Margaret River Montessori School

Principal’s 2008 Annual Report 29th April 2009

During 2008 the School continued to grow, with enrolments increasing and student and staff retention rates high. A strong sense of School community was evident. A Strategic Planning and Growth Forum identified the need for School expansion. Due to the strong numbers, a solid waiting list and an excellent quality Montessori Education being offered throughout the school a decision was made late in 2008 to open a new Junior Primary 3-6class in mid 2009 followed by a new Middle Primary class commencing 2010. (This has since been brought forward) Sincere thanks must go to those members of our Committee of Management who regularly volunteer their time and expertise in the best interest and promotion of the School through their governance roles. Sincere thanks to the Parents and Friends Committee who continue to work diligently to support the Schools activities; and to the Marketing Committee who continue to promote the School, both within the local and wider communities. The School gained re-registration with the Education Department of WA with a very positive report re: school performance being forthcoming from the registration panel. Once again our professional, dedicated and caring staff continued to support the students and the school community often going beyond their daily duties. Teachers continued to openly demonstrate and impart knowledge and understanding of the quality Montessori Education we offer through an information stall and material demonstrations at the Local Agricultural Show, an open door policy with daily tours and observations from interested families and educational evenings open to parents, friends and community members. The primary students’ artwork, inspired and co-ordinated by art specialist Maree Mohn was displayed both at the local Agricultural Show and at the Shire offices. The Kaigis saw wonderful children’s performances shared, with many musical highlights guided by music specialist Susie Spiers and class teachers.

Significant Events and Milestones

A wonderful welcome to new, future and existing families was once again well attended at our annual “Welcome to the School Year” social get together held at the Colonial Brewery in February 2008. The school successfully fulfilled the requirements to become both a recognized Water Wise and a Sunsmart School. The primary students became avid performers in the puppet play and book launch of “Splash in Margaret River” created by local author and parent Jo Brocksopp.

The children enjoyed Book Week: dressing in favourite book character fashions and regular whole school reading mornings whereby the older children read to the younger ones. Middle Primary continued their connections in the local community with visits to Silver Chain and intergenerational activities with the residents of Mirambeema. The primary students continued their environmental and biological studies with wetland monitoring for water quality and life forms, whilst the upper primary students were actively involved in the re-vegetation of the Margaret River Rain Garden and the adopt a beach program: monitoring and cleaning up the beach and recording relevant data (Gnarabup Beach). The School once again took part in both Clean up Australia Day and Walk to School Day. The children completed the Bluescope Steel Tank a Day challenge and we secured a tank for the School. Through their efforts and through the Government’s Green Voucher grant all toilets are now run on rainwater. With the terrific assistance from parents the kitchen gardens flourished and the children enjoyed preparing meals using the garden produce. We continued to recognize our connectedness with other cultures through World Harmony Day celebrations: the whole school community coming together for a day of song, dance and a shared lunch with foods from many cultures. In consolidating the students’ knowledge and understanding of our Japanese LOTE programme we held a Japanese Afternoon with the older children being the teachers of the younger children in both language and cultural activities. The children continued to support others less fortunate than themselves through our participation in Sunnies for Sight Day, Jeans for Genes and National Bandana Day. Our annual involvement in Jump Rope for Heart raised much needed funds for the National Heart Foundation, whilst promoting the benefits of physical activity. Upper Primary students rode to School, and along with Middle primary enjoyed sporting clinics including hockey and netball. The School’s History project evolved, coming close to completion. The Primary students visited the Busselton jetty and underwater observatory, and once again Upper Primary enjoyed a fabulous camp at Rottnest. For the end of year graduation concert we were enthralled by the children in “Montessori’s Got Talent” . 2008 was indeed a busy and successful school year, demonstrating passion and commitment from our staff, students and families.

Federal Government Reporting Requirements

The following school information is required to be presented annually. Staffing Information 2008 Administration Sue Gaunt: Principal Bronwyn Martin: Secretary and Bursar Lorraine McGill: Part time Assistant Secretary Teaching Staff Sonja de Tombe-Roco: 3-6 Director Casa del Cielo Jan Johnson: 3-6 Director Casa dei Fiori Gurmayll Kaur D.S. 6-9 Director Casa del Mare John Andrews 9-12 Director Casa della Luna Maree Mohn: Art Specialist Karen Haslau: LOTE Specialist and Support Teacher Suzie Spiers: Music Specialist Debra Hayden: Support teacher Classroom Assistants Sue Guest: Assistant Casa Del Cielo Corinna Iddon: Assistant Casa dei Fiori Lorraine McGill: Assistant Casa del Mare Rona Mirtle: Assistant Casa del Mare Teacher Qualifications All class teachers (Directors) at our School hold a recognized teaching qualification and are trained in Montessori Education. Teachers at our school are registered with the West Australian College of Teaching (WACOT) as required by the Department of Education. All teaching staff are committed to professional development and attend various workshops throughout the year to update, and learn new skills, both within the delivery of the Montessori Curriculum and State and Federal educational requirements. Qualifications of Teaching Staff range across the following: Bachelor of Education Diploma of Teaching Associate Diploma of Community Studies (Working With Young Children) Instructors Certificate Montessori Diploma 3-6 Years Bachelor of Arts Childhood and Family Education Advanced Diploma Montessori 6-12 Years Certificate In Education Bachelor Applied Science Bachelor Physical Education Diploma of Education Science and English. Associateship in Fine Art Bachelor Education Social Science

Teacher Participation in Professional Development

All teachers, including part time staff were engaged in Professional Development during 2008 including the following conferences, seminars and workshops: Montessori Australia Foundation: Keys to Quality Montessori Montessori Australia Foundation: Fundamentals to the Montessori Approach to Primary AISWA Data Initiative-NuLit Data Briefing the Board Annual Conference. NAPLAN Information Session Child Protection Workshop Crisis Management Policy and Procedures Guided Reading and Writing First Steps Maths Updating Computer and technology Skills
2008 Teacher Attendance 4.3 FTE (full time equivalent) teachers. 9 teachers in total. At 194 work days per teacher, this equates to 834 teacher work days in 2008. 15 days were taken as sick leave giving an excellent average attendance per teacher of 98.2%. 2008 Teacher Retention 2008 sees 100% retention of our valuable teaching staff with the addition of extra support teacher time and the principal no longer in a class teacher position. The FTE has increased by 0.1 to 4.3 FTE Average Expenditure per Staff member on Professional Development 2008 During 2008 approximately $7394 was spent on professional development courses. Staff also attended courses during after hours and work time that did not require additional course costs. The average expenditure per FTE teacher on professional learning for 2008 was $1719.54. Average Student Attendance
Year Group
Average percentage attendance per student per year level.
PP
91%
1
89%
2
94%
3
92%
4
92%
5
83%
6
95%
7
94%

On average students at Margaret River Montessori attended for 91% of the total possible days of the 2008 academic year. Students in Years 3, 5 and 7 Achieving the National Literacy and Numeracy Benchmarks for 2008 In 2008, the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) replaced the WALNA for the assessment of Literacy and Numeracy. Current legislation requires that we report the School’s NAPLAN results in relation to the national minimum standards. We are proud to acknowledge that our School is inclusive of all children and provides the opportunity for all students to be involved in these tests regardless of identified learning difficulties or intellectual impairments. A student who has not achieved minimum National standards will be working on an Individual Educational Plan, or obtaining government funded support as a result of their learning difficulties. As a Montessori School it must be emphasized we facilitate, value and follow the individual academic progress of each child. Never the less, we are proud to acknowledge that our students perform extremely well in comparison to national performance in these assessments despite testing not being part of our philosophy or regular educational practice. Percentage of Students Achieving Above National Minimum Numeracy and Literacy Standards in Year 3
Mathematics
Reading
Writing
Spelling
Grammar/Punctuation
2008
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Summary of NAPLAN Results Year 5 and Year 7 In terms of reporting on year level results; due to particularly small student numbers in years 5 and 7 in 2008 and to protect student privacy in these year levels the reporting for these year groups is a summary of School results. In Mathematics, Reading, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling our school achieved mean scores above minimum standards and in the majority of areas these scores were significantly higher than the National Mean Scores. Parent Satisfaction: Our School’s growing student numbers together with high retention rates and 2008 survey results indicate a high level of parent/student satisfaction with the School. Value Added We provide families attending our School with

Specialized Montessori Curriculum and Environment supporting the holistic development of the child An individualized learning program Professional, dedicated and caring staff Community Life A commitment to small class sizes Well resourced classes Specialized high quality Montessori learning materials Specialist programmes and teachers for LOTE (Japanese), Visual Arts, and Music School incursions and excursions Educational support programmes Communication through fortnightly, newsletters, parent/teacher conferences,
class mentors, emails and notice boards A picturesque bush land school environment conducive to positive and stimulating learning A safe and supportive learning environment A Water Wise focus Our own wetland educational resource Kitchen Gardens Promotion of independence, personal responsibility for learning and co-operation. Educational projects linked to and supportive of the wider community