Final LTLL presentation St John’s Trangie

What did we set out to do? What did we actually do? How did our plans change along the way? What difference did our actions make? What have we learnt? What now? Why did we do this?

What did we set out to do? Highlight the positive aspects of our school Identify areas of weakness to be improved

We worked through the six focus areas, questioning ourselves on how our school performs in these areas. FOCUS ONE: The transformed learner transformed FOCUS TWO: Teacher as leader FOCUS THREE: Values FOCUS FOUR: Ethics FOCUS FIVE: Educative leadership FOCUS SIX: Authentic Learning Main This is what we identified as areas of weakness.

The transformed learner Overall the school ticked a lot of green lights in this area.

Teacher as Leader Dedicated staff who are aiming to lift the learning standards of each child. The Lead Teacher, ICTT, LST and Principal have provided professional development in the areas of teaching, programs and organisational procedures to the whole staff. Mentoring of new recent graduates has occurred.

Values Parish partnership needs to be seen more in the community Some staff live in a different Parish but do support special occasions at St. Carthage's parish. Modern use of songs, more visuals and hands on activities to be used in R.E lessons in order to be more meaningful to the students

Need to make all families feel they are worthwhile and their support is appreciated Get the message out to the wider community that all Catholics are welcome and financial aid is available Family buddies to be introduced Encourage an active prayer life for staff and students

Ethics We are aiming to highlight teaching and learning more Affirm achievements, awards and rewards. P&F involvement in welcoming people needs to continue and be promoted further

Educative leadership Team approach Tracking folders Assessment tools to guide learning Professional development Visits to other classrooms and schools Teaching principal

Authentic learning Examples Technology Shared resources Extension groups Large composite groupings Special needs Explicit teaching Assessment for different learning styles New standardised tests Feedback from parents Refocus parent thinking regarding NAPLAN

Why did we do this? As part of our aim to continue improving Keep up to date with new trends and approaches to teaching Analyse what is working well and why Challenge and change what is not working well Main

What did we actually do? First Steps – refresher course at staff meeting, resource folder created for each teacher, inferring included in programming, parent information session held. ICT was regularly on the staff meeting agenda and staff were given tips as to how to use ICT in their classroom for authentic student learning. Lead teacher surveyed children’s reading interests and found books to suit their needs Library was set up and is ready to use Lead teacher modelled lessons in other teacher’s classes

Used NAPLAN data to guide our teaching Involved in community functions such as the school fete Encourage parent involvement in children's learning Special events where parents were invited Competitions for children Main

How did our plans change along the way? Like most schools we realised early in the process that our goals were too many and too broad. We had to then revisit our initial plan and fine tune it to become a more achievable outcome. Main

What difference did our actions make? To StudentsTo Staff Main

Students Teachers were more in tune with students needs Teachers used SMART data, surveys and standardised tests to identify the areas of weakness such as inferential comprehension and addressed in the teacher’s programmes from K-6.

Staff As a staff it made us look carefully at what was working effectively in our school and what needed improving. It was a great opportunity to constructively acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses and investigate different approaches and strategies to show growth in our school.

What have we learnt? Healthy functioning of a school = constantly analysing, adapting and changing We have learnt that our school is a great place but there are areas that do need improving. In naming and identifying these areas we are developing a better environment for all involved with the school. How to analyse NAPLAN data and use it to benefit the students. Main

What now? Continue with LTLL process by being constructively critical about what is happening in the school. We would like to continue this process in 2011 and focus on: Authentic LearningCommunity

Authentic learning Assessment for learning Fine tune and explicitly teach writing and spelling rules Need to refocus “parent thinking” on NAPLAN

Community Perception in the community Discipline

Evaluation of the LTTL process It was a valuable tool because: It was a whole school staff approach which begun at the LTLL in-service. It concentrated on a few important areas It was followed through and followed up on because the Lead Teacher made it the focus and maintained the momentum. As a staff we have valued the process and have seen the benefits of focusing on an area and implementing changes and improvements.