St Joseph’s School, Northam

Principal’s Report 2018

As we near the end of another school year and I prepare to write this final report, I reflect on a most enjoyable five years span that I have spent as a member of St Joseph’s School community. We have had challenges along the way but that is what life is about and we all learn and grow through our challenges. As I write, we are planning for 2019 where we have had to yet again increase our capacity as our enrolments have increased. In a climate where Catholic schools are suffering a loss of students, we have certainly gone against this trend. This is something for which we should all be proud. I believe this reflects our conscious plans and strategic Priority to become the ‘school of choice’ in the Avon region. It is a reflection of the recognition of the quality Catholic education that our school provides and the nurturing caring community we have established. It is with pleasure that I summarise the annual operations and achievements for our school for 2018.

Learning In 2018 our Learning was focused on Comprehension strategies used in Literacy and the Numeracy programs used in classes. We have consolidated our work on a whole school strategy to Numeracy and Literacy and we feel the results our students are achieving reflect an upward trend overall. Some of the highlights for this year include:

The introduction of the Diana Rigg Oral comprehension program into Pre Kindy and Kindy.

The implementation of ‘Cars and Stars’ - a comprehensive and explicitly taught reading comprehension program from Pre-Primary to Year 6.

The emphasis of uniform strategies for Paragraph writing on the secondary campus.

The introduction of the special literacy program in Term 1 for all Year 7 students.

Primary staff continue to use Explicit Instruction and Daily Reviews across English and Mathematics.

NAPLAN results for 2018 show continued improvement over time. 2019 sees the school go to NAPLAN Online.

Years 3 and 5 NAPLAN results show marked improvement in reading.

Year 7 NAPLAN results show strength in improvements in writing and reading.

Year 9 NAPLAN results show a strength in improvement in writing.

There has been a significant increase in the number of students in Years 10-12 completing OLNA requirements in 2018.

The provision of dedicated small group aid for secondary students having difficulty completing OLNA and NAPLAN. Students get to practise assessments on-line and receive teacher input in areas of weakness.

Our staff have continued their participation in ‘Digital Technologies in Focus’ project and received extensive inservicing in this ACARA activity. Staff are working together to integrate technologies across all Learning Areas.

Our primary Literacy team is now well established and caters for students’ needs through the Multi Lit program.

The PLD and Lexile programs have continued to grow and are now well established in primary classes.

Data walls track our students’ progress in Literacy and Numeracy on the primary campus, and for completion of OLNA on the secondary campus.

The results of our 2018 Year 1 Early Years Literacy and Numeracy Data were exceptional. Our students performed well above the CEWA mean in most Literacy components of the testing with our Numeracy results improving compared to previous years.

The establishment of a cross campus staff team ensures that teachers from Years 6, 7 and 8 are in regular contact regarding programs and curriculum.

The practice of daily silent reading on the secondary campus is well established and we believe has contributed to improved NAPLAN results.

17 out of 19 Year 12 students achieved their WACE in 2018.

In 2018, the school achieved 100% completion of VET Certificate II courses. 1 student completed two Certificate II courses during their studies.

The Keeping Safe program has been embedded into our whole school programs.

Students enjoyed a number of excursions and incursions that enhanced each Learning Area. Excursions included visits to

Sculptures by the Sea, Bilya Koort Boodja Interactive Centre, the Perth Zoo, St Mary’s Cathedral, Hills Discovery Centre, Northam Railway Museum, Haddrill’s Farm and many more. Incursions are always a big part of our learning and we had the honour of hosting world acclaimed illustrator Martin Chatterton and the Scitech Roadshow.

Our Years 9 and 10 Drama students performed a production of “The Cloudchasers’ Carnivale” that was well patronised by our families.

The introduction of Year 12 Food as an additional course for students.

Junior Da Vinci program – students competed in a number of competitions including the Solar Car Challenge and Junior da Vinci Decathlon.

We celebrated NAIDOC Week with taste testing, craft and face painting activities.

Jelena Manuel in Year 10 was the WA winner in the 2017/18 Bookend Trust Antarctic Experience after submitting a detailed research project. Being a state winner involved her travelling to Tasmania to work with key scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division and University of Tasmania and participate in an educational 12-hour flight over Antarctica.

In the Solar Car Challenge, our secondary da Vinci team finished in 3rd place in their heat out of 10 schools, narrowly missing out on a place in the Grand Final.

Secondary da Vinci program- Four groups of four students from Year 7 and 8 participated in the annual CEWA Brainstorm Challenge at Scitech, with two of our teams finishing in 1st place in their groups (each group having five or six schools). Other competitions that students entered included the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Big Ideas Forum, Tim Winton Award for Young Writers and the National History Challenge. This is in addition to students conducting research and investigations in robotics, coding, digital music production, short story writing, genetics and forensic science as well as specialist programming and astronomical imaging using remote robotic telescopes at UWA, in Canberra and in the United States.

Engagement As per our Strategic Plan, throughout 2018 we have continued to focus on ways to improve student engagement in their learning and to develop further avenues of communication with parents. This year:

We hosted Bishop Sproxton on his pastoral visit to Northam where he spent a day in our classrooms.

We launched our new school website which provides ease of access for parents to communicate with the school.

We launched our Facebook site following the request of parents. This has allowed us to post regular communications and immediate updates if necessary.

Our Student Wellbeing Committee continues to operate on the secondary campus and conducts surveys for issues of importance to the students. This has resulted in the provision of guest speakers and special events organised for our students.

Our School Board and P&F continue to attract parents willing to hold positions or be co-opted for our Sub-committees. Both groups are active and fully involved.

We saw the introduction of our P&F Meet and Greet morning tea with parents from Pre Kindy to Pre-Primary and a well-attended evening with secondary parents.

Book Week Book Fair, run by the P&F, was a great success.

Primary Choir, led by Mr Lloyd Reidy, performed at the Northam Arts Festival and the Catholic Performing Arts Festival.

We have introduced parent seminars on topics of interest to families. In Term 1 we delivered a Cybersafe seminar, in Term 2, a Primary Literacy seminar and in Term 3 we offered a First Aid Certificate to our families. We were very pleased with the attendance and participation at all the seminars and intend to continue this practice in 2019.

Our school Board has offered subsidies to our students who undertake school Immersion experiences overseas. This has made it possible for our community to enhance our students’ involvement in Social Justice issues and for our school to develop relationships with our Founding Orders and schools that share the same charism.

Our school Student Leader representatives will attend the Marist Student Leaders Conference as a sign of our membership in the Marist family.

As a school we have continued to engage in the wider education community. We have hosted other schools as they shared our professional development days and we have continued to develop professional networks.

Accountability Our School Board takes on the responsibility of managing and accounting for all the finances associated with the school and it is through their commitment that we can provide for the welfare of our students and community. In 2018 our Board has continued to dedicate time to the building of our school community through their role of maintaining our current facilities and planning for the future. This year our Board has finalised an arrangement with St Joseph’s Parish to lease the empty block on the corner of Gordon and Duke Streets. This has enabled us to finalise a Capital Development Plan to build four classrooms on our current oval and establish a new oval on the empty corner block. After the completion of this stage, we intend to build a new Administration block and staff facilities on the secondary campus. Further in our development of our goal of becoming the ‘school of choice’ in the Avon region, the school has sought and received permission to run an extra primary class in 2019. Despite permission being granted late in the year, the Board is

working diligently to source a transportable classroom for the primary campus. The significant growth of our school over the last few years is a positive sign that our school is recognised as providing a quality Catholic education in our region. Further capital items for 2018 include:

Replacement of teacher laptops.

Replacement and upgrade of Primary & Secondary wireless systems.

Replacement of administration desktops.

Purchase of new primary iPads and charging stations (partly funded by P&F).

Installation of Apple TV’s into primary rooms 3, 5, 11 & 13.

Provision of lockers for increased numbers and upgrade of desks in secondary classrooms.

Upgrades to guttering, downpipes and roof fall arrest system.

Installation of reverse cycle air conditioning to secondary room 10 and primary rooms 9, 11 & 13 (funded by P&F Association).

Purchase of specialised equipment for secondary Science, Art, D&T and Outdoor Education.

Purchase of two 3D printers for the secondary campus.

Purchase of new signage for the primary campus. As well as physical facilities, our greatest asset must be the ‘human capital’ we have in the form of our staff. Staff at St Joseph's School contribute significantly to the improvement at our school. Each staff member is involved in our School Improvement Plan directly through membership on the various committees. The dedication and commitment of our staff to the welfare of our students is second to none. Another group that contributes significantly to the welfare of our children is our P&F committee. We have a dedicated Executive, led by Mrs Georgia Haddrill, who organise many activities and always seem to have a steady supply of willing volunteers. This year’s initiative of a Meet and Greet on the secondary campus was very well attended by our parents and highlights one of the main goals of our P&F to help build community. They have done this very well. They have also fundraised for our school and this year, as role models for our children, one of their activities was to fundraise for Project Compassion alongside our students. Their efforts in 2018 have meant that we have been able to ensure that our primary classrooms now all have reverse cycle air conditioning and for 2019 the P&F have already pledged a class set of iPads. I would like to thank the P&F for their hard work and loyalty to our school. It is much appreciated.

I would like to thank our school Board for their many hours of commitment. Our school Board members give their time away from their family to help our school plan for its present and future operations. Members have a desire to serve our community and a keenness to promote Catholic education. I would like to acknowledge the work of our Board Chair, Mrs Rebekah Ervin and Treasurer Mr Ryan Naughton who both sit on our Finance Committee as well.

Discipleship At the beginning of 2018 our community revisited our school motto of ‘Fidelity’. This Evangelisation theme was presented to the students and staff in the form of the Old Testament story of Job. Fidelity is about being faithful and means being faithful to God, to ourselves and to others. Today, the word Fidelity is an old-fashioned word; however, its meaning is about the importance of our respect for others and self within the context of our personal relationship with God. This year, all students and staff received a badge of a white swan to wear. The white swan is a symbol of Northam and the only place in Australia where the birds breed naturally in the wild. Traditionally, the white swan is a symbol of loyalty and strength. We have used the image of the white swan to remind us to be loyal and show fidelity. In conjunction with our Fidelity theme, MaJEC, our Christian Service Learning program, has continued to be a focus for us in 2018. Last year, one of our students travelled to Philippines to join a Marist Immersion to experience firsthand what life is like in a third world area and to see the Church’s mission in action. This year we are pleased that two students will attend the Marist immersion. Furthermore, we have a staff member and another student visiting a sister school in Thailand as we develop a relationship with Seton College as a sister school that shares the charism of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. We feel we are well on the way to our Strategic Plan goal of strengthening our links to our Founding Orders.

We have continued to develop our program of student retreats and once again our Year 12 Nahra three-day retreat is proving to be a highlight. The success of this program and feedback from the students, affirms our belief of the importance of this opportunity for Year 12 students to reflect on their role of Discipleship as they move into their adult lives. I would like to thank our staff for all that they do for our students. They are the foundation of the work we do at our school. Without doubt their commitment and fidelity to our students, and to the continual improvement of our school, is what makes our school special. They do a marvellous job. On a personal note, I wish to thank them for their support and friendship these five years. I wish to acknowledge the work of our Priests, Fr George and Fr Simeon. Both these men make our school and its mission to provide a quality Catholic education, a priority in their own work. As well as providing our Liturgies and Masses, our priests are regular attendees at our functions and assemblies. Thank you, Fr George and Fr Simeon, for your presence in our community. This year we were also very pleased to welcome the Servite Sisters into our Parish and thank them for the work they have contributed. I would like to acknowledge the support and commitment that we receive each year from the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition and the Marist Brothers. They continue to keep our relationship alive by their visits and emails. We will always welcome them at our school and we were particularly pleased this year to host the first term Marist Regional Council meeting and to receive a ‘welcome home’ visit from Br Joe Hughes. As I conclude my final report for our school, I feel the most important members of our community are our students. It is because of them that we are here. Time and time again, I have said to many people I speak with, our students are our best ambassadors. Whether it’s the joyful interviews I conduct with 2 year olds or my conversations with our older students about the latest movie or electronic gaming, the best part of my role is working for and with our students. I thank them for being themselves, for always welcoming me with a smile and making my time here so enjoyable. I encourage our students to aim high and continue to be the best they can be. I thank all of you, you who are our community, for your support and I am sure that our Principal Elect, Mrs Andrea Woodgate, will enjoy her time here as much as I have. I wish our community all the best for our bright future. God bless