conservatorium high school annual report · conservatorium high school . annual report . ... for...

Conservatorium High School Annual Report

8147

Introduction The Annual Report for 2015 is provided to the community of Conservatorium High School as an account of the school’s operations and achievements throughout the year.

It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made to provide high quality educational opportunities for all students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self-assessment that reflect the impact of key school strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equity funding.

Dr Robert Curry Principal

School contact details:

Conservatorium High School

Conservatorium of Music,

1 Conservatorium Rd

Sydney, 2000

http://conhigh.nsw.edu.au/

[email protected]

+61 2 9351 1350

Message from the Principal In the year of the centenary of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music (1915-2015), the Con’s secondary arm, the Conservatorium High School, maintained consistently high standards in public performance and found itself inundated with record numbers of students applying for entry in 2016. In the academic domain, however, the school’s HSC results were markedly weaker than those of the previous year. As the data presented in this Report attest, the school’s scholastic achievements remained of a quality that marks it out as one of the State’s top schools. Analysis of these data also revealed ample ‘room for improvement’ – indeed, more so than one might have expected. The school welcomed the implementation of the School Excellence Framework with its emphasis on evidence-based strategies for improvement. A considerable amount of staff time was devoted to coming to grips with the Framework’s long-term implications for this school and to giving impetus to strategies designed to realise the goals and benchmarks articulated in the first year of the School Plan 2015-2017. In the historic year of the Conservatorium’s centenary the school, too, wrote a new page in its history. Mrs Linda Hurley, wife of the Governor of New South Wales, honoured the Conservatorium High School with the bestowal of her Vice-regal patronage. Our Patron graciously accepted the school’s proposal that a special student ensemble be formed which would play at our Patron’s request. And so came into being Mrs Hurley’s Consort; it performs at Government House. Dr Robert Curry Principal

Message from the School Captain and Vice-Captain

2015 saw many wonderful student-run, fundraising events throughout the year. Some highlights includes the “World’s Greatest Shave” which drew admirable participation from many senior students. It was also a year in which the Student Representative Council [SRC] devoted much time to the raising awareness of the topic of mental health, especially in young people. Mindful that mental health issues had not previously been

taken up by the SRC they decided to host a number of highly successful fundraisers for various mental health organisations, for example, ‘Beyond Blue’ and ‘Black Dog Institute.’ The ‘Exit-By-Donation’ initiative at school concerts and events succeeded in raising substantial funds for these worthy organisations. The Con High’s wonderful running team also participated in City2Surf. Our team nominated ‘Batyr,’ a organisation which the SRC chose because it believes in supporting lesser-known organisations. The school also benefitted from visitors and advocates of mental health organisations. Twice last year, students had the opportunity to ask questions about the real life events of mental health survivors. On R U OK Day, students and teachers alike contributed to a mural saying what made them happy. The school managed to raise significant funds for these organisations. 2015 was also a great year in regards to the school’s social life, with the continuation of group activities that have now become annual events: Trivia Night and the Amazing Race. During these events, students seized the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership and teamwork skills, as well as displaying their great enthusiasm for participation. Last year, the new student-run drama club similarly demonstrated strong participation, exhibiting a love for theatre and acting, while also making a valuable contribution to the success of the year 10s’ workshop-production of “Shrek”. We hope that these many events will be able to continue in 2016, and further wish a successful year to Dominic and Kyra in their roles as School Captain and School Vice-Captain. Ms Jane Anderson and Mr Nathan Moas, 2015 School Captain and School Vice-Captain

Message from the School P&C

The desire of every student at the Conservatorium High School is to be involved in music. Our students embrace and thrive on the challenges that are presented to them at school because they want to be a part of the school. Similarly, the opportunity to embrace the life of the Con High is available to all parents. Our own special section at the Con High is the P&C. It takes a certain amount of Hutzpah to be involved in the functioning and progress of a school. For many years the P&C has partaken in activities that either directly or indirectly benefit the school and its students. Parents can be effective through the structure, formality and ethics of the P&C. It is at our meetings that parents can meet to listen and learn about what is going on in the school and are free to raise and discuss issues that affect our children. No school is wonderful or great by itself. It takes measured discussion, advocacy, and tolerance on the part of every parent, student, staff member and school leader. By stepping outside the ‘comfort zone’ parents can and should be a vital part of the continuity building a great school for our students.

In 2015 the P&C supported the school community in a range of ways- - providing parent buddies for new parents - maintaining the ever useful parent contact book, known as the Buzz Book - providing the supplementary music program of the Soloist Concerts - providing funding for Chess tutor and school house advisor roles - providing funding for instruments or equipment as needed - provided furniture for the canteen area - sourcing, funding and managing the provision of a school canteen - hosting afternoon tea to recruit members - hosting the Welcome BBQ for new families and - the Welcome to New Year Aesops party.

Like any organisation, the P&C depends on the key leadership of its executive. I’d like to thank most sincerely the executive team of 2015: George Fong & Chris Batt (Vice Presidents), Val Simkins (Secretary), Cameron Nolte (Treasurer), Binny Harris (Minutes secretary). Thank you to the Parent Coordinators who have worked behind the scenes: Jo Blagg (Webmaster), Greg Thiele (Newsletter Editor), Bridget Quirk (Cafe & Canteen Coordinator), Eileen Leather (Buzz Book coordinator), Val Simkins (Soloists’ Concert Coordinator) & Mary Loxley (Uniform Liaison). Year Group Parent Coordinators are a vital link to all parents, thank you to Lindy Greenfield, Rosemary Quy Jenkins, Elana Morgulis, Rachel Tsang, Jude Powell Thomas, Cherry Dutton, Cathy Davis and Greg Thiele. 2016 brings the challenges of the constant need for parental involvement. This should not be a challenge to any of us if we care about our students and the school. If you have a concern, question or idea, it will be up to you to raise it. If you’d

just like to come and help in any way, large or small, welcome! Our P&C really does make a difference to the lives of all the students at our school.

Ms Linda Cumines, P&C President 2015

School background

School vision statement

The Conservatorium High School was established in 1918 as the secondary arm of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. The school is dedicated to the education of the whole musician; it remains the State’s only specialist music high school. The school affords students a breadth of experience and training in all aspects of music while providing them with an excellent, broadly-based secondary education.

School context The Conservatorium High School is part of the NSW public school network with a net enrolment of 165 students. They are drawn from the greater Sydney region and from around the State. The composition of the student body reflects the cultural and ethnic diversity of our region.

Staffed and administered by the NSW Department of Education, the school also avails itself of the pedagogical expertise of top professional musicians and teachers, resident and visiting, many of whom are employed by the Conservatorium’s tertiary arm, the Faculty of Music of the University of Sydney. In addition to its special relationship with the University, the Conservatorium High also has strategic partnerships with such music & educational institutions as Gondwana / Sydney Children’s Choir, Sydney Youth Orchestras, the Penrith Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Choirs, the Australian National Choral Association and the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia.

Self-assessment and school achievements NAPLAN 2015 The National Assessment Program tests all students in years 3, 5, 7, and 9 in literacy and numeracy development. These tests provide rich information for parents, teachers and schools on individual student performance. From this information, teachers and schools are able to identify areas of strength and where assistance may be required. NAPLAN provides a single national scale of achievement across 10 bands from years 3 to 9. As a student advances through the years, it is possible to see how much progress a student has made in their skill development in literacy and numeracy. Typically, an individual student would move up the scale the equivalent of one band between tests. This is not constant across the national scale as student achievement increases more rapidly between years 3 and 5 and slows between years 7 and 9. Year 7 starts at band 4 and ends at band 9. Year 9 commences at band 5 and finishes at band 10. For year 7, band 5 is the national minimum standard while for year 9 it is band 6. At this level, students have acquired the basic elements of literacy and numeracy required to participate in school at year 7 and year 9 levels respectively. The performance in literacy development is broken down into Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation. In Numeracy, students are assessed looking at Data, Measurement, Space and Geometry. Staff and parents gain valuable information about the overall progress of individual students by analysing this data. Programs of remediation and extension are developed in response. Please see specific data on these programs in the School Performance section towards the end of this report. HSC 2015 In the Higher School Certificate, the performance of students is reported in bands ranging from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest). Compared to the State averages, Conservatorium High School students achieved excellent results in the 2015 HSC. Compared to the 2014 results, however, our results were not as we would have expected. There are many contributing factors in a school as small and as diverse as Con High, and with a 2015 Yr 12 cohort of 27 students and some very small classes, a great deal of the data is statistically insignificant and/or cannot be shared

in order to meet privacy regulations. Please see specific data on these programs in the School Performance section towards the end of this report.

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

This year, our school undertook self-assessment using the elements of the School Excellence Framework.

Learning: Evidence gathered over a number of years indicates that one of the most significant impediments to student learning at the Conservatorium High is the level of students’ command of written English. By engaging all Stage 4 students in the ACER Progressive Achievement Tests in reading and spelling, and in punctuation and grammar we have been able to gauge the baseline of skills and achievement of our junior students and to more accurately measure improvement over time. These tests were undertaken in conjunction with the formal assessment of English Language Proficiency. More than 70% of Con High students are of a language background other than English and we have tailored learning strategies to take account of this fact. (see SEF Learning, elements: “Wellbeing”, “Curriculum and Learning” and “Sustaining and Growing” and SEF Teaching, element: “Data Skills and Use” - Delivering)

NAPLAN , HSC and SEF Data gathered demonstrate that CHS students are all achieving above national benchmarks for all components measured; however, not all students are improving at the rate expected i.e., achieving the degree of Value Adding. (see SEF Learning, element: “Student Performance Measures” - Delivering.)

Responses to this evidence and our evaluation of it are to be found in the teaching domain.

Student wellbeing was enhanced through the piloting of a Year 7 Transition Program which saw the Learning and Support Teacher [LaST] contact all primary feeder schools for incoming Year 7 2015 students. Primary school teachers were asked to provide information about the social, cultural, academic and learning characteristics of the incoming students. This information was then tabulated and provided to staff at the commencement of 2015. This initiative has allowed for increasingly personalised and evidence-based teaching and learning to take place in Stage 4. (SEF Learning, elements: “Wellbeing”, “Curriculum and Learning” – Delivering). The LaS Team improved teacher communication through utilising Google Docs to gather and analyse student data.

Additionally, the Learning and Support Team developed and workshopped a ‘Learning and Support Policy’ that outlined the different processes teachers are to follow when dealing with student behavioural, academic and welfare issues. (SEF Learning, elements: “Wellbeing”, “Curriculum and Learning” – Delivering).

In preparation for the introduction in 2016 of the Literacy Continuum and Common Programming Proforma, the Literacy Co-ordinator drew on data from 2014 to create a whole-school approach to literacy that focused on developing skills at a whole-text level. This approach was piloted in Stage 4 and saw the Literacy Co-ordinator working with faculties and Head Teachers to develop assessment tasks and corresponding programs the prime focus of which was developing students’ command of specific types of texts. To support this initiative, the Literacy Co-ordinator designed a comprehensive teacher resource entitled, “Scaffolding for Writing Success - a building blocks approach to literacy skills across the curriculum”. This program also began “building the blocks” for school-wide explicit teaching and assessing. (see SEF Learning, elements: “Assessment and Reporting” - Delivering, and SEF Teaching, element: “Effective Classroom Practice” - Delivering).

Teaching: Internal data from Term 4, 2014 indicated that literacy continued to be seen primarily as the responsibility of the English Faculty, despite the Department’s oft-repeated position that "literacy is everybody's business". The Literacy Co-ordinator designed a program and ancillary resources called, 'Scaffolding for Writing Success: a building blocks approach to literacy'. The Co-ordinator then worked with

Head Teachers and faculties to create and refine appropriate assessment tasks, utilising the Stage 4 Literacy Programming Proforma (see SEF Teaching, element: “Collaborative Practice” - Delivering).

The Conservatorium High was selected to participate in the Secondary Literacy Leaders Network. From this initiative the Literacy Co-ordinator formed a ‘Selective School Literacy Network’ as a medium for networking with schools that confront similar literacy issues. This work of this network will benefit our implementation in 2016 of the Literacy Continuum and further development of programming proforma. (see SEF Teaching, element: “Collaborative Practice” - Delivering). Our inter-school collaboration was further enhanced through a collegial working relationship with school leaders at North Sydney Girls’ High School (see SEF Teaching, element: “Collaborative Practice” – Sustaining and Growing).

The DP, ESL Teacher, LaST and Literacy Coordinator all undertook training in Teaching English Grammar to assist all staff refresh their conversance with grammar. While this approach met with a measure of success, it became apparent that the great majority of staff needed specific training to help them teach students the literacy skills required of students classified as having ‘English as a Second Language or Dialect.’ Half of the school’s academic staff undertook the Teaching English Language Learners Course [TELL] with a view to improving their skills in this very important area. The remaining half will undertake the TELL course in 2016. (see SEF Teaching, element: “Effective Classroom Practice” - Delivering)

The school executive team spent a day working with members of the Department’s High Performance Directorate designing an approach to Explicit Teaching and Assessment specific to the educational needs of our students. This was workshopped with the whole executive across 2 days of Professional Development. These approaches were then worked into the Faculty Professional Development Half-Days that take place during the Intensive Rehearsal Periods at the ends of term.

These two areas of Professional Development have resulted in the development of common Assessment Proforma for Stages 4, 5 & 6, and Programming Proforma and the inclusion of “Literacy Markers” from the Literacy Continuum and explicit Literacy criteria in every Stage 4 Assessment task for 2016. (SEF TEACHING Elements “Collaborative Practice” & “Learning and Development” - Sustaining and Growing)

Leading: As a part of our ongoing improvement of Leadership at the Conservatorium High School we conducted a survey of the school community with a view to ascertaining options for developing leadership capacity in staff. We re-designated Head Teacher roles, initiated a system of Area Coordinators, and re-designed the management of the Music Program to afford staff broader leadership opportunities.

We re-designated one Head Teacher position from Maths/Science to Administration in order to better accommodate the needs of the school. The previous incumbent of the Maths/Science HT role generously agreed to continued as HT – Maths without taking remuneration for the higher duties. The roles of area co-ordinator started in 2015: Literacy Co-ordinator, Science Co-ordinator, and Kodály Pedagogy Co-ordinator. To these was should be added the co-ordinating role entitled, Director of Choral and Vocal Studies established a number of years earlier. (see SEF Leading, elements: “School Resources”; Sustaining and Growing and “School Planning, Implementation and Reporting” - Sustaining and Growing)

The Music Program at Conservatorium High School, the core focus of the State’s specialist music school, has undergone significant change over the last few years and the greater demands occasioned by these changes are reflected in the upgrading of the position from “Assistant Manager – Music Program.” 2015 to “Manager – Music Program.” With this upgrading of the role comes greater attention to projecting the school’s mission to a wider audience (our external perspective) while at the same time strengthening and expanding existing relationships with “partners” organisations, all of which serves to enhance educational outcomes for our students. (see SEF Leading, element: “School Planning, Implementation and Reporting”; - moving towards Excelling)

Our end-of-year strategic review made it clear to us that we needed a Head Teacher to oversee the Teaching & Learning portfolio, as well as Administration. Consequently, we conducted an in-school Expression of Interest process to fill this position (see SEF Leading, element: “Leadership” - Sustaining and Growing)

The review also highlighted the need for more focussed leadership of and by the students. Two programs were initiated and are being trialled in 2016, viz.:

1: Year Advisers in conjunction with our current House Patrons system, and

2. Re-balancing of the leadership team on the Student Representative Council.

The House Patrons (appointed after an Expression of Interest and selection process) were part of the review team that looked into ways to achieve more effective leadership of student learning. After a number of models were proposed to the school, it was agreed that the three House Patrons would take on two Year Groups, one “junior” and one “senior”. The Year Adviser would, in subsequent years, follow these students through to their graduation, becoming a leader of the group of students and a person to contact for parents.

The re-balancing of the SRC ensured that Yr 12 do not overwhelm the SRC by having a majority of the 18 voices on the Council. The 6 House Captains may attend the SRC if they wish (at least one member from each House must attend) but all are not required to attend at one time. The SRC is of the view that these changes will accommodate Year 12 House Captains wishing to attend and, at the same time, will also encourage other year groups and younger voices to actively engaged in discussion (see SEF Leading, element: “Management Practices and Processes” - Sustaining and Growing)

These two strategies will be trialled in 2016 and be reviewed for their effectiveness towards the end of 2016.

The Senior Executive established, by way of a “Distributed Leadership” model, a Curriculum Leadership Team to develop, refine, implement and review the school’s agreed Strategic Directions. Weekly meetings ensured the momentum for change did not slack and that due attention was given to documenting progress towards strategic milestones.

Our self-assessment process will further assist the school to refine the strategic priorities articulated in our School plan and lead to further improvements in the delivery of education to our students.

Strategic Direction 1

A consistent approach to Literacy Teaching & Learning

Purpose

To ensure maximum effectiveness in the teaching of literacy it must be done systematically and explicitly in all Key Learning Areas and the approach staff adopt must be consistent.

If all students are to achieve the literacy standards stipulated in Stage 6 the requisite skills must be inculcated systematically starting in Year 7, i.e., students must be given appropriately sequenced scaffolding.

Students must be equipped with the requisite literacy skills that will enable them to write, comprehend and orally explicate intellectually challenging texts of a standard comparable with those used at the top academically selective schools.

Overall summary of progress

Did we do what we planned?

Our Literacy focus for 2015 centred on developing whole-school approaches to the explicit and systematic teaching of Literacy. As such, we developed the Programming and Assessment Proformas which guided teachers through the process of selecting relevant literacy outcomes and scaffolding learning to achieve these outcomes. Significant time was spent workshopping the Programming and Assessment Proformas at executive and faculty levels to encourage whole school ownership.

Our explicit teaching was informed by significant testing undertaken by the ‘English as Another Language or Dialect’ [EAL/D] teacher. Literacy weaknesses in individual students and in whole-cohorts were identified and addressed through individual instruction, whole class remediation, and teacher professional learning.

Teacher professional learning was an essential component in the development of Programming and Assessment Proformas. The Literacy Coordinator ran a number of Teacher Professional Learning sessions that focused on scaffolding writing skill and the Literacy Continuum. In addition, the EALD teacher conducted a session on EAL/D strategies in the classroom. Staff were given the opportunity to participate in the TELL Course.

Did it have the planned impact? Both of the following goals were achieved; evidence was collated and tabled at the Staff Development Days in Term 4 during which all faculties presented their Programming and Assessment Proformas.

1. To have teachers confident in being able to embed literacy strategies into their subject area 2. To have in place administrative and pedagogical systems adequate to provide support for explicit

literacy teaching throughout the school in 2016.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures Resources (annual)

Improvement measure (to be achieved over 3 years)

Progress achieved this year <$>

100% of staff trained in TELL.

50% of staff undertook TELL training. CHS will host the TELL course for the remainder of staff

$900 (course

in Semester 2, 2016. facilitator)

100% of HTs are engaging in sharing the development of proformas in ‘Executive Sharing’.

All HTs and Coordinators engaged in the development of the Programming and Assessment Proformas during Curriculum Leadership meetings. 2016 will see the focus shift to the implementation and evaluation of the Programming and Assessment Proformas.

$985 (3 days of casual funding)

All KLAs use Programming and Assessment Pro-formas in Stage 4.

All KLAs developed Programming and Assessment Proformas and shared these at the Term 4 staff development day. 2016 will see the focus shift to the implementation and evaluation of the Programming and Assessment Proformas.

$3000

(10 days of casual funding)

80% of staff seeking assistance from EAL/D teacher to modify programs and assessments.

Testing, identification and building staff capacity was the focus of the EALD teacher in 2015. Approximately 30% of staff sought her expertise in modifying assessments.

$1550 (5 days of casual funding)

CHS achieves 80% of the ‘Sustaining level’ targets in the DoE Literacy Matrix.

Teachers were made aware of the DoE Literacy Matrix, which consequently moved us from ‘Starting out’ to ‘Developing’. 2016 will see the evaluation take place.

0

Next steps

• Implement and evaluate the Programming and Assessment Proformas. • Implement and evaluate the Literacy Continuum Data Wall for Stage 4. • Focus on Quality Teaching Rounds as a means of teacher professional learning.


A consistent approach to 21st Century Teaching & Learning Skills

Purpose

For 21st-century learners ‘being literate’ entails more than just general conversance with technology. It means engaging creatively to the full with Information Communication Technology [ICT] pedagogy and the ever-expanding potential of the digital environment. It entails broadening the scope of programs to include critical thinking and collaborative skills designed to equip students for a broad spectrum of post-secondary destinations.


Did we do what we planned? During 2015 the Strategic Direction 2 Committee determined to increase the use of the Library Learning Centre, to develop a Bring Your Own Device Policy for the purpose of teaching and learning, to Increase staff TPL relating to 21st century teaching and learning skills, and to monitor staff confidence in using 21st teaching-and-learning skills.

Did it have the planned impact?

In 2015 the Library Learning Centre became the central hub of teaching and learning at Conservatorium High School. A large number of classes came to utilising the space most effectively. The purchase of two LED smartboards further consolidated the use of the learning centre and enabled both staff and students to benefit not only from the use of technological tools but also from improved 21st teaching-and-learning skills.

The BYOD Policy is currently in draft format. A BYOD portal has also been developed to accompany this policy.

Staff TPL has been provided by internal and external trainers. Staff have benefited greatly from the experience - many now utilise Google Apps in their daily classroom routines. Staff confidence has also been monitored through staff surveys, one on one training and collaborative teaching.




65% increase in student use of the Learning Centre.

The learning centre became a hub of activity across 2015. A majority of classes now utilise the facility and its resources. Astralvision 70 inch LED Smartboard and Trolley purchased for the Learning Centre to enhance the useability of the space as a 21st Century Teaching & Learning space.

Total Cost: SmartBoard: $4995.00 Trolley: $795.00

100% of staff consciously exploiting the potential of the school’s BYOD policy for the purpose of teaching & learning.

The SD2 committee consistently promotes BYOD for the purposes of Teaching and Learning. We have recently purchased 2 Staff Chromebooks for viability/useability testing and quality control and will be organising a bulk purchase of these devices if they are considered effective.

Another Astralvision 70 inch LED Smartboard and Trolley purchased for the purposes of Teaching and Learning.

Total Cost:

2 Devices $687.32

Total Cost: SB $4995.00

Trolley $795.00

40% increase in staff TPL relating to 21st century learning.

Google Docs, Google Classroom and Google Drive TPL was provided to Staff by Eric Land (Google Champion).

$ 484

Staff survey to monitor confidence in 21st century Teaching and learning.

A Checklist was provided to all Staff to monitor their confidence in Google Apps for the purpose of 21st Teaching and Learning.

$ 0

Next steps

● The purchase of staff devices – 20 Chromebooks ● The finalisation of the BYOD Policy Document (which will also include a mobile phone policy). ● Further TPL on 21st Teaching and Learning and on Chromebooks. ● Student survey on current device use. ● A timeline and plan for trialling a BYOD program with the 2017 Year 7s

blank


A consistent approach to School Organisational Policies & Procedures

Purpose

As the number and complexity of school accountabilities increases so the greater the need for consistency in organisation, management, archiving and retrieval of policies and procedures. Lack of consistency leads to waste of time and hampers the effectiveness of the teaching program.

Consistency in whole-school policies and procedures will provide clear processes to guide staff in their work. It will also provide greater clarity in the articulation of outcomes expected of staff, students, and of the responsibilities of parents/carers and stakeholders. More consistent policies and procedures will streamline time-management practices, galvanise purposefulness and liberate creative thinking, all to the improvement of educational outcomes for our students.


All of the milestones that were planned for this year were achieved with the exception of the Welfare and Discipline Policy. This has been re-scheduled for 2016.

It had a significant impact in providing a list of procedures and policies that will need to be included in the new Staff Handbook.




Develop and publish a Roles and Responsibilities List

Completed, updated and distributed. $ 0

Devise a Staff Induction process and Checklist

Completed, updated and distributed/used with new Staff

$ 0

Review and revise the Staff Handbook

Samples from other schools collected to serve as potential models. Book contents established and staff allocated to complete each section.

$ 530 (SASS casual)

Develop a Casual Staff Handbook

None Awaiting completion of Staff Handbook

$ 0

Develop a Student Handbook

None Awaiting completion of Staff Handbook

$ 0

Welfare and Discipline Policy

Collected samples of Welfare and Discipline policies from a number of other schools

$ 0

Next steps

• Welfare and Discipline Policy is to be evaluated and improved by the Welfare team before it can be

incorporated into the Staff Handbook. • Welfare and Discipline Policy is to be evaluated and improved by the Welfare team before it can be

incorporated into the Staff Handbook. • The current draft of the Staff Handbook is to be distributed to all current staff for comment and

suggestions for emendation. • Receive feedback from new staff about the Staff induction process in order to improve it even

further and identify any omissions.

Next Steps

t

Key initiatives and other school focus areas

This section includes: Key initiatives (from School planning template B). Policy requirements such as Aboriginal Education, Multicultural Education and Anti-Racism Education. Initiatives and other school focus areas which may not have been included in the school plan such as Early

Action for Success, student leadership, partnerships and projects.

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

Aboriginal background funding

Nil return

N/A

N/A

English language proficiency funding

Purchased ACER’s Progressive Achievement Tests (2 modules)

Provided baseline data on literacy skills (reading, spelling, punctuation, grammar) to inform school’s use of Literacy Continuum

$710.00

Targeted students support for refugees and new arrivals

Nil return

N/A

N/A

Socio-economic funding

Three students were able to be supported

Funds enabled these students to participate fully in the partially State-funded Conservatorium High Music Program (in conjunction with University of Sydney)

$960.00

Low-level adjustment for disability funding

11 students identified for assistance

Primary focus was on gifted students with learning difficulties

$4,946.00

Support for beginning teachers

Supporting 3 permanent and 2 temporary teachers

Received end of May, funding supported Teacher Professional Learning, mentoring, collaborative planning, classroom observations and post-lesson feedback

$39,382.14

Other school focus areas Impact achieved this year Resources (annual)

Conservatorium High Music Program Twelve nominations for Encore (8 performance, 3 composition, 1 musicology)

60% of graduates accepted into undergraduate music degrees

State Non-Tertiary

Music Education Grant

$788,584.00

Mandatory reporting requirements

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

The school is usually fairly equally balanced in terms of gender. In 2015, however, there were 89 female and 69 male students.

Student attendance profile

Retention Year 10 to Year 12

There are always are a certain number of students who, in Years 9 or 10, decide not to pursue music preferring to change to other schools that can provide them with a wider subject selection. A goodly number of new students also join our school in Yrs 10 and 11. This accounts for what may appear to be a poor retention rate, where one student is equal to 3.3% of the population of a year.

Post-school destinations

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

Year 10

%

Year 11

%

Year 12

%

seeking employment 0 0 0

employment 0 0 0

TAFE entry 0 0 0

university entry 0 0 90.1

other 0 0 6.6

unknown 0 0 3.3

Year 12 students undertaking vocational or trade training No Yr 12 students were undertaking vocational or trade training in 2015.

Year 12 students attaining HSC or equivalent vocational educational qualification

100% of Yr 12 Con High students attained the HSC in 2015.

Student EnrolmentGender 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Male 73 72 76 81 75 78 69

Female 74 74 74 74 76 77 89

020406080

100120140160180

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Stud

ents

Year

Enrolments

Male Female

Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20157 97.0 94.4 98.2 95.1 97.0 98.3 97.7

8 93.5 95.1 96.7 97.2 97.6 95.0 96.89 91.8 91.8 96.6 96.1 98.8 96.7 95.2

10 88.0 91.8 94.4 95.1 94.8 98.9 97.911 87.2 92.8 94.7 90.6 95.4 97.8 97.112 87.6 88.0 93.0 92.5 94.4 93.7 95.6

Total 89.4 91.6 95.4 94.4 96.3 96.7 96.8

7 92.3 92.6 92.5 92.4 93.2 93.3 92.78 90.0 90.5 90.1 90.1 90.9 91.1 90.69 88.8 89.1 88.8 88.7 89.4 89.7 89.3

10 88.7 88.3 87.1 87.0 87.7 88.1 87.711 89.4 89.1 87.6 87.6 88.3 88.8 88.212 89.4 89.8 89.2 89.3 90.1 90.3 89.9

Total 89.7 89.9 89.2 89.1 89.9 90.2 89.7

Stat

e Do

ESc

hool

0

25

50

75

100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Atte

ndan

ce ra

te

Year

Student attendance rates

School State DoE

Retention to Year 12

School 91.4 91.9 81.5 89.3 95.0 72.2 90.5State 61.0 62.7 64.7 63.4 64.5 69.1 68.9

Previous Methodology (SC to HSC apparent retention)

NAPLAN 12-HSC15

NAPLAN 11-HSC14

SC10-HSC12

SC07-HSC09

SC08-HSC10

SC09-HSC11

SC11-HSC13

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0

100.0

SC07-HSC09 SC08-HSC10 SC09-HSC11 SC10-HSC12 SC11-HSC13 NAPLAN 11-HSC14

NAPLAN 12-HSC15

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

School State

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

Workforce composition

Position Number Principal 1

Deputy Principal 1 Head Teacher(s) 3

Classroom Teacher(s) 14 Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.1 Teacher Librarian 1

Teacher of ESL 0,2 School Counsellor 0.1 School Administrative & Support Staff 5.4

Other positions 0 Total 26

The Australian Education Regulation, 2014 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce. 3% of Conservatorium High School workforce identify as Aboriginal.

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

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 60

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

School Development Days

School Development Days were well targeted to meet both the educational needs of our students and the professional growth of our staff, as well as meeting the DoE accountabilities required of each school. All teaching (21 teachers) and SAS (5 officers) staff were involved in all sessions relevant to them. Several staff were hired to work on days they do not normally attend school in order to ensure they did not miss out on relevant Professional Learning.

Mandatory CPR, Anaphylaxis, Child Protection and Emergency Care training was conducted in face-to-face sessions and on-line sessions.

Sessions were conducted on BOSTES Accreditation and Yr 7 Transition.

Two extended sessions on Gifted Students with Learning Difficulties were conducted by Carol Barnes.

Three rotating sessions were held to develop and consolidate agreed strategic directions for the School Plan 2015-2017. These included soliciting and analysing opinion and adducing evidence to support the strategic directions adopted. As a consequence of these deliberation one of the Strategic Directions was significantly altered.

Sessions were held on Teaching and Learning strategies for EAL/D students.

A number of shorter sessions were held over the course of the year with a view to arriving at a consistent pedagogical approach in non-music subjects in much the same way as the school has adopted the Kodály approach in music pedagogy. The ‘improvement loop system’ of the Teaching and Learning Cycle was adopted.

Almost all of the training throughout the year led towards the end-of-year Staff Development Day sessions during which we completed training in the three areas corresponding to our three Strategic Directions: #1 - Literacy, we set up and developed a Literacy Continuum Data Wall for ALL stage 4 students in the school. #2 - 21stC Teaching & Learning, Google Apps environment (with a DoE Google Champion). #3 - Policies and Procedures, we agreed upon systematic classroom observations for the purposes of both preparation towards accreditation and for improving classroom practice.

We also spent a significant amount of time sharing and critiquing the Proformas – those for Stage 4 &5 assessment, and those for Stage 4 programs .

Teacher Accreditation

In 2015 there were:

five beginning teachers working towards BOSTES accreditation at Proficient; thirteen teachers maintaining Proficiency; three teachers seeking accreditation at Highly Accomplished or Lead; and one teacher maintaining Highly Accomplished

Beginning Teachers

In order for teachers to benefit from a reduced or restructured teaching load, Con High has the following conditions in place: • beginning teachers had reduced responsibilities

or teaching loads sufficient to support the development of their skills in the first year

• beginning teachers were provided with ongoing feedback and support that was embedded in the collaborative practices of the school

• mentoring structures and collaborative practices support beginning teachers within the school, and any teacher mentors have access to specific training and the flexibility in their teaching responsibilities to support classroom observation and provide structured feedback

• beginning teachers have access to professional learning that focuses on classroom and behaviour management, strategies to build student engagement, collaborative professional practices within the school and productive relationships with parents and care givers.

Examples of how ‘Great Teaching, Inspired Learning’ funds were used:

One beginning teacher undertook the “Mini Certificate of Gifted Education” at UNSW GERRIC.

Two beginning teachers attended the “Mindful Learning Conference” at Redbank School.

Three beginning teachers undertook DoE targeted training for beginning teachers.

One beginning teacher attended a Literacy Symposium.

One beginning teacher attended an “Innovative Education Conference”.

Average expenditure per teacher on professional learning was: $1363.73

Total school expenditure on Teacher Professional Learning was: $28,638.28

Financial information Financial summary

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

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

The information in the first table above is anomalous to our own records. While the figures entered into the table are correct, the sum line seems to add the

Date of financial summary 30/11/2015

Income $ Balance brought forward 2053726.29 Global funds 184878.81 Tied funds 861913.95 School & community sources 935589.60 Interest 49741.97 Trust receipts 54594.53 Canteen 0.00 Total income 4085850.62

Expenditure Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 89501.32 Excursions 63211.80 Extracurricular dissections 806974.13

Library 9343.47 Training & development 7482.46 Tied funds 1124550.22 Casual relief teachers 34323.65 Administration & office 126302.87 School-operated canteen 0.00 Utilities 3168.12 Maintenance 23077.28 Trust accounts 55928.62 Capital programs 24017.17 Total expenditure 2287935.32 Balance carried forward -1334.09 bl k

totals incorrectly. We have added a table of data directly from the AFS within OASIS.

School performance 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.

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

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

In the 2015 reading section, 92% of Year 7 students were placed in the top 2 bands. 76.2% of students exceeded the required growth between Years 5 & 7.

In writing, 70% of Year 7 students were making or exceeding the expected growth in writing. This level of improvement continues the upswing in the trend line over the past years.

100 % of students were above proficiency in Spelling and 96% Grammar and Punctuation.

Year 7 NAPLAN Reading

4 5 6 7 8 90 0 1 1 10 12

0.0 0.0 4.2 4.2 41.7 50.00.0 0.8 3.3 19.5 32.5 43.90.8 6.7 19.9 28.0 27.7 17.0

3.7 17.5 28.3 23.4 16.7 10.4

Average score, 2015

Skill Band Distribution

Number in BandPercentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015SSG % in Band 2015

State DoE % in Band 2015

Band

573.0SSG

636.6 538.9School State DoE

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

4 5 6 7 8 9

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 7 Reading

Percentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015SSG % in Band 2015State DoE % in Band 2015

Year 7 NAPLAN Writing

Skill Band Distribution4 5 6 7 8 90 0 2 5 7 9

0.0 0.0 8.7 21.7 30.4 39.10.0 1.6 11.5 21.3 37.7 27.94.3 14.7 26.7 28.1 20.5 5.6

14.6 24.7 26.8 18.4 11.6 3.8

Average score, 2015 497.3State DoESSG

534.7School618.9


SSG % in Band 2015

Percentage in BandsNumber in BandBand

School Average 2011-2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

4 5 6 7 8 9

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 7 Writing


Year 7 NAPLAN Spelling

4 5 6 7 8 90 0 0 0 9 14

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.1 60.90.0 0.0 1.6 6.6 34.4 57.42.2 4.7 13.5 26.2 37.2 16.3

8.7 9.8 19.5 25.6 25.0 11.4

State DoEAverage score, 2015 664.6 579.1 547.3

School SSG


School Average 2010-2015SSG % in Band 2015


BandNumber in BandPercentage in Bands

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

The Year 9 students also reflected this progression with 90% of the cohort placed in the top two bands

and 91% of the group meeting or exceeding the required growth in reading between Years 7 and 9.

In the writing component, 85% of students made or exceeded the expected growth expected for Year 9.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

4 5 6 7 8 9

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 7 Spelling


Year 7 NAPLAN Grammar and Punctuation


0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3 13.0 82.60.0 0.0 3.3 10.7 19.7 66.4

2.4 5.9 19.4 23.7 25.2 23.410.3 13.3 28.8 20.6 15.6 14.4

SSG State DoESchool

SSG % in Band 2015

Percentage in BandsNumber in Band

Average score, 2015 694.7 575.5 535.0

Band



0

20

40

60

80

100

4 5 6 7 8 9

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 7 Grammar & Punctuation


Year 9 NAPLAN Reading

5 6 7 8 9 100 1 0 1 12 9

0.0 4.3 0.0 4.3 52.2 39.10.0 2.6 1.7 23.3 40.5 31.92.2 11.0 20.9 29.9 24.7 11.3

8.9 23.1 24.5 21.9 14.2 7.5

670.5Average score, 2015State DoESSG

573.1608.0School

BandNumber in BandPercentage in Bands




SSG % in Band 2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5 6 7 8 9 10

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 9 Reading


Year 9 NAPLAN Writing


0.0 0.0 8.7 17.4 34.8 39.10.9 2.6 10.3 28.4 26.7 31.0

10.4 16.3 24.6 30.4 11.9 6.4

27.3 21.6 20.1 19.4 7.1 4.5

667.6 570.0 526.3State DoESSGSchool

Band

Average score, 2015


Number in BandPercentage in Bands

SSG % in Band 2015School Average 2011-2015

One of the key highlights of the NAPLAN tests was how Year 9 scored above the average growth measure for each component. In reading, the average growth rate across the state was 38.6 points while at the Conservatorium High School this was 55.1%. In writing, the state average growth was 27.2 while the school’s rate was 69.5 points. In spelling, the students on average made a 65% gain compared to the state figure of 31.7.

Interestingly, this trend was not apparent in the grammar and punctuation section, where 55% of students did not meet the expected growth.

0

10

20

30

40

50

5 6 7 8 9 10

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 9 Writing


Year 9 NAPLAN Spelling

5 6 7 8 9 101 0 1 3 10 8

4.3 0.0 4.3 13.0 43.5 34.80.9 1.7 2.6 17.2 29.3 48.33.4 6.4 18.4 33.5 25.9 12.4

10.8 12.5 23.0 28.1 16.7 9.0

615.8SSG

Average score, 2015School State DoE665.6 583.6



Number in BandPercentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015SSG % in Band 2015

Band

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5 6 7 8 9 10

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 9 Spelling


Year 9 NAPLAN Grammar and Punctuation


4.3 0.0 4.3 17.4 56.5 17.40.9 0.0 6.9 24.1 31.9 36.2

4.4 14.0 20.8 33.2 19.6 8.013.7 24.1 21.5 23.2 11.5 6.1

Percentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015

Band

SSG % in Band 2015State DoE % in Band 2015

596.0State DoE

561.5SSG

Average score, 2015School643.7

Number in Band

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5 6 7 8 9 10

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 9 Grammar & Punctuation


NAPLAN - Numeracy

95% of Year 7 students were placed in the top 2 bands in Numeracy, with 57.9 % with greater than or expected growth from Year 5 to 7.

Year 9 Numeracy saw a 55% greater than or equal to expected growth from year 7 to 9, where 91% of students achieved in the top 2 bands. Particularly pleasing were the performances in Data, Measurement, Space and Geometry.

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

Compared to the State averages, Conservatorium High School students achieved good results in the 2015 HSC. Compared to the 2014 results, however, our results were not as we would have expected.

There are many contributing factors in a school as small and as diverse as Con High, and with a 2015 Yr 12 cohort of 27 students and some very small classes, some types of data can be either statistically insignificant and/or cannot be shared due to privacy regulations.

Year 7 NAPLAN Numeracy

4 5 6 7 8 90 0 0 1 5 16

0.0 0.0 0.0 4.5 22.7 72.70.0 0.0 0.8 9.1 16.5 73.6

0.7 6.6 19.8 27.9 24.3 20.72.8 20.5 28.4 22.8 12.7 12.8

School State DoESSG

BandNumber in Band

576.7 540.4679.0


Average score, 2015

Percentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015

SSG % in Band 2015State DoE % in Band 2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

4 5 6 7 8 9

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 7 Numeracy


Year 9 NAPLAN Numeracy

5 6 7 8 9 100 0 0 2 7 14

0.0 0.0 0.0 8.7 30.4 60.90.0 0.0 1.7 10.3 25.0 62.9

0.7 6.0 19.7 28.8 24.0 20.93.2 19.8 29.9 22.2 12.2 12.7

School SSG State DoE

Band


590.6Average score, 2015 710.9 628.7


Number in BandPercentage in BandsSchool Average 2010-2015

SSG % in Band 2015

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

5 6 7 8 9 10

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Bands

Percentage in bands:Year 9 Numeracy


0102030405060708090

100

Engl

ish (A

dvan

ced)

Mat

hem

atic

s Ext

ensio

n 1

Mus

ic 2

Mus

ic E

xten

sion

School 2015 School Average 2011-2015

SSG 2015 State DoE 2015

Even so, what is clear is excellent progress was made by Con High students from Year 9 NAPLAN to Yr 12 HSC. In comparison to our Statistically Similar Group of schools our improvement was three to four times greater.

In the area of Music, Con High students received 12 Encore Nominations; 8 for Performance, 3 for Composition and 1 for Musicology. An Encore nomination suggests full marks for each of the HSC tasks in the respective component. We were represented at the Sydney Opera House Encore Concert by 2 Composers.

Parent/caregiver, student, teacher satisfaction Each year schools are required to seek the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. Their responses are presented below.

The school surveyed parents about their opinions on the following programs: Literacy, Large Ensembles and Senior Small Ensembles.

Parents were overwhelmingly in support of strengthening the Literacy initiatives in the school (92% of respondents). The results are flowing through the School Plan Strategic Initiative #1 and the inclusion of Literacy Markers in all Stage 4 Assessments, Assessment Proforma and Programming Proforma.

Parents were generally in support of proposed alterations to the Large Ensembles program (58% of respondents). It was decided that Large Ensembles will have a number of “whole orchestra” rehearsals scattered strategically through each Term rather than just remaining in tutorial groups for almost all of the Term.

The school surveyed Students about their opinions on the following programs: Literacy, technology, Large Ensembles, Small Ensembles

Students were largely in support of strengthening the Literacy initiatives in the school (72% of respondents). The results are flowing through the School Plan Strategic Initiative #1 and the inclusion of Literacy Markers in all Stage 4 Assessments, Assessment Proforma and Programming Proforma.

Students were overwhelmingly in support of proposed alterations to the Large Ensembles program (85% of respondents). The outcomes being that Large Ensembles will have a number of “whole orchestra” rehearsals scattered strategically through each Term, rather than just remaining in tutorial groups for almost all of the Term.

Students were overwhelmingly in support of changes to the Small Ensembles program (96% of respondents).

The school surveyed Staff about their opinions on the following programs: TPL, Literacy, Class Sizes and curriculum delivery, Technology in the classroom.

Staff were largely in support of a proposal to use TPL funding to provide on-going collegial support and cross-faculty collaboration and observation as a means of improving classroom practice (66% of respondents)

Staff were overwhelmingly in support of strengthening the Literacy initiative. The results are flowing through the School Plan Strategic Initiative #1 and the inclusion of Literacy Markers in all Stage 4 Assessments, Assessment Proforma and Programming Proforma (87% of respondents).

Staff were overwhelmingly in favour of retaining smaller class sizes (in Yr 7 in particular) wherever possible. Even this year group of 24 students was split into two classes in most cases. (93% of respondents).

Staff were largely in support of developing a BYOD policy that minimises mobile phone use and outlines a strategic and structured use of effective educational technological tools. (72% of respondents).

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Low Middle High

Rela

tive

perf

orm

ance

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

School 2015 SSG Average 2015

HSC: Relative performance from NAPLAN Year 9 (Cohort Progress)Performance Band Low Middle High

School 2015 23.9 18.8 8.6SSG Average 2015 5.7 6.3 3.0

Note: By definition, the State average relative performance is zero

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

Aboriginal education Class programs in various KLAs educate students in Aboriginal history and culture consistent with the Aboriginal Education Policy of the DEC. Significant work is undertaken in Stage 4 and 5 History and Geography and in the musicological endeavours of our senior students.

Multicultural Education and Anti-racism

Class programs in various KLAs educate students about the Multicultural nature of the world at large and Australia in particular. The multi-ethnic make-up of our school provides an excellent model for the significant work undertaken in Stage 4 and 5 History and Geography and in the English, History and Musicology courses of our senior students. Harmony Day events and a number of other undertakings by the SRC promoted Anti-Racism and equity issues.

Other school programs

Academic Competitions

We have again achieved sound results in external competitions this year. The Mathematics results from our participation in the International Competitions and Assessment for Schools (ICAS) administered by the University of New South Wales included 3 High Distinctions and 16 Distinctions; while in Science 11 Distinctions and 3 High Distinctions were obtained by students in Years 7 to

10 and in Writing 12 Distinctions and 3 High Distinctions were obtained. Across the Junior School 13 Distinctions and 9 High Distinctions were achieved in the Australian History Competition.

School Music Performance 2015

The most significant point of difference for the Conservatorium High School is the quality and variety of the whole-school Music Program.

During 2015 the school maintained its consistently high performance standard of challenging repertoire. In a slight departure from the usual practice the school started the year by performing the Act 1 Finale from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Ruddigore at the end of Speech Night. This involved the entire school on stage, either acting, singing or playing in the orchestra.

Choral and Orchestral Concerts

Dr Carolyn Watson continued her long association with the school when she returned briefly in March to conduct the Term 1 Concert with orchestral music by Smetana, Kodály and Bartók.

Dr Paul Terracini conducted both the Annual and Valedictory concerts with some exciting and varied repertoire: J. Strauss, Barber, Chopin, Maria Grenfell, and the Requiem by Fauré.

The Valedictory concerts saw the entire school perform the whole of Haydn’s Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in Time of War) as a fitting tribute to Australia’s Gallipoli centenary year.

Conservatorium Centenary Celebrations

The school recreated the original 1915 inaugural concert of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music performing music by Beethoven, Elgar and Wagner along with the three original songs that were added at the last moment for that first concert.

The school also joined with the tertiary sector of the Conservatorium to perform Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in a Sydney Opera House performance.

The House Concerts, as usual, proved to be an exciting and enjoyable way to complete the musical year.

Chamber Concerts

The school’s chamber music concerts continued to present high-quality performances by our students with repertoire for small ensembles, both chamber music standards, jazz ensembles and some unusual fare. Thanks to the generosity of the school’s patron, Mrs Linda Hurley the school’s final chamber music concert of the year was presented in the grand ball room of Government House.

Other Concerts

As always, the school’s busy music-making year included Soloists’ Concerts (organised by the P&C) and Stage 5 Concerts. Numerous competitions and other one-off events completed another busy round of performances.

Jeff Willey Head Teacher – Music

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.

Robert Curry, Principal

Ian Barker, Deputy Principal

Jeffrey Willey, Head Teacher (Music)

Kathleen Kell, Head Teacher (Humanities)

Hannah Gleeson, R/ Head Teacher (T&L/Admin)

Michael Skrill, A/ Head Teacher (Maths/Science)

Laura Smith, Learning and literacy Co-ordinator

Janine Foat, Science Co-ordinator

Linda Cumines, President of the P&C

Jane Anderson, 2015 School Captain

Nathan Moas, 2015 School Vice-Captain

School contact information

Conservatorium High School PO Box R-1805 Royal Exchange, NSW 1225 Ph: +61 2 9351 1350 Fax: +61 2 9351 1359 Email: [email protected] Web: www.conhigh.nsw.edu.au School Code: 8147

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

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.conhigh.nsw.edu.au/

conservatorium high school annual report · conservatorium high school . annual report . ... for...

Documents