cumberland preschool kindergarten annual report 2015€¦ · annual report 2015 finances- term fees...
Post on 09-Jul-2020
1 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Cumberland
Preschool
Kindergarten
Annual Report
2015
Annual Report 2015
1. CONTEXT
Preschool Name:
Cumberland Preschool Kindergarten
Preschool Number:
4639
Preschool Director:
Melissa Anderson Partnership: Mitcham Plains
Cumberland Kindergarten is situated 6kms south of Adelaide in the Mitcham Council
area. The Kindergarten is a stand-alone, full time centre set in a quiet suburban
street. The preschool is well maintained with a small but pleasant outdoor learning
environment, including a shaded verandah and trees and shrubs that attract local
native birds. Universal Access continued to operate this year after being introduced
in Term 3 of 2012. Children are entitled to access 15 hours of preschool per week
but this is offered over a two week cycle. Children are placed in Group A or Group B.
Group A – Monday, Wednesday, Friday (odd weeks) Group B – Tuesday, Thursday,
Friday (even weeks) Session times 9am – 3pm. In Term 4, we modified our Friday
groups based upon which school children would be attending, eg. children enrolled
at Edwardstown attended odd weeks, those going to Westbourne Park & Colonel
Light Gardens came even weeks. Children going to various other schools we fitted
into either week. We began the year with 53 enrolments and ended with 57.
There is a mixture of socio-economic and family structures of the families that
access our centre. Cumberland Park and surrounding suburbs is a well-established
area with families consisting mainly of two parents with one partner working fulltime
and the other part time or engaged in home duties. There are also a number of
children who are from single parent families. The majority of the families using the
kindergarten are mono-cultural but this year we saw a significant increase in the
number of children and families from a range of culturally diverse backgrounds,
including Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Pakistani, Filipino, Chinese, Korean and
Papua New Guinean. In 2015, we experienced a late rush of enrolments with a
number of children starting after the term had begun. This was particularly difficult as
we had flow of new children for a few weeks, which all children found unsettling.
This year we have had good parent involvement through Governing Council,
assisting on excursions, special events (World Challenge Day), parent dinners,
library borrowing and general volunteering. As often is the case, a number of parents
had volunteered for our Governing Council at the beginning of the year but the
number dwindled as the year progressed, with a small but dedicated group of
parents remaining. Parental participation in the educational program has increased
during the year as we have promoted our curriculum, daily events and special
activities via our Facebook page. Parents have left comments on our page offering to
come in and help with activities or events or to donate resources.
Annual Report 2015
Children present with a range of educational and social needs, some of which
require special education assistance in the areas of speech and language, or
behaviour support. Families who attend Cumberland are predominantly from the
local area and feed into local schools, Edwardstown Primary, Westbourne Park
Primary and Colonel Light Gardens Primary. A small percentage of children go to St
Therese Primary, St Anthony’s or other private schools.
Cumberland Kindergarten experienced staffing changes again this year. Melissa
Anderson continued in the role of Director, her third year of a 5-year appointment.
Honi Lovell (nee Fontaine) was appointed as our full time teacher for the year.
During the year this permanent position was advertised, which Honi was successful
in winning. The Universal Access Teacher position was filled by Catherine O’Dea for
Terms 1 & 2 before she then went on maternity leave. Lacey Radford then joined the
team as the Universal Access Teacher. The 0.5 permanent Early Childhood Worker,
Tracy Eatts was here for her 11th year. Staff consistency has been important for
providing stability for the children and parents throughout the continued changes that
have been occurring within the centre, DECD and Early Childhood Education in
general. Three other ECW’s, Natalie Thomas, Karen Lord and Rosina Barkhuizen
were employed for various hours to provide intervention and support programs to
children.
Once again, during a year of changes to staffing new ideas and approaches were
brought to the kindergarten. This required regular communication with children and
their families to keep them informed about new information or to seek their opinions.
There has continued to be a range of changes to the centre facilities, operation and
curriculum. Parents and the wider community have continued to share much positive
feedback about the changes to the operation of the centre and its physical
appearance.
2. REPORT FROM GOVERNING COUNCIL
Facilities Governing Council approved the replacement of the deck area
outdoors, as designed by Simon from Climbing Tree. This was done in the
July holidays and we now have a much more natural looking area with
recycled timbers as well as natural sticks and branches. The children have
really loved using this new area with re-new vigour and enthusiasm. The
space is slightly larger than the old version, the access ramp a little longer
and it has a tunnel featured under one corner.
Fundraising for 2015 consisted of the following activities: World Challenge
Day, Australian Central Lottery, Tea Towels and Artwork Plates and the
Woolworths Cumberland Park BBQ.
Social Events Following the success of last year’s Governing Council
initiative we continued to hold Parent Dinners each term. Lots of fun was had
at the dinners and many friendships and connections formed.
Annual Report 2015
Finances- Term Fees It was decided that fees would remain at $150 per term
but for ease of accounting the $20 excursion levy would be added and fees
would be advertised as being $170 per term, all inclusive.
Membership of the Governing Council welcomed some new faces and saw
the return of a few old ones in 2015. Thank you to everyone involved on the
Governing Council.
Universal Access the government only reached a decision late in Term 4
regarding the provision of the 15 Hours Program. This made it difficult for new
families to plan for their child’s year at kindy in 2016 and make alternative
care arrangements. A survey was conducted of current families to determine if
our existing program format (3 days one week, 2 days the next) was still
meeting families’ needs. Many parents were commenting that they found the
drop off and pick up times of 9am and 3pm quite difficult with work, study or
other commitments. As a result the decision was made to extend our day from
8.45am-3.30pm in 2016. The remaining hours of children’s entitlement will be
offered through additional ‘make up’ events through each term. This will be
reviewed at the end of 2016 to determine the direction for 2017.
Playgroup will return in 2016 due to the changes in the program format
enabling the centre to be used on a Friday morning, as there will be no kindy
session. This news was well received by our community, as there are many
families with young children who would like to access this service. Staff hope
that this will enable them to connect with families at an earlier stage, support
children’s transition to kindy and identify any special needs of children prior to
beginning full time kindy.
Thank you to Renee Truran for fulfilling the role of Governing Council
Chairperson this year and to Natalie Petrizza for stepping up in her role as Vice
Chairperson on occasions when Renee was unavailable.
3. HIGHLIGHTS 2015
Highlights of 2015
Excursions to Kuitpo Forest, Road Safety School and Bonython Park Nature
Playground, and Thalassa Park at Aberfoyle Park
Simon Hutchinson from Climbing Tree created concept plan for our outdoor
redevelopment
Water tank installed next to shed for water collection for use on garden
Kindy photos taken by Ali Moylan, more natural and relaxed approach
Work Experience students – Holly (Urrbrae), Lia (Temple Christian College),
Tabatha (Cabra)
Annual Report 2015
Visitors to kindy, including Sam Oshodi (African drummer), Trent Hill
(Aboriginal culture), Mitcham Council to talk about recycling, Nicole & Greg
(kindy parents who are both paramedics) bought Ambulance to visit,
Edwardstown school students performing on string instruments, Lucy (kindy
parent) music workshop with Boomwhackers
Second year of the operation of the Mitcham Plains Partnership –
incorporating 17 sites (preschool, primary & secondary schools) with the
leadership team meeting twice per term to set the directions of the partnership
and work on common themes. First Performance Review of the partnership
Borrowing animals from the Nature Education Centre – yabby, Ava the
Bearded Dragon, Maisy & Daisy the guinea pigs, Bullwinkle the Shingleback
Lizard, Billy the Blue Tongue Lizard, Green Tree Frogs and Stick Insects
Closure Day enabling staff to visit Netley Kindergarten to look at their learning
environment and network with staff
Technology upgrade: Wi-fi installed at kindy, Interactive Touch Screen
purchased
‘Meet and Greet’ with local junior primary staff
Bunnings Mother’s Day project with Sarah Harris
Bernadette Melbourne completing work placement on Tuesdays for her
Certificate 3 studies in Education Support
Staff participation in ‘Transition Group’ with local schools, meetings twice per
term
Health initiatives – Child & Youth Health 4 year old health checks, ‘Lift the Lip’
SA Dental Service
Special events throughout the year including, Games & Movie Day, Book
Week celebrations, Independence Week
‘World Challenge Day’ to highlight and share the diversity of cultures
represented at our centre. Parents engaged in activities around the
kindergarten with their child, which focused on activities from different
cultures.
Continuing to provide cooking experiences for children to have the opportunity
to learn food preparation skills and try a range of different foods and recipes
Changes to the approach used for planning, programming and evaluation for
children’s learning
Introduction of the ‘Statement of Learning’ for reporting on children’s learning
and development
Annual Report 2015
Expanding our focus on outdoor learning and nature play for children through
various opportunities including Nature Play homework, staff training and
development, and excursions
Continuing with the implementation of aspects of the National Quality
Standards as determined by our Quality Improvement Plan
4. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Priority Area: QA1 Educational Program and Practice
1.2.1 Each child’s learning and development is assessed as part of an ongoing cycle
of planning, documenting and evaluation
Commence familiarisation with the Indicators of Preschool Numeracy and Literacy
Highlights and Achievements
Educators attended professional learning sessions provided for Educators on
familiarisation with the Indicators and how they can be used to inform our
planning, teaching and reporting
We trialled the use of the Indicators through linking them to our Learning
Stories
Next steps
Continue with the Indicators implementation in 2016 by attending further
professional learning, sharing our work with colleagues and creating a specific
proforma for recording observations of children’s literacy and numeracy
learning.
1.2.3 Critical reflection on children's learning and development, both as individuals
and in groups, is regularly used to implement the program.
Staff will critically reflect on current processes and practices used to improve
Numeracy and Literacy outcomes for children.
Highlights and Achievements
Educators engaged in site and partnership PLCs (Transitions Group and
Educator Network meetings) around Numeracy & Literacy processes and
practices, through collaboration with the Results Plus Leader and partnership
colleagues
Educators implemented improvement strategies as a result of this learning,
including the provision of numeracy equipment and experiences in our
environment, explicit teaching of numeracy concepts
Annual Report 2015
Educators worked with the Results Plus Leader to identify and document the
following Numeracy & Literacy Results Plus expectations in our work with
children:
A. track and monitor every learner’s growth
B. Have a numeracy and literacy improvement cycle
C. Enact changes in pedagogical practice
D. Identify and enact clear intervention
Next steps
Continuing to consolidate our work with the Indicators and Results Plus
expectations, including a focus around Growth Mindsets and challenging
children in their numeracy learning
Communicating more effectively with parents about their child’s learning in
numeracy and literacy through parent information sessions, learning stories,
Facebook posts
Priority Area: QA3 Physical Environment
3.2.1 Outdoor and indoor spaces are designed and organised to engage every child
in quality experiences in both built and natural environments
Continue along our developing focus on Nature Play. Incorporate more opportunities
for in depth nature play experiences for children, including those areas of risky play,
eg. using sticks, mud play, real campfire, forest excursion.
Highlights and Achievements
Children participated in nature play experiences which incorporated an
element of risk, through completing Nature Play homework (eg. Nature Play
SA ‘49 Things To Do Before You’re 5’, and Nature Treasure Bag activity)
during the school holidays which they returned to kindy and shared with their
peers.
Children were all provided with a Nature Play Passport and encouraged to
engage in experiences with their families
Information was shared with parents about Nature Play and associated topics
(eg. risky play) through links on Facebook and articles in the newsletter.
Educators worked with children on learning about ‘Benefit/Risk assessments’
where they learnt to weigh up the positive benefits from the activity with the
possible risks and adjust their behaviour accordingly. This was successfully
completed in relation to tree climbing, Kuitpo Forest Excursion and Thalassa
Park Excursion.
Parents were involved in nature play experiences with children, eg.
excursions to Kuitpo Forest, Thalassa Park, Bonython Park Nature Playspace
and walks to our local park.
Annual Report 2015
Next steps
Continue to consolidate Nature Play as part of our pedagogy through
reviewing our current philosophy.
Incorporate information about Nature Play in our information to
new/prospective enrolments through our Information Handbook and website.
Introduce our new 2016 families to the importance of Nature Play for children,
eg. AGM guest speaker, Jason Tyndall from Nature Play SA, a mud play day,
create a photo book on the topic.
Continue with the next phase of the re-development of our outdoor learning
space, (sensory garden & dry creek bed along the fence line, followed by
sandpit remodeling).
Purchase a mud kitchen for the mud pit and provide children with greater
access
Priority Area: QA6 Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
6.1 Respectful supportive relationships with families are developed and maintained.
Increase our attendance rate to the state average by children having access to
greater hours in one block (eg. No alternate Fridays that children cannot access due
to child care, family care arrangements or parent’s work commitments).
Highlights and Achievements
A survey was conducted of families to explore the option of changing the way
the Universal Access 15 Hours Program was offered to families by
lengthening the day and reducing the number of Fridays offered as additional
‘make up’ sessions. The overwhelming response was this was a positive
change but that it should not be implemented until 2016 as current families
had already made arrangements relating to their child’s kindy attendance (eg.
child care bookings, parent’s work days, etc.)
Next steps
Make the change to our ‘15 Hours Program’ in preparation for the
commencement of 2016 when we are provided information from the
Government regarding funding. Inform families in a timely manner so that they
can make plans for their work and child care requirements.
6.3 The service collaborates with other organisations and service providers to
enhance children’s learning and wellbeing
Increasingly support families with young children and providing them access to an
early year’s service in the form of Playgroup. This will enable us to develop
relationships with families at an earlier stage and informally assess their needs and
provide referral to appropriate services so that support can be in place for children by
the time they start full time kindy.
Annual Report 2015
Highlights and Achievements
Due to families responses to the survey conducted about changes to the ‘15
Hours Program’ (see above) it was decided to delay the introduction of
playgroup until the beginning of 2016
Families who identified their child as having additional needs upon enrolment
were followed up to seek further information regarding services already
accessed. This enabled us to make referrals to Support Services prior to the
children commencing in 2016.
Next steps
Playgroup to begin in Term 1, 2016
We anticipate that through building relationships with families at playgroup
and the promotion of our kindergarten, there will be an increase in enrolments
and they will occur in a timelier manner (eg. prior to Term 1 starting).
Funding was used to support the familiarization of the Indicators of Preschool
Literacy and Numeracy in the following ways:
Staff release time for writing Learning Stories using a new format focusing on
the Indicators
Staff release time to attend professional learning on the implementation of the
Indicators
5. INTERVENTION AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS
DECD Intervention and Support Programs have been provided for children and
families with additional needs. During 2015, 4 children (2 for speech delay, 1 for
language delay and 1 for Global Developmental Delay) were referred to DECD
Student Support and Disability Services. Each of these children received Preschool
Support for between ½ an hour to an hour and a ½ each week. Most of these
children were monitored by the DECD Speech Pathologist who supplied a preschool
and family program to extend their development and confidence with their speech
and language learning. This year we also applied for Bilingual Support funding due
to the significant number of ESL children (14 children). This funding was used to
employ an additional ECW for 3.5 hours per week to reduce the educator to child
ratio and provide greater support to those with English as a second language.
Annual Report 2015
6. STUDENT DATA
6.1 Enrolments
Figure 1: Enrolments by Term
Total Enrolments 2013 - 2015
Table 1: Enrolments by Term
Enrolment by Term
2013 65 64
2014 43 43 46 45
2015 53 55 57
Based on person counts in the two week reference period each term. Excludes pre-entry. Source: Preschool Data Collection, Data Management and Information Systems
This year our enrolments were increased on 2014 by 12 children by Term 3, which
were possibly due to a number of factors. We had a number of new families move
into the area during the year which created an increase each term. There may also
have been stabilization in numbers created by the implementation of the ‘Same First
Day’ Policy.
We continue to have a stream of enrolment enquiries but find that parents are now
‘shopping around’ prior to enrolling their child at kindergarten. They are comparing
services offered by local preschools and making their decisions based around
preferred days, enrolment fees and facilities. However choices are becoming limited
in the area as kindergartens near their capacities. We hope that with the physical
and pedagogical changes we are making that word of this will filter out to the wider
community and we will become a kindergarten of choice for families who may be
deciding between two or three centres. We also hope that the changes in 2016 to
slightly longer days and running a playgroup will help us continue to attract good
enrolment numbers.
Annual Report 2015
6.2 Attendance
Figure 2: Attendance by Term
Attendance Percentages 2013 - 2015
Table 2: Attendance Percentages 2013 - 2015
Attendance Percentage
Year Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4
2013 Centre 90.8 92.2
2014 Centre 93.0 90.7 84.8 64.4
2015 Centre 92.5 96.4 96.5
2013 State 88.7 88.0
2014 State 90.0 88.9 86.1 87.1
2015 State 90.5 88.5 86.3
Based on attendances recorded in the two week reference period each term, and calculated to an average unadjusted daily attendance (deemed attendance). Attendance percentages are based on the calculated deemed attendance (integer), divided by the number of enrolments. Excludes pre-entry Note: Figures have been revised for previous years, using integer deemed attendance not decimal. Source: Preschool Data Collection, Data Management and Information Systems
Our attendance this year was slightly increased on last year in Terms 2 & 3.
However we still have a number of children who do not access their full entitlement
of 15 hours of preschool under Universal Access, eg. don’t attend their extra day per
fortnight. Parent reasons for this include children being in child-care for full days,
some days are family-days spent with grandparents or other extended family
members, and some parents felt that 5 sessions per week was too exhausting for
their child. Other parent explanations for general non-attendance include tiredness,
illness or family reasons (including taking holidays outside of term breaks), lack of
reliable family transport, and inclement weather for walking their children to
preschool.
The kindergarten has historically had good attendance rates, on average above state
attendance figures. The attendance rates recorded this year have been the best of
the last three years and were also well above the state percentage each term. Some
of this may be attributed to the focus that has been placed upon improving
attendance through our Quality Improvement Plan for the last two years and
strategies implemented, eg. Follow-up phone calls, regular reminders about
attendance, and liaising with other agencies.
Annual Report 2015
6.3 Destination – Feeder Schools
Table 3: Feeder School Percentage Data 2013 - 2015
Feeder Schools
Site number - Name Type 2013 2014 2015
0127 - Edwardstown Primary School Govt. 27.8 47.4 32.6
0156 - Goodwood Primary School Govt. 2.3
0475 - Westbourne Park Primary School Govt. 33.3 15.8 44.2
0723 - Colonel Light Gardens Primary School
Govt. 19.4 15.8 14.0
0952 - Clapham Primary School Govt. 2.8
1017 - Glenelg Primary School Govt. 2.3
8003 - Heritage College Inc Non-Govt. 5.3
8387 - Sunrise Chrstn Schl Mrn Campus Non-Govt. 2.6 2.3
9017 - St Therese Primary School Non-Govt. 8.3 2.6 2.3
9020 - St Anthony's School Non-Govt. 2.8
9057 - St Raphael's School Non-Govt. 2.8
9070 - St Bernadette's School Non-Govt. 10.5
9402 - Sunrise Christian School Non-Govt. 2.8
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Based on the percent of children currently enrolled who will attend school in the following year, where the expected school is known. Due to rounding totals may not add up to 100%. Source: Term 3 Preschool Data Collection, Data Management and Information Systems
Cumberland Kindergarten continues to have a large range of different feeder schools
including both public (95.4%) and private (4.6%). This year saw a significant
increase in enrolments to public schools from 79% up to 95.4% and a decrease in
private school enrolments from 21% down to 4.6%.
This year there has been a noticeable swing in the feeder schools that children are
attending. The greatest percentage of children transitioned to Westbourne Park
Primary at 44.2%, the biggest number for the last few years. Subsequently there
were decreases in the numbers enrolling at Edwardstown Primary (32.6%) and
Colonel Light Gardens Primary (14%). These three schools consistently appear as
the most popular schools that children transition to from Cumberland Kindergarten,
probably due to their close proximity. Children also moved on to four other schools.
We have also noticed an emerging trend that parents are often late in making a final
decision about which school their child will be enrolled at, eg. still happening into
Term 4. This makes it more difficult for us to support children’s transitions to school.
Annual Report 2015
7. CLIENT OPINION
2015 has continued to see significant changes in many areas of the kindergarten and it was
important to seek feedback from the children, families and staff about their satisfaction
levels. It can be difficult at times to obtain quality responses from families that provide
specific information or relevant comments but this year we had just over 50% of our families
respond to the Parent Opinion Survey.
In the area of Quality Teaching and Learning, most of the responses fell in the ‘agree’ or
‘strongly agree’ sections. There was a 4% response in the neutral category for the
statements relating to our expectation that children will learn, parents satisfaction with the
learning programs and educators informing parents about their child’s learning. These
results are overall improved on the previous year, which is likely to be the result of work
done in sharing information and informing parents about our program and their child’s
learning via newsletters, photos, displays of children’s work, Facebook posts, kindy
homework tasks and children’s learning folders.
“The Pre School has provided our child with a fantastic level of teaching. Teachers are enthusiastic and provide many different learning experiences allowing our child to flourish.” “The teachers are all enthusiastic and have taken time to get to know my child. They all seem to love their work and it comes across in how they teach.”
Annual Report 2015
In this area Support of Learning, most responses fell into the ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’
categories, however it appears that some parents had concerns around children’s motivation
to learn, the preschool changing programs to improve learner achievement and children
having enough materials and resources. Again, these scores were much improved on the
previous year and possibly highlight the need for better communication with parents around
how we work to address these areas.
“Teachers are very supportive. Excellent resources and variety of learning opportunities” “Our son is thoroughly enjoying his kindy experience and looks forward to attending kindy.” “The Kindy provides many varied experiences to allow our child to learn. We have been provided with additional support for our child's speech development - Preschool was helpful in drawing this to our attention and taking steps to find and offer assistance to our son with speech therapy during kindy and support with external programs.”
Annual Report 2015
In this area Relationships and Communication, again most responses fell into the ‘agree’ or
‘strongly agree’ categories, however it appears that a very small percentage of parents had
concerns around staff listening to their concerns and the response received and being well
informed about activities. We will continue to work on addressing these areas in 2016.
“Teachers are very welcoming and always make the time to talk when needed. I love how easily approachable they all are.” “There is a real community feel with this kindy. Staff make themselves available to discuss my child's development and keep me well informed of how my child is developing.” “Communication is always clear and frequent. We are always advised of changes or of what is happening at the kindy. I always feel well informed.” “All teachers and support workers are happy to engage in conversation about learning or everyday activities, it is a very welcoming environment.”
Annual Report 2015
In this area Leadership and Decision Making, again most responses fell into the ‘agree’ or
‘strongly agree’ categories. There was some dissatisfaction however around parental
involvement in the preschool and decision-making. We are continually trying to come up with
new ways to involve parents and include them in the decision making processes through
Governing Council, survey responses, seeking informal feedback, newsletter requests, etc.
This appears to be a common feature of this survey each year and it is disappointing that
parents still do not feel involved or included but we will continue to address this in our day-to-
day operations in 2016.
“Plenty of written (and reminder) notices go home which is very handy for busy families. Very organised.” “I believe this kindy is run exceptionally well and has a variety of learning and programs available to the children” “There are a number of activities that parents can be involved with and also opportunities to have a say in aspects of how the kindy is run. There is a real community feel with this kindy. Very satisfied with all aspects. Mel, Honi, Tracey, Karen, and the team are extremely competent in running the centre and providing a fantastic education to my child. Mel, the director is very dedicated as are the teachers and staff.”
Annual Report 2015
8. ACCOUNTABILITY
At Cumberland Kindergarten people who wish to volunteer (parents, grandparents,
work experience students, etc.) are required to complete a DCSI Relevant History
Screening form. These are verified and lodged by the Director. Once the person
receives their clearance a copy is kept on site and details documented on a spread
sheet (including role of the person & expiry date). New visitors to the site are
checked for clearance, which is recorded in our visitor’s book. Information regarding
staff clearances is maintained on the online HRS system. The site was audited in
March with a couple of recommendations to be implemented.
9. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Funding Source Amount
1 Grants: State $353, 658.69
2 Grants: Commonwealth NA
3 Parent Contributions $36, 623.18
4 Other $9,072.75
The Cumberland Kindergarten 2015 Financial Report is available for viewing on
request and includes our End-of-Year Profit and Loss’ Statement, prior to audit and it
will be re-presented to Governing Council following the audit.
top related