving quality feedback to students. Explore andtrial the introduction of digital portfolio typeassessment practice that gives immediatefeedback to students about their work.

• Introduce explicit learning practice throughmaking explicit in ALL classrooms every lessonthe learning intention and success criteria.Purchase small whiteboards to be placed in alllearning spaces specifically for this purpose.Explicit engagement in learning is articulated andreinforced.

• Continue further introduction of G Suite and Office360 applications. Encourage the use of Googleclassroom as a tool for learning. so that studentsexpect on–line reference to the learning..

• Explore and use strategies that engage studentsmore in learning activities.

• Investigate and explore literacy and numeracy

programs being used in other schools that couldbe introduced into the school to boost studentconfidence and motivation by addressing successin basic skills.

• Begin the next stage for Positive Behaviour forLearning (PBL) from 2016 for full implementationin Term 4, 2017.

Findings, Teacher Survey – Focus on Learning

73 teacher respondents • All eight drivers of student learning which

are leadership, collaboration, learning culture,data informs practice, teaching strategies,technology, inclusive school and parentinvolvement sat just below 8/10 on the scale.

• The drivers of parent involvement sat at 4/10which indicates that more needs to be done toinvolve parents in the school at various levels.

• The driver of technology sat at 6/10 whichindicates that more needs to be focused on inintegrating technology as a learning tool.

• Average 6.6/10 score for leadership perspectiveson leadership in all areas.

• Teachers report that they are not given theopportunity to work with other teachers indeveloping cross–curricular or common learningopportunities and that more time is required toshare learning goals for students.

• Just over half of teachers give written feedback tostudents each week.

• Teachers do not see that students use interactivetechnology to track their progress towards goals.

• Teachers agree that they present challenging andvisible goals for students, planned learningopportunities which involve an intentional transferof skills and knowledge, provide quality feedbackthat guides students' efforts and attention andprovide support to students overcoming obstaclesto learning.

• 36% agreed that staff morale at the school isgood.

• 44% of teachers agreed that school leaders areleading improvement and change.

• 49% agreed that leaders clearly communicatetheir strategic vision and values for the school.

NEXT STEPS • Use the STEAM development in Year 7 as a

model for development to begin to explore waysto integrate the curriculum. Encourage staff toparticipate and visit STEAM lessons to see futurefocused learning in operation.

• Promote BYOD more with students and thecommunity, the need for students to have adevice that they bring to school. There is a beliefamong many school members that the schoolshould provide a device for each student. Theadvantages of a BYOD strategy needs furtherwork to develop an understanding of why thisstrategy works and is in the best interest of


students and their learning potential.

Findings, Parent Survey – Partners in learning

79 parent respondents • 73% of parents had little contact with at least one

teacher. • 78% of parents have not been involved in school

committees. • One parent reported that they had participated in

voluntary work at the school. • Parents agree that the teachers at the school

promote inclusivity, positive behaviour, support forlearning and safety. These areas scored between6.4 – 7.6/10.

• Parents have indicated that their preferredmethod to find out information about the school isthrough the school web site, school newsletters,emails, sms texts and through a parent P&C.

• 90% of parents have aspirations of theirdaughters completing Year 12 and further theireducation by attending university. This isindicative of HSC results in 2016 where 71% ofstudents gained university placement.

• 63% of parents had aspirations for their daughtersto attend TAFE.

• 92.5% of parents agree that the school offerswide curriculum choice.

• 70% of parents see that the school has a goodreputation in the community.

• 60% of parents find communication systems fromthe school lacking. Parents are saying that theyare not informed or opinions sought about schoolpolicies, teaching practices and curriculumdelivery.

NEXT STEP'S • Revamp school Web Site to change the look to a

more contemporary, clear and inviting page withclear information to ensure ease of accessibility.

• Investigate the creation of a fortnightly newsletterthat keeps the community informed about eventsin the school and what is going on. To launch inTerm 3, 2017.

• Create a parent group that can be formed as aP&C.

• Conduct parent forum groups seeking informationon the development of the School Plan2018–2020. School Planning team to coordinateand create.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Liverpool Girls High School received Aboriginalbackground funding in 2016 to provide support forAboriginal students in the school. • All Aboriginal students have Personal Learning

Plans (PLPs) that have been negotiated anddeveloped with students, parents and teacherinput.

• The plan assists with strengthening studentengagement with a focus on literacy andnumeracy skills.

• NAIDOC week was celebrated with a specialNAIDOC assembly where our Aboriginal ElderAunty Mae Robinson spoke about her life andstudents performed in celebration of Aboriginalculture.

• Aunty Mae Robinson, the school's aboriginalelder, had her portrait created by Year 8 VisualArts students. This artwork was exhibited atFairfield City Museum and Gallery and waslaunched during NAIDOC week. Representativesfrom the school were at the gallery during the Julyvacation period for the launch and celebration ofthe work. Aunty Mae was proud to share herlife story and work with her audience andphotographs of her proudly standing with theartwork were taken. The artwork will hang in theschool hall which has been named after AuntyMae in recognition of 30 years association withLiverpool Girls High School.

• Learning about Aboriginal culture and historiesare embedded in all faculty programs and complywith BOSTES curriculum requirements.

• An Aboriginal mentor from staff was assigned towork with Aboriginal students each week toensure that they were engaged and achievingwell in their studies and life at school and if theyrequired any help or assistance this was arrangedfor them to achieve their goals..

• As a result of school initiatives our students haveshown marked improvement in their engagementwith their studies and have confidence building ontheir successes and achievements as indicatedby their results, completion of assessment tasksand feedback provided in their school reports.

NEXT STEPS • Create a bush tucker garden at the front of the

school and involve members of the Aboriginalcommunity to assist with and help students


develop and create the garden. • Connect with partner primary schools to create

mentoring opportunities for Aboriginal studentsfrom the school to students in Stage 3.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

Liverpool Girls High School is a community that valuesand promotes cultural inclusivity and diversity. Ourstudents represent over 62 different language andcultural groups, united as one school community.Difference is celebrated, enriching the school's cultureand backgrounds of students. Just over 89% ofstudents have English as an additional language ordialect. There were a number of special activities heldduring the year to enhance and celebrate the school'scultural identity and diversity. The schools' communityliaison officers supported communication with andparticipation in the school by parents, families andcommunity members from all language backgroundsduring 2016. Community forums and meetings wereheld regularly to ensure that parents were involved inthe school and had an understanding of their child'seducation. The school also had 16 Internationalstudents who were part of the school studentpopulation during 2016.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day is an annual event of sharing,understanding, participating and celebrating in a day ofdiverse cultural activities. In 2016 the day was aboutsharing the pride in one another's culturalidentity and celebrating through, dance, song, food andcultural activities held throughout the day. HarmonyDay was celebrated in the week of the NationalHarmony day activities in March. There were a recordnumber of community members, (167 attendees) whocelebrated this day with their children in 2016. HarmonyDay has become one of the most popular school eventson the school calendar. The school was also givenmuch praise for this celebration of the day in the localmedia and was reported in both local newspapers withhalf page reports and pictures of the events in HarmonyDay 2016 at Liverpool Girls High School.

Refugee Program

In 2016 there were many students students from arefugee background including many students who haveonly been in Australia for a very short time. LiverpoolGirls High School has one of the highest school refugeepopulations in NSW. • Welcome Program – This program is designed to

support newly arrived students to build theirunderstanding of the local community and theschool. Students are supported with tips on study,how to get support with learning, what to expect inthe Australian schooling systems, support in thelocal community and providing a mentor to assistnew students settle into the school.

• RAW – Ready Arrive Work Program – 25students from Year 10 participated in thisworthwhile program reinforcing skills for the worldof work and helped students to understand the

requirements of entering the workforce. Somestudent plan to use what they have learned toapply for part–time jobs after school and onweekends.

• Refugee Action Support Program (RAS) – Thisprogram focused on literacy skill developmentand support through one to one assistance withstudent tutors from Sydney University. As part oftheir undergraduate teaching degrees thestudents from Sydney University work withstudents for additional credit points and give theirtime to give individualised and personal support tothe refugee students in the school. Of the fifteenstudents who participated in this program theirconfidence and literacy skills developmentshowed significant improvement. Studentconfidence through success was an additionaloutcome for students.

Transition from the Intensive English Centre (IEC)

A number of students join the school through the yearafter spending their initial time in a local IntensiveEnglish Centre learning English language skills. Carefulliaison between the school and the Intensive EnglishCentres has taken place to ensure that the school hadan understanding of the student's needs so these couldbe catered for within the school to ensure there was aneffective and responsive support and that the studentsfelt they were welcomed into the school community.EAL/D teachers developed a program of support forstudents as they integrated into an Australian highschool setting.

Student Support Practices

Liverpool Girls High School continued to supportEnglish as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D)students. In 2016 there were many strategies usedthroughout the school to support students, building theirlanguage skills through a focus on accessing languageof the curriculum through; • direct instruction through parallel English classes

in Year 9 and 10; • collaborative learning in Stage 6 ESL English

classes. Over twenty students were enrolled inthe English ESL classes for the HSC in each ofthe Preliminary and HSC courses. Students alsoreceived additional support through co–teachingin Community and Family Studies, Visual Arts,and other short term assistance in other classesthat had heavy reading and writing demandswhere students sought support;

• one to one assistance in the Stage 6 LearningCentre was offered to assist students withassignments and study skills;

• one to one assistance in the classroom with helpof an SLSO for those students needing specificsupport;

• assistance for students after school in the HelpCentre (homework centre) to assist students toaccess assignment assistance and to help withresearch and resource finding, as well asassistance with their classwork;

• co–teaching in a number of classes both longterm and short term to assist students in theregular classroom setting so that they have the


language to access the demands of thecurriculum; and;

• co–creating learning programs with classteachers focusing on how to address studentlearning needs through regular class activities toensure inclusive learning, understanding andaccess for all students.

Anti–racism initiatives

Liverpool Girls' High School students are encouraged tounderstand and appreciate the similarities anddifferences that contribute to the richness of our diversecommunity. The school has students and staff from awide variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. Students communicate in forums by way of the school'swellbeing programs where they can engage anddiscuss issues freely and equitably in supervisedconditions. Students interact in an atmosphere ofinclusion and understanding. A number of eventsthroughout the year foster awareness of social justiceissues and the importance of global citizenship in asafe and supportive environment. There arecurrently three trained Anti–racism officers (ARCO) onstaff who facilitate groups and mediation when issuesarose during 2016.

Teacher learning

A number of professional teacher learning sessionswere held during the year to support teachers to caterfor the range of student language and literacy needs forstudents from EAL/D or refugee backgrounds. Theseincluded; • Beginning teacher workshop after school on how

to interpret SMART data to best cater for EAL/Dstudents in the classroom.

• Two early career teacher courses were held afterschool to explore strategies for EAL/D students inTerms 2 and 3.

• Understanding the needs of EAL/D students witha focus on the data prepared for the AnnualEAL/D survey.

• STARTTS – services that are offered to the localcommunity and how to best understand and caterfor the current refugee groups who are settling into the local area.

• Writing workshop – how to build student writingskills for EAL/D students building success inwriting. This was a three hour Twilight sessionduring Term 4.

NEXT STEPS • Review the school's anti–racism framework to

ensure that the school's program is focusing onensuring that it is being implemented effectivelyand that it is responsive to changing societalneeds.

• Review the support program for students toensure that they are being effectively supportedand the impact that the support provided isachieving the set outcomes.

• Develop the new HSC strategy in the new Stage6 English course for Stage 6 students ready forimplementation in 2018.

Other school programs

Achievements in Sports

Swimming • Swimming age champions – 12 years, Johanna

Roshka; 13 years, Chelsea Ann Benson; 14years, Julia Walter; 15 years, Natalija Cubrillo; 16years, Valentina Macura; 17 years+, KaylaHumphreys.

• Winning House at the Swimming Carnival –Freeman

Cross Country • Cross Country age champions – 12 years,

Melinda Kingston; 13 years, Crystal Tong; 14years, Lily Lyons, 15 years Kamila Beg; 16 years,Tuyen Huynh; 17 years, Victoria Khun

• Winning House at the Cross Country – Beachley • Victoria Khun 18 years winner Edmondson Zone

Cross Country Age Champion • Victoria Khun third at SSW Cross Country

Carnival • Victoria Khun SSW representative at CHS Cross

CountryAthletics • Athletics Age Champions – 12 Years, Michelle

Eliu; 13 years, Lydia Vili; 14 years, MaddisonDivine; 15 years, Maybel Herman–Loto; 16 years,Tuyen Huynh and Valentina Macura; 17 years,Theresa Young; 17 years, Theresa Young

• Winning House at the Athletics Carnival – Ellis • Maddison Devine 14 years Edmondson Zone

Athletics Age Champion • Theresa Young 17 years+ Edmondson Zone

Athletics Age ChampionOverall Achievements • Overall House Champion for 2016 – Freeman

House • Theresa Young received recognition for her

sporting achievements and sportsmanshipqualities with the Pierre De Coubertin Award

• Angelina Suotic won the gold medal for thedoubles at CHS Tennis and silver the singles atCHS Tennis

• The Girls Open soccer team made it to the final 8in NSW.

• Year 9/10 Oz Tag team were runners up againstFairvale High School in the Fairfield areatournament.

Achievement in the Arts

Dance • Year 9 dance elective students and the senior

dance ensemble performed at the Ulitmo PublicSchools Dance Festival

• The school cheerleading squad, Cheer,performed at the West Tigers cheerleading dancespectacular

• The hip hop dance group competed at the Bring itOn Hip Hop Showcase in 2016

• The Aboriginal dance ensemble performed aspart of the Indigenous Dance Ensemble at theSchool Spectacular


• Years 9 and 10 dance electives, cheerleadingsquad and senior dance ensemble performed atthe Liverpool Girls High School Showcase event.

Music • Ten students participated in the Schools

Spectacular combined school choir. • Year 12 Music, drama and dance students

presented their major performances as part of theYear 12 Soiree in Term 3.

• 63 students performed in the School PerformingArts Showcase in Term 4.

• Many music co–curricular activities occurredduring break times throughout the year. Theseincluded choir, Year 10 band, Year 9 band andsinging groups.

• Students performed in the café at recess timesduring the week when the café was opening. Theresulted in increased student confidence toperform as part of their course work and addedanother dimension to the atmosphere in theschool café.

Visual Arts • Visual arts students participated in the art therapy

program each week in the Children's Ward atLiverpool Hospital. This successful program hasbeen going for the past ten years and builds theconcept of art and creativity as a way to relax,enjoy and build understanding of other andprovide a service to the community.

• Visual Arts students participated in the refugeeprintmaking workshop with fourteen refugeeparents.

• The artist in residence this year was Jason Wingwho worked with students to produce a muralcreated on the northern wall of Block M.

• Many visual arts co–curricular programs operatedin break times. These included art club, filmproduction club, photography club and GLIDESteam.

• Parent Daughter day was held in Term 2 withseven parents joining in visual arts classes withtheir daughter. This resulted in parents gainingmore understanding of how students worktogether collaboratively and learn in a hands onenvironment in a contemporary learning setting.

• Student Visual Arts works were displayed in anart exhibition as part of the Year 12 Soiree. Thisprovided students with an understanding ofexpectations for HSC major works and celebratedthe work of Year 12 students having their worksdisplayed in a gallery type setting which valuedtheir work and efforts professionally.

Debating • Two teams participated in the debating

challenge for Stage 4 and Stage 5 students. Bothteams won their first rounds but were defeated inthe second round.

• Two teams participated in the Premier's DebatingChallenge and won their first round and wasunsuccessful in the next two.

• Through group discussions and practice debatesstudents gained greater confidence in speakingskills, interpersonal skills and self–directedlearning situations.

• Students in their workshops presented mock

debates and received feedback to develop theirskills as debaters.

• Debating teams were coached during break timetwice a week to prepare them for competitionsheld during the year and build their skills.

Learning and Support • Program to support students in preparation for

NAPLAN created and delivered to students toprepare for the NAPLAN tests so that studentsare aware of formats and expectations.

• Develop support plans for students based on datafrom NAPLAN and common areas of studentneed. Communicate these to class teachers.

• Support students who have been identified or aretargeted through co–teaching in regularclassrooms.

• Provide additional support to students throughpeer tutoring, home reading program, provision ofcurriculum access program, numeracy programand additional needs based support programs tofurther develop students skills in reading andwriting and in numeracy.

• Planning and professional learning days held toassist teachers understanding in makingmodifications for students on the NCCD.

• Ten faculty based workshops assisting teachersto provide for the learning needs of studentswithin their subject and course areas.

Transition Program • Work Experience Support Day – 156 students

attended this day and completed a range ofactivities to prepare for the work program. Thisresulted in 100% attendance at the work programweeks with all employer's satisfied with the qualityand enthusiasm of the students. Studentsdemonstrated a more engagement in class afterparticipating in this program.

• Links to Learning – This was provided by MTC forYear 8, 9 and 10 students targeted in twosessions for twelve weeks which ran for a full day.Approximately 32 students completed thisprogram with improved engagement and agreater focus in their learning.

• Case Management – individual casemanagement of students in Year 8–12 involvedapproximately fifty students throughout the year.Students were advised and supported with postschool options and information and programs forpost school that were suitable to their interest andneed.

• Citi Bank – ABCN Leaders Program – eightstudents in Year 11 attended the Future LeadersWomen's Program. Students who attended thesesessions found that they were inspired andmotivated to take on powerful roles when theyleave school.

• Ready Arrive Work (RAW) program – 25 Year 10refugee students completed this course. Studentswere about to complete a work experienceprogram, create a CV and understand workplacesand the processes of work with a greater


understanding. • Transition Program for students with disabilities –

The Transition to work program (TTW) wasaccessed by two Year 12 students assisting themto select appropriate post school agencies andmake career choices.

• Tailored work studies program – two Year 12students where in involved in this programbuilding a greater understanding in the world ofwork and their role in different workplaces.

• International students – twelve students weresupported to settle into and be supported in thehigh school environment. Morning teas wereorganised to support and bring students togethereach few weeks throughout the year and shareexperiences and stories. This helped studentsform friendships and build a support network forthe students.

Bring your own device program (BYOD)

Building capacity in teachers to integrate blendedlearning and increase teacher capacity to integratetechnology to maximise 21st century learning was afocus in 2016. • 63% of teachers participated in learning teams

fortnightly focused on blended learning usingChromebooks.

• 78% of teachers from this group of teacherscontinued their technology learning from theprevious year.

• All staff have either a Chromebook or PCcomputer.

The shift in using blended learning has demonstratedtransformational change in staff confidence wanting touse technology as a tool for learning.

Increase the number of students bringing their owndevice. • There has been a slight increase in the number of

students bringing their own devices to schoolsince the DER laptop program ended. In 201631% of students in Year 7 brought their ownChromebooks. A bank of devices, includingChromebooks, PC notebooks, iPads andreconditioned DER laptops ensured that studentshad access so they were supported in theirlearning.

Next Steps • In 2017, Year 7 STEAM classes will focus on

establishing stronger foundations and growing theuse of technology in collaborative and blendedlearning environments through engaging STEAMprograms that empowers teachers to directlyapply and integrate technologies in teaching andlearning.

• Professional learning in technology integration willcontinue in 2017, through leadership meetingsusing Office 365 for collaboration, TeachMeets,Techie Brekkies and Twilight Sessions exploringways to further use and integrate technology.

Pacific Island Student Program

To further engage Pacific Islander students, a groupwas formed to support them with their engagement intheir learning. Some of the benefits of this groupprogram resulted in; • students formed meaningful cross age friendships

as part of the program; • students learned the importance of organising

their schedules in order to maintain consistenteffort with their learning, sporting, social andpersonal commitments;

• students were able to create a safe space forexpression themselves and be seen as a unifiedsisterhood who care for one another and thosearound them;

• students participated in the PACFest competitionin 2016 and were successful in winning sixtrophies – best overall performance, best effort,comradery award, best Samoan performance,best Maori performance and best female leaders;

• students were successful in receiving an awardfrom the NSW Pacific Council for theircontribution to culture and as mentors within theircommunity; and

• students were able to learn more about theircultural backgrounds, extend, that knowledge theextend that knowledge with the wider schoolcommunity, in order to help break down barriersand stigmas associated with Polynesian youth.

Next Steps: • Incorporate an ongoing program focusing on

elements of setting and achieving academic andpersonal goals whilst being supported to achievesuccess in a variety of areas of school life.

• Celebrate culture through a cultural food festivalevent within the school.

Vocational Education • All VET students completed HSC Work Ready

Program in 2016. This prepared students for therequirements of VET in the HSC and theimportance and purpose of Work Placement.

• Suhaylah Naaz (Retail Services) and Nitika Raj(Food and Beverage) represented he NSW VETiSschools in the National World Skills competition inMelbourne. Suhaylah Naaz was awarded a silvermedal (second place in Australia) for her skills inRetail Services.

• Learning spaces for VET continue to be improvedwith the addition of more resources and fit–outswith industry standard fittings for example moreoffice type workstations for Business Services,additions to the sales equipment for Retail Seriesand addition of restaurant quality equipment inHospitality.

Next Steps: • Regional World Skills competition to be hosted by

Liverpool Girls High School. • Students from Retail Services, Business Services

and Food and Beverage to complete in WorldSkills Competition in 2017.

• Refurbishment and expansion of the school caféin creating a modern up–to–date café facility.


2016 Liverpool Girls High School Annual Report · Today it has grown into a successful business,...

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