2013

ANNUAL REPORT

SMYL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

©2014 SMYL Community College

I n reviewing our third year in operation I can report that the College is beginning to reap the benefits of the knowledge

and experience gained over the first two years. I believe that we can now be confident that the balance of staff, infrastruc-ture, communication and policies is right, and that we are offering a genuine and positive educational alternative to young people who are at risk of missing out. The last year has seen a number of changes to the member-

ship of the Governing Council. We’d like to welcome Maureen Thomson who has had a long and successful career in education including senior positions at Catholic Education Office. Maureen undertook the detailed review of the College in 2012 that led to major changes and the development of the current successful learning environment. Thanks go to Kate Guthrie, Steve McCartney, Leonie Ellement and Matthew O’Neill who all left the Governing Council. We greatly appreciate the input and advice you all provided over the years and wish all of you all the best in the future. I would like to welcome on board Tony McRae as Principal of the College, having replaced Kate Guthrie in Term 1. Tony brings a wealth experience from a career that includes being a WA Government Minister and MP, senior Commonwealth public servant and more recently, with SMYL Community Services, team leader in developing Timor-Leste's national labour market plan. I know that Tony has a passion for young people engaging in skills development as a platform for creating life opportunities. Thank you Tony for your academic leadership in 2013 and for the great results you have achieved so far. I would like to thank Kate Guthrie for her time spent as Principal and then as a member of the Governing Council. She helped us get on track at some really crucial times in our devel-opment and her calm professional approach was exactly what we needed. As a member of the Governing Council, I can say that it is extremely rewarding to find that our efforts to plan and provide the right direction for our students are working. We will strive in 2014 to provide the governance that will assist the school, with its talented staff, to con-tinue offering opportunities to those that need them the most. Phil Brooks Chair of Governing Council

REPORT FROM THE CHAIR

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REPORT FROM THE SCHOOL DIRECTOR

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I n 2012 our focus was on getting things right—making sure that what we were doing and how we did it was right for

everyone. I am pleased to report that in 2013 we have suc-cessfully achieved that goal. In 2013 we saw a small group of Year 12’s graduate—they were our foundation year students who came to us when they were in Year 10— that included our first students to have achieved the WACE certificate. This is an important milestone that demonstrates we are fostering an environment of achievement at the College. Further evi-dence of having got things right, can be found in the feedback we received from our students. I would like to print extracts from the speech given by Girralang Flower on behalf of Year 12 students at the graduation ceremony for 2013. She said:

I guess I’m going to start from when I first came here last year. I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t even know if I was going to make any friends so I planned for the worst. I thought my teacher was going to be like every other teacher I’ve had and just being quite useless, but I was wrong. This school is amazing and I wouldn’t change anything about it. I’m sure a good sum of people including myself have had our ups and downs with how the school is run and when the teach-ers tell us what to do, but we all know were wrong, we just won’t admit it. SMYL Community College is perfect and anyone lucky enough to come here even for a short while hopefully will have their life changed by the fun journey and incredible experience. There are so many people to give thanks to for getting us this far and we will be leaving with a positive impact from them. Thank you Mel for being a great art teacher and just an all round amazing person to be around. Thank you Anne for dealing with all my crazy apprenticeship business and still keeping it cool. You are pretty much everyone’s favorites person at SMYL. Thank you Michael for picking us up and dropping us off at the train everyday and not com-plaining once. Thank you Aisling for being an awesome cooking teacher and bringing out the creativity in is. I never knew a recipe could go so wrong and still taste so good. Thank you Louise for teaching me how to snorkel. I probably would have drowned without you and that wouldn’t be too great. Thank you Tony for being the best Principal we have ever had. We don’t really like the places you take us to eat or how much walking you make us do on Fridays but we forgive you, we know you just want us to try something new, and thanks to you we have. And last but not least, thank you Ruth for being there for all of us and dealing with our nonsense for the past few years. I hope none of us forget you. I know I won’t. It’s hard leaving this place and we don’t know what we are going to do with all this free time now but farewell SMYL Community College you have done us well.

This speech reflects the value that the students placed on their time at the College. That they can take away such positive thoughts and experiences, and have achieved academically, shows that we are getting things right. Well done to all the staff who have made this possible and our best wishes to the graduating students from 2013. Sam Gowegati School Director

C hange is a constant in our lives and 2013 has certainly confirmed this axiom: this was our 3rd year of opera-

tions; we commenced the new year in our brilliant, refur-bished, Tesla Road campus; more than 30 new students joined our community; Kate Guthrie organised the start of the year as Principal; and the Year 12s gave the College its best graduation/completion achievements yet! Kate Guthrie richly deserves our thanks for her work in con-

tinuing to shape the college culture and administration. Other great staff, who helped make SMYL Community College a place of learning, development and enjoyment, and who left by the end of 2013 were: Michael Fabiankovitz, Aisling Doherty, Dermot Quigley, Lani Kereopa and Dean Dioguardi. The College has also had great support from a number of people in SMYL Community Services. To all of these people - a big thanks! Congratulations to the Year 12 students of 2013 - they became wonderful leaders and really interesting and warm young adults. This cohort was also the last of our ‘foundation’ students having joined us as Year 10s in our first year. Most students come to SMYL Community College with attendance rates of less than 25% through non-participation, truancy, suspensions and at-risk behaviours. 2013 is the year the College established new benchmarks for attendance and participation – basic measures that provide useful predictors of student outcomes in education and training. It is a pleasure to report that the average attendance rate at SMYL College across 2013 was 75.5%! This is an outstanding result and a credit to everyone in the school community. This measure includes attendance at school, a traineeship or other approved off-campus educa-tion/training activity or an approved absence (including sickness, family events, counselling, etc). I want to record my appreciation to College staff for welcoming me to the community in March and I understand it’s never easy to change leaders mid-stream. The way staff connect with students is a mark of their professionalism and passion and the reason why our commu-nity this year made such great strides in pursuit of our motto – ‘happiness and usefulness’. Tony McRae Principal

REPORT FROM THE PRINCIPAL

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ABOUT SMYL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

S MYL Community College was established in 2011 as a CARE (Curriculum and Re-engagement to Education) school for Year 10-12 students in the Rockingham and Kwinana

area who are at risk of, or are, disengaged from mainstream schooling. For this reason SMYL Community College provides an alternative education program that caters for both the edu-cational and welfare needs of each student. The focus of the program is the development of literacy and numeracy, social skills, practical skills and workplace experience, while providing counselling and social-work support where required.

Vision To alleviate distress and build capacity within people and communities.

Mission To provide an inclusive and supportive learning community that offers an alternative ap-proach to education and training for young people aged 15 to 17 years of age who are at risk of missing out on opportunities due to their home life, health and other issues. Young people will be provided with the opportunity to progress, with all the support they need, along a pathway to employment.

Ethos SMYL Community College believes that all young people: are individuals, with their own circumstances, abilities and aspirations in life; have the right to receive an appropriate education; deserve the opportunity to participate in the workforce.

Goals To create a supportive team approach to learning that includes students, parents,

teachers, mentors, youth workers and counselors. To deliver project-based hands-on education and training in an enterprise/workshop

based setting. To foster the self-confidence and motivation, and develop the skills, in young people

that will enable them to move on to further education, training or employment. To provide a clear pathway to further education, training and employment. To provide direct opportunities for employment. To develop responsibility and respect in individuals.

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GOVERNANCE AND STAFFING

* Workforce Composition as of 31 December 2013: The workforce of SMYL Community College consists of 10 people, of which four are male and six are female. The average age of the workforce is 44.7 years old.

Governing Council Philip Brooks Chair Rohan Lewis Deputy Chair Michael Keep Secretary Jan Sonder-Sorensen Member Len Collard Member Maureen Thomson Member Ian Linn Member Sam Gowegati School Director (ex officio)

Staff* as of 31 December 2013 Sam Gowegati School Director Tony McRae Principal Ruth Berechree Teacher Aisling Doherty Teacher Mellisa Priemus Teacher Louise Attley Teacher Michael Fabiankovitz Teacher Dean Dioguardi Student Welfare Anne Thompson Youth Worker Patricia Fenton Administrator

Other Council Members in 2013 Leonie Ellement Treasurer Steve McCartney Member Kate Guthrie Member Matthew O’Neill Member

Other Staff in 2013 Kate Guthrie Acting Principal Dermot Quigley Counsellor Lani Kereopa Education Assistant

Teacher standards and qualifications The school employs five West Australian registered teachers including the Principal. The Teacher’s Registration Board requires teachers to have: an appropriate teaching qualifica-tion, a current working with children check and a police clearance. Teachers have been involved in professional development activities and programmes throughout the year, including, but not limited to: Drug & Alcohol Awareness; Big Picture Training; Big Picture Environment Awareness; Verbal Judo; and Surf Lifesaving Certificate.

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STUDENT ATTENDANCE AND OUTCOMES

The rate of attendance* for the school was: Based on the ‘number of days enrolled’ and ‘number of days attended’ in 2013 55.4% Including ‘number of days absent with explanatory evidence’ 75.7%

If a student is absent the staff of the College contact the student’s parents/guardians immedi-ately by phone or text. If no response is received the staff of the College contact any agencies with which the student is registered or engaged. If a student is absent without reasonable explanation for a period of more than five days the parent/guardian is notified of the ab-sences in writing and a reasonable explanation is requested from the parent/guardian. If all attempts to locate a student fail after 20 College days and the College has not received advice that the student has enrolled at another school, the Principal will contact the Student Tracking System at Education District Office. Extended and/or regular non-attendance will result in counselling and the development of a re-engagement plan.

Educational Outcomes Of the 7 students in Year 12 : Undertaking vocational or trade training: 6 Attaining a vocational qualification: 2 Attaining a Year 12 certificate: 3

The post-school destinations of the 7 Year 12 students who left the College in 2013 were: Apprenticeships 1 Employment 4 TAFE/RTO 2 Exclusion from College 0 Unemployment 0 Unknown—post-compulsory school age 0

Post-School Destinations

Management of Non-attendance

* Based on the attendance data samples recorded for Department of Education Services in each Term of 2013.

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PARENT AND STUDENT SATISFACTION

A sample of parents and students attending end of term student exhibitions were asked in one-to-one interviews what SMYL Community College was doing well and what they would like to see improved. While there were a few suggestions for things that could be improved the overall response was that the College was doing things well and providing an opportunity for young people that would not otherwise exist. In particular there were common positives responses concerning student behaviour and motivation. These were: Students enjoyed school and were eager to attend Students had noticeably changed and were happier at home The things that SMYL Community College was good at were: Focusing on the individual and their needs and offering 1:1 support Providing a positive and happy environment Excellent staff Offering students another chance The things that could be improved include: Being stricter with students including no earphones or swearing Offering more variety in traineeships Less excursions and more focus on traineeships and WACE

BREAKDOWN OF INCOME

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Commonwealth Per Capita

42%

Chaplaincy2%

State Per Capita25%

Special Education

Grant

20%

Dept. for Communities

2%

Supplementary Grant (DES)

4%

Other1%

AISWA Grants4%

32 Tesla Road Rockingham WA 6168

Tel: 9550 9400 Fax: 9528 2183

http://cc.smyl.com.au/index-1.html ABN: 80 974 093 441