School Leadership Team Report

Kerry RowlandsChris McLeishVicki JohannesChris Clurey

Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it…A huge thanks to our outgoing committee:

President: Julianne Young

Vice President: Grant Bull

Treasurer: Chris Stevenson

Secretaries: Colleen Tootell, Annette Kennedy

Committee Members:

Tony Lenan

Sally Cluff

Sonia Mackay

Dear Parents, Friends, Students and Staff of St Vincent’s,

Welcome to our review of the 2008 school year. I am sure the various reports, articles and photographs will give a true reflection of what has been a successful and enjoyable year.

We are truly blessed with the community we have here at St Vincent’s. It is through the work of staff, parents, students and parish that we continue to achieve so much. Once again as a community we have celebrated successes together, built friendships, grieved with members of our community in the difficult times whilst providing a well rounded, inclusive Catholic education for our students.

The delay to our building project was both a disappointment and a blessing. The building of classrooms, library extension, out of school hours care extension, tuckshop extension and uniform shop relocation will now be completed in one building stage, commencing in the middle of next year. The new drive through area will also be completed at this time. The Parents and Friends have allocated funds to relocate and enhance play areas. Get ready for another big year in 2009!

There have been many highlights throughout the year and congratulations for the many successes we have enjoyed must go to the students, staff and parents involved.

Making the state final of Wakakirri The 60th anniversary celebrations this yearNew initiatives – Book Fair, Awards, increasing support from the school community for school eventsSocial justice initiativesSupport of P&F run eventsThe continued success of our choral verse speaking choirs at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod Our involvement in World Youth Day through the personal journey of 3 staff membersOur well above average performance in the first national assessment of Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)Our night of nights - St Vincent’s NightThe wonderful Digifest held at the theatres at Pacific FairThe school’s increased commitment to sustainable practices and the World Environment Day Celebrations

A major change in 2009 was taking over control of our own finances and forming a school finance committee with parent and staff representatives. Our P&F continue to be a hardworking, enthusiastic team under the leadership of Julianne Young and the P&F’s contributions to the social climate of our school are greatly appreciated as is the financial contributions they make.

Congratulations and thank you to all members of the St Vincent’s community – staff, parents, students, parish personnel and our wider community for their support of our school in 2008. All have made our St Vincent’s a very special place for our students to learn and grow.

For families that we farewell this year, we hope that your years at St Vincent’s have enriched your lives. May God continue to smile upon your family in the years ahead. Regards

Kerry Rowlands Chris McLeish Vicki Johannes Chris Clurey

School Leadership Team 2008

In 2008 we welcomed…

New school officers Michelle Carlstedt (office), Sally Chalker (Year 4 & 5), Nicole Dirie (Years 6 & 7) and Sharon Simmons (Finances).

New teaching staff Jennifer Bradshaw (Year 7), Andrew Foster (Year 4), Julia Little (Year 5), Damian Wood (Year 2), Zoe Parry (Year 1), Carlene Mulhall (Year 2), Chris Clurey (Leadership)

We also welcomed Bec O’Connor and Colleen Tootell (Community Care)

Genny GoldGen is exchanging the Gold Coast for the Sunshine Coast. Husband, Chris has been appointed Principal of St John’s Nambour and Gen joins the staff of Sienna, Sippy Downs

Kerry de RuyterKerry has accepted a transfer to Marymount Primary School in 2009

Pauline McVeighPauline retired mid year after a long association with St Vincent’s – as student, parent and staff member. Pauline’s final position was as our Japanese teacher.

and thank you

St Vincent’s is more than a school, it’s a community of parents, children, staff and parish members. As a community we have celebrated Masses, Reconciliations, Liturgies, Reflections and Prayer Assemblies together.

Many children, staff, families and friends of our school attended St. Vincent’s Parish masses as well as class and school liturgies throughout the year, continuing the strong link between parish and school. We thank the children for the wonderful work they have done in the various liturgies we have celebrated at class, school and parish levels, and for the support of their families, staff and parish priests, especially Fr. Dan.

Sr Mary Flora, a Sister of Mercy and inaugural principal, rang the bell for the first day of school in 1948. 30 students filed into class that day. 60 years later 760 students and 65 staff from St Vincent’s School share our wonderful site in Clear Island Waters with Sacred Heart Church and we are only a short drive from the middle of Surfers Paradise where it all began.

Wakakirri 2008 State Finalist!A very talented group of our Year 6 & 7 students participated in the Wakakirri Festival under the expert direction of Mr Bloxsidge who was the driving force behind the production.Wakakirri had wide community support from parents, student and staff who were all thrilled when we made the State final in our first year of participating in this event!As Mr Bloxsidge said at Assembly following the event, “magic was created on Friday night!”

ANOTHER FANTASTIC COMMUNITY EFFORT!

Our 2nd annual Digifest at Pacific Fair showcased the work of many of our talented students in various digital categories. Showcased was work produced by our students in the areas of Comic Life, Art Movie, Digital Still Photography, Claymation and Short Film.

Digifest organisers David Pickford & Bernard Kearney promise that Digifest will be back bigger and better in 2009!

World Environment Day proved to be a huge success with the whole school enthusiastically participating in whole school and smaller group activities. The day kicked off with 5C presenting Assembly about the 3R’s - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.The children were then broken into their team colours where they rotated around 4 main environmental activities. The day concluded with a ‘mini Earth Hour’ where all unnecessary power was switched off to raise awareness about how we need to become more energy efficient as a community. During this time, the whole school assembled on the oval to create the outline of Australia, the world and the initials W.E.D 2008. This year our school is working to reduce our carbon footprint and to raise awareness of environmental issues with our staff, children and parents.

OH WHAT A NIGHT!Under the stars, on a balmy September night a year of work by our St Vincent’s Night Committee came together in spectacular fashion! This is the night of nights on the St Vincent’s calendar and it did not disappoint from either the social aspect or the fundraising effort.Funds raised from St Vincent’s Night will go towards playground equipment for our early years students as well as relocation and additional equipment on the oval.

2008 – THE YEAR OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY!2008 was declared the year of physical activity and the action never stopped for St Vincent’s students. With Runner’s Club, Dance Cart, Gym programme, rugby, AFL, soccer and hockey skills development, jump rope for heart, cross country, walk to school day, athletics, training for summer and winter interschool sport competition as well as normal PE lessons we rarely stopped.The purchase of new classroom kits ensured lunchtimes were active and fun as well.

CONTINUING A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCEFifteen classes from Prep to Year 7 took part in the Gold Coast Eisteddfod at the Arts Centre, Bundall this year.  The Gold Coast Eisteddfod is very much a part of our St. Vincent’s culture. We were the most represented school in the choral verse speaking section. Our results were phenomenal! We thank the class teachers and Anita Eldridge for sharing their expertise. Once again St Vincent’s took out the coveted Maggie Lovejoy Memorial Trophy for the overall best speech choir – congratulations 7D!

• TOURNAMENT OF THE MINDS

• BOOK FAIR

• WALK FOR DANIEL

• CAMPS (YEAR 4 – 7)

• BAND

• SURFING SAFELY (YEAR 7)

• FUN RUN

• DISCO

• DAD’S SLEEP OVER

• CHRISTMAS CAROLS

• AQUATHON

• PANCAKE TUESDAY

• WALK SAFELY TO SCHOOL

• PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE

• BOOK WEEK

• 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

• CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK

• NEW PARENTS’ MORNING TEAS

• CYBER SAFETY SESSIONS

• ANZAC DAY SERVICES

• UNDER 8’S WEEK

• MINNIE VINNIES

• EASTER BONNET PARADE

Our New CommitteePresident: Tony Lenan

Immediate Past President: Julianne Young

Vice President: Grant Bull

Treasurer: Ashley Course

Secretaries: Shelley Jeffrey Belinda Sheppard

Committee Members:

Sally Cluff

Krysten Davis

Anita Tanna

Marty Stone

Jason Cunningham

Tania Albertson

Year 3State Mean

St. V’s Mean

% achieved BenchmarkSt Vincent’s

% achieved BenchmarkQueensland

% achieved BenchmarkAustralia

Reading 372 402 96.6% 87.0% 92.1%

Writing 391 426 98. 9% 92.5% 95.4%

Language Conventions – Spelling 366 396 98. 9% 87.1% 92.4%

Language Conventions – Grammar / Punctuation

370 401 97. 8% 86.3% 91.7%

Numeracy 368 390 96.6% 91.9% 95%

Year 5State Mean

St. V’s Mean

% achieved BenchmarkSt Vincent’s

% achieved BenchmarkQueensland

% achieved BenchmarkAustralia

Reading 467 491 95.5% 86.7% 90.9%

Writing 468 500 98.9% 89.5% 92.5%

Language Conventions – Spelling 461 477 98.9% 88.0% 91.7%

Language Conventions – Grammar / Punctuation

477 495 97.8% 88.6% 91.9%

Numeracy 457 467 93.2% 90.2% 92.6%

Year 7State Mean

St. V’s Mean

% achieved BenchmarkSt Vincent’s

% achieved BenchmarkQueensland

% achieved BenchmarkAustralia

Reading 529 534 98.8% 92.7% 94.2%

Writing 521 544 98.8% 89.9% 91.8%

Language Conventions – Spelling 527 554 97.6% 90.1% 92.4%

Language Conventions – Grammar / Punctuation

519 532 96.4% 90.9% 91.6%

Numeracy 540 560 100% 94.6% 95.4%

Broad Strategic Goal—The Religious and

Evangelising Mission of Schools

In the spirit of the Catholic tradition, to work collaboratively to strengthen our evangelising mission with the parish and the wider community.

Goals for 2008To support and promote and celebrate World Youth Day events.To invite and encourage active participation in a monthly parish mass.To promote and consolidate the role of CPPW (Chaplaincy Project Pastoral Worker)To develop a process to redefine and embrace the spiritual identity of St Vincent’s School within the context of our School Covenant

Achievements for 2008World Youth Day•3 staff members attended WYD.•WYD Whole school assembly•Staff members who attended spoke at assembly, wrote in the newsletter and reported back when they returned to the whole community•The school created a banner that was sent to WYD with the staff. They created a DVD of their experiences.•Photos were placed on the websiteParish MassOn the first Sunday of each month at the 6.00pm parish mass, a small number of staff have taken responsibility for various parts of the Mass.Chaplaincy Project Pastoral Worker•Role statement was developed and refined as year progressed.•Focus changed to community care.Spiritual Identity of St Vincent’s•Staff explored the history of St Vincent’s and the contribution of the Sisters of Mercy•All staff participated in an orientation session on the Religious Life of School.•Using the covenant, the qualities of St Vincent de Paul and Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy, 9 core qualities were identified and adopted by the school staff and were later introduced to a small of parents.•A plan was developed to embed the qualities into learning and teaching experiences for the children.

Broad Strategic Goal—Student Learning Outcomes In the spirit of contemporary

education, to create a competency based learning environment in which

children learn through enriching, exciting and expanded opportunities,

always supported by a dedicated community.

Goals for 2008•To implement a 21st century model of operation and service delivery in the school resource centre.•To increase the profile of both school based and external data to inform learning and teaching particularly the use of PIPS and Year 3, 5 & 7 testing.•To meet the individual needs of students by identifying those with areas of strength through the collection of data and then differentiating the curriculum accordingly within the classroom setting. •To develop strategies and processes in response to key numeracy results from state wide testing.•To provide expanded opportunities within the Arts KLA •To enhance the implementation of the early childhood guidelines beyond prep.

Achievements for 2008School Resource Centre•Teacher resources have been moved into a staff planning room.•Additional laptops and a bank of EeePCs were purchased and placed in the Resource Centre. The smart board has been relocated.•Resources have been audited and updated.•Professional learning was provided to staff on the operation of a modern school resource centre.Data Informed Curriculum•PIPS data was analysed, support meetings held with parents of children who had areas of strengths or weaknesses and plans made to differentiate the curriculum.•Professional learning session was held on 3,5,7 testing and NAPLANThe Arts •St Vincent’s participated in Wakakirri for the first time•Dance Cart was introduced in Years 2-7•Dance and Media were introduced to P/1 by specialist teachers•Further teachers were trained in the Early Years Guidelines

Broad Strategic Goal—Student Support

In the spirit of the gospels, to build a community which values quality relationships and that care for students, nurturing and fostering their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being.

Goals for 2008To document and refine current practice in the pastoral care of our community.To move towards a model of behaviour management that is based on the principles of restorative justice.To investigate models which promote strong links between students in different year levels.To develop and enhance school student leadership and the Awards Process

Actions for 2008Pastoral Care•To be carried over to 2009Behaviour Management•School Leadership Team have participated in professional learning on the BCE Behaviour Support guidelines.•Work has began on expanding our behaviour management plan and will be completed Term 1, 2009.Cross Level Links•Year 6 / Prep buddies are well established. •School wide celebrations were conducted on across levels including World Environment Day, Book Week, Under 8s, Middle Year Activities.School Leadership and Awards•School leadership process was changed.•Awards process was changed and became student nominated.

Broad Strategic Goal—Staff Support

In the spirit of the gospels, to build a community which values and supports staff in a compassionate and caring manner in their role as educators.

Goals for 2008To engage with the Enneagram To encourage the development of a peer support networkTo develop strategies that encourage staff to create and enhance a wider range of relationshipsTo develop the Admin Liaison role To instigate a formal mentoring programme for graduates

Actions for 2008Staff Relationships•Staff participated in a number of professional learning sessions on self awareness and self development.•Processes were put in place to ensure greater mixing during staff meetings and professional learning.•Admin roles were clearly defined and communicated to staff.•The admin Liaison person role was developed, and well communicated to the whole community. These were well accepted and utilised.•Staff skills were recognised, encouraged and supported•A team leader role was developed and supported through release time.•Formal mentoring programme was developed and implemented. It was highly regarded by the graduates and wider community

Actions for 2008Middle School Project•Year 7 staff participated in Middle School Project at St Michaels’s by observing classes at St Michael’s and hosting Middle School teachers from St Michael’s.•Staff from St. Michael’s were invited to afternoon drinks. This was well attended.Forums•A number of forums were held but poorly attended. It was decided that forums need to be held more regularly and advertised more extensively to increase attendance. There is a need for alternative methods of communication.Parent Drop In•The community care co-ordinator organised after assembly drop in morning teas. 60th Celebrations•Community cocktail party•Celebration Mass•School memorabilia has begun being sorted and catalogued

Broad Strategic Goal—Partnerships and

RelationshipsIn the spirit of collaboration, to engage with parents and the wider community to develop an educational mission that enhances our shared story and vibrant memories.

Goals for 2008To participate in the Middle Schooling pilot project with St Michael’sTo actively promote parent forums on relevant issuesTo trial parent ‘drop in’ sessionsTo refine protocols for resolving conflicts within the school communityTo celebrate 60 years of education at St Vincent’s

Broad Strategic Goal—Information, Communication and Learning Technologies

In the spirit of contemporary education, to provide and promote ICLT opportunities for students and staff in teaching and learning, and school operations.

Goals for 2008To develop a scope and sequence chart for ICLTTo establish a ICLT committee to promote student opportunities and staff developmentTo utilise the school web page as an interactive tool of learning and communicationTo complete a technology audit To enhance teacher skills and abilities to integrate ICLT across the curriculum

Actions for 2008•Scope and sequence formulated in consultation with staff, ICLT committee and leadership team.•Staff have begun to use this however, next year evidence of this needs to be apparent in planning.•ICLT committee formed and has been opened to all staff and attended by interested parties. Committee involvement has included resourcing, digifest, staff PL.•Staff have received training to plan web pages and next year there will be an expectation for staff to update and maintain class web page content. We will need to restructure web page accessibility for staff.•Fawmatt completed technology audit.•Professional Learning has commenced in a targetted and invitational manner. The approach to PL next year needs to commence from Term 1 and be more strategic.

Broad Strategic Goal—Resourcing Catholic

SchoolingIn the spirit of sustainability, to resource the growing needs of the local catholic community and our school.

Goals for 2007—2011To adopt environmentally sustainable practices in resource managementTo encourage environmental responsibility within the school communityTo develop a marketing and communications planTo responsibly fund and manage the growth to the 4th stream

Actions for 2008Environmental Sustainability•Environmental committee formed – staff and students•Environmental sustainability embedded into new building project•School litter problem addressed•Celebration of World Environment Day & National Recycling Week•Awareness raising and professional learning around sustainability•Units of work prepared promoting environmental awareness•Energy audit completed by Eco Kinetics•Water saving devises installed•Application for Green Grant compiled4th Stream•3 year budget projections for 4th stream•BGA application ($1 million towards project)Marketing and Communications Plan•New letterhead, business cards and website were developed using common graphics and colours.

Goals for 2008To complete priority components 1.4 Social Action and Justice2.4 Assessment of Student Learning2.6 Evaluation and Forward Planning4.1 Professional Learning Community5.2 Partnerships6.3 Resourcing7.2 Equity and Stewardship•To develop a culture for and openness to feedback

Broad Strategic Goal—Renewal and Quality

AssuranceIn the spirit of transformation, to regularly review, reflect and enhance the guiding principles of the school covenant.

Actions for 2008Priority Components1.4 Social Action and Justice 5/62.4 Assessment of Student Learning 4/52.6 Evaluation and Forward Planning – not completed4.1 Professional Learning Community 45.1 Relationships with parents, caregivers and local community - 66.3 ICLT Resourcing & Infrastructure 4/57.2 Equity and Stewardship 5Feedback•Opportunities were provided to staff, parents and students to provide feedback on a number of school initiatives eg swimming programme, carnivals, Wakakirri, Digifest, World Environment Day, RLOS, Mercy qualities•When appropriate, feedback was given to staff members.

A Master PlanOur master plan of the site to allow for the 4th stream was developed in 2007. Consultation was sought from the parish, staff and parents and feedback was given to architect Lawrie Bertoli. The final plans were presented at staff meetings, P&F meeting and specially scheduled parent forums.

A delay in the approval process has meant that construction will not begin until mid 2009

Site plan incorporating new classroom block, extensions to Resource Centre, staff room and out of school hours care.

New classroom block for Years 1 & 2

Extensions to Resource Centre (library)

Proposed new undercover area and court

Extensions to Out of School Hours Care and tuckshop. Relocation of Uniform Shop