Leichhardt Public School

Annual School Report

School context Leichhardt Public School is located in the centre of the suburb Leichhardt. It has had a long and distinguished history dating back to 1862. The school has experienced significant fluctuations in enrolments and changes in demographic over the past 150 years. In the 1920s the school experienced an enrolment peak of 2 250 students whilst for some parts of the 1990s the school was relatively small. The community diversified in the second half on the twentieth century and the school now benefits from the rich cultural heritage of our current and former students

Its historic buildings and leafy playground provide an inviting backdrop for the many programs the school offers.

Principal’s message Our school places a strong emphasis on developing the whole student in academic as well as social, sporting and cultural pursuits. Our school values and nurtures the unique qualities and academic talents of each student. We have high expectations for all students and a commitment to engendering a genuine love of learning.

At Leichhardt Public School academic rigour is valued at all stages of learning and the classroom focus is on challenge, engagement and achievement. Our students are encouraged to take increasing responsibility for their own learning and expect learning experiences to be meaningful and challenging. They are measured risk takers who understand that successful learners extend themselves with new challenges and develop thinking skills that can be applied confidently in both academic work and in everyday life. Individual differences are not only recognised but celebrated and students are encouraged to pursue interests and explore different ways of learning with the emphasis always on quality. The learning needs of all students are catered for in a supportive environment. A range of extension activities that include our art, band and string programs, enhances the formal curriculum.

The school has a well-qualified and highly committed staff whose contributions and achievements are recognised and valued. Maintaining high standards of teaching and

learning has always been the school's core business and this has been achieved through staff willingly embracing change and improvement. Regular participation in quality professional development and professional dialogue that is supported by sound educational research demonstrates the commitment of staff to improve and further develop their pedagogy.

Staff and parent partnerships are based on mutual respect, clear lines of communication and a school community commitment to encouraging each student to achieve their full potential in all areas of learning. Parent roles in supporting learning programs are negotiated and clearly defined. Parents, in partnership with the school, enrich student learning through the professional and personal skills they can offer. Formal and informal opportunities for parents and staff to meet throughout the year are made available to ensure parents have relevant, accurate information about students’ progress. Opportunities to meet socially are greatly valued and assist in maintaining the strong sense of unity and mutual support enjoyed at LPS

I certify that the information in this report is the result of a rigorous school self-evaluation process and is a balanced and genuine account of the school’s achievements and areas for development.

James Reid

P & C message 2013 was another wonderful year for the LPS community.

In February, the welcome BBQ was held to welcome new parents to the school. This event was very well attended and is a great way to start the year.

The 2013 Readathon was held in March and once again we were extremely lucky to have Kara Gabbett at the helm. As always, the Readathon was a major success and a significant source of funds for the P&C, the majority of which will be used to help buy books and improve literacy across the school.

The school fete was held in mid September and was a spectacular day raising $46000. The fete is a focal point of the P&C’s fundraising efforts for the year and 100 volunteers worked very hard to ensure its success. Congratulations to

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Ange Bevan and Paul Queeney who ran the fete for the first time in 2013.

I would like to personally thank the members of the executive committee for their support in 2013, and all volunteer parents and carers who so willingly gave their time and expertise to the P & C’s projects over the course of the year.

Lucy Howes

P&C President 2013

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 Quality teaching and highly successful whole school programs have attracted increasing enrolments over the past seven years. It’s anticipated that 26 mainstream classes will be established in 2014 with one new staff member joining us.

Student attendance profile

Management of non-attendance The school corresponds regularly with parents of students with poor attendance records.

Both the school and families can seek support and advice from the Home School Liaison officer regarding poor school attendance.

Class sizes Primary class sizes are included in the annual school report in order to provide parents with as much local information as possible. The following table shows our class sizes as reported at the 2012 Class Size Audit conducted on Monday 21 March 2012.

Structure of classes In 2013 there were 25 mainstream classes and 3 support unit classes.

Mainstream: 25 straight classes, 0 composites

Support Classes: 1 class of 9 for students with moderate intellectual disability, 1 class of 16 for students with a mild intellectual disability and 1 Autism class of 6 students.

The classes were organised according to the staffing formula determined by the Department of Education and Communities, and the school’s Class Organisation Policy.

Workforce information It is a requirement that the reporting of information for all staff must be consistent with privacy and personal information policies.

Workforce composition Position Number Principal 1 Deputy Principal(s) 1 Assistant Principal(s) 5 Classroom Teacher(s) 23 Teacher of Reading Recovery 1 Learning and Support Teacher(s) 0.2 Teacher Librarian 1 Teacher of ESL 0.4 School Counsellor 1 Community Language 1 School Administrative & Support Staff 6 Total 40.6

The Australian Education Regulation, 2013 requires schools to report on Aboriginal composition of their workforce.

At present there are no Aboriginal members on staff at Leichhardt Public School.

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

Qualifications % of staff Degree or Diploma 100 Postgraduate 50 NSW Institute of Teachers Accreditation 19

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

Date of financial summary 30/11/2013

Income $ Balance brought forward 75,645.41 Global funds 379,024.84 Tied funds 105,784.84 School & community sources 455,976.58 Interest 4,830.05 Trust receipts 32,309.45 Canteen 0.00 Total income 1,053,570.60 Expenditure Teaching & learning

Key learning areas 137,098.90 Excursions 72,212.93 Extracurricular dissections 56,974.45

Library 6,524 Training & development 378.19 Tied funds 111,960.92 Casual relief teachers 93,875.59 Administration & office 179,710.06 School-operated canteen 0.00 Utilities 148,463.19 Maintenance 18,141.63 Trust accounts 28,715.66 Capital programs 0.00 Total expenditure 854,056.15 Balance carried forward 199,514.45

A full copy of the school’s 2013 financial statement is tabled at the annual general meetings of the School Council and/or the parent body. Further details concerning the statement can be obtained by contacting the school.

School performance 2013

Achievements Arts Music

2013 was another successful year for the Leichhardt Public School Music Program. Student participation in both the band and string programs increased from 2012. The string group had a membership of 60 students, ranging in age from 5 through to 12. The students met every Thursday and Friday morning for tuition in violin, cello and double bass. This tuition was again provided by our talented parents as well as employed tutors. The group gained valuable experience from performances at the school’s Grandparents Day and the School Fete. The highlight for the year once again was the participation of our advanced string group in the Instrumental Music Festival at the Sydney Opera House. The success of this event has encouraged the group to participate again in 2014. In October he Beethoven and Mozart String Groups took part, for the first time, in an external festival known as the Australian School Orchestral Festival. Both groups were awarded silver and the Beethovens also won the opportunity to participate in a workshop with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The String Group Committee, established in 2005 continues to provide direction for the program and management of instruments. .

In 2013, 140 students were involved in learning a band instrument. Both the junior, concert and senior bands performed with great success at a number of school functions including the school fete and Grandparents Day. The three band ensembles performed in the UNSW Band Festival - Senior and Concert Band won gold with Junior Band winning silver The concert and senior bands and the Beethoven string group had the opportunity to hone their musicianship skills when they participated in our ninth Band Camp, this time at Stanwell Tops. In Term 4, our senior band completed another very successful band tour, this time in the Hunter Valley area. It was their eighth band tour and it again provided us with the opportunity to showcase our band program.

This year we also had an extraordinary number of our students selected to participate in

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‘Create East’, State Music Camp and Regional Orchestra - the students had to audition for all this groups and competition is fierce across the state - it is wonderful reflection on the program.

School String Program 2013

Senior Band 2013

Visual Arts

In 2013 the school and the P&C association continued to jointly fund the special art teacher program and for the third year our families assisted with the funding of the program through an art levy. The program, which runs four days per week, caters or students from Kindergarten to Year 6 with an emphasis on students learning to critically analyse artwork and understanding that everybody has unique artistic styles which should be nurtured and developed. Throughout the year students were introduced to a wide variety of art media.

Sport

Primary Schools Sport Association

In 2013 Leichhardt Public School competed in the weekly Balmain District PSSA competition for the first time in many years. This involved senior students competing against local schools at Tempe Reserve each Friday afternoon. Students were selected to represent the school in either Cricket or OzTag for the summer months and Soccer or Netball for the winter. Compulsory training was held throughout the week and was aimed at skill development and teamwork. The program proved to be very

popular and successful. Students and coaches enjoyed the chance to improve sportsmanship and to compete against local schools in a regular and formalised environment.

Primary Sport

For students not involved in the PSSA competition, a Primary Sport Program was introduced. Every Friday afternoon students from years 3 – 6 participated in teacher-led fitness, skill development activities and games. The students worked in mixed year groups and rotated around a series of stations spread throughout the school grounds.

Live Life Well

At the beginning of the year a committee of teachers was formed and trained under the Live Life Well program funded by the Department and NSW Health. This committee developed an action plan for Leichhardt Public School to improve student overall health and wellbeing. The implementations of many initiatives began in Term 1 with Crunch and Sip. The whole school participated in a ‘Crunch Off’, which involved the local media and Norton Street grocer. This was followed up by Jump Rope for Heart and the Caught you Being Good program. Many active staff training sessions were held throughout the year to develop teacher’s knowledge and skills when teaching the fundamental movement skills. This action plan will continue over 2014 focusing on student’s fundamental movement skills and the development of an active school playground.

Stage Sport

With the introduction of a more rigorous approach to the planning and implementation of teaching the physical education program, students participated in weekly grade/stage sport. Teachers successfully worked together to focus on improving their physical education practice by targeting fundamental skills, whilst involving students in a variety of game situations. This initiative, led by the Live Life Well Committee will continue to flourish in 2014 and beyond.

Athletics, Swimming & Cross Country Carnivals

In 2013 Leichhardt Public School saw a significant improvement in the organisation and participation of the various school carnivals and as a result, record numbers of students participated at the district, regional

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and state level. Our Junior Girls relay team (see below) represented our school at state where they came fourth in the final.

Public Speaking and Debating

The Public Speaking and Debating program at Leichhardt Public School has continued to grow with increased levels of student participation at the weekly lunchtime club and in the inter-school competitions. In 2013 we entered teams from Year Five and Six in two debating competitions, the Sydney Schools Debating and Premiers Debating. In both competitions Leichhardt Public School reached the finals and enjoyed debating against schools from the local area. All Stage 3 students had the opportunity to participate in debating when they competed in the inter-class debating round-robin, organised by Stage 3 teachers. Leichhardt Public School held the annual Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking competition where students from Years three to six had the opportunity to prepare and deliver speeches on a range of topics relating to multiculturalism. Students presented to their class and had the potential to progress to the school final and then onto the local final. The Public Speaking and Debating program continues to thrive with ever increasing levels of participation supported by a team of committed teachers and parents.

Ethics in Schools Program

In 2013 a number of our Stage 2 and 3 students participated in the “Ethics in Schools” program. The program is made available to students whose parents had opted out of scripture and elected that rather than non scripture their children participate in the program.

Some of the objectives of the program included developing the intellectual capacity and the personal attitudes needed for participation in ethical reflection and action, encouraging an openness towards important personal and public issues and introducing dialogue as a means of resolving ethical issues.

We are very grateful for the support provided by Elisabeth Bowdler, our Ethics Coordinator, and our dedicated team of ethics teachers who make this program possible.

The school plans to extend the program to include K-2 students in 2014.

Choir 2013 was a successful year for the school choirs. The students were able to work with experienced choir teachers to develop choral singing skills. There was a large number of students across Stages 2 and 3 who participated in the Primary Choir and numerous Kindergarten students were involved in the Kindergarten Choir.

The dedicated students rehearsed weekly and often more frequently. They were provided with opportunities to perform at events throughout the year including the school fete, assemblies, presentation day and the school music performance evening.

The Primary Choir were successful in their audition to participate in the choral music festival in 2014 where 30 Stage 2 students will perform at the Sydney Town Hall and 36 Stage 3 students will perform at the Sydney Opera House.

Senior Camping Program Students in Years 5 and 6 attended the 2013 camp held at the Aussie Bush Campsite, Tea Gardens. As in previous years, the camp included students from the support unit

The camp proved to be a positive experience for all students, resulting in enhanced trust, empathy and friendship within the group.

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Academic achievements 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.

Year 3: from Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest for Year 3)

Year 5: from Band 3 (lowest) to Band 8 (highest for Year 5)

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN).

Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au and enter the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.

NAPLAN Year 3 - Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

Year 3 Reading Year 3 students performed better than the state in reading. 79% of students achieved the top two bands (5 or 6) compared to the state where 47% of students performed in the top two bands.

Year 3 Writing In writing 89% of year 3 students performed in the top two bands. This is compared to the state where 54% of students performed in bands 5 and 6.

NAPLAN Year 3 - Numeracy In Numeracy 65% of Year 3 students performed in the top two bands. This is a 5% increase from 2012 to 2013. Year 3 students performed well above the state where the percentage of students achieving in the top two bands was 39%.

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NAPLAN Year 5 - Literacy (including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar and Punctuation)

Year 5 Reading In Reading 72.7% of year 5 students performed in the top two bands (7 and 8), compared to the state where 37.4% performed in the top two bands.

Year 5 Spelling Students performed better than the state in spelling. 48.5% of students achieved in the top two bands compared to state where 37.9% of students performed in the top bands. Spelling is an area for further development.

Year 5 Writing Students performed above the state in writing, 41% performed in the top two bands. The state achieved 33% of year 5 students in the top two bands.

NAPLAN Year 5 - Numeracy Record of School Achievement (RoSA) In Numeracy 44% of Year 5 students performed in the top two bands. Year 3 students performed above the state where the percentage of students achieving in the top two bands was 28%. Mathematics is an area for further improvement.

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Minimum standards

The commonwealth Government sets minimum standards for reading, writing, grammar and punctuation, spelling and numeracy for years 3,5,7 and 9.

The performance of the students in our school in the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy is compared to these minimum standards. The percentages of our students achieving at or above these standards are reported below.

Percentage of Year 3 students achieving at or above minimum standard (exempt students excluded)

Reading 100.0

Writing 100.0

Spelling 100.0

Grammar & Punctuation 100.0

Numeracy 98.7

Percentage of Year 5 students achieving at or above minimum standard (exempt students excluded)

Reading 100.0

Writing 98.5

Spelling 97.0

Grammar & Punctuation 98.5

Numeracy 100.0

Other school based assessments Reading Levels in Kindergarten to Grade 2 Students in kindergarten and grade one have made excellent progress in reading as assessed against the levels that are designated on the

Literacy Continuum. Kindergarten students are expected to read at a minimum Reading Recovery level of between 5 and 8. Year One students are expected to read at a minimum Reading Recovery level of between 16 and 18. Year two students are expected to reach a minimum Reading Recovery level of 26. The majority of year two students are reading above grade level.

Significant programs and initiatives iPad Program The school’s iPad trial commenced at the beginning of 2013 with the purchase of 30

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iPads, a charging trolley, a laptop for synchronising and the necessary infrastructure to establish a wireless network in Block A and Block J. Stage 2 and Stage 3 classes were given the opportunity to trial iPads in their classrooms focussing on supporting literacy and numeracy programs. The trial was reviewed at the end of 2013. The review included discussions about the management of iPads, the most useful applications for classroom learning and essential professional learning for 2014.

We would like to thank our P&C for their financial support of the trial. In 2014 the P&C will again commit funds to support the school’s purchase of a further 80 iPads, two charging trolleys and the infrastructure required for a wireless network in Block E. The goal for 2014 will be to have classes in Block A, E and J accessing iPad technology in their classrooms. Year 6 and Year 2 will be timetabled to access iPads from the school library. We will review the program again at end of 2014.

Aboriginal education The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander week was celebrated with a member from the Glebe Aboriginal Community supporting the creation of paintings around the Yarrkala Bark Petition. This involved students from Kindergarten to Year 6 sharing their stories and creating two large canvasses. Aboriginal students had additional discussions with Aunty Kathy Farawell, regarding their personal connection to the land. Staff were in serviced about the historical context of NAIDOC week and in particular of the Yarrkala Bark Petition. This was followed up by students

discussing the significance of the petition in class.

Students with Disabilities The Support unit has two classes catering for students with intellectual disabilities and learning difficulties as well as an Autism Spectrum Disorder class. The students in these classes are integrated into all school activities. The entire school begins each year with a specific unit of study on disabilities, generating acceptance, responsibility and care within the school population. The success of the program is demonstrated on a daily basis with students throughout the school supporting and caring for each other.

The school supported two students with disabilities and learning difficulties to integrate into mainstream classes

Reading Recovery Program The Reading Recovery teacher runs the Reading Recovery program and keeps the school community informed of the success and continued need for early reading and writing intervention. Reading Recovery supplies an individual accelerated program to at least the bottom 10% of students in grade one. This is a supplementary program to the on-going activities in the classroom and brings the hardest to teach children to a level where they can become full participants in the curriculum adopted by the classroom.

Reading levels at the initial intake ranged from 2-6 and in the second intake 6-10. In the third intake reading levels ranged from 8-12 and in the fourth intake 11-15. By the end of the year 13 out of 14 students successfully discontinued the Reading Recovery program. Students taken on the fourth intake surpassed the Reading Recovery level of 16, with most reading at a level 18 or beyond. The one student who was referred from the program, now has funded support in class. All students who participated in the program improved in reading and became more confident and independent in class.

Canteen and Playground Upgrade The P&C were successful securing a grant to upgrade the school canteen. The upgrade included the installation of new benches, cooking appliances and automatic roller shutters. Our P&C also provided funds to upgrade the primary amphitheatre. This

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included restoration of the picnic tables, resurfacing the ground with wetpour (rubber surface) and the construction of timber decking.

School planning 2012—2014: progress in 2013

School priority 1

Outcomes from 2012–2014

• Improved whole school assessment and reporting practices

• Improved whole school, stage and class planning using the new syllabuses

Evidence of progress towards outcomes in 2013:

• Students are better informed of their academic progress and provided strategies to improve their learning outcomes

• Parents are better informed of their child's academic progress and provided strategies to help their child with their learning

• Teaching staff are better informed of student progress and can more effectively provide each student with feedback to improve their learning outcomes.

• Teaching staff are provided with individual and whole school professional learning on the structure and content of the new NSW English syllabus

• Classroom programs and professional dialogue reflect knowledge of the structure and content of new NSW English syllabus

• Reviewed school guidelines for writing student reports to ensure consistency across all grades

Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014

• Continue to provide professional learning on school assessment and reporting practices including student feedback and self reflection

• Continue to provide opportunities for grades and stages to participate in collaborative planning to implement the new syllabus content

• Implementation of new reporting procedures for the new English syllabus

• Ongoing professional learning focusing on the use of ICT, in particular iPads, to enhance learning opportunities for 21st Century learners

School priority 2

Outcomes from 2012–2014

• Improved achievement levels of Aboriginal students.

• Evidence based practices, programs and professional learning in place

• Explicit targets in literacy and numeracy for the school.

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Evidence of progress towards outcomes in 2013:

• staff participating in professional learning to establish agreed procedures, criteria and marking scale for assessing writing

• The school’s assessment policy and program is evaluated and revised to ensure:

− writing assessment procedures show consistency in design and expectations

− consistency in the application of assessment criteria to monitor student growth in Writing

Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014:

• Support high expectations for Aboriginal students through the provision of rich data, models of effective practice and professional learning programs.

• Identify aboriginal students for classroom support and design Individual Education Plans

• Continue to provide staff with professional learning opportunities to establish agreed procedures, criteria and marking scale for assessing writing

• Continue to revise the school’s assessment policy and program

School priority 3

Outcomes from 2012–2014

• A Executive Leadership Development policy and program is developed using the new national standards

• Individual action plans are developed to support and guide aspiring school leaders

Evidence of progress towards outcomes in 2013:

• All executive participated in professional learning for Leading Change in the English and Mathematics syllabuses

• 30% of executive staff had the opportunity to relieve in higher positions

• All executive participated in the 2013 Executive Induction program for Assistant Principals and Deputy Principals

Strategies to achieve these outcomes in 2014:

• Inservice executive staff on changes to the Teacher Assessment Review Schedule and Executive Assessment Review Schedule and the implications it has for school procedures and policy

• Continue to encourage staff to take up leadership roles in the school including relieving executive positions

• All executive and aspiring leaders to participate in professional learning for Leading Change in the Science and Technology and History

Professional learning

The focus of professional learning in 2013 was around planning for the implementation of the English K-6 syllabus. Staff development days enabled staff to work collaboratively to plan lessons and units of work for the implementation of the new NSW English syllabus K-10. The professional learning in this area continued throughout the year in stage meetings and Wednesday afternoon sessions and was delivered in a variety of ways, including accredited online courses.

Live Life Well was introduced in 2013 with teachers from the committee attending training and then up skilling the staff. Sessions involved planning for skill development across the year and practical sessions for teachers. Professional development in this area will continue in 2014.

Across the year staff engaged in professional learning around the following areas; classroom practices for dealing with trauma, Aboriginal education, assessment, iPad training and sharing sessions, feedback and learning intentions and programming for gifted and talented students.

Parent/caregiver, student, and teacher satisfaction

In 2013 the school sought the opinions of parents, students and teachers about the school. The results of this survey reflected a high level of satisfaction amongst parents, teachers and students regarding all aspects of school life.

Parent Survey Responses:-

• 97% believe their child feels safe at school • 97% find the school a warm and welcoming

place.

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• 90% believe that the school offers challenging and engaging programs for its students

• 91% believe that classrooms are well organised and have all the resources students need to learn

• 93% believe staff and parents partnerships are based on mutual respect.

• 93% believe teacher engagement with students is caring, responsive, supportive and respectful.

• 94% believe their child gets along with peers and feels socially connected

• 90% believe they are encouraged to contact the school to discuss concerns relating to their child

• 92% believe the school has developed a strong sense of unity and mutual support by providing regular opportunities for parents to meet socially

Student Survey Responses: • 90% feel relaxed and happy at school • 92% enjoy school and learning • 87% feel safe at school, 8% were unsure • 85% believe learning should be

meaningful,10% were unsure • 90% get on well with their classmates and

other students in the school • 90% believe the teachers are treated with

respect, 8% were unsure • 87% believe students treat each other with

respect. 10% were unsure • 90% believe they are able to resolve

conflicts with their peers on their own • 88% believe conflicts and problems at

school are dealt with fairly by an adult. 10% were unsure

Staff Survey Responses:-

• 93% believe the school celebrates and encourages individual success in all areas of school life.

• 93% believe there is good team spirit amongst staff and teachers work with commitment and enthusiasm.

• 100% believe there is effective communication between the school and home

• 100% believe interaction between teachers and students is caring, responsive, supportive and respectful

• 100% believe our school reflects a true “sense” of community

Program evaluations It is a requirement for all NSW public schools to conduct at least two annual evaluations – one related to educational and management practice and the other related to curriculum. In 2013 our school carried out further evaluations of Learning and the Key Learning Area of Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PD/H/PE).

Educational and management practice

Learning- New NSW Mathematics and Science Syllabuses

Background

Teaching and learning in the Key Learning Area of Mathematics was targeted for review and evaluation in 2013. It was decided that this would not proceed given the arrival of the new NSW Mathematics and Science syllabuses in early 2014. Strategies have been planned to ensure the effective introduction of the new syllabuses, provision of professional learning focusing on classroom practice, and the provision of appropriate resources.

Learning- Personal Development, Health and Physical Education

Background

In 2013 the school did further evaluations in the Learning Area of Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PD/H/PE) in order to determine the school’s effectiveness in teaching and learning practices, culture of collegiality and respect and improving student outcomes. Surveys and staff forums resulted in targets being established, some of which remained incomplete at the end of 2013 so they will continue to be a focus for 2014.

Findings and conclusions

The response to the majority of survey questions indicated a high degree of satisfaction with some aspects of the school’s learning practices pertaining to PD/H/PE. There was uncertainty amongst parents, however, regarding methods used by teachers to develop PE and Sport’s skills and the time that was devoted to PE and Sports sessions.

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Parents:

Only 20% believed the school provided useful feedback about their child’s progress in PD, Health & PE

95% believed PD, Health & PE is an important learning area for their child.

50% believed their child developed new skills, knowledge and understandings in Personal Development and Health in 2013. 45% were unsure.

90% believed their child enjoys PD,Health & PE activities. 9% were unsure

66% believed their child was developing his/her skills and knowledge in Physical Education and Sport. 28% were unsure.

Only 20% understood how PD,Health & PE was taught at school. 18% were unsure.

85% were confident they could assist their child with PD,Health & PE related assignments at home. 5% were unsure.

20% believed he school had plenty of resources to teach PD,Health & PE. 65% were unsure.

62% agreed that their child discussed regularly information and issues raised in school lessons about peer relationships, drug education, road safety or child protection.

98% believed the 'Crunch and Sip' Program and the school canteen helped to promote healthy eating.

98% believed the school canteen offers sufficient nutritious options for their child.

28% believed their child always made good choices about food and exercise.

70% believed their child sometimes made good choices about food and exercise..

89% stated that their child participated in regular sport/physical activity outside school.

The vast majority of parents rated highly the current PE and Sport offered at LPS.

Staff:

93% of staff members reported that they had adequately covered Child Protection lessons with their students. Teachers expressed concerns pertaining to time constraints surrounding the “crowded curriculum” and the pressure that in turn placed in time spent teaching PD/H/PE

70% of staff members always or usually had a range of appropriate resources to assist students with their learning. 47% of teachers, however, had not used the “Sport It” program to assist their planning and programming. Many teachers indicated that they would benefit from some professional learning in teaching and planning for teaching sport skills.

Although 90% of staff believed that they were confident or very confident teaching Personal Development and Health concepts, only 50% had the same confidence level when explicitly teaching sports skills.

When asked about student’s knowledge of “Healthy Lifestyle” 100% of teachers responded that students would sometimes make good choices about food and lifestyle. Student’s fitness levels, however, needed improvement with 89% of teachers believing that both student’s sedentary behaviors and fitness levels were a concern. There was strong agreement that the school community almost always promoted healthy living, however a majority of the student and parent community were of the belief that more opportunities needed to be provided to students in the area of games and sports.

Future directions

In 2014 a scope and sequence and continuum will be finalised by the Live Life Well committee. This will be used by classroom teachers for the planning and programming of fundamental movement skills.

The introduction of the Fundamental Movement Skills program will see a greater emphasis placed on developing and maintaining students’ fitness levels.

Fundamental Movement Skills Assessment checklists will also be developed to track students’ skill development each year.

Professional learning opportunities will continue to be provided throughout 2014 for staff who need more support in interpreting the checklists or planning and teaching the fundamental movement skills program.

The school will purchase additional resources to support teaching, develop concepts and facilitate learning in all PD/H/PE areas.

The school will develop strategies to promote the Live Life Well program. This would include

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regular reports in the newsletter and on the web site regarding the Fundamental Movement Skills program, formal invitations for parents to observe the program in action and general promotion of healthy living.

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.

James Reid, Principal

Sandra Rowan, Deputy Principal

Michelle Demirel, Assistant Principal

Bruce Taylor, Assistant Principal

Jodie Wherry, Assistant Principal

Eila Jameson Avey, Assistant Principal- Support

Beth Stanistreet, Rel. Assistant Principal

Phoebe Winsor, Rel. Assistant Principal

School contact information

Leichhardt Public School

Marion Street,

Leichhardt, NSW

Ph: 9569 4141

Fax: 9550 9412

Email: james.reid@det.nsw.edu.au

Website: www.leichhardtpublicschool.net.au

School Code: 7423

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:

https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/high-performance/annual-school-reports

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