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PO address
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P.O. Box 572, Maroochydore 4558
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Phone
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07 54 751 555
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Fax
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07 54 751 500
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Email
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Website or Contact Person
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Principal’s foreword
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Introduction
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Maroochydore State School is a co-educational campus where the community is committed to providing a secure, stimulating and happy environment for the learning of our students. It is our desire to provide a high class education for our students
The purpose of our School is to deliver professional quality preparatory, primary and special education (Early Years) curriculum and experiences.
The following values are embedded in our practices
- Pride in our school
- Integrity and ethical behaviour
- Parent and teacher partnerships
- Tolerance, understanding, courage and passion
- Effort and excellence.
Our school community holds strongly the following beliefs;
· Relationships are the keys to success
· Everybody is responsible for their actions
· Celebrating success and striving to do better
· Students learn at different levels and need to be successful at school
· Demonstrating success is the responsibility of everybody
· Learning should involve enjoyment as well as intellectual rigour.
As a school, we at Maroochydore State school aim to provide students with life long learning principles that will equip them for the social, economic and cultural challenges that will face them in the years ahead. The awarding of a Sunshine Coast Regional Showcase Award this year for the development of a SCIPS (Supporting Children in Primary School) program is an acknowledgement of our efforts to support all students and families.
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Future outlook
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We will complete the alignment of the school’s curriculum documents with the QCAR framework.
Development of curriculum and experiences that ensure the needs of all students are being catered for in a supportive environment.
Engage students who might otherwise seem disconnected with their learning.
Provide world class educational facilities with the aid of upgrades brought about by B.E.R. (Building Education Revolution).
Development of the 2009-2011 Strategic Plan which is being evolved through close cooperation by all stakeholders in the Maroochydore S.S. community.
Implement appropriate support for the itinerant sectors in our school who arrive largely from interstate and overseas.
Development of Maroochy Coalition of Schools’ Curriculum Documents which are closely linked to the QSA Essential Learnings and the need to be able to make comparable judgements in assessment and reporting.
Professional development is a major Emphasis in our ICT Plan which ensures that our students have access to the latest programs. All staff are in the process of completing or have completed ICT Certificates and 20% of staff are looking toward or have completed a Pedagogical License.
The review of our current Curriculum Framework will provide our school with the launch pad required when the Australia Curriculum is introduced in 2010.
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School Profile
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Maroochydore State school is a State Primary school located in the heart of the newly formed Sunshine Coast Regional Council. The school was established in 1924.The school provided educationfor the children of fishermen who fished the Maroochy River for a living. Today the school adjoins an active cosmopolitan area catering for a variety of families. Our school services the communities of Maroochydore, Cotton Tree and Alexandra Headlands. The demographics of these communities are continuing to change with an increasing number of townhouses and units complimenting the established residential areas. Approximately 95% of the population are English speaking. We continue to enhance our school with many new enrolments of students from the southern states and overseas, in particular New Zealand. We have in the last two years had an increasing number of International Fee Paying students whose parents have arrived to attend the local university or to take up positions in professional fields.
We are a relatively small school with 265 students in Prep to Year 7 and with 30 early year students enrolled in an Early Childhood Developmental Program that caters for students with multiple disabilities.
The school is well equipped with resources for students and staff use. Each of our learning areas is fitted with modern interactive whiteboards and air conditioning which is beneficial to student learning in our warm summers months.
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Curriculum offerings
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Our Distinctive Curriculum Offerings
Maroochydore State School offers a variety of diverse programs. We have a well developed core curriculum that focuses on the learning areas – English, Mathematics, Studies of Society and Environment, Science, Art , Music, Technology, Physical Education and Health and Languages Other Than English (Japanese).
Specialist support programs and intervention are provided by our Support Services teacher and her support staff. The rich tapestry of curriculum offered at Maroochydore comes from QSA documents and Coalition and School based programs that are collaboratively developed by expert practitioners. Staff have also been involved in the development of units of work which are used throughout the year. Our resource teacher (Teacher Librarian) plays an active role in the development of these units.
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Extra Curricular Activities:
The school offers a variety of extra curricular activities that encourage student participation and involvement: The following are examples of the activities undertaken:
· Year level excursions to enrich learning experiences in units of work;
· Annual Year 6&7 camps to outdoor education centres:
· Project Extend which offers a four week seamless transition between High school and Primary school;
· Social Development programs – Program Achieve, Rock and Water and Kids of Courage;
· The school has visiting instrumental music teachers;
· The Performing Arts department has a choir, recorder group and biannual musical production;
· After school recreational activities of Dance and Multi-skills are operated each week and are funded by the Federal Government;
· Buderim Amateur Theatre Company (BATS) performers are offering Drama workshops and this is funded by our active P&C Association;
· All students have access to either Surf Skills or Swimming lessons;
· UNSW Annual exams in Mathematics, Science, Writing and English;
· Meetings for school leaders and student councillors are held regularly.
These activities demonstrate the broad range of experiences that we encourage our students to become involved in |
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How computers are used to assist learning
Maroochydore State school has always demonstrated a strong commitment to the use of ICT in the learning process of our students. This commitment to computers is reflected in the allocation of funds from the annual budget which sees desk top P.Cs being turned over on a three to four year cycle ensuring that the very best computers are available for use. Pods of computers are strategically place around the school so each of the year levels has access to “Pods” that contain at least sixteen or more computers. Teacher work stations are linked to their own individualised interactive whiteboard. Our Resource Centre teacher delivers ICT programs from Prep to Year 7 and these initiatives are then followed up by classroom teachers. In 2009 the P&C Association committed $2750 to ensure that the “Mathletics” program was implemented. Our very enthusiastic students have already accessed this program at school and the license also permits students to have home access. Staff are continually working to improve their skills in this is evident by the staff completing ICT certificates and licenses and their take up of One School which was implemented late 2008/9.
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Social climate
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Our aim at Maroochydore state school is to provide a safe supportive environment where all students feel safe, supported and have the opportunity to learn freely in a socially just environment. In the 2008 Student and Parent satisfaction surveys indicated that they feltsafe while being at our school. This result was above the state and like school bench marks. Parent results were mirrored by their children.
Our school has a school chaplain who provides service for our children and families four days a week. He works in a pastoral care role for classes and individual students.
The social programs delivered align themselves with “Program Achieve”.
We connect closely with our local secondary school to ensure that our students have a smooth and seamless transition into secondary school.
We offer a leadership program for our Year 6 & 7 school leaders and they hold fortnightly meetings with support staff.
Our school opinion survey shows that students have lifted their levels of satisfaction with our school social climate and these findings are echoed by our parents as well.
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Involving parents in their child’s education.
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Parents are actively encouraged to become involved in the education of their children. Good communication between school and home is of paramount importance in establishing strong and lasting relationships between all school community members. Clear communication channels are established through a whole school “meet and greet “ evenings organised by the P&C, school newsletters, formal and informal parent/teacher interviews, school reports and assemblies with special activities.
Parents are invited to participate as part of the P&C Association. Parents take an active role in home reading and those who are able support classroom learning by acting as a reading or classroom volunteers.
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Qualifications of all teachers.
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Highest level of attainment
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Number of classroom teachers and school leaders at the school
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Doctorate
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0
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Masters
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0
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Bachelor degree
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13
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Diploma
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7
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Certificate
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3
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A large number of staff are completing IT and general interest courses in order to compliment their current registered qualifications. These types of qualifications will certainly help provide the well rounded educational opportunities that are so important for the young impressionable learners at our school.
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Expenditure on and teacher participation in professional development.
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- Queensland, Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
- QCAT Moderation and Training
- Gifted and Talented Workshops
- P-3 Literacy Training
- Coalition Mathematics Program Development
- MOE Training
- Developing strategies for the Implementation of Essential Learnings
- ICT Certificate Courses
- ICTs as an effective learning tool.
The involvement of the teaching staff in professional development activities off our school site during 2008 was 100 %.
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Average staff attendance
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·FFor permanent and temporary staff and school leaders the staff attendance rate was 96% in 2008.
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Proportion of staff retained from the previous school year.
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·FFrom the end of the 2007 school year, 89 % of staff was retained by the school for the entire 2008 school year.
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Student attendance
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· TThe average attendance rate as a percentage in 2008 was 92 %.
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Key outcomes in the early and middle phases of learning
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National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results - our reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy results for the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
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Results in the Year 2 Diagnostic Net
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Percentage of students not requiring additional support
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Reading
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83%
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Writing
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83%
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Number
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93%
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Domain
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Measures
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Yr 3
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Yr 5
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Yr 7
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Reading
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Average score for the school
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335
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478
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535
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Average score for Queensland
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371.1
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466.1
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528.1
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For the school the percentage of students at or above the national minimum standard.
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2008
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76 %
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92 %
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98 %
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Writing
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Average score for the school
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367
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459
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520
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Average score for Queensland
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391.8
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468.9
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522.7
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For the school the percentage of students at or above the national minimum standard.
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2008
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82 %
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89 %
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98 %
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Spelling
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Average score for the school
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355
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461
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545
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Average score for Queensland
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366.7
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462.0
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528.0
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For the school the percentage of students at or above the national minimum standard.
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2008
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79 %
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81 %
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98 %
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Grammar and Punctuation
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Average score for the school
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371
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471
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514
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Average score for Queensland
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370.4
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476.6
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518.0
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For the school the percentage of students at or above the national minimum standard.
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2008
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88 %
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89 %
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93 %
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Numeracy
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Average score for the school
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373
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435
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543
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Average score for Queensland
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367.9
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458.2
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539.0
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For the school the percentage of students at or above the national minimum standard.
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2008
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88 %
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81 %
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98 %
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Other Key Outcomes
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Value added
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Data is collected to form decision making within our school. The regular data collected from the Year3 ,5, and 7 Tests informs our planning for pedagogical practice and the development of school based curriculum documents, particularly in the areas of Numeracy and Literacy. Moderated literacy tasks are collected each semester as are results from standardised literacy tests. The results of these tests allow us to measure the distance being travelled by our students and the effectiveness of our teaching and learning programs.
Our students have access to a range of group activities after school. These activities help broaden the experiences that our students might not otherwise have access to. The experiences offered to our students include Dance, Multi-skills and Drama.
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Parent, student and teacher satisfaction with the school
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Despite the itinerant nature of our school population, families feel well supported and enjoy the openness that staff and administration provide. In the School Opinion Survey parents rated their confidence in public education, the effective teaching of staff and the adoption of technology in our school above the state mean.
Students largely felt that they were getting a good education (80%) at Maroochydore State School. They indicated in the school opinion survey that the curriculum, pedagogy, school climate and levels of resourcing were all above the state mean.
The indications from Staff are that their morale is currently sitting at 88%. Staff indicated that resources and training, work roles and work value and recognition were well above the state norm.
A strong sense of community is continuing despite the fact that some of our families may be with us for only a relatively short period time. The itinerant families are supported by the long term families that have been with us for more than one generation.
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November 2009 |
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