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Annual Reports Analysis of Variance 2007
SCHOOL OBJECTIVES 1. NAG 1 Curriculum Delivery. Provide an excellent balanced curriculum in accordance with the New Zealand Curriculum Framework and the relevant curriculum statements. While seeking balance, there was a focus on Literacy and Numeracy. Literacy (Reading) has been the major school-wide focus for professional development. The school also strengthened its systems for identifying and assisting students at risk of educational failure. A team of teachers and teacher aides implemented this Pupil Support programme. 2. NAG 5 Safe Environment. Engage in creating a safe and secure environment with a student focus. The focus for this is our Student Rights and Responsibilities. Student surveys show this on-going objective was achieved in 2007. These student surveys, along with our guiding principles, are key components. Only one student was stood down in 2007 and none suspended. 3. NAG 3 Personnel. Budget for the provision of appropriate professional development. Operate a staff appraisal system to enhance teaching practices. Encouraging staff to seek new opportunities to enhance learning for students. Profession development was undertaken appropriate to the needs of staff as identified in the appraisal system. Staff members given extra help and support as identified. The school wide professional development was in Literacy (Reading). 4. NAG 4, Sect. 1 Finance. Set operating budget for the following year in November. Regularly review expenditure for year to ensure budget is maintained. Work with Education Services to ensure appropriate documents are available for audit. Ensure funding is available to meet our other objectives. Budget operated in appropriate manner according to best practice. Funding was available to meet our objectives. The assistance given our school in this area by Mrs. Efi Botes, the Board chairperson was greatly appreciated. 5. NAG 4, Sect. 2 Property. Follow and implement 10YPP. Implement procedures to ensure environmental hazards are identified and a safe environment is maintained. Operate the Programmed Maintenance scheme. All aspects of Property objectives were achieved. Emergency work had to be carried out on the hall floor because of lack of bearers down the centre. The school was painted late 2007, early 2008 as part of the ‘Programmed Maintenance’ programme. 6. Community Involvement. Communicate regularly through newsletters and other information forums. Conduct an annual Year 8 survey. Communication objective achieved with newsletters and the survey of Year 8 parents. The whole community was consulted from time to time on a wide range of issues, mainly through the newsletters. Maori and Pacifica communities communicated with via special newsletters outlining achievement levels. Parents made increased use of email to communicate with the school. The principal was in regular contact with individual parents through home visits where clear home-school communication was required. 7. NAG 2 Self-Review. Follow the self review programme for policies, procedures, delegations and terms of reference. Create and follow an annual development plan. All self reviews completed according to the Charter schedule. 8. NAG 6 Administration. Comply with legislative requirements. All legislative requirement complied with. 9. International Students. All international students at our school had appropriate immigration status. Their living conditions were monitored and all other regulations were complied with.
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 1. Literacy. To develop, implement, monitor and review programmes and practices that strengthen literacy throughout the school. The school-wide professional development area in 2006 and 2007 saw strong development in Literacy (Reading) with very pleasing ‘value added’ to students learning. Further school-wide professional development in Literacy (Writing) will continue in 2008. 2. Mathematics. To embed and sustain the Numeracy programme throughout the school. Miss Sangster, as curriculum leader attended update courses in Numeracy and informed staff through staff meetings. Further Numeracy teaching resources were purchased during the year. 3. Property. To implement a school-wide Sunsmart programme. This was examined and a plan for shade sails developed. Funds were applied for but declined. Funds will be applied for again in 2008. A Sunsmart Health programme was taken throughout the school. 4. Technological Development. To investigate technological developments to further enhance teaching and learning. A study of technological developments was undertaken and it was found using interactive whiteboards in classrooms would enhance learning. In late 2006 we began the process by installing one in room 2, with a teacher skilled in using technologies. In late 2007 room 12 was also fitted with an interactive whiteboard. It is intended that at least three more classes will be equipped with interactive whiteboards for the 2009 school year. 5. Physical Environment. To further enhance the attractiveness and appeal of the school environment. Parent feedback indicated the school hall was most in need of upgrading. At the beginning of the 2007 year the interior was painted, sagging piles repaired, and the floor sanded and resealed. 6. New Curriculum Initiative. The development for this was underway for implementation in 2008. The school will undertake an action research project using the Key Competencies aspect of the New Curriculum. The school is working with a cluster of schools in South Wellington. Each school will undertake an action research project on an element of the Key Competencies. Our school will examine ‘Managing Self’.
GOVERNANCE STRATEGY SELF REVIEW
Triennial self review of Terms of Reference, Delegations and Personnel (NAG 3) were completed.
SCHOOL LEARNING GOALS
Note: All students, including our students new to New Zealand, were included in these results. This would cause a natural skew downward. In spite of the multi-cultural nature of our students, our literacy and Mathematics academic goals were still achieved.
Goal 1: LITERACY. (i) By the end of 2007 over 85% of students will be reading at or above their age level. (Stanine 5 and above). (STAR test February and October). (ii) For students new to New Zealand, at least 18 months progress in reading age will be made in 2007.
The staff are undergoing PD in the teaching of reading. Twice a year, in February and November students sit the standardised Test of Ability in Reading (STAR) test. This report compares data from the February and November tests.
The age-related stanine (ST) results show a comparison of reading levels against a National Reference Group (NRG). The NRG has 60% of students achieving at ST.5 or above. Our November test showed 74% of students are at Stanine 5 and above compared to 73% in February. Our target for the end of the year is to have 85% of students reading at Stanine 5 and above. The 27% of students who were reading below stanine 5 in February, and the 26% of students reading at that level in November shows steady progress in line with their age but not the extra progress that we hoped for. There are a number of reasons for this. These factors were discussed with Karen Coulton our PD facilitator who suggested that the STAR test is not suitable for ESOL students who have very little English and for students who have delayed intellectual development. The main reasons for this are that the subtests require quick reading to identify correct vocabulary and ‘skimming’ to locate comprehension answers. Most subtests are required to be completed within 4 minutes. The above categories of students could not cope with the time frame and would easily give up. These students benefit more from Probe testing and ‘Running records’ where they have more time to think about the answers. Students who scored Stanine 1, 2 and 3 had extra reading with Ms. Elesoni, often up to 3 sessions a week. Many of these students have shown progress in their reading ability. They are closely monitored by using a variety of assessments. Some students came to SWIS from other schools throughout the year. In February 267 students sat the test and in November 271 students took the test. Some of these new students scored low stanines.
Breakdown of STAR data Stanine Feb % Nov % NZ Norm % Stanine 1 4% 6% 4% Stanine 2 4% 1% 7% Stanine 3 7% 5% 12% Stanine 4 12% 14% 17% Stanine 5 23% 18% 20% Stanine 6 17% 15% 17% Stanine 7 14% 19% 12% Stanine 8 12% 12% 7% Stanine 9 7% 10% 4%
Although we did not reach our target of 85% of students reading at ST. 5 and above, we still have impressive reading results compared to the National norm. Boys reading at Stanine 1 and 4 predominate over girls. The bulk of these students are NZ Maori boys and boys in the ‘other’ category are from, for example, Somalia and Iraq.
Our focus for 2008 is to continue to encourage reading with these students. We aim to raise the reading ability of all students and to achieve a 2008 reading target of 80% of students reading at Stanine 5 and above.
Details of STAR. The STAR reading test is designed to supplement the assessments that teachers make about their students’ progress and achievement in reading. The test is designed for pupils in Years 7 & 8. It consists of six short sub-tests which measures six different reading skills. These are: word recognition, sentence comprehension, paragraph comprehension, vocabulary range, the language of advertising and reading different genre or styles of writing. The STAR test provides teachers with useful supplementary information about how well their students have mastered a range of ‘close’ reading skills. Its main aim is to identify and assist students who need extra help in reading. The raw scores are converted to stanine scores which are age related scores on a nine point scale from 9 down to 1. This indicates how well each pupil achieved on this testing relation to others of the same age in NZ schools. Stanines 4 to 6 are classified as the average band according to the STAR test documentation.
Improvement Target for 2008. With initial testing in 2008 showing a reading level significantly lower than in 2006, I recommend we will challenge ourselves by setting the same achievement target as for 2006, namely that 80% of students will be reading at stanine 5 and above by the end of the year.
Mary Tristram English curriculum leader
Goal 2: MATHEMATICS. By the end of 2007, 80% of all students will have improved by at least one stanine on the PAT Maths test. This would represent a very significant improvement related to age although a repeat of the test in November cannot be nationally referenced.
As we did last year, we administered the PAT Maths test in late October. This year we have used PAT Test 4 for the Year 7s, PAT Test 5 for most of the Year 8s, and PAT Test 6A for the two highest Year 8 classes. Test 6A specifically targets Years 8, 9 and 10, and is designed as an overlap to Test 6, which is used by secondary schools. Using different level tests has made the graphing of data more difficult.
The comparison of graphs (following) showing distribution in February and November display a marked trend towards the upper levels. This is also borne out by the stanine summary, which shows fewer students achieving at stanines 1 to 4 (27% in November, compared with 41% in February) and more at stanines 7 to 9 (41% in November, compared with 23% in February). This shift definitely demonstrates that at least 80% of the students have improved by at least one stanine since the beginning of the year.
I looked at a breakdown of areas of concern according to the PAT summary sheets by identifying areas where students had achieved under half marks for that particular mathematical strand. The Year 7 students are tested on Number Knowledge, Number Strategies, Geometry and Measurement, and Statistics, and the Year 8s add Algebra to the mixture.
For 2008 I would recommend that teachers focus on teaching Number Strategies and also Geometry and Measurement, as these appear to be the weakest strands in the test for the current Year 7s. Most of those who rated as needing help in these areas are students from the lower groups, although there were some in the higher groups who showed a need in one or two areas.
With the publication of the new curriculum document, I intend looking at implications for the implementation of the new mathematics curriculum in the school within the next year. There have been some substantial changes in it, and the integration of these into the school programme will need to be carefully considered. This will impact on the programmes offered within the mathematics groups and the skills to be taught. It is an exciting and practical document, with plenty of scope for high interest units for the students.
Christine Sangster Mathematics Curriculum Leader
Improvement Target for 2008. I recommend that by the end of 2008, 80% of all students will have improved by at least one stanine on the PAT Maths test. This would represent a very significant improvement related to age although a repeat of the test in November cannot be nationally referenced.
Christine Sangster Mathematics curriculum leader |
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