St Patrick's Primary School, ParramattaPO Box 2308, North Parramatta 1750Principal: Miss Bernadette FabriPhone: 9630 1421 Fax: 9683 1910Email: stpatricksparra@parra.catholic.edu.auhttp://www.stpatsparra.catholic.edu.au

Introduction

About the Annual School ReportSt Patrick's Primary School is registered by the New South Wales Education Standards Authority,NESA, as a member of the Catholic system of schools in the Diocese of Parramatta.

The Annual School Report provides parents and the wider school community with fair, accurateand objective information about various aspects of school performance and development. TheReport describes achievement of school development priorities in 2016 and gives informationabout the 2017 priorities.

This Report is a legislative requirement under the Schools Assistance Act, 2008 and the EducationAmendment Act 2004.

The information in this Report is complemented by the school website where other schoolpublications and newsletters can be viewed or obtained from the school.

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Key Messages

PrincipalI am proud to present to you the 2016 Annual School Report for St Patrick's Primary School,Parramatta.

Our vision is to be a child-centred faith community within an innovative, interactive learningenvironment. We endeavour to celebrate each other’s uniqueness by providing opportunity forall and to develop a culture that identifies that the journey towards excellence is often pavedwith trial and error, risk taking, learning from mistakes, flexibility and adaptability. We believethat encouraging students to take ownership of the learning is critical in achieving the bestlearning outcomes and that implicit in this concept is that students learn to identify their ownareas of strength and areas of development through useful and explicit feedback.

In 2016, St Patrick's Primary School, Parramatta, has continued to implement a revised SchoolValues and Student Management policy. The key school values of respect, resilience andcompassion now form an integral part of all areas of school life.

At St Patrick’s Primary School, Parramatta, we believe in the importance of working as acommunity and together with the St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish and local parishes we endeavourto support the family in enriching the faith journey of our students.

The school motto, Sub Tuum Praesidium, continues the Mercy tradition and forms a link withother Mercy schools.

ParentThe school's inviting and welcoming culture enabled parents to be involved in the daily life of theschool by assisting in a variety of ways including:

classroom activities, small group support, in the library, gross motor activities, excursions,sporting and social eventsworking together in community groups such as fundraising and community building socialactivitiesattendance at parent educational opportunities held each term, focusing on areasrelevant to the children, the school, and curriculumparticipating in parent training courses aimed at helping in the classroom, especially inthe area of numeracy and literacyattendance at masses, liturgies, assemblies, open days and student performances

We were kept informed by letters, the school's website, the school's app and the parents'noticeboard with details of special or important events. Student progress was discussed throughindividual parent and teacher meetings and student-led parent and teacher conferences. We hadan opportunity to give the school feedback both formally and informally. One data gathering toolwas our involvement in participation in the Quality Catholic Schools (QCS) Survey conducted eachyear.

StudentStudents at St Patrick's Primary School, Parramatta, had many opportunities to developleadership skills through our involvement in leadership programs. These included the StudentRepresentative Council (SRC) from Kindergarten to Year 6. We contributed to the school byrunning assemblies; being good role models and supporting younger students; assisting teachers;welcoming visitors; representing our school at media announcements and organising WorldTeachers' Day in conjunction with the parents. We participated in leading the Angelus at midday,prayer at the end of each day and contributed as altar servers at mass. Many students belongedto the school choir, and through this opportunity, were able to lead the singing at mass; performat the CAPTIVATE concert; and perform at the local nursing home. This year we commenceddeveloping a deeper concept of the importance of becoming the 'driver of our learning', bylearning strategies to deepen ownership in the learning process and to check our learningSt Patrick's Primary School, Parramatta Page 2

learning strategies to deepen ownership in the learning process and to check our learningprogress. We expressed our voice through our class student representatives who met with one ofthe teachers every week.

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Who we are

History of the schoolSt Patrick’s is the oldest parish school in Australia.

The parish school was established in 1820. In 1837 the school was relocated next to St Patrick’sChurch. In 1874 the girls and smaller boys were separated and were taught in a school oppositethe church.

From 1874-1888 the Sisters of Mercy, Head House Monte Saint Angelo, North Sydney, wereteaching at St Patrick’s School, Parramatta, in a building which was standing in front of thepresent Our Lady of Mercy College (OLMC) in Victoria Road, then known as Pennant Street.

The Sisters of Mercy from Callan, Ireland, then took up residence in Parramatta on 8 December1888 at the invitation of Cardinal Moran. They re-opened the school on Monday 10 December,just two days later with an enrolment of 55 pupils.

In 1926 that building was demolished and a new building was erected at the corner of VilliersStreet and Ross Street, the current site.

The senior girls moved to Westmead in 1966 to form Catherine McAuley High School. Theprimary school remains to this present day. The Sisters of Mercy handed the responsibility forthe school to the first lay principal in 1985. The school is a place of heritage, innovative learningand vision.

Location/drawing areaThe school is located in Parramatta, close to the business centre and mainly draws on studentsfrom Parramatta, parts of North Parramatta and Oatlands. A number of Catholic families workingin the Parramatta area also access the school. The school serves the parish of St Patrick'sCathedral Parramatta. There are currently fourteen classes of boys and girls from Kindergarten toYear 6 and over 90 per cent of students come from a non-English speaking background.

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Workforce Composition

Category Numberof Staff

Number of teachers who hold teaching qualification from a higher educationinstitution within Australia or as recognised within the National Office of OverseasSkills Recognition (AEI-NOOSR) guidelines

24

Number of teachers who have a bachelor degree from a higher education institutionwithin Australia or within AEI-NOOSR guidelines but lacking formal teacherqualifications

0

Number of teachers accreditated to teach Religious Education 23

Number of teachers currently undertaking accreditation to teach Religious Education 1

Number of non-teaching staff (includes teachers' aides) 4

Percentage of teachers who are indigenous 0

The average teacher attendance for 2016 93.61

Percentage of 2016 teaching staff who were retained from 2015 96

Catholic Identity and Religious Education

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Catholic Identity and Religious Education

Prayer, Liturgical Life and Faith ExperiencesMajor events included:

significant celebrations such as masses celebrating the beginning of the school year, AshWednesday, Mothers Day, Feast of the Assumption, Fathers Day, Year 6 Graduation andEnd of Year Thanksgiving liturgical celebrations during Catholic Schools Week, Holy Week, St Patrick's Feast Day,Sacred Heart Feast Day, ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, Advent and Christmas student involvement, with music led by the choir and the whole school community invitedto each liturgical event nursing home visits daily class and weekly whole-school prayer to St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, for all thesick in the communityparticipation in the Way of Mercy events as part of Catholic Education Diocese ofParramatta Schools

Weekly events included:class attendance at parish massesReconciliation and grade liturgiesmorning assembly and prayer with parents and all studentsend of day prayer led by student leadersFriday school prayer at rostered assemblies led by individual classes using music, dramaand dancedaily class prayer with students encouraged to contribute or organise the prayerweekly staff prayer with each staff member invited to participate and to prepare prayer ora spiritual reflectionleadership team meeting prayerstaff Spiritual Reflection Dayclassroom prayer focusdaily whole-school praying the Angelus, led by Student Representative Council members

Social JusticeSocial justice is an integral part of the school life. Students are given practical ways of reachingout to others.

We supported the St Vincent de Paul Society through their Winter and Christmas Appeals; theCaritas Project Compassion Lenten Appeal and Catholic Mission fundraising. Both Caritas andCatholic Mission provided materials to raise students' awareness of others less fortunate thanthemselves. The school choir and primary grades visited the local nursing home to sing and chatto the residents. This year, in preparation for World Youth Day (WYD), 2016, the school raisedfunds to send a teacher to experience the pilgrimage and WYD week and also raised funds forthe Filipino Appeal.

Each year the staff participate in a staff social justice appeal, and in 2016 this was for a localhomeless shelter for women in abusive situations. Year 5 participated in the a project where theylearned about sustainability in conjunction with fundraising for self-chosen charities.

School home and parish partnershipsSt Patrick's Primary School, Parramatta Page 6

School, home and parish partnerships were evident in:the involvement of parents and clergy in significant celebrations and special massesweekly visits to classes by the school chaplainclass attendance at parish masses weeklyweekly Reconciliation (Years 3 to 6)students (Years 5 and 6) being altar servers for school and parish massesstaff attendance at Reconciliation, Confirmation, First Communion and Year 6 Graduationsupport for the parish Sacramental program and links with the parish Sacramentalcoordinatorclergy and parent attendance at liturgiesparticipation in Year of Mercy parish and school eventsparish Christmas carols

Parents were involved in:completion of child protection training and training for classroom assistancesmall group reading and sporting eventsexcursionsattendance at school functions and student performancessupporting social justice initiativesworking together, fundraising for Mothers Day and Fathers Daysocial activities, movie night, family discos, morning teasorganising a barbecue lunch at the School Athletics Carnivalparent attendance and participation at parent workshops parent attendance and participation in the Parents Events Committeestudent-led conferences with parents and teachers, as well as individual parent andteacher meetings during the year

Religious EducationThe school follows the Sharing Our Story program of the Catholic Education, Diocese ofParramatta, and completes all units of work outlined in it. During the year they included:

Early Stage 1: 'God Loves Me' and 'God is our Creator'Stage 1: 'Jesus is With Us' and 'Senses: A Gift from God'Stage 2: 'Reaching Out' and 'The Bible: A Special Book'Stage 3: 'Parables of Jesus' and 'Servant Leadership'

Religious Education was not confined to the Sharing Our Story program. Faith experiences wereoffered to students through many avenues, including:

whole-school prayers, daily prayer in the classroom and end-of-day school prayerclass liturgies on a rotational basis at Friday assemblyprimary students’ participation in Reconciliation liturgies and parish masseswhole-school liturgies during Catholic Schools Week, Holy Week, St Patrick's Feast Day,Advent and Christmasmemorial services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Daysocial justice initiativesvisiting local nursing homessupport for the Lenten Appeal, Caritas and St Vincent de Paul Society

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support for the pilgrimage appeal as part of World Youth Day 2016

Professional Learning of staff in Religious EducationProfessional Development of staff in Religious Education included:

the development of skills in designing rich learning tasks incorporating the three levels ofunderstandingunderstanding the concept of Mercy as evident in Scripturedeveloping and understanding of integrating pedagogical content and knowledge inliteracy with Religious Education teachers to engage in professional learning related tothe skill of questioning (integrated with literacy professional development).developing rubrics to encourage higher order thinking in Religious Education

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Learning and Teaching

National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)Students in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9 across Australia participated in National AssessmentProgram – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in May 2016. The purpose of this test is to provideinformation to parents and teachers about the achievements of students in aspects of Literacyand Numeracy. The test provides a measure of the student’s performance against establishedstandards and against other students in Australia. Each year the results are analysed by theschool to inform teaching and learning with a view to improving student performance.

The Commonwealth Government sets minimum acceptable standards for literacy, numeracy,reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling at particular ages. These are referred to asnational minimum standards. Student performance in NAPLAN in our school is compared tothese standards. The percentages of students achieving at or above these national minimumstandards, and the percentages of students in the top three bands are reported in the tablebelow.

NAPLAN RESULTS 2016

% of students at or abovenational minimum

standard

% of students in top threebands

School Australia School Australia

Year3

Grammar and Punctuation 100 96 90 74

Literacy 100 96 97 74

Reading 100 95 84 71

Writing 100 96 95 80

Spelling 100 94 88 70

Numeracy 100 96 67 63

NAPLAN RESULTS 2016

% of students at or abovenational minimum

standard

% of students in top threebands

School Australia School Australia

Year5

Grammar and Punctuation 100 94 82 62

Literacy 100 93 80 57

Reading 96 93 74 62

Writing 98 93 63 48

Spelling 100 93 78 58

Numeracy 98 95 82 57

YEAR 3

A summary of some of the main points for Year 3 arising from our analysis were:Fifty eight students sat for NAPLAN 2016.

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No children were withdrawn or absent.There were no students below national minimum standards. The percentage of students in the top two bands, bands 5 and 6, were above the state inall areas.Areas of particular strength in 2016 were grammar and punctuation and writing, followedclosely by spelling and reading. Trend data showed that the scores were well above those of the state in all areas.

YEAR 5

A summary of some of the main points for Year 5 arising from our analysis were:Fifty four students sat for NAPLAN 2016.No children were withdrawn or absent.The percentage of students below national minimum standards was 2% to 4% in three ofthe five areas tested.The percentage of students in the top two bands, bands 7 and 8, were above the state inall areas.Areas of particular strength in 2016 were grammar and punctuation, reading, spelling andnumeracy followed closely by writing.Trend data showed that the scores were above those of the state in all areas, with steepimprovements in the areas of reading, grammar and punctuation and, overall, best resultsin Numeracy.

Many students showed significant growth in all areas from Years 3 to 5. A topic for furtherconsideration is to investigate why some students reached or excelled beyond the expectedgrowth and why some did not.

School curriculumBoard of Studies Key Learning Areas (KLAs) of English, Mathematics, Human Society andIts Environment (HSIE), Science and Technology; Creative Arts; and Personal Development, Healthand Physical Education (PDHPE) are taught, as well as Religious Education.

Additional programs included:support for children with a range of additional needs including a personal plan (PP) andcase management conferencesliteracy and numeracy support to assist students to access the curriculum throughdifferentiated learning opportunities

This allowed a number of Language Backgrounds Other Than English (LBOTE) students,and students not supported by Special Learning Needs (SLN) programs, to succeed in smallgroup teaching and learning.

General learning and teaching activities included:music and drama, involving the choir and a whole-school programLife Education - an external programPhysical Education programs for all students, an external Gymnastics program taught byspecialist teachers, an external Dance program taught by specialist teachers to allstudents

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the opportunity for students to learn instruments and/or dance through partnership withOur Lady of Mercy College. Parramatta

A number of co-curricular activities included: International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) in Mathematics, English,Science, and computer skillsVoice of Youth - public speaking competitionzone and diocesan swimming, cross country and athletics carnivalsdiocesan and local touch football gala daysdiocesan soccer gala daysOur Lady of Mercy College drama presentations and workshops with senior studentsOur Lady of Mercy College public speaking presentations and workshops with seniorstudentsvarious excursions linked to curriculum units such as the Forestry Commissionand Parliament House'Mindset Theory' workshopsScience based incursions

Initiatives to promote respect and responsibilityThe school's Student Management policy promotes respect, resilience and compassion. Thesub themes of being fair and welcoming, determined and positive, caring and thoughtful arereferred to regularly. A student charter, created by the 2015 Student Representative Council, hasnow been implemented and will be highlighted to students when appropriate and necessary. Thestudent charter outlines the community rights and responsibilities.

All students wre challenged to strive in the following areas:St Patrick's awards were presented each week, focusing on 'Faith in Action' with the StPatrick Award, and curriculum achievement and effort with the Honour Award.Values and Australian school values were promoted on a display board and throughschool mascots.'Faith in Action' encouraged individual and grade support for various charities,teaching the children to relate to others in need and become involved in communityservice.Senior students 'buddied' with younger students to support them and provide goodrole models.

Year 6 students also had a variety of responsibilities through the Senior Leadership program. In2016 a new student leadership structure was trialled involving set portfolios for student teams.These included school captains (senior Student Representative Council members, vice captains(Religious Education portfolio), Science and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics leaders,Arts leaders (visual and language arts) and Personal Development, Health and Physical Educationleaders. Each pair of leaders was supported by a committee of interested Year 6 studentsincluding house captains.

Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 (K-6) had the opportunity to be on theStudent Representative Council (SRC) each semester. The student leadership team wasrestructured for 2016 to provide greater clarity and focus regarding roles and responsibilities.

Professional LearningThe staff at St Patrick's Parramatta have been involved in a number of professional developmentopportunities.St Patrick's Primary School, Parramatta Page 11

Professional learning undertaken by staff in 2016 included:Religious Education - indigenous spiritualityExtending Mathematical Understanding (EMU)trends from Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI) testing and coding, benchmark,tracking, and dataEMU strategies for open-ended rich tasksAustralian National Curriculum - English, comprehension strategiesAustralian National Curriculum - Mathematics, number linesPrimary Connections - Sciencenumeracy block - criteria for success and shared practicefeatures of an effective literacy blockcase management implementationputting FACES on the data for reportingtracking Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-R) datainterpreting and analysing Quality Catholic Schools (QCS) dataGoogle apps for educationworkplace health and safetychild protection traininganaphylaxis managementcardiopulmonary resuscitationasthma trainingemergency first aidpeer review trainingdeveloping professional learning goalsReligious Education word walls related to deepening ScriptureReligious Education rich learning tasksdevelopment of student management Incentive program incorporating the charismof Catherine McAuleymanaging students with high behavioural needsLive Life Well at school presentationKindergarten to Year 2 and Year 3 to Year 6 Reading for Leaders coursesInformation and Communication Technology workshops to explore apps to be used forfeedbackunderstanding and managing student behavioural needs

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School Improvement

Annual school prioritiesPriority 1 To improve students’ understanding of the Catholic faith through a

greater use of rich learning tasks, focusing on the Year of Mercy

Reason for priority 1 To consolidate and deepen the learning of 2015, looking through thelens provided by the Pope Francis’ Misericordiae Vultus and the Year ofMercy. Responses to the Religious Literacy task indicated a need forexplicit teaching of the connection between the three levels ofunderstanding: literal, interpretive/inferential, and faith in action.

Steps taken to achievepriority 1

These included:school-wide student survey: mercyschool-wide classroom work samples formed the baselineformative data to measure the depth of the students’ responsesmapped according to the three levels understanding and tojudge the extent to which acts of mercy were identified inSharing Our Story units and links were made to church doctrine,the Sacraments and christian livingteachers' engagement with the Misericordiae Vultus to developan understanding of mercy in Scripture

Status of priority 1 Ongoing

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Priority 2 For all students in Years 3 to 6 to make individual targeted gains incomprehension by the end of the year, as evidenced by animprovement in reading levels, Progressive Achievement Tests inReading (PAT-R) and NAPLAN individual targeted gains incomprehension by the end of the year, as evidenced by animprovement in reading levels, PAT-R and NAPLAN results, and teacherassessments and observations.

Reason for priority 2 NAPLAN results in 2015 showed a need to work towards increasing thenumber of students in the top two bands in NAPLAN and top staninesin PAT-R. A teacher survey indicated a need to update and reviewshared practices in the area of comprehension.

Steps taken to achievepriority 2

These included:teachers to assess students' reading levels regularly todetermine appropriate resources and learning experiencesuse of the Department of Education and Communities(DEC) continuum comprehension clusters and own assessmentsto plot students' ability and apply explicit strategiesteachers improving their pedagogical content knowledge inreading, specifically in the area of comprehensioneg Thompson’s model of reading responses: questioning,predicting, inferencing and synthesising

Status of priority 2 Ongoing

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Priority 3 For all students to progress at least one growth point in the domains ofcounting, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division overone year and a specific focus on all Years 3 to 4 to be beyond growthpoint three, and all Years 5 to 6 to be beyond growth point four inplace value

Reason for priority 3 Our Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI) data showed that manyof our students were ‘getting stuck’ on growth point two in place valueand 2015 MAI data showed many students not progressing to theminimum required growth point.

Steps taken to achievepriority 3

Professional development of staff took place in the following areas:assessment as, of, and for, learning made explicit in programscase conferences involving specialist staffplanning and programming with the assistance of the leader oflearning - Mathematics as coach/mentor parent information sessions both in groups and individual asrequiredinstructional walks to facilitate shared practice in numeracy

Status of priority 3 Ongoing

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Projected school prioritiesPriority 1 To deepen children’s knowledge and understanding of Scripture and to

make connections to the Sacraments through the lens of mercy

Reason for Priority 1 Whilst St Patrick’s Primary School is above the the diocesan average inthe diocesan Religious Education Assessment there has been adownward trend in the Sacrament strand. A focus on Sacrament is thusrecommended.

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 1

These will include to:revise agreed practices in religious education and links topedagogycontinue to embed agreed practices whilst working on a deeperunderstanding of agreed practices in Religious Educationengage in professional learning related to the Sacramentsuse liturgyhelp.com to support teachers' planning and teachinglist doctrinal statements that need to be known by end of Year6 and integrate into programs of work

Priority 2 For all students to improve in the quality of their writing as evidencedby an increase in the percentage of students attaining the higher levelscores in the NAPLAN writing criteria eg audience, text structure, ideas,character and setting, cohesion and vocabulary

Reason for Priority 2 There is a need to build the capacity of teachers in the effectiveinstruction of writing to facilitate the improvement of studentsachieving the higher bands. NAPLAN data revealed that a largerpercentage of our Year 3 students were represented in band 5 (55.2%)whilst students in Year 5 demonstrated a percentage decline in bands 7and 8 in writing (band 6 - 37%), (band 7 - 16.5%), (band 8 - 9.3%).

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 2

Teachers will:familiarise and consolidate their knowledge of the writingcurriculumprovide a print rich classroom environment to display qualitywriting samplesengage in the writing process during modelled writing todemonstrate what effective writers doresearch and familiarise themselves with 'Quality Mentor Texts'to support the teaching of quality writinguse rubrics/marking criteria to proofread/edit and recraftwriting

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Priority 3 For all students to increase by a minimum of one growth point (GP) inall domains with a particular focus on multiplication and division andvulnerable students in the area of multiplication and division toachieve the 'on the way growth point', or beyond.

Reason for Priority 3 The 2016 MAI analysis showed many students relied on skip countingas a preferred strategy for solving multiplication and division problems.

Analysis of the school data wall in October 2016 showed minimalmovement of students to the next growth point: 47% of Year 2, 46% ofYear 3 and 23% of Year 4 are ‘stuck’ on GP two; 52% of Year 4, 72% ofYear 5 and 74% of Year 6 are below the expected ‘on the way’ growthpoints.

NAPLAN data showed 50% of Years 3 to 5 had difficulty with divisionword problems.

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 3

Teachers to:identify students in Stages 2 and 3 who are skip counting formultiplication and division or students in Stage 1 who arecounting and sharing by ones for multiplication and divisionto review Naplan analysis and incorporate two-step wordproblems in programmingto implement teaching strategies and use challenging, engaginglearning activities that promote the use of multiplicativethinkingpromote a positive mindset of persistence when faced withMathematics challenges

Community Satisfaction

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Community Satisfaction

Parent satisfactionDuring 2016, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta engaged an external company,Insight SRC, to conduct the Quality Catholic Schooling (QCS) survey to collate feedback fromparents, students and staff about our school. This survey will be conducted annually.

The QCS data collected and reported, showed that the parents identified that their childrenparticipating in prayer, and celebrating liturgies, and that the Sacraments at school wereimportant to them. They also felt that their children had the opportunity to reflect on their faith,pray together, and celebrate liturgies. The extent to which parents believed the school had afocus on improving its performance was also high.

Student satisfactionThe QCS data showed that the students gave Catholic culture high importance. This reflected apositive relationship between student, parent and staff perceptions of: the importance ofeducation, opportunities given, compassion and parish involvement. Student responsesregarding engagement in learning and motivation were high and they saw their learning aspurposeful.

An area for development was the student perception of classroom behaviour. This was notconsistent with staff responses who rated behaviour as high. Further investigation of thisresponse is planned for 2017.

Teacher satisfactionThe QCS data showed that the involvement between school and parish was of highimportance to staff. Staff responses showed an improved score in student behaviour, team-based practice, teaching and learning and improvement focus. An area of decline involved workdemands. Further investigation of this response is planned for 2017.

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Student Profile

Enrolment PolicySt Patrick's Primary School follows the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta (CEDP)Enrolment Policy and Procedures. This document can be obtained from the school office or can beaccessed on the CEDP website http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/policy-central

Current and previous years' student enrolmentYear Boys Girls Total

2014 216 197 413

2015 199 209 408

2016 206 206 412

The student numbers indicate that there have been no significant changes in student enrolmentover the past few years. Enrolments have remained steady and healthy.

Student attendance ratesThe table below shows the percentage of student attendance by Year level and school average.

Kindergarten 93

Year 1 95

Year 2 95

Year 3 94

Year 4 94

Year 5 95

Year 6 95

School Average 94

Characteristics of the student bodyThe table below shows the number of students in each of the categories listed.

Language background other than English (LBOTE) 344

Students with disablities (SWD) 10

Indigenous 1

Managing Student Non-attendanceRegular attendance at school is essential if students are to maximise their potential. Schools inpartnership with parents and guardians, are responsible for promoting the regular attendance ofstudents. The compulsory schooling age is 6-17. Parents and guardians are legally responsible forthe regular attendance of their children, explaining the absences of their children in writingwithin several days to the school, and taking measures to resolve attendance issues involvingtheir children. School staff as part of their duty of care, monitor part or whole day absences.

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They maintain accurate records of students' attendance, follow up unexplained absencesthrough written and verbal communication, implement programs and practices to addressattendance issues when they arise, and provide clear information to students and parentsregarding attendance requirements and the consequences of unsatisfactory attendance. Theprincipal or their delegate, may grant permission for late arrival or early departure from school,leave or exemption from attendance only in individual cases, on written request from parentsand guardians.

The principal/delegate will undertake all reasonable measures to contact parents promptly if anunexplained absence occurs. If truancy is suspected, the principal will contact theparents/guardians to ascertain the reason for the absence. If a satisfactory response is notreceived, the matter will be referred to the relevant staff at the Catholic Education Office,Diocese of Parramatta who will follow up unexplained absences as per legislative requirements.

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Student wellbeing

Student welfare, discipline and anti-bullying policies and pastoral careThe school continued to implement and refine their Student Management Policy andPractice containing a reference to Anti-bullying procedures and together created an atmosphereof total care within the school community. They included:

pastoral care and/of childrena positive approach to the management of childrenprocedural fairness and natural justice as a basic rightsupport of parents in their role as primary educators of their childrenstrategies for children to address any attempted bullyingempowering children to be responsible for their own behaviour and actions; to be able toidentify inappropriate behaviour; make positive choices, and modify actionsa statement on student rights and responsibilities in the form of a student charterthe promotion of the school values of respect, resilience and compassion, and associatedmascots and valuesthe use of the 'super shamrock' incentive programthe implementation of clear guidelines regarding the system of rewards andconsequences in the school expectationsthe use and display of a student created student charter to guide shared behaviouralexpectations

The policies and processes aimed to:develop happy, confident, self-directed children able to deal with life's challengescreate a strong school identity where the individuality and diversity that each child bringsare valuedprovide an environment where pastoral care and Christian values are nurturedteach children to be respectful, resilient and compassionatechange unacceptable behaviour to positive actionscreate an awareness of the relationship between each child's rights and responsibility toothers

The success of our policies was evidenced by the low level of serious behaviour problems and thewillingness of the children to support the few with challenging behaviours. Parents were engagedin discussion of this policy at parent forums.

A significant change in 2016 is the use of the Student Charter.

For more information please contact the school office for a Parent Handbook containing the fullschool policy and student charter or visit school websiteon http://www.stpatsparra.catholic.edu.au/faq-details/student-management-policy, for a briefoutline.

Complaints and grievances policyThe school has formal written protocols in place to address complaints and grievances.These protocols are in line with the Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta(CEDP) Complaint Handling policy. A copy of the school policy is available from the school office oris available on the CEDP website http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/policy-central.

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There were no changes to the policy during 2016

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Section Eleven: Financial Statement

Income Expenditure

Commonwealth (60.3%)Capital (0%)State (20%)Fees (16.1%)Other (3.6%)

Capital (6.3%)Salary (69.8%)Non-Salary (23.9%)

RECURRENT and CAPITAL INCOME

Commonwealth Recurrent Grants1 $2,629,125

Government Capital Grants 2 $0

State Recurrent Grants 3 $872,834

Fees and Private Income 4 $699,854

Other Capital Income 5 $155,247

Total Income $4,357,060

RECURRENT and CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

Capital Expenditure 6 $278,410

Salaries and Related Expenses 7 $3,075,064

Non-Salary Expenses 8 $1,054,569

Total Expenditure $4,408,043

1. Commonwealth relates to Commonwealth Recurrent Grants including per capita fundingand special purpose grants.

2. Capital relates to Government Capital Grants.3. State relates to State Recurrent Grants including per capita funding, interest subsidy and

special purpose grants.4. Fees relates to diocesan and school based fees, excursions and other private income from

parents.5. Other refers to Other Capital Income including drawdowns from the Diocesan School

Building Fund to fund Capital Expenditure.6. Capital refers to Capital Expenditure including School Buildings, Furniture and Equipment.7. Salaries refers to the total of all Salaries, allowances and related expenses such as

superannuation, workers compensation and leave.8. Non-Salary refers to all other Non-Salary Recurrent Expenses.

16.1%

20% 60.3%

■■■■■

6.3%

23.9%

69.8%

■■■

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