Koonawarra Public School

School context

Koonawarra Public School has approximately 370 students with an additional 60 students attending the pre-school. Fourteen per cent of students are from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background and are supported by a 0.6 Aboriginal Education Assistant (AEA). The school has one support unit class and one aligned class focusing on literacy support. There is also support from an Early School Support Program (ESSP) and 0.6 Support Teacher Learning Assistance (STLA) teachers.

The school has experienced an increasing number of students affected by social disadvantage and changing traditional family structures. These challenges caused the school to reflect more deeply on the contemporary nature of disadvantage and its impact on educational outcomes.

 

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What was the school aiming to achieve?

In 2001 the school faced many challenges. Teachers wanted all the students to learn and achieve their personal best. However staff resilience had declined from the impact of external factors on the school. There was a perception that a significant proportion of the students were disorganised, apathetic and disruptive. These perceptions were given credibility by the contrasting outcomes of those students who were successful at school.

There was a long tradition of continuous teacher development mainly as a result of support from equity programs, like the Priority Schools Funding Program (PSFP) and Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Program (IESIP). The staff reflected on future directions and questioned the impact of teaching strategies on student outcomes.

The improvement process

In 2001 the school became interested in the work of Alan Luke and the Queensland model of Productive Pedagogies, in particular the concept of student engagement. The school interrogated school assessment data and Basic Skills Test (BST) results for direction.

The school examined teaching practice and welfare programs and paid particular attention to early intervention and the expansion of Reading Recovery strategies across Stage 1 and into Stage 2. The staff came to the realisation that teaching practice and student welfare must be aligned to achieve effective student engagement.

In 2003 the PAS program provided the school with the resources to implement the ideas. The school embarked on the Koonawarra Early Engagement in Learning (KEEL) through a quality teaching and student welfare project. The NSW Quality Teaching framework (QTF) underpinned the approach.

The school decided to appoint an off class co-ordinator of quality teaching and an off class co-ordinator of student welfare. Both threads emphasised intellectual quality. The school’s task was to enable students to:

• think more deeply and be more effective problem solvers
• enter the classroom with a mindset and the capacity to learn.

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No innovation operates in isolation. Other strategies that assisted PAS implementation plans included:

• a daily debriefing of staff to facilitate substantive communication, problem solving and staff welfare which is paramount to the success of programs
• IESIP funded activities which enabled a focus on closing the gap for Aboriginal students
• distributive leadership strategies
• a security fence which led to a more secure and attractive learning environment.

What were the results?

Welfare strand

• staff demonstrated a stronger, articulated moral purpose
• there is universal staff advocacy for students at risk
• staff has a better knowledge and understanding of students and a commitment to shared responsibility
• eighty per cent reduction of parent complaints relating to discipline, with only two parent complaints to regional office in two years
• the staff is more resilient as they have more effective management skills as well as crisis support
• less learning time is lost as fewer students are out of class as result of poor behaviour
• students now use the language of resilience e.g. "He had the courage to…"
• the KEEL program has improved the home school partnership. Parents who have participated in the past have returned in following years
• rates of bullying and teasing have decreased and there is a much lower incidence of students bringing playground disputes into the classroom.

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Quality Teaching Strand

Between 2003 and 2005 school based assessments and analysis of work samples demonstrated:

• the students’ reading levels at the exit of Stage 1 have steadily improved by two to three levels each year
• K-2 students are on track to achieve minimum reading level benchmarks
• improvement in comprehension and critical literacy, self editing and reading fluency (Stages 2 and 3)
• improvement in students’ ability to interpret the language of mathematical problems
• evidence of improved phonemic awareness in Kindergarten students.

The division between the two organisational strands of quality teaching and welfare is becoming increasingly less defined. Some welfare initiatives such as KEEL and the speech program are more aligned to quality teaching.

With the exception of the attainment of the Year 5 Aboriginal students, who achieved above state averages for Aboriginal students, the Basic Skills Test (BST) data did not support the improvements that had been observed.

The 2006 BST results have shown improvements across the board with:

• an overall improvement in BST results in 2006. Most graphs indicate an upward trend
• higher percentages of students in the top two bands compared to 2005 in Year 5
• Year 5 students showing growth at or above expected level (i.e. one skill band) - 79% for literacy and 71% for numeracy.

The 2006 National Benchmark data showed the following improvements between 2005 and 2006:

While overall results are still below the state average, the school is closing the gap.

The professional growth of teachers is demonstrated by:

• increased collegial sharing and leadership. Initially the Assistant Principal K-2 and the STLA provided the demonstrations, now all teachers participate in class demonstrations of reading and writing strategies and techniques
• incorporation of modelled strategies into daily teaching practice, creating a common metalanguage in literacy and numeracy programs
• teaching programs emphasising intellectual quality with the provision of rich tasks
• young, early career teachers have developed confidence and competence as a result of the experience they have gained relieving for the two PAS program co-ordinators and their participation in the quality teaching project.

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Essential resources

The school needed to have credible off class leaders to inspire, support, model and co-ordinate with a depth of knowledge and thoroughness. The PAS program has enabled the school to sustain and support the leaders of change.

The staff’s leadership capacity has been expanded. It was important for the school to identify the next layer of leadership for support and development.

Access to relevant, quality professional learning was important. The staff needed to strike a balance between strategic thinking and the practicality of the daily workings of the classroom.

The school also needed to access PSP funded personnel and have support from the community and other agencies.

Reflections

On reflection the school would:

• do less. The annual allocation of the PAS program funding, led the school to take on too much too quickly
• spend more time celebrating and reflecting
• collect more benchmark data.

Future directions

The school has determined the need to slow down, evaluate and refocus on identified needs in mathematics.
All projects need to be aligned with the Quality Teaching framework. This will provide the framework for evaluation and planning to better address the goals for intellectual quality.
The school needs to allocate time for the unknown eventualities.
The school has decided that it needs to implement strategies to provide students with a greater voice.

Contact: Robyn Cupitt, Principal