ANNUAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY MEETING

Tuesday 15 November 2016

7.00pm

Fr Barry Whitely Hall

St Jerome’s Primary School 38 Troode Street

MUNSTER

Vision Statement

St Jerome’s Catholic School accepts the challenge to be a place where the climate and curriculum are illuminated by faith and where both are permeated by the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.

In this light, our school community seeks to develop the potential of its members whilst respecting their dignity and uniqueness.

Prayer to Saint Jerome

Saint Jerome the Patron of our Community, we ask you to pray for us

to the Lord our God, to give us Knowledge, Wisdom and Courage on our journey,

so that we are kept always in His care and that we reach safely our home in heaven.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St Jerome’s Annual School Community Meeting

Tuesday 15 November 2016 Agenda

Welcome Prayer School Board AGM 2016

1. Business arising from Minutes 2015 2. Chairperson’s report 3. Treasurer’s report 4. Election of Board members for 2017

P & F Annual General Meeting 2016

5. Business arising from Minutes 2015 6. President’s report 7. Treasurer’s report 8. Election of committee members for 2017 9. Principal’s Report

Refreshments

St Jerome’s Annual General Board Meeting Tuesday 17.11.15

Present: as per attendance Register Opened: 7pm Chair: Diane Michaelas Minutes: Marie Johnson Prayer: Helen O'Toole Apologies: Tonia Wilson, Father Mathew Minutes of the previous AGM dated 18.11.14: Accepted by: Marita Brenzi Seconded by: Daniela Lambert Business Arising from Minutes: nil Board Chair Report: presented by Diane Michaelas

● Thanks given to the efforts of the teachers and members of P&F and Board throughout the year. A particular mention to the ongoing efforts to the P&F this year.

● New members were welcomed by Diane to the Board – Gabby Del Borrello as Treasurer, Marie Johnson as Secretary, Debra Tolic and Tania Lazzara as P&F representative.

● Diane mentioned the successful projects the Board had been involved in over 2015: this included toilet block upgrades, landscaping and other school refurbishments; the new uniform which will be phased in over the next two years, among other ideas.

● Diane thanked all members of the Board and in particular the school administration and finance teams for their ongoing support.

Treasurer’s Report: presented by Gabby Del Borrello

● Gabby thanked all members of the Board and school committees for their support in her first year as Treasurer.

● This year a balanced budget was presented to the CEO and Gabby provided a detailed outline of the income and expenditure for the school.

● Gabby outlined that there will be an increase to the school fees next year and detailed where and why these will occur.

Board Nominations:

● Silvana Vicoli ● Natina Morolla

P&F Report: presented by Daniela Lambert

Principal’s Report: presented by Helen O’Toole.

● Helen presented an insightful parable about the long term vision of the school, which includes literacy and numeracy, but in particular creating students that bring Jesus alive in their daily life.

● Helen mentioned the special effort that Father Mathew has made to be involved in the daily life of the school, interacting with the students during lunch times, as well as helping with the busy bee.

● Helen thanked the parent community for the support they have provided through their generous donations to the fundraising causes this year.

● A big thank you was given to the P&F for their enthusiasm and hard work to provide a significant amount of time and energy along with generous donations to the school.

● The inclusion of Science this year has been well received and proved to be a positive step forward in terms of curriculum development. Mention was made to the other curriculum developments that will continue to run and be put in place to ensure the best educational opportunities for all the students.

● A huge thank you was given to the staff - teaching and non-teaching staff within the school. In particular Helen's immediate staff Grace Simich, Vicky Harvey, Carol Hoare and Angie Letizia.

● Helen presented the teaching and non-teaching structure for next year. Closed: 7.50pm

Approved:- ___________________________ Craig Stewart Chairperson __________________________ Helen O’Toole Principal

A copy of this document will be placed on our school website by the end of the week.

Minutes of St Jerome’s Primary School P&F Annual General Meeting Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Present: as per the Attendance Register Apologies: Tonia Wilson Chair: Daniela Lambert Minutes: Tracey Pesich The meeting was opened at 7.15pm Minutes of the previous AGM of 18 November 2014 were reviewed:

Accepted: Di Michaelas Seconded: Tanya Lazzara Business arising from the Minutes: Nil President’s Report: presented by Daniela Lambert Tabled as per attached. Treasurer's Report: presented by Daniela Lambert Tabled as per attached.

Accepted: Tanya Lazzara Seconded: Marita Brenzi Election of Executive and Committee: presented by Daniela Lambert President: Daniela Lambert Vice President: Vacant – Nominations received Secretary: Tracey Pesich Treasurer: Vacant P&F Rep to the Board: Tanya Lazzara Committee: Nominations received Daniela welcomed those Committee Members either joining or continuing and advised that nominations will be sought to fill the remaining vacancies. The Meeting was closed at 7.21pm We accept that these minutes are a true and accurate record.

_________________________ _________________________ Daniela Lambert – President Marita Brenzi – Vice-President

2016 Compliance Data

Purpose

The information within this document has been prepared as a requirement of the Federal Government and pertains to the 2016 calendar year.

Section 1 – Contextual Information

St Jerome’s Primary School is a triple-stream co-educational Catholic primary school from Three-Year-Old Kindergarten to Year 6. The school is located in the southern Perth suburb of Munster, close to Fremantle and occupies four hectares of landscaped grounds. St Jerome’s is highly regarded by school and parish families and many of the students are second-generation or third-generation students of the school. St Jerome’s Primary School is a loving, welcoming and vibrant Catholic school community. We are committed to quality education and the development of each child in our care, within a contemporary 21st century learning environment. Children are encouraged to value lifelong learning and respect for each other. We believe in caring for one another as Jesus showed us, and this has its foundation in the strength of our relationships and the bonds that exist between all school community members working together—parish priest, parish members, school staff, students and parents. St Jerome’s provides a broad, integrated curriculum, relevant to individual needs, that prepares the students to meet the challenges of the future. The teaching staff is committed to fully implementing the Western Australian Curriculum, as mandated by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority as well as the Religious Education Curriculum developed by Catholic Education Western Australia. A strong emphasis is placed on student wellbeing and the students at St Jerome’s are happy and feel connected to the school and their peers. Self-belief and emotional well being are valued in our school community through programs such as Virtues, Making Jesus Real, student leadership and buddy programs. There are specialist programs in the areas of:

➔ Music / Performing Arts (Kindergarten to Year 6) ➔ Physical Education (Kindergarten to Year 6) ➔ Health (Year 1 to Year 6) ➔ Science (Year 3 to Year 6) ➔ Library (Pre-Primary to Year 2) ➔ Languages – Italian (Year 1 to Year 6) ➔ Extension (Select Year 4 to Year 6 Students)

We are particularly passionate about reading at St Jerome’s and support teaching staff work with individual students to ensure that every child learns to read with confidence and fluency. We have a full time Reading Recovery teacher and we also offer Mini-Lit. We have a wonderful School Library which is truly the information centre of the school. A Teacher Librarian and Library Technical Officer work with teachers and students to ensure that we discover that certain book that sets a child onto a lifelong love of reading. We ensure that regular testing is undertaken on every child to check that their Literacy and Numeracy development is age appropriate. Parents and guardians are kept fully informed about their child’s progress through parent-teacher interviews, school reports, direct emails or telephone calls as required.

St Jerome’s is well resourced in all areas. Continual upgrading of school facilities has enhanced our information communication technology, performing arts and physical development programs. We also offer Outside School Hours Care to assist our busy families. Service is integral to our vision and students participate actively and frequently in activities with Lifelink, Catholic Missions, Caritas, St Vincent De Paul Society and various outreach and community service programs. The cultural and service activities include music, various choirs, choral speaking, ensembles, instrumental programs, dance and public speaking. The contribution of parents in the school is strongly encouraged and parents assist teachers regularly in classrooms. A specific group of parents is known as the “Making a Difference” (MAD) group. These volunteers are trained to work with children who have specific learning or social needs. Our Parents & Friends group works tirelessly on community building and fundraising events.

Section 2 – Teacher Standards and Qualifications (2016)

In 2015, St Jerome’s employed 80 staff. Of these, 47 were teaching staff, all of which have qualifications approved by the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia. A summary of the highest qualification awarded to each teaching staff member is shown in the table below.

Qualification Number of Staff

Master of Education / Religious Education 6

Master of Teaching 2

Graduate Diploma of Education 7

Graduate Certificate of Education 1

Bachelor of Education 22

Diploma of Education 5

Section 3 – Workforce Composition (2016)

Number FTE

Teaching Staff 43 34.1

Non-Teaching Staff 35 20.7

Indigenous 1

Male 8

Female 70

Section 4 – Student Attendance (2016)

Year Level Average Percentage of Attendance

Kindergarten 92.38%

Pre-Primary 92.29%

Year 1 94.05%

Year 2 93.73%

Year 3 94.27%

Year 4 93.64%

Year 5 93.35%

Year 6 94.53%

Whole School Average Pre-Primary to Year 6 93.53% Teachers at St Jerome’s Primary School are required to record absences electronically at the beginning of each day. Before recess a text message is sent to parents or guardians who have children with an unexplained absence. Parents may contact the office via email, telephone or over the counter to advise of an absence. The school is required to send letters home to parents and guardians who have not explained their child’s absence. Children’s absences are monitored through SEQTA and any unusual patterns of absence are reported to the appropriate Assistant Principal for monitoring. Prior to family holidays parents or guardians are required to submit an application for leave. This is signed by the relevant classroom teachers and then submitted to the Principal. The Principal reviews each application and notes are recorded on SEQTA. If children are absent for unexplained periods of time their teacher informs the Principal who will contact the family. If attendance becomes a challenge for a student or family, teachers are committed to working closely with appropriate individuals, parents and community organisations having regard for social, cultural and religious factors associated with indigenous students, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and socially disadvantaged students. When school procedures are not successful, the Principal writes to parents, requesting that they and the student meet with an authorised person for the purposes of working together to resolve issues that may be hindering the child’s regular attendance. Parents must comply with this written request. The role of the authorised person will vary in each case, depending on individual circumstances. Catholic Education Western Australia is kept informed on any chronic non-attendance.

Section 5 – Senior Secondary Outcomes (Not Applicable)

Section 6 – NAPLAN Information (2016)

The table below shows the percentage of students at or above the National Minimum Standard for St Jerome’s Primary School and for Australia.

Year 3 Reading Writing Spelling Grammar & Punctuation Numeracy

School 100% 98.6% 94.7% 97.3% 97.3%

Nation 95.1% 96.5% 94.2% 95.5% 95.7%

Year 5 Reading Writing Spelling Grammar & Punctuation Numeracy

School 96.4% 95.2% 94% 96.4% 92.9%

Nation 93.1% 93.4% 93% 93.7% 94.6% Percentages may vary by up to 0.2 due to rounding error.

The table below shows the following information mean score for St Jerome’s Primary School and for Australia.

Year 3 Reading Writing Spelling Grammar & Punctuation Numeracy

School 432.6 430.9 432.9 442.8 394.9

Nation 425.7 420.5 420.1 436.3 402.2

Year 5 Reading Writing Spelling Grammar & Punctuation Numeracy

School 498.4 473.8 479.3 504.5 472.9

Nation 501.7 475.4 492.9 505.0 492.9

Section 7 – Satisfaction Surveys

The opinions of parents, teachers and students are sought to contribute to the planning for continuous school improvement. These discussions take place at School Board, Parents and Friends and class meetings. Additionally, the Student Council is made up of representative group of Year 6 students. They meet regularly and are encouraged to raise any matters of concern. Parents continue to express a high level of agreement that St Jerome’s is committed in its approach to teaching, the school is managed well and that staff at St Jerome’s are approachable. Comments by parents identified that the school continues to have a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Teachers who provided feedback expressed positive agreement that they have opportunities for professional development; feel like a professional at work; are committed to this school and that the school encourages student responsibility. Students shared similarly positive responses and agreed that the school has clear rules and expectations and that they are expected to act responsibly, especially in the older years. Students identified a preference to continue to provide the opportunity to participate in sporting events and to maintain lunch time clubs to provide alternative opportunities for learning and play. Analysis of our School Climate Surveys for 2015 (our most recent survey) showed the following:

● Individual morale and school morale are at a similar level indicating that there is the same passion within individual classrooms and across the school.

● Staff members at the school feel comfortable working as part of a team. ● Staff members are prepared to provide each other with feedback and are developing in their

ability to hold each other to account. ● Comparing our 2013 data to the 2015 data there has been an improvement in the behaviour of

children in the playground and this is consistent between staff, students and parents. ● Curriculum processes are in place in the school to a high level. ● Communication with families has improved and again this is something we had worked on as

a school and will continue to work on in 2017.

Section 8 – Post-School Destinations (2016 > 2017)

School Number of Students

Aquinas College 1

Christian Brothers’ College 13

Corpus Christi College 3

Divine Mercy 3

Emmanuel Catholic College 11

Iona College 5

John Curtin College of the Arts 2

The King’s College 1

Kennedy Baptist College 3

Melville Senior High School 1

Santa Maria College 2

Seton Catholic College 15

Section 9 – School Income

Information regarding school income can be found on the My School website. This can be accessed via the following link www.myschool.edu.au.

Australia’s First Saint

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop (Canonised 16 th October 2010)