celebrating literacy and numeracy
National Literacy and Numeracy Week
in New South Wales 1-7 September 2008
Literacy and Numeracy Week Awards
NSW National Literacy and Numeracy Week Award Winners 2002
National Excellence Award
Goodooga Central School
Goodooga Central School, has 127 students. Fifty percent of the students are in primary classes and fifty percent are in secondary classes. All of the students are Indigenous. There is a 100% staff turnover expected in every two year period. Because Goodooga is a remote, rural community, it has many of the problems of those communities, including high unemployment. The initiatives developed in the school are designed to cultivate a relevant and worthwhile curriculum. They include life skills courses and literacy and numeracy initiatives that are linked to future employment options. There is strong community involvement with members of the school community training as tutors and being encouraged to be learners.
Literacy programs include:
- Scaffolding Literacy, a pilot program conducted by Dr Brian Grey;
- Community Tutor Program, a school initiative that places community members in classrooms to assist teaching and learning in literacy and numeracy programs;
- In-school Tuition, that builds on the existing tutor program and provides at least two hours per week of tutor time in each K-6 classroom;
- Reading Recovery; and
- Multilit, designed by classroom teachers for implementation by classroom tutors.
Numeracy programs include:
- Count Me In Too: Count Me Into Measurement;
- Counting On; and
- Maths in Context, a new program to increase numeracy acquisition in secondary students.
TheLifeskills Enterprise Program addresses the challenge of isolation, introducing post-school possibilities from early schooling. Programs in each year from K-10 include yabbie farming, hydroponic gardening, paper making and running a canteen. Other TAFE related courses in secondary years include small engines maintenance, living skills including basic plumbing, electricity, budgeting, sewing and cooking, shearing and shed hand, jackeroo or jilleroo, wool classing courses, information technology, business, child studies and food technology. Four of these courses are open to adult learners. The school also provides for students to travel to other towns to observe different jobs and professions.
The school uses data from Basic Skills Test (BST) results, English Language and Literacy Assessment (ELLA) results and the Primary Writing Assessment (PWA) when measuring student success in achieving outcomes. In 1999, the staff were very concerned about the performance of students in Year 3. Tracking these students to Year 5, 2001 show that there are now no students in band 1 in literacy or numeracy. Over 66% of these students improved above state average, with their growth being up to twice the state average. Achievement rates in ELLA testing are improving each year. By 2001, 24% of the Year 8 students had moved from the low achievement bands in Reading and 35% had moved from the low achievement bands in Language. All groups in the school have improved significantly.
Goodooga has other successes. With the level of interest in the new curriculum shown by secondary students, serious incidents resulting in suspension and staff referrals for off-task behaviours have declined greatly. In 1999, no students continued study beyond the post-compulsory years. In 2000, 25% of students returned to school and in 2001, 100% of the students chose post-compulsory education. There is improved community consultation, a cooperative atmosphere, a heightened pride in appearance and highly motivated staff with good morale despite the reality of isolation.
National Excellence Award - non government primary school category
St John Vianney Primary School
With 74% of their three hundred and seventy nine students with a language background other than English and 10% meeting their system's special education support criteria, St John Vianney Primary School in Sydney's outer western suburbs was identified during a 1998 registration review as needing to develop their K-6 literacy theory and practice.
The whole school embarked on a journey with the principal becoming a co-learner. A literacy coordinator was appointed in the primary years and the assistant-principal took on the role of literacy coordinator in the infants. A literacy committee was formed to make decisions on needs, progress and consistency. Professional development included weekly professional readings, sharing of ideas, organisation and management.
The school timetables two hour literacy blocks involving an earlier start to the working day to deal with administrative tasks outside of literacy learning time. The language support team assists classroom teachers in developing strategies and teaching/learning units, identifying students who need intervention and supporting the teacher with resources and ideas. Kindergarten enrolment procedures allow for early identification of student needs. Indigenous students work with education officers from the Jarara unit and then share their resources with the wider school community promoting cultural understandings and cooperation.
Using data from the BST, it was found that the average growth in literacy and numeracy of students who were tracked from Year 3, 1999 to Year 5, 2001 was greater than state average. Standardised testing showed 64% of students demonstrated significant stanine growth in reading and 65% improved their spelling ages by four years or greater over that one year period.
Achievement Awards
Abbotsleigh Junior School
Abbotsleigh Junior School in Sydney seeks to provide a climate that fosters the pursuit of personal and academic excellence. The school has changed its level of support from withdrawal, that was having a negative effect on student self-esteem, to a new program based on intervention and integration. Students are streamed on three levels. High level achievers are separate and lower achievers are integrated with students achieving at mid-level. Teachers are assisted to meet the individual needs of their students within the classroom through team teaching and modelling. Students feel empowered and are more likely to request help in areas in which they need it. BST results for the same cohort show greater than state average growth in numeracy and literacy.
Ashmont Public School
Ashmont Public School has 324 students and is in rural Wagga Wagga. 50% of the school community families are single parent families, 30% of the parents are unemployed, 40% of the students are itinerant and 27% are Indigenous.
A successful behaviour modification program that had already led to improved literacy results became the model for the numeracy program. The behaviour modification program involves high expectations, responsibilities, privileges and consequences.
Literacy and numeracy teaching and learning is based on effective everyday classroom practice. The staff in whole school, collegiate teams identify and undertake systematic and explicit teaching, catering to all learning styles with daily monitoring of progress. The mathematics consultant provided professional development that included workshops and involvement in the classroom in numeracy. Some parents have been involved in the classroom while others help by making resources. Maths lessons follow the philosophy of Count Me In Too, meeting students at their point of need and using hands on activities.
In 1999, school absenteeism was above the state average but by 2001, 94% of the students had 100% attendance. The numeracy results of students in Year 3 in 1999 to Year 5 in 2001 improved from 50% in lower bands and 50% in higher bands to none in lowest band, 15% in lower bands and 85% in higher bands. Average growth in numeracy was 50% better than the state average while average literacy growth was excellent. Students had been reticent to enter competitions in the past but in 2001, twenty students entered the University of New South Wales Mathematics Competition with wonderful results - 5 credits, 4 distinctions and 1 high distinction.
Bishop Druitt College, Primary Department
Bishop Druitt College has nine hundred students from K-12 and three hundred and forty students in the primary department. The student population is interesting with large groups of top level and bottom level achievers but few average students. The change has been brought about with strong professional development of teachers during 1999 based on staff needs, developments in working mathematically and the Board of Studies syllabus outcomes.
There are dedicated mathematics session times each day in ability stage groups utilizing topic based programming. These programs emphasise working mathematically and experiential language and include problem-solving, hands on maths, consolidation of basic skills, provision of extension work where appropriate and regular assessment.
Success is shown in anecdotal data from the Commonwealth Numeracy Project and data on the student cohort from Year 3 in 1999 to Year 5 in 2001 that shows consistent growth over that period, and the student cohort from Year 3 in 1998 to Year 5 in 2000 who also had above state average growth in that period.
A strong sense of ownership and collaboration among staff and regular discussion of the teaching of mathematics at stage level meetings will contribute to the sustainability of the program.
Cranebrook High School
Cranebrook High School is located in Penrith, an outer western suburb of Sydney. The students come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The initial target group for the program was Year 7, 1998.
Before 1998, nearly half the Year 10 students were performing in the two lowest bands in the School Certificate reference test, with 52% in the higher bands. By 2001, the target group now in Year 10 had only 11% of students performing in either of the two lower bands in the School Certificate, with 89% in the higher bands. Key elements of the school's program are linkages between Stages 3 and 4 and across the Key Learning Areas (KLAs). The school uses a carefully targeted and structured program and has a Support Teacher Learning Difficulties (Numeracy) specially appointed from their staffing formula and funded internally. The staff develop programs that meet the learning styles of students in mathematics and have embedded aspects of numeracy into their teaching/learning programs in all subjects. A secondary mathematics teacher works with teachers and students in Year 6 one day per week. At each faculty meeting, students and their needs are discussed and time is given to reflection on what has worked or not worked in the classroom.
Cranebrook High School has developed a school culture of learning and success in numeracy based on challenge, expectation, learning styles and support. Since the instigation of the program in the junior years, more senior students are choosing to complete their senior studies at Cranebrook and significantly greater numbers of students are choosing to take on the more demanding 2 Unit and 3 Unit Mathematics courses.
Forster Public School
Forster Public School in northern NSW has always had a strong commitment to improving educational outcomes for its Indigenous students. Their In-school Tutorial Program has become a lighthouse program. The school and the Worrimi community share responsibility for the Koori students. The aim is to improve their acquisition of literacy skills and levels of participation. The program is culturally inclusive and uses effective teaching in a positive supportive learning environment by employing twelve trained tutors using mandatory syllabus content, with teacher guidance. Students are now more willing to participate. Ninety percent of students have improved attendance and there has been an above average improvement in BST results in the same cohort.
Green Valley Public School
Green Valley Public School has a school plan based on research, Board of Studies syllabuses and engagement. Block teaching incorporates a Support Teacher Learning Difficulties in a team teaching situation 95% of the time, with 5% withdrawal. Entitlement, targets, flexible grouping strategies and explicit instruction are strongly emphasised. The program incorporates Count Me In Too, the Early Learning Initiative and a Years 6-7 linkages program. Staff visit local and interstate schools to see
best practice. A literacy teacher is employed for Years 4 and 6 for post-BST analysis and support. Parents are encouraged to enroll in an English program with TAFE. Generally, in the BST, students have been progressing at a rate equal or better than the state average and Year 3 results are the best ever.
Hebersham Public School
Hebersham Public School, in the Mt Druitt district of western Sydney, has a population including 39% with a background of languages other than English and a 10% Indigenous population. The school has a whole school approach to raising learning outcomes for all students by focusing on curriculum implementation, change management, leadership and a strong staff
development program. They have literacy and numeracy initiatives embedded in the school management plan and progress targets are set on a term basis. The school uses a multi-faceted approach to strategies and assessment. There has been very significant growth in literacy results in same cohort testing, with 28% of the student population being in the lowest bands in Year 3 to 4% in Year 5, with similar results for numeracy.
Homebush Boys High School
Homebush Boys High School in Sydney's inner west has a population with 85% having a background language other than English with many students coming directly from intensive language courses. The literacy programs have been embedded in the school culture. The literacy steering committee has members from all KLAs. The initiative includes the state wide TAFE accredited peer tutor program, community involvement and a whole school literacy program with an explicit teaching focus. It is guided by close analysis of ELLA results and
includes specific learning plans for at risk students. Individual students in Year 7 have their literacy needs assessed and each student is tracked. Analysis of data shows an impressive shift in literacy levels in the school including above state average improvement in School Certificate English testing.
Mt Erin High School
Mt Erin High School in country NSW has nine integrated students and others requiring varying levels of support. Their program is a pro-active approach to the fact that students did not have the skills necessary to achieve. A special projects coordinator was appointed in 1999 to establish and implement a five year plan focusing on improving literacy and numeracy standards of students. The plan includes former primary teachers assessing student needs, professional development, mapping literacy and numeracy requirements of each year and KLA and liaising with feeder schools. There is peer tutoring for an intensive reading program, withdrawal for one term intensive, individual programs, a whole school spelling challenge, literacy week, literacy or numeracy alerts, a Koori writing program and a special program to teach skills that might not be taught within the classroom. Standardised testing shows improvement in spelling and reading leading to better achievement of outcomes.
Nambucca Heads Public School
Nambucca Heads on the NSW north coast has a highly mobile population. The school has instigated a whole school literacy initiative focused on teacher and student support and parent involvement. It involves a detailed and targeted professional development plan with district support supplying modelling and mentoring. Training is provided for all parents and includes the Aboriginal Literacy Program for Indigenous
parents. There is a high level of executive leadership and involvement in the programs. The teachers take responsibility for all the students in their class and meet their needs with some access to the help of an additional literacy teacher. Year 3 literacy results in the BST in 1990-1999 had been on or below the state average. In 2001, 78% of Year 5 had achieved better than average state growth in literacy.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Waterloo, is an inner Sydney school with a low socio-economic population. Historically, student attendance has been very poor.
BST results have been closely analysed and a whole school approach to the teaching of literacy and social skills has been undertaken. The introduction of the Successful Behaviours program has ensured students learn acceptable behaviour that has improved engagement and learning in the classroom. The staff devised a program essential to teaching students alternative ways to solve conflict and a respect for authority, space and the rights of others. Within the context of literacy learning and critical literacy, students are taught how to work cooperatively, play peacefully and interact with adults in a friendly, respectful way.
From day 1 students are involved in collaborative learning. Teachers have shared understandings and use consistent, positive language across the school. The professional development program includes in-class demonstration lessons for teachers followed by discussion and has many components, for example, staged planning meetings, goal-setting and professional reading.
Tracking the same cohort from Year 3 to Year 5 has shown very significant improvement above the state average for the same period. Teachers have also observed an improvement in engagement with decreasing truancy and a 20% improvement in parent attendance at interviews.
Parramatta East Public School
Parramatta East Public School has a population that includes 57% of students who have a language other than English and 25% mobility. In their numeracy results, including Basic Skills Testing, they found that boys were not doing as well as girls and there were different levels of achievement between the three strands in mathematics. The school designed a program based on Count Me In Too that involves lessons that include warm up, skills practice, problem-solving, working mathematically and reflection. They have found that 92.6% of their students have improved by at least one skill band and that there is now
little difference between the performance of boy or girl students or across space, measurement and number.
Sandon Public School
Sandon Public School in northern NSW incorporated a school for special purposes and has many integrated students from K-6. The program includes
Reading Recovery, an Aboriginal literacy program and several state initiatives. The school has designed a stage appropriate English K-6 outcomes-based program. There is an active literacy support team. Class programs and planned assessment use Starting With Assessment and information from the BST. Four of the staff have been trained as reading recovery teachers and the staff support students discontinued from the program. There is withdrawal and in-class support for
Aboriginal students. Continual improvement in achievement of outcomes has led to over 70% of Year 5 students registering results in the top bands of the BST.
Tabulam Public School
Tabulam, west of Casino in northern NSW, has one hundred and ten students of which forty percent are Indigenous. It is a remote and isolated community, and many of the students are language deprived with limited vocabulary which limits their success in all areas as indicated by their BST results. The school designed a teaching/learning program for K-6 that concentrated on authentic talking and listening. Community members are used as role models and reports include special talking and listening outcomes. Assessment sheets pinpoint weak areas to be
addressed and these become the priority for the next term. BST results show improved answering of inferential and interpretative questions since the instigation of the program and Indigenous students are now performing at or above state averages for their cultural group and are moving closer to the state average.
Trinity Catholic Primary School
Trinity Catholic Primary School with four hundred and ninety students is situated in the semi rural outskirts of Sydney. It has a systematic approach to teaching literacy from K-6. Professional development focuses on quality teaching and learning. Teachers base their best practice on research done by developmental psychologist, Lee Semonovich Vygotsky. A strong school culture is developing with shared literacy beliefs and classroom programs that implement agreed, clear goals and have led to steady improvement in student achievement. The staff aim for high expectations, structured teaching
focused on student learning needs and engagement in learning time.
2002 NSW National Literacy and Numeracy Week Celebrations
During NLNW 2002, NSW schools celebrated the success of their literacy and numeracy programs with their communities. Individual school events included open days, parent and community workshops, reading, counting, spelling and writing competitions. District initiatives were wide ranging from poetry readings to literacy/numeracy expos to art gallery visits to drama presentations and debating competitions.
Celebrating Literacy and Numeracy kits were distributed to all NSW primary and central schools, and local libraries to support these activities. Kits contained useful brochures for parents, with ideas on helping children with literacy and numeracy, bookmarks and posters.
2002 Commonwealth Bank e-learning Grants
Twenty-four primary schools across NSW will each receive a $5,000 grant from the Commonwealth Bank to enhance their students' literacy and numeracy skills through e-learning. Applications were judged jointly by representatives of the Commonwealth Bank and the education community in the respective local bank area.
The winning schools were: Blayney Public School, Boggabri Public School, Breadalbane Public School, Chester Hill Public School, Epping West Primary School, Grays Point Public School, Hanwood Public School, Harrington Street Public School, Kincoppal - Rose Bay Junior School, MLC - Burwood, Mosman Church of England Preparatory School, Newport Primary School, Penshurst West Public School, Plumpton Public School, Plunkett Street Public School, St Francis Xavier's Primary School - Wollongong, St Patrick's Primary School - Blacktown, St Patrick's School - Trundle, St Therese's Catholic Primary School - New Lambton, St Thomas Becket Primary School - Lewisham, Toormina Public School, Umina Public School, Waitara Public School and Westport Public School.
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