Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Annual Report 2015

Vision Statement Live our Catholic Faith through committing ourselves to educational excellence.

Mission Statement At OLSH Thamarrurr Catholic School we live our Catholic faith through our

commitments to develop strong individuals who have the capacity to live full lives

valuing their family traditions whilst thriving in the modern world. We aspire to

develop the whole person, building independence, encouraging people to achieve

their full potential, whilst continually striving for self-worth, integrity and excellence.

Table One: School Profile -2015 August Census Report NT Government Location Wadeye

Year Range PS-12

Total enrollments 659

Indigenous Students 657

Non Indigenous Students 2

Special Needs 70

Student attendance rate 37.5% (Year Average 48.8%)

Attendance

The average attendance rate for the whole of 2015 was 48.8% which was a drop of

2% from 2014. Overall there were 768 individual students who attended at least one

day of school compared with 684 individual students in 2014. Of the 768 there is a

truancy challenge with nearly 300 students attending less than one term (45 school

days).

The School Annual Improvement Plan set an attendance percentage goal of 60% for

2015. It was disappointing that this goal was not achieved.

In terms of average attendance numbers for each of the eight collection periods the

average was 640 which was on a par with 2015’s average of 644.

Table Two: Enrolment by year level and gender – 7 August 2015

PS T `1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

Female 30 31 34 12 31 24 24 29 31 34 12 13 2 307

Male 23 22 25 23 37 40 28 23 39 32 23 10 4 3 332

Total 53 53 59 35 68 64 52 52 70 66 35 23 6 3 639

The high drop off in attendance from Year Eight remains a cause for serious

concern.

Table Three: Number of students with 80% plus attendance Year

Term One

Term Two

Term Three

Term Four

Year Average

Individual Students that had an 80% term

2014 118 119 66 67 93 182

2015 147 90 60 93 98 212* *Note: Only 26 students had four 80%+ terms in 2015

In 2015 the School set the goal of raising the percentage of students attending

school 80% or more to 30% of the roll. Unfortunately only 15% of the student

population achieved that level.

Increasing the number of students who attend over 80% remains a major goal for the

school.

Age Grade CENSUS 2015 638

2014 676

2013 577

2102 540

2011 480

Staff Profile (August Census) – Not including long service and study leave

Headcount FTE

Primary Secondary

Primary & Secondary

Primary Secondary

Non-Indigenous

Teaching Male 5 7 1 5.5 7.5

Female 13 6 3 13.85 7.5

Non-Teaching Male 2 1 7 5.6 3.4

Female 2 2 9 6.5 6.5

Total 22 16 20 31.45 24.9

Indigenous

Teaching Male 1 5 0.8 4

Female 26 7 21.8 5.8

Non-Teaching Male 2 5 12 6.7 9.1

Female 22 6 5 17.8 4.8

Total 51 23 17 47.1 23.7

Total All Staff – 149 Total FTE – 127.2

73 39 37 78.55 48.6

Teacher Qualifications

Doctorate 2 Post Graduate /Masters 5

Bachelor / Post graduate diplomas

38

Other 2

Staff Information All teachers in the school are registered with the Northern Territory Registration

Board and hold relevant teacher qualifications. All teachers were involved in

professional development during the year.

Catholic Ethos The school maintained a strong relationship with the Parish of Our Lady of the

Sacred Heart, Wadeye. Regular school Masses and liturgies were held. Assemblies

and meetings were opened with prayers. A comprehensive and well prepared

Religious Education Program is operating throughout the school. Sacramental

programs were carried out for Reconciliation, First Communion and Confirmation.

Staff members attended Religious Education Conference and most teachers

participated in six hours of Religious Education professional development.

Confirmation 2015

Student Outcomes

2015 Naplan Results Year Level Assessment Students at Low

Level Students at Medium Level

Three Reading 26 3

Writing 35 0

Numeracy 19 0

Grammar 35 2

Spelling 37 0

Five Reading 23 0

Writing 28 0

Numeracy 19 0

Grammar 26 0

Spelling 26 0

Seven Reading 34 0

Writing 43 0

Numeracy 43 0

Grammar 43 4

Spelling 43 0

Nine Reading 11 0

Writing 13 0

Numeracy 10 0

Grammar 13 0

Spelling 13 0

There is a strong argument that NAPLAN is a blunt and inappropriate assessment

tool for indigenous students in remote locations whose first language is not English.

Formal assessment in English for Year Three students in a bilingual school is even

more questionable.

In 2013 the school broadened the range of assessment tools it uses in addition to

NAPLAN. OLSH set the goal to have high attending students enter Year Seven as

independent readers. An independent reader is defined for our purposes as reading

at or above PM Benchmark 20.

High Attending Year Six PM Benchmark Levels

PM Benchmark Level

Level 12-18 Level 18 -20 Level 20+

Number of Students

7 3 3

Results have indicated that those students with high levels of attendance in Years

Three to Six are making significant progress in their literacy. While the program did

not reach the goal of having all high achieving students entering Year Seven as

independent readers the results were an improvement on previous years.

Furthermore, the School has improved its systematic collection of data from previous

years.

Special Needs Project and Inclusion Support 2015 was the final year of the HREOC Settlement Special Needs Project. This three

year project saw the completion of the development of the Special Needs Building

which now has the capacity to cater for students with a wide range of needs.

Da Ngimalman Project 2015 also saw the completion of The Da Ngimalman project which worked in the

area of providing trips “on country” and cultural programs at school. The school will

continue to provide these programs.

New Classroom Block In March the new classroom block, the McCormick Centre was blessed and opened.

This building was funded as a result of the 2012 HREOC Settlement.

Ranger Cadet Program The Ranger Cadet Program continued with a core group of senior male students.

Activities in 2015 included at trip to Canberra which explored career options for the

students.

Families as First Teachers In 2013 the school began Families as First Teachers Project with Northern Territory

Government. The program works with the families of children from zero to three. In

2015 160 families enrolled in this program during the course of the year with

between 30 to 35 regular attenders.

Literacy Production Centre During 2015 the Literacy Production Centre continued its work of developing print

and electronic resources to support the teaching of Murrinhpatha.

In January 2016 the Wadeye community and the school was delighted to learn that

College linguist Sister Tess Ward was being awarded an Order of Australia for her

work in the preservation of Indigenous Languages.

Nutrition Program Through the Commonwealth Government Nutrition Program, OLSH continued to

provide breakfast, “cuppa” and lunch to students. Including paid staff meals, the

nutrition program provided from 800 to 1600 meals a day.

Reading Recovery In 2015 the College entered in a partnership with WA Catholic Education Office,

Kimberly Region to teach Reading Recovery at the College. This involved training

two teachers. During 2015 eighteen students were taught on the program. As with

other programs attendance issues provided challenges in getting maximum benefit

from the program. Those children on Reading Recovery who had high levels of

attendance made very significant progress and assessment of these children

demonstrated achievement levels not seen at the school for Year Two and Three

level students in the past.

Training two Reading Recovery Teachers and implementing Reading Recovery was

a goal of the OLSH Annual Improvement Plan.

Home Economics In 2015 the school introduced a food technology program in the secondary school

Specialized Art Program An art specialist teacher was employed in the primary school and art classes were

introduced from Pre-school to Year Six

Adult Literacy Program Eight Assistant Teachers were selected for an Adult Literacy Program. These young

women were selected on the basis of strong work commitment and potential for

leadership including teacher training in the future. They spent 7 hours a week with

Saara Hamaliaaen focusing on improving their literacy and content knowledge. The

highlight of the year for this group was a trip to Sydney.

Indigenous Leadership Team The Indigenous Leadership team of Marip Kintharri, Tess Bunduck, Marcelino

Bunduck, Dominica Lantjin, Francella Bunduck, Leon Kintharri, Xaverine Bunduck,

and Rosa Tipiloura met with the School Leadership. Jointly this group was on the

strategic direction of the school and the vision for education in Wadeye. The

Indigenous Leadership joined the four other Indigenous Catholic Community Schools

each term as part of Catholic Indigenous Leadership (CILT) Group.

Highlights of the School Year

Canberra Trip Thirty year five and six students and six adults travelled to Canberra and Sydney in

August. They visited the National War Memorial and Parliament.

Kardu Darrikardu Hostel The School continued to work in association with Aboriginal Hostels and the Kardu

Darrikardu Hostel’s. During the year Hostel numbers ranged from low twenties to the

mid-thirties. Students staying at the Hostel were benefiting from having regular sleep

and a consistent diet.

Growing Our Own The Growing Our Own program continued in association with Charles Darwin

University. In 2015 two pre-service teachers participated in this program.

External Review In July an External Review was carried out of the College by a team from The

Catholic Education Office Northern Territory. One of the main recommendations

from the review was for the College to increase its commitment to VET Education

and work experience programs. This is a major goal of the College in 2016.

Summary The staff and community remain committed to continuing to develop OLSH

Thamarrurr as a Catholic College providing education that is of a high standard and

meets the needs of the community.

John Young (Ph.D.)