St Paul The Apostle Primary School,Winston Hills44 Buckleys Road, Winston Hills 2153Principal: Mrs Marian BellPhone: 9639 2555 Fax: 9686 2212Email: WinstonHills@parra.catholic.edu.auhttp://www.stpawinstonhills.catholic.edu.au

Introduction

About the Annual School ReportSt Paul The Apostle Primary School is registered by the New South Wales Education StandardsAuthority, 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 the 2016 Annual School Report for St Paul the Apostle Primary SchoolWinston Hills. St Paul the Apostle Primary School is a welcoming Catholic community, valuing ourunique partnership of family, school and parish. We provide opportunities forindividual growth and strive for excellence in teaching and learning. Our vision is to ‘reach newheights through a community celebrating faith, life and learning’. The motto of St Paul theApostle Primary School is Victory through Faith.

The commitment and contribution of the Holy Faith Sisters to the faith development of allmembers of this community has been, and still is, significant. The Holy Faith Sisters are honouredeach year at our Margaret Aylward awards liturgy. Children are recognised by their peers andrewarded for living the school values of leadership, commitment, faithfulness, integrity andempathy.

At St Paul the Apostle Primary School we recognise that each child is an individual and learns inunique ways. We strive to differentiate and individualise the learning for all students. Thisenables a teaching program that meets the needs of all students to reach their true potential aslife long learners.

ParentThe primary goal of the Parents and Friends Association (P&F) has been to work collaborativelyto provide social and fundraising opportunities our children and the wider schoolcommunity. The relationship between parents, friends, children and school staff is critical to thesuccess of the P&F. Of equal importance is the willingness of individuals to volunteer and givegenerously of their time that ensures the success of P&F activities.

Two thousand and sixteen was an incredibly busy year for the P&F. We had a number ofsuccessful social events during the year, including family bingo, primary and infants discos,Mothers Day and Fathers Day breakfasts, St Peter and St Paul's Feast Day celebration, spider dayand green day. They were all enjoyed by children and parents. These events provided a greatvehicle for the fostering of positive family and teacher relationships, as we are so very lucky tohave exceptional staff at St Paul the Apostle Primary School who give of their valuable time toparticipate in these events and help to make them a success.

Our main fundraiser for 2016 was our fete. It had been many years since we held a fete in thegrounds of the school. It was a great success and a wonderful opportunity to bring the parish andwider community together. Social activities and fundraising are important aspects of the P&F'srole. The P&F donated $30,000 to the school for the purchase of much needed technology,$12000 to support the teachers aid, new benches for the playground and a defibrillator.

StudentThe students of St Paul the Apostle Primary School are proud to present this report. At ourschool, students are given the opportunity to be involved in many of the extra activitiesprovided.

Our school participates in sport gala days including touch football, rugby league, soccer, netballand basketball. Parents and teachers help us on these days and the days are great fun. We alsohave a swimming carnival, cross country carnival and athletics carnival. In term 4 we had a feteand it was great. We raised a lot of money for technology in the school.

In Year 5, the students nominated other students they believed would be good leaders in Year 6.

The names of the students with the most nominations then went on a ballot paper and apreferential voting system was used to elect our school captains, vice captains and school leadersfor the following year. This school leadership team ran the weekly assemblies and welcomedvisitors to the school on special occasions.

In March 2016 all children from Years 3 to 6 were given the opportunity to participate in theDance Fever challenge. One hundred students participated in the competition. Many studentswon individual dance competitions and the group came first in the inter-school Hip Hop

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won individual dance competitions and the group came first in the inter-school Hip HopCompetition.

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Who we are

History of the schoolSt Paul the Apostle Primary School, Winston Hills, was opened and blessed on October 7, 1973.The Holy Faith Sisters were responsible for the school between 1974 and 1999. At the time of itsfoundation, the school was a single storey building. A second two storey building wasconstructed later and the school was complete when four demountable classrooms werepurchased in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1995, the parish undertook the building of a newschool library, administration block and staffroom which included an undercover play area forthe children and storage for the school and parent community. In 2010, as a result of theNational School Pride, and Building the Education Revolution funding, major refurbishments ofall classroom areas were undertaken and completed. The back playground area was alsolandscaped. In 2011 with funds from the parent body, a multimedia, art and a multipurposeroom were also renovated. Two thousand and thirteen marked the 40th anniversary of theschool.

Location/drawing areaSt Paul the Apostle Primary School is a Catholic systemic school located in Winston Hills withinthe Diocese of Parramatta. It serves the parish of Saint Paul the Apostle. Our parish priest isinterested and involved in the school and provides much support to the school communitythrough his caring leadership. The school draws on students from Winston Hills, Old Toongabbieand Baulkham Hills West. There are currently 14 classes from Kindergarten to Year 6.

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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

23

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 21

Number of teachers currently undertaking accreditation to teach Religious Education 0

Number of non-teaching staff (includes teachers' aides) 11

Percentage of teachers who are indigenous 0

The average teacher attendance for 2016 93.11

Percentage of 2016 teaching staff who were retained from 2015 92

Catholic Identity and Religious Education

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Catholic Identity and Religious Education

Prayer, Liturgical Life and Faith ExperiencesThe prayer and liturgical life is strong at St Paul the Apostle Primary School.

Provision was made for families to celebrate their faith with the children through a variety ofprayer experiences. Morning prayer, special events and feast days were celebrated in a mannerappropriate to the children's level of maturity. Staff members had opportunities to enrich theirown faith development through their involvement in weekly staff prayer, reflection days andretreat opportunities. The Mini Vinnies team of Year 5 students led morning prayer eachfortnight before school for children and staff.

The parish Sacramental programs were well attended by the Religious Education coordinator andrelevant staff members. The Religious Education coordinator attended all parish Sacramentalcommittee meetings, fostering strong links between the school and parish.

Major events in the liturgical life of the school included: weekly Stage masses and Reconciliation;whole-school masses for significant feast days and holy days; the Margaret Aylward Liturgy andHoly Faith awards; pre and post Easter liturgies; Year 6 reflection camp; the Graduation Mass andthe Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Sunday Stage masses were held on the fifth Sunday ofevery month in an endeavour to strengthen the school parish relationship and to support theevangelising mission of the church.

Social JusticeSocial Justice initiatives for 2016 included both fund raising and social justice awarenessprograms, which were comprised of: two school discos where funds raised went to support theschool's two sponsored children; the children's contributions to Caritas through the ProjectCompassion Lenten Appeal; staff contributions to Caritas at the end of the school year; adonation by the parent body to the St Vincent de Paul Society; a sausage sizzle to raise moneyfor St Jude's Mission; and involvement by school families in the St Vincent de Paul Door KnockAppeal.

At the end of the school year, the students each brought in a gold coin donation which was usedto purchase Christmas gifts for less fortunate children. These gifts were donated at the annualChristmas concert to the St Vincent de Paul parish representative for distribution. MiniVinnies continued with Years 4 and 5 students given the opportunity to participate in the MiniVinnies program. New members were presented with a special Mini Vinnies badge at the end ofthe year and these members have taken up the challenge of raising awareness of social justiceissues as well as fund raising.

School home and parish partnershipsParent helpers played a significant role in the children's learning in both infant and primaryclasses. They assisted with integrated group work; reading; Mathematics; inquiry learningprojects; physical education activities and, in some grades, were involved in the area of creativeand practical arts. As described in our mission statement, St Paul the Apostle Primary School is awelcoming Catholic community, valuing our unique partnership of family, school and parish,providing opportunities for individual growth and striving for excellence in teaching and learning.

The parish priest was a welcome visitor to the school every Thursday when he visited classes.Teachers met with him regularly to plan grade and Sunday masses. The assistant principalwrote a monthly newsletter article for the parish notebook which kept the parish communityinformed about school events. Parents were involved in a variety of school activities such as:school liturgies; curriculum workshops; parent information nights; parish-based Sacramentalprograms; class literacy and numeracy programs; inquiry-based learning projects; Readingprogram; school library; Parents and Friends Association meetings and functions; working bees;sporting events and excursions.

The principal attended the monthly Parish Council meeting. The Religious Education coordinatorwas a member of the Parish Sacramental Team and Liturgy Committee.

Every fifth Sunday the school ran the Sunday mass. Children led the Liturgy of the Word and theschool choir led the singing. The parish musicians led the music during the end of yearSt Paul The Apostle Primary School, Winston Hills Page 6

school choir led the singing. The parish musicians led the music during the end of yearthanksgiving mass for Year 6 students.

Religious EducationReligious Education is an integral component of all key learning areas and the values permeateacross the curriculum. The pastoral care of students, parents and staff is a prime concern.

The Parramatta Diocese Religious Education syllabus, Sharing Our Story, was taught fromKindergarten to Year 6. The programming in Religious Education reflected the shared praxismodel as well as incorporating the integral learning approach focusing on the four ways ofknowing and quadrant thinking. Stage masses were celebrated on Fridays and Reconciliation tookplace on Tuesday and Wednesday for class groups. The Sacramental program was parish-basedand was run by the Sacramental Team. In 2015, the Years 4 and 6 students participated in theDiocesan Religious Education Assessment program with pleasing results with steady growth in allkey concept areas.

The Religious Education program at St Paul the Apostle Primary School is well resourced. Parentswere invited to view the work produced by the Year 4 students in their reflections and responsesto the assessment tasks. Every year the children participate in pre and post Easter liturgies and agroup of students re-enact the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Year 6 participated in anOutreach program which involved them visiting a local nursing home to share their lifeexperiences with the residents. A special focus in the school was fostering the charism of theHoly Faith Sisters through the annual Margaret Aylward Liturgy. At this ceremony, recognitionwas given to students exhibiting the following values: faithfulness, leadership, integrity,commitment and empathy. Recognition was also given to a Year 6 student demonstrating theseChristian values at the Thanksgiving Mass held at the end of the school year. The award winningYear 6 student's name is engraved on the honour board displayed in the school library.

Professional Learning of staff in Religious EducationStaff participated in professional learning through staff meetings, module meetings andindividual meetings with the Religious Education coordinator. Much of our professional learningwas deepening our understanding of mercy in this the Year of Mercy. We also worked with theReligious Education team for the dioceses on using the Theological and Educational backgroundsection of the syllabus as well as the creating learning intentions and success criteria thatreflected the three levels of understanding. In term 2 we introduced and developed as a staffReligious Education warm-ups based on the units.

Staff spirituality and formation are important components of professional learning for staff. TheReligious Education Formation Day focused on St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta. Many staffhad never been there or understood the many aspects of the cathedral but now have a greaterunderstanding of the cathedral. All staff prepared for, and attended, weekly prayer held eachThursday morning. The prayer focused on the daily Scripture.

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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 98 96 92 74

Literacy 100 96 90 74

Reading 100 95 83 71

Writing 100 96 92 80

Spelling 100 94 88 70

Numeracy 98 96 70 63

NAPLAN RESULTS 2016

% of students at or abovenational minimum

standard

% of students in top threebands

School Australia School Australia

Year5

Grammar and Punctuation 96 94 62 62

Literacy 96 93 64 57

Reading 100 93 68 62

Writing 96 93 41 48

Spelling 96 93 66 58

Numeracy 96 95 50 57

All students according to the Year 3 and Year 5 2016 NAPLAN results were above the nationalminimum standard and above the Australian average. Year 3 had students in the top threebands greater than the Australian average. Year 5 also had students in the top three bandsgreater than the Australian average except for writing and Numeracy.St Paul The Apostle Primary School, Winston Hills Page 8

Analysis of the NAPLAN data for both Year 3 and Year 5 revealed common issues in readingabout locating the main idea, interpreting vocabulary, inferring meaning, connecting ideas. Inwriting the data revealed that the school needed to improve in writing paragraphs.

In numeracy the school will be focussing on addition and subtraction strategies used whenproblem solving.

School curriculumThe school curriculum at St Paul the Apostle Primary School is rich and diverse, offering manyopportunities, experiences and support for our students.

Our Learning Support Team assisted in the integration of students with diverse needs. Teacherswere assisted in differentiation of the curriculum, providing individual teaching whennecessary, working with students in small groups and providing resources to meet specific needs.Individual Learning Plans were implemented for students in classroom learning programs,following consultation with parents and teachers. Students with identified gifts and/or talentswere catered for within the class program.

We had two reading recovery teachers to support students in Year 1. We had 3 ExtendingMathematical Understanding (EMU) groups to address the needs of the most vulnerable Year 1students and Year 4 students.

There were also a number of other programs at St Paul the Apostle Primary School that aimed tosupport and extend the learning outcomes of the NSW curriculum:

debating club and inter-school competitionStudent Leadership programPersonal Development program (Years 5)swimming (Kindergarten to Year 4) Surf Life Saving program (Years 5 to 6)school band and choirDance Fevergymnastics

All new Kindergarten students participated in an Orientation program prior to commencing theschool year.

The learning support teacher visited preschools and secondary schools to assist in the transitionof special needs students. Students in all grades attended excursions and participated inincursions that aimed to support the learning in the classroom.

Children were also offered opportunities to participate in a range of sporting gala days.

Initiatives to promote respect and responsibilitySt Paul the Apostle Primary School had many initiatives in place to promote respect andresponsibility. These included:

The weekly Friday assembly award system ensured individual students were recognisedand received a certificate for demonstrating respect and responsibility in their interactionwith others, based on our school values of empathy, leadership, commitment, integrityand faithfulness.ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day prayer services are held annually.The Holy Faith and Margaret Aylward awards for Christian leadership are presentedannually.The Respect Everyone Solving problems Together (REST) lunchtime program is designed tohelp students to respect and relate well to their peers.

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There is a positive playground incentive scheme where all children can earn rewards forpositive behaviour.A student personal safety audit to assess bullying is conducted twice a year and used toinform pastoral care and student management strategies.Kkey values are identified in integrated units of work.Value-based posters are displayed around the school and in foyers.A Pastoral Care and Student Management policy is in place and is currently under reviewfor change.

Professional LearningThe staff participated in a number of professional development opportunities in 2016.

All Stage 3 teachers attended a three day course to encourage multiplicative thinking inMathematics. Stage 3 also all attended a six day course for reading in Stage 3. Several staffmembers, including the literacy leader and teachers from Stage 3 attended an immersion course.All staff continued to receive professional learning in literacy, including using running records,running a guided reading session and exploring the necessary components of a literacy block.

All staff completed Work Health and Safety (WHS) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)training as well as training for anaphylaxis and cystic fibrosis awareness, and completed modulesabout the Disability Discrimination Act. Staff completed the mandatory three hours tuition inEmergency Care.

Several staff members attended professional learning in Mathematics (Extending MathematicalUnderstanding), and reading. The leadership team also attended a three day Australian LiteracyEducators Association conference and took part in a four day Growing Great Leaders course.

Other whole-school professional learning focused on using the data that we gather to inform theteaching and learning throughout the school. Each term we looked at the Key Learning Areas ofEnglish and Mathematics and reviewed teaching and learning to ensure individual needs wereaddressed. In Mathematics our professional learning focused on time, in English we focused onusing the writing continuum and in Religious Education we focused on the Year of Mercy.

In 2016 we used our staff development days to: develop a deeper understanding of the writing process and the progression of children'swriting skills, writing assessment and future planning for learning intentionsvisit St Patricks Cathedral in Parramatta in order to visit the Mercy doors in the Year ofMercy and to become more familiar with the symbols of our Catholic faith within thecathedral

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School Improvement

Annual school prioritiesPriority 1 For all students to improve their knowledge of God as experienced

through Scripture, measured by formative and summative assessments,and evidenced by a 4% rise in our Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA)data

Reason for priority 1 Our 2015 Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA) results indicated thatalthough we had made consistent gains in most concept strands, ourresults in the areas of God and Scripture were below those of thediocese. The staff recognised the need to investigate high yieldstrategies such as warm ups, learning intentions and success criteria,and active word walls to guide the students to a deeper understandingof our faith.

Steps taken to achievepriority 1

Students have:unpacked Scripture using a variety of high yield strategies andresourcesbuilt word walls based on the three levels - literal, inferentialand applicationused the Scripture-based word walls during reflectionand assessment activitiesengaged in Scripture, based on the three level framework -literal, inferential, applicationexplored Scripture with our parish priest during class visits,recording ‘new learning’ and how students will implement themin their life

Status of priority 1 Ongoing

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Priority 2 By the end of 2016 all students to reach expected growth in writing asindicated by the school developed writing continuum

Reason for priority 2 NAPLAN data indicated that 38.6% of our Year 5 students and 41.8% ofour Year 7 students were not reaching expected growth in writing. Wedo not currently have any formal way of tracking student data inwriting and saw this as a need across the school.

Steps taken to achievepriority 2

Students have:written a range of texts daily using different language featuresincluding grammatical features and spelling patterns, and useddifferent means of publishing writing reflected on their writing using the literacy continuum toidentify strengths and areas for improvement, and to track theirown progress

Teachers developed and used a school-based writing continuum tohelp plan teaching, assess, track and monitor student progress inwriting.

Status of priority 2 Ongoing

Priority 3 For students to move at least one growth point in the time section ofthe Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI) with accelerated growthfor vulnerable students

Reason for priority 3 Our school’s 2015 NAPLAN data showed that students performed worsein space and measurement questions than in number. The datademonstrated the need to link measurement, space and numberoutcomes, through a variety of rich tasks and experiences. As a schoolwe chose to focus our goal around time as this year around 40% of thestudents in Year 3 experienced difficulties answering questions relatedto time. In Year 5 the figures ranged between 30% to 75% depending onthe questions asked.

Steps taken to achievepriority 3

Students were involved in rich learning tasks involving timeconcepts that weare adapted according to individual needs.Time tasks were embedded into all areas of the curriculum.Teachers were involved in professional learning around the timecontinuum of learning as outlined in the syllabus and had agreater understanding of how it links to student growth points.Teachers used the Numeracy Now Ning for professional readingand to assist them with developing time concepts further.

Status of priority 3 Ongoing

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Projected school prioritiesPriority 1 To improve student responses to rich tasks based on Scripture

Reason for Priority 1 Two thousand and sixteen instructional/learning walks revealed amarked improvement in seeing teachers use learning intentions andsuccess criteria within classrooms; and continued development ofteachers’ understanding of using success criteria as an assessmenttool will enable teachers to support the needs of the children betterand therefore improve the students' responses to rich tasks based inScripture.

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 1

Students will be:participating in pre and post test, responding to the ‘Senses ofScripture’ in units: Lent, Easter, Mission and Adventusing the success criteria, based on the three levels of learning,when completing rich taskssetting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and TimeFramed (SMART) goals for Religious Education according toindividual student needs (three way conversation)actively using the learning goals to improve personal responses

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Priority 2 To improve students’ writing Kindergarten to Year 6 (K-6) with aparticular focus on sentence structure and paragraphing

Reason for Priority 2 Professional learning analysis of the 2016 NAPLAN writing resultsindicated students required explicit focus on elaborating ideas, textcohesion and paragraphing.

Naplan data 2016 indicated students in Years 3, 5 and 7 had difficultyconstructing paragraphs in their writing that focused on like set ofideas.

In Year 3, 52% of students (45% in diocese and state) were unable touse paragraphs to organise writing while 25 % students in Year 5 and20 % students in Year 7 were unable to use paragraphs.

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 2

Students will:compose and respond daily to authentic texts, includingmultimodal and digital texts, for a variety of purposes andaudienceslearn to co-construct success criteria with the teacher to supporttheir writing and reflect on its quality, and the use ofparagraphinglearn how to write more sustained compositions with theinclusion of greater detail and paragraphingengage in regular feedback/feed forward sessions with teachersand peers

Priority 3 To improve K-6 students’ skills in applying addition and subtractionstrategies when problem solving

Reason for Priority 3 A trend in NAPLAN results in Year 3 and Year 5 over the past threeyears showed our school responses are below the state percentages inseveral problem solving questions that require addition andsubtraction.

Steps to be taken toachieve Priority 3

Students willuse extending prompts and participate in appropriate rich tasksto challenge the students already meeting Stage outcomesuse enabling prompts and attend workshops for those studentsnot achieving Stage outcomeswork across strands with addition and subtractionuse reasoning strategies when problem solvingengage in discussions about strategies used to solve problems(develop mathematical language and new strategies)

Community Satisfaction

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Community Satisfaction

Parent satisfactionDuring 2016, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta engaged Insight SRC to conduct theQuality Catholic Schooling (QCS) survey to provide feedback from parents, students and staffabout our school. This survey is conducted annually.

The survey data from 2016 indicated that parents felt that the learning opportunities andcommunity engagement at St Paul the Apostle had improved. They felt that teachers deliveredclasses that were interesting and enjoyable for the students and that the teachers werepassionate about what they did in the school.

Parents rated the opportunity to participate in prayer as highly important and were positiveabout their child's involvement in prayer and liturgies and the Sacraments at school. They alsosaw the Catholic culture of the school as a strength.

During the Principal's Reflection Tool process, parents reported that they felt respected, valued,that concerns were followed up and they were always made feel welcome.

Areas of improvement from the previous year were the parents' satisfaction with the range andquality of the extra curricular activities and the way in which parents saw their children beingwell-developed for the transition to high school.

Student satisfactionThe 2016 QCS data for students showed that overall students liked being at school and that theyfelt connected to the school. The students felt that they were understood by their teachers andthat the teachers made learning interesting and enjoyable. Within the classroom the studentsfelt safe but they also indicated that classroom behaviour could be getting in the way of theirlearning. Students indicated that at times they were concerned about the behaviour of theirpeers.

Teacher satisfactionThe 2016 QCS data for staff indicated that staff valued feedback to drive professional learningand empowerment. They felt that at times there was a need to improve role clarity andexpectations as well as develop protocols for working together. Staff wanted to have moreopportunity to discuss issues and priorities of the school together. Staff felt that they generallyworked well together and while they were used to giving and receiving feedback it was notalways robust, targeted and challenging.

Staff were happy with the promotion of Catholic culture and faith within the school but felt thatparish school relationships were an area for improvement.

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Student Profile

Enrolment PolicySt Paul The Apostle 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 213 194 407

2015 201 207 408

2016 209 195 404

Our enrolments remain stable and are a reflection of the community support for the school.

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

Kindergarten 93.35

Year 1 93.38

Year 2 93.63

Year 3 94.51

Year 4 91.45

Year 5 93.03

Year 6 92.49

School Average 93.09

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

Language background other than English (LBOTE) 116

Students with disablities (SWD) 14

Indigenous 7

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.

They maintain accurate records of students' attendance, follow up unexplained absencesSt Paul The Apostle Primary School, Winston Hills Page 16

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 careSt Paul the Apostle Primary School is a community committed to providing a climate of respectand justice. We believe that by promoting fair behaviour practices, children can learn to takeresponsibility for their own actions by making informed choices. In order to provide behaviourmanagement practices that are fair and just, staff endeavour to:

listen to the student's point of view and try to understand individual problemsbe consistent with expectations during classroom and playground supervisionensure that positive recognition and consequences are clearly understood andimplemented when requiredconduct a safety/bullying audit twice a year

A Pastoral Care and Student Management policy has been developed and is issued to all parentswhen they enrol their child at the school. Copies may be obtained from the school office and/orwebsite. The school teaches a Protective Behaviours program from Kindergarten to Year 6 everyyear in term 3. This program gives children strategies on how to keep safe and what to do if theyare feeling unsafe. A component of this program focuses on teaching students how to report anyincidents of bullying and how to develop assertiveness skills to address any inappropriate orbullying behaviour. In 2008, St Paul the Apostle Primary School won a National Schooling Awardfor the school's work in student management and its anti-bullying program. The full text ofstudent management, welfare and discipline policies can be obtained from the school's website.An appendix was added to this policy in 2007 to reflect the positive playground incentivescheme, Respect Everyone Solving problems Together (REST) program and the biannualsafety/bullying audits. This award-winning policy continued to be implemented in 2016.

In term 4 St Paul's Primary School investigated introducing changes to the pastoral care policy.We began investigating Positive Behaviour Support 4 Learning and worked with the CatholicEducation Diocese of Parramatta in developing a policy. This will be ongoing in 2017.

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

There were no changes to the policy during 2016.

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Section Eleven: Financial Statement

Income Expenditure

Commonwealth (62%)Capital (0%)State (18.4%)Fees (19.2%)Other (0.4%)

Capital (4.1%)Salary (72.1%)Non-Salary (23.8%)

RECURRENT and CAPITAL INCOME

Commonwealth Recurrent Grants1 $2,714,337

Government Capital Grants 2 $0

State Recurrent Grants 3 $806,032

Fees and Private Income 4 $843,128

Other Capital Income 5 $17,181

Total Income $4,380,678

RECURRENT and CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

Capital Expenditure 6 $181,201

Salaries and Related Expenses 7 $3,197,581

Non-Salary Expenses 8 $1,057,049

Total Expenditure $4,435,831

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.

19.2%

18.4%62%

■■■■■

23.8%

72.1%

■■■

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