Penrith High School High School Annual School Report 2014 ... Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013...
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Penrith High School Annual School Report 2014 8163 Mark Foley,Year 12, Axolotyl Artwork 2014
Transcript of Penrith High School High School Annual School Report 2014 ... Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013...
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Penrith High School
Annual School Report 2014
8163
Mark Foley,Year 12, Axolotyl Artwork 2014
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School context statement Penrith High School is an academically selective school. Entry to the school in Year 7 is through the state wide Selective Schools Entry Test. Each year we draw on students from in excess of 60 schools with student’s often travelling significant distances to attend the school. Entry into other year groups is by application in June each year.
Principal’s Message
Penrith High School is an academic selective high school, catering for gifted and talented students. The school is committed to academic and personal excellence, along with a strong sense of social responsibility.
We strive to develop students who are innovative thinkers and confident, self‐motivated learners who possess strong ethical values. These qualities are developed through our teaching and welfare programs and a wide range of co‐curricular activities. The achievements highlighted below are examples of the high standards reached and they demonstrate the commitment to excellence evident across all school areas.
2014 was another outstanding year for our school and I congratulate our students for their personal and team successes as well as our excellent staff for their hard work and devotion to our school and students. Our results in external testing continue to be very strong. Our NAPLAN results show the highest regional growth in several components and better than the selective school average in Numeracy and in nearly all aspects of Literacy. Our student involvement in extra curricula activities and leadership programs are growing in demand and are a highlight for the school.
I certify that the information in this report is the result of a rigorous school self‐evaluation process and is a balanced and genuine account of achievements and areas for development.
Mrs Kristine MacPhail
Relieving Principal
P & C message
Last year was a transition period for the P&C. As had become increasingly clear over the years, busy family schedules and distance of travel made it impractical for most to attend regular meetings. And so 2014 became the time to redefine the role
of the P&C. After careful consideration, the leadership identified a new model of P&C for the future. Changes to the bylaws were proposed to reduce the number of business meetings from two per term to one per term and run one parent seminar per term on a topic of interest to the parents of PHS. These changes will be completed in early 2015, allowing the P&C to move ahead on its revised path.
Besides these changes, however, 2014 was a year in which many of our normal P&C functions continued to operate: supporting financially students who were engaged in activities representing the school, running a successful Bunnings fundraising barbecue, parent participation in selection panels for incoming students and staff, etc. We also greatly valued the regular input we received from John Elton, Kris MacPhail, and other faculties, on current issues concerning the school in general. The school’s commitment to keeping us parents informed is very much appreciated.
The P&C continues to run the school canteen, one of only a handful of high school canteens in the state that are not commercially run. The canteen facility was completely renovated during the second term, and has been able to increase and improve its menu, service and profitability. As always, the continuing support of parents, students, canteen staff and dedicated volunteers is very much appreciated.
Many parents demonstrated their support and lent a hand when needed throughout the year, greatly benefiting the school and all our children. I acknowledge that many more parents would like to be involved, but being a regional school can make this difficult. So I hope that the changes for 2015 will help to increase the participation of parents more generally in the life of the school, to the benefit of the whole school community.
Looking forward to another good year in 2015!
David Shead
P&C President
Student representative’s message
It is with great pleasure that I am able to be part of the leadership team of the Student Representative Council for 2014‐2015 along with my respected peers, the School Captains and Vice Captains.
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In the first semester of the 2014, School Spirit Week and the Disco elevated school spirit across the breadth of the student body, and indeed the staff, through their traditional and ever‐praised Teacher Bake Off.
Tyrone and the leadership team were also characterised as being charitable and active within the wider community. This manifested most notably in Grace Shalders’ initiative of Penrith High’s involvement with the Cancer Council’s program Relay for Life, involving 24 hours of consistent representation of the school. This contributed to the $23,297,098 of donations raised by the Cancer Council for treatment of cancer patients in the past year. This initiative has continued into 2015, along with the SRC’s recurring participation in the World’s Greatest Shave, in which Grace was also instrumental.
Expectations of the SRC were high, and they remain high as we approach the final stretch of our term of office. The previous SRC was analogised as a bird soaring through the sky striving to go beyond the clouds, which represent the successes of the past SRCs. Our SRC is analogised as a spaceship blasting off through the ozone layer – a layer which the Turonian bird could not penetrate.
Our SRC has striven not for some clichéd level of performance of “bigger and better”; rather, we have striven for tangible change across the breadth of the student body. We have achieved this so far through two overarching goals:
The first is about creating efficiency both for internal SRC affairs and externally to the constituents we represent. Internally, this has manifested in a multitude of motions redistributing power within the SRC which has allowed for power to rest not as overly‐prominent in the executives as it has with past SRCs. This included increased responsibilities for the Media Liaison, reshaped responsibilities for the Events Co‐ordinator, a new set of responsibilities for a designated Food Co‐ordinator, and an increase in responsibility across the breadth of all ‘vice’ executive positions within the SRC. Externally, we have increased our contact with the students and school via frequent appearances in the daily bulletin, school assemblies and newsletters, but extended it through a veritable growth in our social media presence and alternate forms of interaction. The execution of a school‐wide paper survey for students to determine the themes for
our SRC’s upcoming School Spirit Week was particularly effective and will most truly reproduce and reflect the common culture and social trends of our constituents. Our efficiency has also allowed the incredible success of our Variety Night last year, and the Captains and Vice Captains are to be particularly commended on their efficient approach to Quadschools, the interschool tournament with James Ruse, Baulkham Hills and Girraween, which has resulted in some of our best performances yet.
The second goal was innovation and wider involvement within the community. This has manifested in a variety of ways. Within the school community, our Multicultural Day was the greatest success the event has been to date as a celebration of the fashion, food and entertainment of the hundreds of cultural backgrounds which our school has the fortune to exhibit. Moreover, the SRC worked with the school executives in the purchasing of tables for the new Outdoor Learning Area, which will be used by our community of senior students for years to come as an alternative and peaceful learning environment. The SRC is also proud to sponsor Ms Ibrahim’s Adopt a School in Africa project, and we were able to combine the awareness event of Harmony Day with the project in a mufti day, serving as a donation drive to sponsor her humanitarian and most generous cause.
And thus, as I sit in the metaphorical cockpit of the SRC spaceship with the leadership team and supported by the crucial repairmen, navigators and guards who form the rest of our council, I gaze upon the omnipresent beauty of the bright stars of student potential. They sit in their black canopy, flickering and twinkling with innovation, inspiration and imagination. The sheer distance is daunting, nigh on unimaginable, and might take us some time to reach them yet; but why would we embark on such a voyage if we were not prepared
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to strive for such realms both unexplored and unreached by our predecessors?
To quote a philosophical mastermind of the 20th Century: “to infinity, and beyond.”
Lachlan Penninkilampi
SRC President 2014‐15
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
Student attendance profile
Post‐school destinations
Post‐school destinations
Year 10
%
Year 11
%
Year 12
%
seeking employment
0 0 2.03
employment 0 0 ‐ TAFE entry 0 0.6 1.35 university entry 0 96 other 0 0.6 unknown 0 0
Offers made by faculty/school (including double degree offers)
Medical science – 7
Health sciences – 35
Science – 25
Education – 11
Engineering – 39
Design/ Architecture and building ‐ 5
Information technology ‐ 6
0
500
1000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Students
Year
Enrolments
Male Female
0
25
50
75
100
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Attendan
ce rate
Year
Student attendance rates
School State DEC
0.0
50.0
100.0
SC06‐HSC08 SC08‐HSC10 SC10‐HSC12 NAPLAN 11‐HSC14
Retention to Year 12 (SC to HSC / Year 9 NAPLAN to HSC)
School State
School
Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
7 96.7 96.9 96.6 97.0 97.4 97.9
8 95.8 95.1 96.2 96.0 96.9 96.5
9 95.7 94.7 95.2 95.0 95.9 95.4
10 94.3 94.2 94.4 94.5 96.3 95.0
11 94.4 94.1 95.6 95.8 95.1 95.5
12 93.4 93.1 93.4 93.6 94.7 94.4
Total 94.5 95.1 94.7 95.2 95.3 96.0 95.8
State DEC
7 92.3 92.6 92.5 92.4 93.2 93.3
8 90.0 90.5 90.1 90.1 90.9 91.1
9 88.8 89.1 88.8 88.7 89.4 89.7
10 88.7 88.3 87.1 87.0 87.7 88.1
11 89.4 89.1 87.6 87.6 88.3 88.8
12 89.4 89.8 89.2 89.3 90.1 90.3
Total 89.9 89.7 89.9 89.2 89.1 89.9 90.2
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Law – 22
Business / commerce ‐ 48
Economics ‐ 7
Finance, actuarial and accounting – 18
BA Arts and communications – 23
International studies – 11
Aviation ‐2
Offers made by universities: University of Sydney – 46
UNSW – 64
UTS – 31
Macquarie University – 40
UWS‐ 16
University of Wollongong – 3
CSU – 2, ACU – 3, UNE – 1, ADFA 1, JCU‐ 1, ANU ‐1.
Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalent Vocational educational qualification
Year 12 students undertaking vocational or trade training
148 students graduated in 2014.
142 students have accepted university offers ‐ 96%
There were a total of 208 offers made to our students through UAC.
There were 132 main round offers and 76 offers post main round.
51 offers were made for combined degrees.
51 students were offered 2 or more places.
1 student received a co‐op scholarship at UNSW
Workforce information
It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.
The staff remained stable during the year with only five changes. History teacher Rae Clapshaw,
Support Administration staff members Leonie Taylor and Denysse Zwegers retired. Deanne Taylor, Head teacher English and Lynette Killen, Science teacher both resigned. Lynette Killen remains at the school in a part‐time capacity.
Workforce composition
Position Number
Principal 1
Deputy Principal(s) 2
Head Teachers 10
Classroom Teacher(s) 47
Teacher Librarian 1
School Counsellor 0.6
School Administrative & Support Staff 12
Total 73.6
The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. Penrith High School has one Aboriginal teacher.
Teacher qualifications
All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools.
Qualifications % of staff Degree or Diploma 82
Postgraduate 18
Professional learning and teacher accreditation
Professional learning
The average expenditure per teacher for professional learning in 2014 was $624.
In 2014, whole school teacher professional learning focused on our school priorities of engaging the middle school, literacy and numeracy, enhanced expectations of and monitoring of HSC students, preparing and trialing teaching and learning programs in phase 1 subject areas for the National Curriculum implementation and becoming familiar with the National Professional Standards for Teachers.
The Executive led the staff in a rigorous evaluation of our 2013 HSC data looking for continuous improvement and specifically moving students from Band 4 to 5 and Band 5 to 6. The new item
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analysis feature of the Board of Studies Results Analysis Package combined with DET SMART Value Added data allowed teachers to determine areas for future capacity building in their teaching and learning programs in more detail than previously possible, especially the ability to focus on individual questions or sections of the HSC examination.
The ongoing professional development of staff in the use of technology, especially the use of Moodle, continued to be a focus of the Teaching and Learning presentations. With the establishment of the school's vision for Moodle, staff were given further hands on experience in how to use it to create courses, upload tasks, multimedia and mark assessments. Moodle is now an important communication device between teachers, students and parents for school work and assessments. Training also commenced on the ‘Sentral’ Administrative system being implemented by the school.
In our analysis of NAPLAN data and with other supporting data (such as ESSA and HSC), effective reading became a focus of our Professional Learning. The Executive staff led the staff to identify the specific areas we need to focus our teaching and learning programs. Each subject area developed classroom based strategies and resources which were presented and shared through Executive and Faculty meetings.
The Executive team worked collaboratively with staff to develop and implement an enhanced TARS and EARS process in 2014 which focuses strongly on the national teaching standards, the school priorities and negotiated individual
priorities using work samples. Discussion also centred on the use of professional goals and professional learning plans.
The Senior Executive also worked collaboratively with the school executive, the school P&C, parents and many students in the development of the new school plan. Professional development days, parent meetings, student forums were all integral to the success in developing a plan which will take the school forward and develop strong ownership by all stakeholders.
A large number of staff took up the opportunity to attend sustained professional learning sessions throughout the year on attaining Highly Accomplished and Lead levels of teacher accreditation.
Selected staff continues to work with the BOS on developing teacher feedback to the Civics and Citizenship syllabus drafts being released for professional comment.
All staff completed mandatory Emergency Care, and CPR training in 2014.
Early Career teachers were supported in attaining their accreditation with the NSW Institute of Teachers. Teachers registered with NSWIT for five years were supported to maintain their accreditation.
A majority of staff attended externally delivered professional learning courses specific to their area of subject expertise, including regional and state conferences. Attending staff provided feedback from these courses at a whole school or Faculty level.
Beginning Teachers
We had four beginning teachers working in Temporary appointments during the year.
Financial summary
This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance.
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Date of financial summary 30/11/2014
Income $
Balance brought forward 1087142Global funds 565440Tied funds 133340School & community sources 706952Interest 30979Trust receipts 22038Canteen 0.00
Total income 2545891.00
Expenditure
Teaching & learning Key learning areas 165268Excursions 223091Extracurricular dissections 180109
Library 0.00Training & development 39891Tied funds 40842Casual relief teachers 51446Administration & office 236692School‐operated canteen 0.00Utilities 137342Maintenance 86076Trust accounts 13247Capital programs 114693
Total expenditure 1288697.00
Balance carried forward 1257194.00
A full copy of the school’s 2014 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the P & C and/or the parent body. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.
School performance 2014
Penrith High school students performed exceptionally.
Academic achievements
NAPLAN
In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 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.
Year 7: from Band 4 (lowest) to Band 9 (highest for Year 7)
Year 9: from Band 5 (lowest) to Band 10 (highest for Year 9)
The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN).
Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au and enter the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.
NAPLAN Year 7 ‐ Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)
Writing
Penrith High School students continued to achieve highly in writing proficiency against all State DEC schools with 54.7% of the students performing in Bands 8 and 9 (the top two bands). There has been a decline in the number of students achieving in the highest band indicating there is room for more positive growth in this area.
Grammar and Punctuation
94.6% of our students achieved Bands 8 and 9 in the area of Grammar and Punctuation, outperforming the Selective School group and 29.2% of the state in these top bands. This continues our upward growth trend seen in the past three years and is a pleasing result.
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Spelling
Students continued an upward growth trend in 2014 with 96.6% of students performing in Bands 8 and 9 (the highest bands) compared to 93% in the combined Selective High School group and 34.8% in the state in the area of spelling. Students outperformed the combined Selective High School group in these top bands which is an outstanding result.
Reading
The percentage of our students achieving the top band in Reading was higher than the school average in previous years. 89.2% of Penrith
students were placed in the top two bands compared to 27.1% of the state.
NAPLAN Year 7 ‐ Numeracy
The overall numeracy result was excellent with 92.6% of students placed in the top band compared to the combined selective school result of 88% and the State result of 14.8%. Growth was also significantly higher than the combined selective school group and the state average.
Data Measurement, Space and Geometry
87.8% of students scored in the top band
compared to the combined selective school result
of 84% and the State result of 14.8%
0
20
40
60
80
100
4 5 6 7 8 9
Percentage
of students
Bands
Percentage in bands:Year 7 Numeracy
Percentage in BandsSchool Average 2010‐2014SSG % in Band 2014State DEC % in Band 2014
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Numbers, Patterns and Algebra
93.9% of students scored in the top band
compared to the combined selective school result
of 90% and the State result of 17.4%
NAPLAN Year 9 ‐ Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)
Writing
Students have continued to see slight positive growth in the percentage of students achieving in the top band while students in the top band across the state continues to decline.
Grammar and Punctuation
2014 has continued to see an upward growth trend in the number of students performing in the top two bands in the area of writing. Penrith students continue to out represent the state and the combined Selective School group in these top bands. Despite this, there has been a decline in the number of students achieving in the top band which is an area for focus in 2015.
Spelling
Student growth in the area of spelling has been outstanding. In 2014, 60.1% of students performed in the top band compared to the school average of 49.8% over the last 3 years. This outstanding performance has seen our students outperform the combined Selective Schools group in both Band 9 and 10.
School SSG State DEC
Average score, 2014 688.3 687.0 582.1
Skill Band Distribution Band 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number in Band 0 0 3 18 42 95
Percentage in Bands 0.0 0.0 1.9 11.4 26.6 60.1
School Average 2010‐2014 0.0 0.0 1.2 10.1 38.9 49.8
SSG % in Band 2014 0.7 0.9 2.8 10.7 25.8 59.0
State DEC % in Band 2014 10.2 13.5 26.1 25.4 12.6 12.2
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Reading
2014 saw positive growth with our students outperforming the combined Selective Schools group in the area of reading. 89.2% of our students performed in the top two bands, with a growth of 7%. The performance of the Selective Schools group saw a dramatic decline. This is a pleasing result.
NAPLAN Year 9 ‐ Numeracy
Overall, numeracy was excellent with 71.8% of students achieving greater than or equal to expected growth. An impressive 84.1% of students scored in the top band.
Data Measurement, Space and Geometry
73.9% of students scored in the top band which is
slightly lower than the school average over the
last 4 years.
Numbers, Patterns and Algebra
87.3% of students scored in the top band. This is marginally lower than 91.1% in 2013 but higher than the selective school result of 86.9%
Higher School Certificate (HSC)
In the Higher School Certificate, the performance of students is reported in performance bands ranging from Performance Band 1 (lowest) to Performance Band 6 (highest).
0
20
40
60
80
100
5 6 7 8 9 10
Percentage
of students
Bands
Percentage in bands:Year 9 Numeracy
Percentage in Bands
School Average 2010‐2014
SSG % in Band 2014
State DEC % in Band 2014
0102030405060708090
100
Ancien
t History
Biology
Business Studies
Chem
istry
Design and…
Drama
School 2014
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Ancient History
Student performance was very strong again this year. All students achieved in the top band (5 and 6) and the students in this subject continue to outperform all other selective high schools.
Biology
Biology results were not as strong as previous years; however 61% of students achieved Band 5 and 6 results.
Business Studies
Business Studies results have continued to improve over the last three years. All students achieved a Band 5 or 6 result. These students performed more strongly than their selective school peers in other schools.
Chemistry
Chemistry results continue to grow and showed a growth in Band 5 results.
Design and Technology
Students in this cohort were not as strong as previous cohorts, 25% of students achieved results in the top bands.
Drama
Drama students produced some of the best results in the school. 82% of students achieved Band 6, an improvement on previous years. 11 students were nominated for OnStage, a showcase of the best of the 2014 HSC. Jonas Thomson (Individual Performance) and Katherine Gellini (Critical Analysis) had their work accepted.
Economics
Students performed above the state average, with 55% of students achieving in one of the top two bands, however these results were below expectations.
Engineering Studies
Students are continuing to improve their results in Engineering. They performed well above the state average and 75% of students achieved in the top two bands, showing an improvement on 2012 and 2013 results.
English (Advanced)
There was an increase in Band 6 results compared to 2012 and 2013. Valerina Sureshkumar was placed 18th in the state and 83% of students scored in the top two bands.
English Extension 1
This year saw a vast improvement in results. 100% of students performed in the top two bands, 50%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Economics
Engineering Studies
English (Advanced)
English Exten
sion 1
English Exten
sion 2
Legal Studies
School 2014
School Average 2010‐2014
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of these were Band 6. These results are also above the selective schools performances.
English Extension 2
Extension 2 results were also an improvement on 2013 and 2012. 91% of students performed in the top two bands (E3 and E4).
Legal Studies – 50% of students scored a Band 6 result, showing a significant improvement against the last three years result. This is the best result for the school to date.
Mathematics
The upward trend of the past four years continues, were 75% of students achieved Band 5 or 6.
Mathematics Extension 1
2014 was again a strong year for Extension 1 students. 96% of students scored marks in the top two bands, 40% of these were Band E4, the highest result.
Mathematics Extension 2
100% of students (40) achieved the top band for this subject. This is the best result to date in the school.
Modern History
2014 was another strong year for Modern History students. Valerina Sureshkumar was ranked 5th in the state and James Fisher 20th. 87% of students were placed in the top two bands.
History Extension
Results in History Extension continue to be strong, showing an upward trend in the past 3 years. All students achieved in the top two bands (E3 & E4).
Music 1
Results continue to improve in this subject. 93% of students were in the top two bands and this is the strongest result of the past 3 years. Students at Penrith continue to outperform their selective high school peers. Mark Foley and Ben Medveczky were nominated for Encore, a showcase of the best of the 2014 HSC. Mark’s Viva Voce was acknowledged at this event.
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
This subject continues to be one of the strongest performing subjects. 93% of students achieve in the top two bands and this is an upward trend for the last four years.
Physics
Physics results were not as strong as in 2013. Whilst we consistently perform above the state mean, this year saw the first low band (Band 2 and 3) performances in the school for two years.
Studies of Religion
There was a significant jump in the achievement levels of students. 94% of students achieved in the top two bands, 50% of these were Band 6 results.
0102030405060708090
100
Mathem
atics
Mathem
atics Extension
1
Mathem
atics Extension
2
Modern History
History Exten
sion
Music 1
School 2014School Average 2010‐2014
0102030405060708090100
Personal Developmen
t,Health and Physical
Education Physics
Studies of Religion I
Visual Arts
Italian Beginners
School 2014School Average 2010‐2014
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Visual Arts
These were the strongest results in Visual Arts in recent years. Three students were nominated for Art Express. Deborah Lombard and Mark Foley’s works were exhibited. 93% of students scored in the top two bands.
Italian Beginners
This is the first year a class of Italian Beginners has been run. The students performed above expectations with 91% of students performing in the top two bands.
Other achievements
Special
Grace Shalders received a Minister’s Award for Excellence in Student Achievement from the Minister of Education, the Hon. Andrew Piccoli. Grace was also awarded the Rotary Youth Recognition award.
Yating Huang won a medal for 1st place in the ICAS Mathematics competition.
Matthew Ramirez (11) and Rahul Menon (11) were awarded UWS scholarships to support their study in Year 12 and encourage them into the study of Medicine through the Elizabeth Medich award.
Antoni Dimitriadis (Year 12) was recognised for his six year commitment and performance excellence in The Schools Spectacular with a UWS scholarship.
James Pattinson (Year 12) attended the NSW Constitutional Convention and was selected to represent NSW at the
Australian Constitutional Convention in 2013.
Wafa Khan (Year 12) won the Art Gallery of NSW Artwrite competition
Sam Shahrestani (Year 12) was the recipient of the 2014 UNSW Computing prize
Maxwell Duignan (Year 11) and Taylor Wright (Year 11) were sponsored by Penrith RSL club to walk the Kokoda Trail with other young people and to learn about the Australian spirit during war time.
Jessica Hwang (Year 10) was selected to represent the school in the “Secretary for a Day” program where she shadowed an executive director from the DEC State Office.
Lylapearl Appel (Year 10) won the Mama Lena and Dino Gustin foundation and Public Education Scholarship. She spent Term 4 in a town outside Naples and attended a specialist high school for the Visual Arts.
Manoj Majji (Year 10) was placed 1st in the University of Sydney Gifted and Talented test. He and Jack Dahl (9) were accepted into the University’s Gifted and Talented Program.
Our students were state finalists in the Science and Engineering Challenge. They travelled to Newcastle University to compete.
The Junior debating team consisting of Year 7 and 8 students were the Metropolitan cup winners in Western Sydney. They performed well in the NSW final.
Students involved in the state and regional Performing Arts programs were:
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Jonas Thomson (12) (State Drama company), Amber Walker (10), Nripesh Ahuja (Year 10) and Tasfia Kabir (State Drama Ensemble); Michaela Gray (Year 11) and Cassandra De Jonge (Year 11) (Millennium Marching Band), Lachlan Penninkilampi (Year 11), Clare Fox (Year 11), Michaela Gray (Year 11) (Pulse Band).
Liam Holt (10) was selected in the NSW Junior Debating team.
Aryenish Kavarana (Year 7) was awarded 1st place in the Australian ANZAC’s essay writing competition by the National RSL.
Wanda Kuai‘s (Year 8) entry in the National Footpath Library poetry competition was placed first.
30 Italian, Visual Arts and History students visited Italy in January for 17 days.
20 students visited Hakusan City (our sister school) in Japan for two weeks during the April vacation.
Deaundre Espejo, Georgia Wilson Williams, Celeste Cheung and Simone Tsang worked with a highly celebrated song writer and producer from the music industry in a project called Songmakers and Foundation for Young Australians with fifty other schools. The students’ song was called “We Won’t Break” and it was judged the best song. It was featured in a three minute video about social issues and young Australians. The students have been paid $300 for the use of their song.
Over 200 students and 75 teams participated in the ASX Sharemarket Game
Following on from our successes in the Australian History Competition the previous year, we again had great success in this competition this year, with 48 Year
8 students and 45 Year 10 taking part. Overall we achieved 38 Distinctions and 23 High Distinctions (Years 8 and 10). We are proud of such outstanding results.
Ze Kai Cheong and Ken Pak, Year 8, gained equal 2nd place in NSW in the Australian History Competition with a score of 96. Josh Tan of Year 8 was equal third in NSW with a score of 94.
Tasfeen Billah, Year 10, was equal 2nd in NSW in the Australian History Competition with a score of 94. Alexandra Williams of Year 10 was equal third in NSW with a score of 92.
Leadership
Grace Shalders was the team leader for PHS’s inaugural Relay for Life team. Students from all years were represented in the team and they raised $7000 for Cancer research as well as being the only school team on the track for 24 hours.
Christina Moelau was awarded the Chifley Volunteers award for her work in her local community.
Sivanthee Bhahirathan and Lachlan Penninkilampi were accepted into the MAX Potential Leadership program. They both delivered excellent community action projects between Penrith Primary and Penrith High Schools.
Simone Ferreira attended the UBS Young Leaders Academy.
Year 10 High Resolves Community action project focused on increasing awareness in the Penrith community on Youth Homelessness. The students have been supporting Penrith House Youth Refuge and Pay it Forward a local NGO supporting
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homelessness of all kinds in the Penrith area.
Year 9 High Resolves local action project focused on raising awareness of Mental Wellbeing in our school. Students focused on positive ways to manage high levels of stress and anxiety. This issue will continue to be a wellbeing focus in 2015 for the whole school community.
Year 10 OC day leaders provided an excellent day of ‘Hard Fun’ for the Year 5 & 6 students from our local OC classes (Wentworth Falls, Blaxland East, Glenbrook, Kingswood, Richmond and Colyton PS.
Year 12 students organized and implemented our first Quad Schools tournament. The four Western Sydney selective high schools (James Ruse, Baulkham Hills and Girraween) compete in a range of sports at each high school simultaneously. Penrith achieved second place.
Seven students were selected to represent their communities in the YMCA Youth Parliament Program.
Breakfast club provides a leadership opportunity whereby our students work with Red Cross to provide breakfast for students at Penrith Public School. This scheme has been operating for over 8 years.
Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 took up leadership positions in numerous roles including Faculty leaders, Breakfast Club leaders, Band and Choir leaders, Dance leaders and Amnesty. Activities included performing, running awareness‐raising activities and undertaking community service activities and representing the school in performances.
The school won a gold certificate for the involvement of our students in the NSW Premier’s Sporting Challenge
Simone Ferreira sat on the Youth Advisory Board for the Sydney Opera House;
Penrith High School performed exceptionally well in the Australian Geography competition. Over 75,000 student’s nation‐wide participated,
including 230 from Penrith High. The school had 12 students place in the top 3% of the country, 48 High Distinctions awarded and a further 75 Distinctions.
Public Speaking and Debating
Tess Jones was a regional finalist in Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award.
Grace Faulder, Vaishnavi Maheshwari, Divvya Thanabalasingam and Amber Vella were declared Regional Champions in the Metropolitan Cup after their Debating Teams won against James Ruse and Parramatta High Schools.
Grace Faulder, Vaishnavi Maheshwari, Divvya Thanabalasingam and Amber Vella were state finalists in the Metropolitan Cup. They attended a three day camp, representing the Western Sydney region in the State Finals held at Sydney University’s Women’s College.
The Year 11 Metro Debating Team (Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, Lachlan Penninkilampi and Devansh Shah) won their zone rounds undefeated and became regional finalists.
The Senior Debating Team (Tyrone Floro, Kate Gellini, Liam Luangrathrajasombat and Ben Gethin‐Damon were regional quarter finalists. The second Senior Debating team (Michelle Liu, Avichal Chandra, Philaretos Stylanides and Sam Vella) were zone finalists.
Simone Ferreira, Michaela Gray, and Philaretos Stylianides were one of fifteen teams chosen from across Sydney to participate in the Debate the Future of America Competition.
The Year 9 and 10 debating team (Victoria Hospodaryk, Tess Jones, Eilidh Mellis and Andrew Parker) won the zone finals and were regional Finalists. They then competed over three days at The State Championships where they were finalists.
Liam Holt was selected to represent Western Sydney Region at the Junior State Debating Competition.
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Sport
The school won a gold certificate for the involvement of our students in the NSW Premier’s Sporting Challenge.
Max Duignan Year 11 was awarded a NSW Combined High Schools ‘Blue’ for his outstanding achievements in rowing. This is only the 10th CHS Blue awarded to a Penrith High student since 1957.
Marley Young Year 12, was awarded a Sydney West ‘Blue’ for his outstanding achievements in athletics.
Madeline Fox Year 12, was awarded a Sydney West ‘Recognition Certificate’ for representing Sydney West with distinction in basketball for the past three years.
Teacher Grant Newell was the NSW CHS convenor for cross country and NSW manager for triathlon.
Teacher Laura Giaquinto was the Sydney West girls’ basketball convenor.
Teacher Michael Devine was the Sydney West lawn bowls manager.
Year 11 student Max Duignan was CHS single sculls champion, and was placed 6th in Australia.
Marley Young Year 12 won the NSW CHS shot, broke the Sydney West record again and was placed 3rd in Australia. He was also placed 5th at CHS in the discus.
Louise Zhang Year 9 was placed 4th in 100m backstroke at CHS.
Penrith High was placed 2nd in Sydney West cross country.
PHS 18 years girls cross country team was placed 4th in NSW.
PHS boys 12 & 13 boys 4 x 50m freestyle relay teams competed at CHS.
Nathan Wong and Jodee Vega were selected to represent NSW in badminton.
Serena Abrahams and Cayla Nicholson were placed 2nd in Sydney West lawn bowls.
Sydney West representatives were:
Year 12
Zeb Critchley ‐ cross country
Madeline Fox ‐ basketball
‐ cross country
Cassandra Galea ‐ swimming
Ben Gethin‐Damon ‐ hockey
Kitty Guo ‐ cross country
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Durai Raajasingam ‐ athletics
Jordan Ruchalski ‐cross country
Alyssa Sealtiel ‐cross country
Nikhil Wakankar – hockey
Year 11
Gabriel Alvarez ‐ athletics
‐ basketball
Sivanthee Bhahirathan ‐ cross country
Clare Fox – cross country
Jasmine Lee – cross country
Taylor Wright – gymnastics
Year 10
Serena Abrahams – lawn bowls
Sukmahil Dhaliwal ‐ hockey
Victoria Hospodaryk – cross country
Dinesh Ketheeswararajah – athletics
Benjamin Medveczky – cross country
Cayla Nicholson – lawn bowls
Alexandra Williams – athletics
Year 9
Phillip Lay – tennis
Sarah Lewis – tennis
Louise Zhang ‐ swimming
Boy’s knockout cricket team were Sydney
West finalists.
Year 7
Soham Desai – swimming
Jae Min Jeong ‐ swimming
Jayden Jong ‐ swimming
Jarryd Keith ‐ swimming
Maecon Lim ‐ swimming
Benjamin Renaud ‐ swimming
‐ Under 15 tennis
Abraham Song – swimming
The following student competed at CHS cross country:
Victoria Hospodaryk 2nd at Sydney West.
The following students competed at CHS athletics following their excellent performances at Sydney West:
Victoria Hospodaryk 2nd in 800m and 1500m
Alexandra Williams 3rd in triple jump
Dinesh Ketheeswararajah 3rd in triple jump
We had a 85% participation rate at Penrith
High athletics carnival
322 students represented Penrith High at a
Zone level or above.
Competitions
In 2014, all Year 10 students competed in the Brain Bee competition. The school participated in the State Final where students excelled
Science and Engineering Challenge – State Finalists. PHS finished 8th out of 25 schools in the NSW finals;
Science Olympiad ‐ Abirami Srikumar achieved a High Distinction and was
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invited to Thailand to participate in the Asian Science competition;
University of Sydney Gifted and Talented Development Program. Seven students from Years 8 and 9 at PHS achieved results in the top 10% of students in the program at Sydney University;
367 students entered the Australian Mathematics Competition. We had 10 students gaining a High Distinction, 79 students gaining a Distinction and 211 students who gained a Credit.
494 students entered the ICAS Mathematics Competition. Students achieved 32 High Distinctions, 213 Distinctions and 215 credits.
The following students were placed in the top 10% internationally in the Mathematics Olympiad: Paarth Sharma, Zachary Kembrey, Tom Masters, Rishabh Jain, Jarryd Keith, Keshna Jeyandrabalan, Kyle Brown, Dharaniselvi Kumaraselvam, Alex Feng, Billy Zhong, Shiranjeeve Ramanan, Christy Tam and Rohan Shead.
Kashish Christian, David Downes, Maninder Singh, Andrea Xia and Murtarza Nizamani, are the NSW Inter School Chess Champions.
Creative and Performing Arts:
DRAMA
Co‐ordinator: Nicole Bonfield
ONSTAGE: The work of two Year 12 students, Jonas Thomson and Kate Gellini, was selected for the OnStage exhibition at the Seymour Centre, Sydney (both were selected for Individual Project – Performance and Critical Analysis, Research respectively). This is a showcase of the best HSC Drama Individual Projects and Group Performances from 2014. There were nine other nominations received by our cohort of eleven for this honour: Maria Domina Augustine (IP & GP), Chris Chew (GP), Mitchell Donnan (GP), Eleni Gabrielides (IP), Kate Gellini (GP), Nikhil Wakankar (IP & GP).
Regional Drama Festival: The Year 11 Drama class was selected to perform at the Regional Drama Festival with their ‘GroundSwell’ piece called Cleaning Up. One of the Junior Drama Ensemble pieces called Wonderland was also selected to perform. This piece was devised and directed by the Drama Student Leaders.
State Drama Camp: Michaela Gray and Lucas Weir (Year 11) were selected to attend the State Drama Camp.
NSW Public Schools Drama Ensemble: Tasfia Kabir and Amber Walker (Year 10) successfully auditioned for State Drama Ensemble. Amber also performed in the State Drama Festival.
Combined Schools Drama Camp: April de Haan (Year 9), Mark Edwards (Year 10), Tess Jones (Year 10), Aashna Khanna (Year 9), Georgia Wilson‐Williams (Year 10) were selected to attend the Combined Schools Drama Camp.
Junior Drama Ensemble runs every Friday at lunch time for students in Years 7 and 8. The pieces in this ensemble are directed by our Drama Student Leaders in Years 10, 11 and 12.
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Significant programs and initiatives – policy
Aboriginal education
Although the school has a small enrolment of Aboriginal students, every effort is made to support the aspiration of these students through the Quality Teaching framework, appropriate careers information and links to universities. The school seeks to fulfill the Aboriginal Education Policy by ensuring all faculties comply with those requirements. For example all Years 7‐10 History students study Contact and Colonisation and issues confronting Aboriginal Peoples throughout the 20th Century. In the senior school their experience is widened by the study of such topics as Aboriginal Spirituality in Studies of Religion.
Formal school occasions such as assemblies and Presentation Night begin with the Acknowledgement of Country. Indigenous students Ben Phelps, Taylor Clarke, Zac Hammond and Divinia Eather often perform this welcome. The school recognises significant events such as the anniversary of Sorry Day. Zac Hammond performed on the Didgeridoo to support the choir in presenting an indigenous song at our presentation assembly. Our indigenous students are planning a NAIDOC activity day, with the strong support of teachers for Year 7 in 2015, to further enhance our community’s understanding of Aboriginal culture and issues in the 21st Century.
Multicultural education and anti‐racism
Penrith High School has a student population of 900 from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Over 60% of students have a language background other than English, with 48 different languages being spoken at home. Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan and Korean background students are our largest non‐English speaking cultural groups. One of the focuses for Penrith High School is strengthening the literacy of students who have a language background other than English. We have a strong professional development program
supporting the teaching of English across all KLAs.
Our Multicultural Day celebration is a significant event on the school calendar.
Student Report on Multicultural Day
“One day a school, the next a global village. Penrith High School was filled with a myriad of aromas, colours and music as we welcomed our large cultural diversity on the annual Multicultural Day. With everyone wearing their cultural clothing, the whole planet really seemed to have come to one place.
Recess started the events with a BOOM! The hall was packed to its absolute limits to watch the amazing multicultural acts. Mixing the arts with culture, it resulted in something breathtaking. It was truly fantastic but the best was still to come.
The highlight of the day was definitely lunch, where the amphitheatre transformed into our own little earth. We embraced all cultures in our school from Australian to Asian to European. This was an event were no one was left out.
The food was … phenomenal! The variety of foods was even bigger and better than the previous years. With the introduction of new stalls with new cuisines, the hype just got bigger. The Korean stall was one of the most popular. For the many who had never tried it before, it was a very pleasant surprise.
Another stall that drew our eyes towards it was the Filipino stall. It challenged many to try its exotic food called ‘balut’.
Apart from the food there were many other activities and entertainment. Some of such were the Henna (sub‐continent temporary tattoos) being done at the South East Asia stall. People could also test their skill in the Japanese art of origami. To provide entertainment, the soccer final was held to complete the whole day.
Overall, the 2014 Multicultural Day was a huge success, exemplifying the participation of the school community and our acceptance of every race and culture”.
Josh Tan, Year 8
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Significant programs and initiatives –equity funding
Aboriginal background
Our small numbers of indigenous students are well supported at school in their educational and personal learning aspirations. Each student has a Personal Learning Plan which is updated through ongoing meetings between the student, parent/s and community elders. Two students, Taylor Clarke and Ben Phelps, are using their Gilli scholarships to enhance their education.
Socio‐economic background
2% of our students are identified as coming from a low socio‐economic background. These students are supported through the school’s Learning Support program and they each have a personal learning plan. The formal identification of these students has helped us to target support scholarships for them. As a result three students will be supported in 2015 with scholarships from the Public Education Foundation, the Department of Housing and the Department of Family and Community Services.
Learning and Support
The year began with the development of individual learning plans for our indigenous students. These plans were designed in consultation with our Aboriginal Liaison Officer, HT Teaching and Learning, parents and students. Goals were set and strategies developed to maximise the potential of our Aboriginal students.
In 2014 the Learning Support program was expanded as processes were established to better identify and support students who were underachieving. In Term 1 the focus was on refining the referral system and working with classroom teachers, head teachers, senior executive and year advisers to identify students who would benefit from support as well as the type of support required. Students were mostly referred through this process; however, parent and self‐referrals also increased as the program gained greater exposure.
Year 12 was the starting point. As they were preparing for half yearly exams it was important to build rapport and target students’ specific needs through the development of an individualised program to provide the necessary
support. This individualised support continued through to the end of Term 3 to assist students to achieve at a higher level. Regular meetings were held which provided guidance and helped with student motivation and goal setting.
Year 11 began their Preliminary year with a series of welfare seminars designed to assist them to meet the challenges within the senior school. These forums focused on developing a study timetable, multiple intelligence, managing stress through relaxation techniques, exam preparation and writing techniques. Students with additional learning needs were also identified and began an individualised program of support.
This term also focused on the development of a program for Years 7‐10 to be implemented from the start of Term 2. This program was centred on feedback from teachers who had identified key areas where students experienced difficulty. These focus areas were organisational skills, assessment, study skills and writing.
Through Term 2 to Term 4 sixty five Year 7‐10 students participated in a weekly learning support program where students were withdrawn from class in small groups. They participated in 40 minute sessions focussed on skills development to enable them to be more effective learners. This time also allowed them to ask questions and raise concerns or troubles they were having as they were more comfortable speaking out in this setting. Through student feedback regarding the program, 96% of students indicated they had made improvements since beginning the program and also had noted improvements in the organisational skills, an important component in student success.
In Term 3 we began to focus on a more targeted approach to student forums. Year 7 centred on being an effective learner, particularly focusing on overcoming procrastination and the SQ3R study technique with 89% of students indicating they would make changes to their work habits. Year 10 examined the importance of knowing how you learn and Year 11 focused on how to be successful in your HSC. These forums were well received by students and the feedback obtained enabled the development of the 2015 study skills program.
Term 4 saw the continuation of the learning support program and planning for 2015. The success of learning support in providing students with opportunities to improve their skills and seek support when needed was invaluable to many.
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This lead to the expansion of the learning support team and the implementation of the learning support committee.
School planning and evaluation 2012—2014
School evaluation processes
NSW public schools conduct evaluations to support the effective implementation of the school plan. The processes used include:
Parent, Teacher and Student forums
Online surveys
Focus groups
Data analysis
School planning 2012‐2014:
School priority 1 To further enhance the school’s HSC results Outcomes from 2012–2014
Outcomes from 2012–2014
Enhanced value added results
More students achieving Band 6 results
Fewer students scoring Band 4 results
All staff engaged with data as a diagnostic
tool for improvement.
Evidence of achievement of outcomes in 2014:
All teachers used the Results Analysis Package as a tool to identify strengths as well as areas for future development
Penrith High School achieved a consistent number of Band 6 results when compared with 2013 and an improvement on the previous two years 2012 and 2011.
Value added for students in the middle band was consistent/strong.
Students were better able to reflect on their performance after major exams as a result of their participation in the Reflect for Success program in 2012.
Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014:
From the meetings with teachers about areas for future development, a teaching learning conference was held to target whole school strategies. Six strategies were
devised to be used by every teacher in every HSC classroom in 2014.
All head teachers produced detailed reports on their HSC analysis. New data analysis skills were adopted, which enabled teachers to drill down into the data to discover program and lesson implications.
Target setting for students was taught explicitly and followed up regularly by mentor teachers and the Senior Executive.
All Year 11 and 12 students were interviewed about their performance and goals for the next reporting period at report time.
School priority 2
Enhancing student engagement and academic rigor in Year 10 as a platform for providing essential HSC skills.
Outcomes from 2012–2014
Benchmarks were revised and strengthened for progress into senior study in a range of courses (English, Mathematics, History, Languages and Music Extension courses, Physics and Chemistry). Teachers saw increased engagement in Year 10 courses by students.
Reflection is valued as a skill required for HSC learning.
All teachers set high expectations of quality work and use quality exemplars for major pieces of work and assessment tasks. Tasks which fall below a student’s expected performance in a whole task or a section of a task are being redone by all students.
Evidence of achievement of outcomes in 2014:
The benchmark achievement process for entry into Year 11 courses is explicitly communicated to students and parents at the beginning of Year 10. Many extension subjects and high demand courses such as Physics and Chemistry have a required mark, a teacher recommendation and a folio of supporting work in order to be offered a place.
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Reduced number of subject changes from students for their proposed Year 11 courses during Year 10.
All students complete the Reflect 4 Success project over three Terms. Their success is reported in their final school report for Year 10.
Students access exemplars for all subjects on Moodle. In a survey on learning preferences, students indicated that they prefer to have the support of modelled exemplars when completing tasks.
Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014:
Faculty groups collaboratively decided on Benchmark strategies using the guidelines developed by the Executive team.
All Year 10 students, along with their parents, are interviewed about their proposed HSC pattern of study after subject selection by the Senior Executive in order to ensure their selections reflect their demonstrated strengths and the advice of their teachers. Student/teacher data is used to inform the conversation.
A program of Professional Learning was implemented at both Executive and Faculty level to support the creation of high quality digital exemplars in a range of forms.
Reflect 4 Success is refined to include a progressive reflection on an area for development that students identify.
School priority 3
Student Leadership
Outcomes from 2012–2014.
Provide increased leadership opportunities, particularly for Year 7‐10
Year 7 Leadership program embedded in the school culture.
Increased awareness of Global issues for students undertaking High Resolves.
Evidence of achievement of outcomes in 2014:
Year Advisers 7‐9 devised school based leadership projects which involve the whole Year group in community or school service. The Year groups successfully delivered The Amazing Race in Year 7, Year 8 trivia. Year 9
ran out of time for My Classroom Rules; however they did complete their Peer Support training, ready for 2015.
The JRC in Year 7 continues to improve through the support of Year 10 leaders. The CONNECT program was implemented and completed by 60 Year 7 students. The program is a conduit between Year 7 and Year 10 students to encourage and reward involvement in activities outside the classroom.
Students involved in High Resolves demonstrated increased sensitivity to local and global issues. As a result of student action, Penrith High School has developed a relationship with a school in Kenya through the Adopt a School program. Students and teachers are aiming to raise $15000 and to collect other useful school items to support the school. Students also support the local Youth Refuge (located behind the school) through fundraising.
Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014:
A program of Professional Learning for Year Advisers was implemented to support increased leadership opportunities for their students.
Students and teachers refined their processes to target more appropriate support for students in the CONNECT program and the JRC.
Teachers followed up the students involved in High Resolves and strongly encouraged them to use the skills they had learned through the program in a new context – the Adopt a School program.
Parent/caregiver, student, and teacher satisfaction
In 2014, the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school.
Their responses are presented below.
In Term 4 2014 the school participated in the online “Focus on Learning” Teacher Survey pilot study. The survey is administered by The Learning Bar, a Canadian company specialising in educational research which has worked extensively with Canadian schools from 371
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districts since 2010. The aim of the survey was to provide Principals and school leaders with insight into classroom effectiveness from the teacher’s perspective. It also builds on the pilot of the ‘Tell Them From Me’ student survey that was conducted earlier in the year and builds on The Department of Education and Communities commitment to addressing the lack of system wide information in NSW about the effectiveness of classroom practices.
Teachers answered a series of questions which were later examined in two ways. The first was related to eight drivers of student learning – leadership, collaboration, learning culture, data informs practice, teaching strategies, technology, inclusive school, and parent involvement. The second analysed questions according to four dimensions of classroom and school practices – challenging and visible goals, planned learning opportunities, quality feedback, and support for students overcoming obstacles in their learning.
The non‐compulsory, anonymous survey was completed by 29 staff from across the school. The majority of the teachers had more than five years teaching experience and were permanently employed. Teacher responses to questions were collated and mapped on a scale from 0 to 10. A score of 0 indicated strong disagreement, 5 neutral and 10 strong agreement with the provided statement.
On the three measures of Learning Culture, Data Informs Practice and Teaching Strategies teachers at Penrith High School were substantially more positive than their peers in other schools. There was strong agreement that Penrith High School’s Learning Culture was built on a foundation of written feedback and monitoring progress, discussion with students about their progress and the establishment of high expectations. Teachers also agreed that students were fully engaged in class activities. One area strongly supported, but not to the extent of these other areas, was the
relevance of lessons to students’ own experiences.
Teachers strongly agreed that assessment tasks provided the feedback necessary to understand where students were having difficulty, and that tasks do set challenging goals for students. Teachers also agreed that they provided exemplars which would allow students to understand task requirements. Through these tasks teachers provided feedback to students on how to improve performance, and used the data from tasks to modify lessons when required.
Agreement was also strong that effective teaching strategies were being used to link new knowledge with prior knowledge, identify unproductive strategies and provide students with feedback. However, the area of regular, weekly feedback was an area where teacher opinions were more neutral.
Opinions regarding the use of technology were more neutral than the previous areas, not just at Penrith High School, but across the sample of teachers in NSW schools. While teachers were positive in their opinions of the role of technology in researching and in building relationships among ideas or concepts, they were much more neutral about the use of technology to give immediate feedback to students on their learning.
Opinions related to Parental Involvement were generally neutral across the State. Teachers at Penrith High School were more likely to agree that they worked with parents to help solve problems with their child’s progress, but less so that they asked parents to review and comment on students work. Teachers were less likely to agree that they made regular contact with the parents of students with special learning needs or that they actively involve parents in creating learning opportunities.
The area of Leadership was one of the more neutral areas. Teachers agreed that the school executive team (Head teachers, Deputy Principal and Principal) created a safe and orderly school environment and provided guidance for monitoring student progress. But scores about the level to which the school executive provided feedback to teachers on their teaching and assistance in improving their teaching were neutral.
There was strong agreement that teachers worked collaboratively with other teachers in discussing
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assessment strategies and teaching strategies to increase student engagement. They agreed that they discussed their own learning goals with other teachers but were neutral regarding the usefulness of feedback on their teaching or working with teachers in other faculties which was not as common.
When items were examined according to the ‘Four Dimensions of Classroom and School Practices’ there was little difference between the opinions of teachers at Penrith High School and those from across the State. Opinions were generally very positive on the measure of Challenging and Visible Goals (average 7.5). There was universally strong agreement that teachers at Penrith High School set high expectations for student learning in general. However, opinions were more neutral regarding students with special learning needs and whether they receive the same level of support as other students.
‘Planned Learning Opportunities’, while having a similar average ranking (average 7.4), was an area where, depending on the question, opinions fluctuated. As stated earlier, teachers agreed that they attempted to link new knowledge with old, used more than two or more teaching strategies in lessons and used formal assessment tasks to inform lessons. However opinions suggest that teachers were not as successful in engaging parents or involving parents in learning opportunities.
There was a dichotomy of responses in the area of ‘Quality Feedback’ (average 7.1). Agreement was greatest related to written and verbal feedback on assessment tasks. Teacher feedback to students on a weekly basis and parental involvement in the feedback process were areas for future discussion. Teachers were more neutral regarding the feedback they received related to their practice from the executive and in the observation of lessons.
Questions related to ‘Overcoming Obstacles to Learning’ (average 7.4) generally reflected a positive outlook. Teachers’ responses indicated that they held positive opinions regarding the level of support that most students received, whether that be in overcoming barriers to learning, talking to other teachers about strategies to increase student engagement or in identifying unproductive learning strategies. There were more neutral responses relating to students using technology to track progress towards goals; the school executive providing support which helped teachers to improve their teaching and regular contact with the parents of students requiring learning support.
While this study is a pilot study and the sample of teachers at Penrith High School was relatively low, it has provided useful insights into how a survey such as this can allow teachers to present honest opinions which can be used to inform and guide practice. The methods of presenting the data (Eight Drivers of Student Learning vs. the Four Dimensions of Classroom and School Practices) give measures which allow all areas of teaching and learning to be examined and analysed. The data provides a useful starting point for professional dialogue and also baseline data for future studies if this were to continue. The analysis of data from the student survey may give further insight into areas of strength and areas for improvement related to the practice of teachers.
Future Directions 2015‐2017 School Plan
NSW DEC is implementing a new school planning process for 2015‐17. The new plan will be published on the school’s website from the beginning of Term 2 2015.
During 2014 we spent considerable time as a community talking, discussing, reflecting and evaluating where we stood in 2014 and then debating (often robustly) where we wanted to go as a school in 2015 and beyond. The process was a really valuable experience which allowed us to gain a strong sense of our collective identity, our hopes and dreams for our students. Our strategic directions explicitly show how we intend to transform student learning outcomes at Penrith.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1: Student Learning‐ Students will be engaged, curious learners who think critically and creatively to make a difference in their world.
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Purpose: To deliver a quality learning environment for gifted and talented students that inspires them to think deeply, logically and divergently in order to add value to their academic and social performance.
Students will be supported to become skillful, resilient, empathetic, resourceful and passionate lifelong learners who can embrace and lead change.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2: Staff Learning‐ Staff will lead learning through collaboration and innovative practice.
Purpose: To create a community of teachers who are dynamic facilitators of challenging learning experiences for gifted and talented students.
Teachers are engaged in targeted, explicit curriculum innovation and quality teaching that inspires learning and increases student engagement.
To ensure continued alignment and development of outstanding teaching practice and leadership capabilities of staff in line with the Australian Standards for Teachers and Standards for Principals.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION 3: School and Community Learning ‐ A connected school community that contributes positively to support student learning
Purpose: To create, enhance and maintain partnerships which are founded on meaningful participation in school programs, with a focus on the transition of students to tertiary learning.
To enhance the quality, sustainability and equity of community partnership in order to increase the breadth and depth of student learning experiences.
To improve communication in our school community to facilitate quality educational experiences for our students and their families.
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 committee have determined targets for the school's future development.
Kristine MacPhail, Relieving Principal
Stephen Duclos, Relieving Deputy Principal
David Shead, P&C President
Lachlan Penninkilampi, SRC President
Jaclyn Cush, Head Teacher English
Brian Ferguson, Head teacher Mathematics
Fiona Cunliffe, Head Teacher Teaching and Learning
Graeme Mell, Head Teacher Teaching and Learning
Maxine McNally, Sports Organiser
Judith Shearer, School Administration Staff
School contact information
Penrith High School
High St Penrith
Ph: 4721 0529
Fax: 4721 2722
Email: penrith‐[email protected]
Web: www.penrith‐h.schools.nsw.edu.au
School Code: 8163
Parents can find more information about Annual School Reports, how to interpret information in the report and have the opportunity to provide feedback about the report at:
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/emsad/asr/index.php
