Welcome Page

About our school

50th Anniversary Celebrations

Staff Members

Bounce & Bop

Environment Centre

Indigenous Students

Camps and Excursions

CPSW (Christian Pastoral Support Worker)

KIC

Library Resource Centre

Music

Outdoor Activities

PE

Performances and Plays

The "Sensory Room"

Downloads & Information

Newsletters

Parent information pack

Smarter Schools National Partnership Plan

Annual Report

Site Context Statement

Site Improvement Plan

Context Statement

School’s Demographic
Naracoorte South Primary School in the Limestone Coast is an active, dynamic learning community set within 4.6 hectares of ground and adjoining 5 hectares of native scrub. Well-maintained contemporary facilities, including a new gymnasium, support specialist lessons in physical education, health, music and science. A National Literacy Coach enhances site priorities in Literacy and Numeracy. Interactive technologies, student initiatives and restorative practices give students a sense of belonging and self-regulation. Values of trust, generosity, commitment and accountability are specifically taught, providing the basis for positive relationships. A collaborate staff works with a vibrant and representative governing council, contributing to long and short term strategic planning. A strong sense of community is evident.
Naracoorte South Primary School has a DECD Category 5 Index of Disadvantage - although in the National NAPLAN My School comparison, we are rated with the Category 2 index of disadvantage schools within our state, as our enrolment more closely aligns with this category of disadvantage.
Naracoorte South Primary School is a multicultural school catering for children from Reception to Year 7. New students transition into reception each term from two pre-school centres. Each class has a diversity of learners from varying backgrounds including special needs, Aboriginal, refugee, ESL and or NESB, transience, situational poverty and also secure economic and social environments . 9% of students are provided ESL support in their learning. School Card enrolment is 37% which is higher than the Limestone Coast district mean.
Indigenous Students this year total 4, yet this varies, for example we had 7 students last year.
Each year, circumstances for some migrants ensure a changing multicultural profile in our school community.
Class Size (average)                       R – 2: 22   3 – 7:  24

It is of relevance to note that this rural school was initially established in 1965 to accommodate children raised in the nearby Narkindie Park, built by the SA Housing Trust. The school is on the same road as the town’s Hospital, Ambulance and Health Centre, with a Retirement Village on our northern boundary. Many nearby residences (including Narkindie Park), do not have children currently connected with this school. When the school was built it seems that a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ saw the continuation of school buses only to the Naracoorte Primary on the northern side of town and high school. Since 2008 the situation has been rectified to establish bus access for children living in the outlying district South of the township, to have access to their nearest school. Prevailing still is a perception by long standing community elders that Naracoorte South is the ‘town school’ and Naracoorte Primary is the ‘farm school’. In raising community awareness of inclusion, we anticipate that school enrolments at both schools in time will equally reflect the members of its community. 
Mission (Vision) and Values Statement
At Naracoorte South we celebrate diversity. Together we aim to provide safe, caring, and stimulating learning environments for our learners. Provision of quality teaching and learning with a focus on improvement is the motivation. Our purpose is to build learner knowledge, especially in literacy and numeracy skills, with capacity for effective connection and contribution to a global community. This vision is enabled by four agreed values - TRUST, COMMITMENT, GENEROSITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. Inherent is the message that learning occurs with the courage to assist and persist, to improve and to shine. Learner, teacher and parent relationships are at the heart of our work in a school where we belong, be and become.
School’s Governance
The role of Governing Council is to oversee our school’s vision. To make this happen we rely heavily on the dedication and skills of parents and community volunteers who work in partnership with teachers and support staff. At governance level, countless hours and skills are generously given by elected volunteers to represent all students and their families. Members take responsibility for convening committees, disseminating timely information and making informed decisions to support our Site Improvement Plans.
The Governing Council comprises:

We enjoy and benefit from ever increasing parent/carer support. Parents do put their hand up when supported, to take on governance roles. While parents convene the sub-committees, staff with additional parents form the composition. Changing community views about social barriers, time constraints, attitudes or one's own story of schooling, and being made welcome, is our business. We are committed to including parents in the education process. Some parents are more interested than others. Some see it as a service that ends with payment of school fees. However, guided by the research, we aim to continue to strengthen family and school partnerships- specifically in literacy and numeracy, by building on those occasions where we have huge parent involvement- Individual Student Conferences, Learning Journeys, Sports Days, Concerts, Excursions, Open Days and Family Fairs.
Leadership
Principal - Anna Young leads and manages whole school improvement and engagement. The principal works closely with the leadership team to plan, monitor, use and review data to guide directions and decisions to affect best learning outcomes for all students. The principal oversees human, physical and financial resources, the site facilities and works within departmental guidelines and legislation, to ensure wellbeing and inclusion of all in Naracoorte South’s learning community.     
 Deputy Principal - Michaela Ford is responsible with the principal for organisational management to ensure safe, orderly and productive learning environments, enacting principles that reflect agreed policy and procedure. Events such as Sports Days, Student Committees and wider whole school requirements such as Student Assessment and Reporting are managed by Michaela. Her extensive knowledge of school systems ensures continuity in any contingency. As deputy she has a 0.5 teaching requirement with a Year 6/7 class.
Student Counsellor/Co-ordinator - Cathie Biggins works from our recently refurbished Music Suite to successfully combine 0.5 Specialist Music and 0.5 Student Wellbeing. Cathie’s extra curricular work in performing arts is renowned through regular school assemblies, bi-annual Concerts, Come Out, Visiting Performers and Move at the Helpmann.
Literacy Partner Coach - Tina Watson
This position I believe is a gift to our school under National Partnerships. The starting point for us came from site agreement (after internal anguish for some), to put our hand up for a Literacy and Numeracy Diagnostic (LaND) Review in September 2008. Kirsty Lush’s appointment as Literacy Coach mid 2009 has been a natural extension to the recommendations issued from that review. Kirsty’s capacity to model then engage colleagues in explicit teaching of text types, to collect and analyse data via a group self nominating in the Data Team Project, so that we have commenced together to become teacher leaders, is a great journey towards improving reading and literacy outcomes.
Other Leadership positions created internally

• AST1- Resource Based Learning responsibility
• AST1- Performing Arts, School Harmony, LAP
• SSO- Line Manager convenes regular meetings and manages individual performance
• PAC- ensure staff consultation
• Curriculum PLC’s- matched to Improvement Plan priorities and responsible for leading specific curriculum learning with all staff 3 times per term
• Year Level Teams- meet 3 times per term
• Whole staff PD meetings- 3 times per term

This year we have two staff undergoing AST1 and AST2 accreditation.
School’s TEACHING Staff Profile
Since 2006 a ‘staff re-culture’ through targeted recruiting to build a balanced staff profile in terms of experience, new graduates, initiative in professional growth and aptitude to contribute to a culture of learning and engagement is evident. This reform is apparent in the above data, and increasingly in the professionalism demonstrated by current staff. Data collected over Term 1 of 2006 gave sufficient evidence to address the anomalies between teacher ‘beliefs’ and their ‘actions’ regarding their personal collaboration and professional stance. At the same time, review of policy such as the ‘Conduct Code’ enabled addition of staff responsibilities, to now form the third side of the relationship triangle.
School Committee Structure
We have three curriculum priorities in our Site Improvement Plan. Teachers are required to engage in one committee of:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Science .

Each teacher ranks their curriculum preference for the year. The leader team determines the composition of each committee on this information. Responsibilities for each team include:

• Regular meetings with agendas and minutes
• Contribution to site review and improvement
• Attending then disseminating professional learning for all staff
• Sharing and moderating work- leading the learning
• Budget expenditure for training and resource building
• Professional reading/ debate

Other school curriculum committees comprise individual choice of:

• Arts
• Health/ Physical education
• Junior Primary Activity
• Library
• Society and Environment
• Special Education
• Sports
• Technology/IT

Responsibilities include managing budget lines and informing on curriculum.
School’s approach to literacy learning
Prior to becoming a National Literacy Partnership site, the approach to Literacy in this school largely lacked in cohesion and sequence.
We required an agreed whole school approach, agreed instructive programs, and a common understanding of what was needed of teachers to improve results. Running Records conducted by some were done in the Early Years, yet again the value adding in this exercise was not realised. Teachers using the SACSA Framework for planning and monitoring learning outcomes, in general had an ad hoc approach that was informed by theme or content in preference to using diagnostic assessment to determine and then explicitly teach sound- letter knowledge, semantic or syntactic strategies, text types and text participant responsibilities. Assumptions were made about students being able to read (and write) when in fact many were not proficient enough readers to make meaning from and then use the information for learning purposes. LaN and NAPLAN results that indicated the gaps for children at or under benchmark, were not being used by all teachers to inform teaching. Observations and evidence through the LaND Review showed that 84% of teachers believed that they were ‘good teachers of literacy’. Since raising awareness and from the beginning of 2009, provision of Curriculum Improvement Folders, teasing out mismatches between theories of learning and actual teaching pedagogies used, take up of training with Stephen Graham, for example, audits around practice and research into what resources we have, the Literacy Partner Coach work and the Data Team Project have moved us forward. Coming to acknowledge that we may not have the depth of skills nor be using the best approaches to instruct literacy engagement and improvement has emerged. Now being involved in The National Partnership Coach and Principals At Literacy Leadership, we predict continued support to align classroom targets based on backwards planning in relation to student performance.
Interventions
From Staff Induction in 2010

• Formation of a Data Informed Learning Project Team to plan whole school strategies eg collection and analysis of external and internal data. An example of internal-Explanation Data entered into system Data Wall Display with 3 sentence observations/ conclusions
• Formation of PLC’s
• Inquiry into DIAF principles, to inform self –review process with further work planned
• Performance Management reflects DIAF, Site Improvement Plan priorities, LaND Review recommendations to make direct links with classroom targets
• Students identified for additional support were nominated for small group and targeted support
• Running Records on narrative with 8 students minimum in exch class and to complete all students by week 3 term 2
• Teachers have ‘What I know about….’ Conversations with students and record
• Teachers and Support staff responsible for designing the intervention strategies such as 1:1 lessons, Literacy Support groups, ESL support, Trauma/At Risk children
• Partner Coach modelling explicit teaching of text types including explanation text, information report, narrative
• PLC Literacy Numeracy and Early Years Teams receive professional training with Stephen Graham, George Booker, and in turn provide direction for all of staff
• Traffic Light Strategy- adopted to identify at risk learners
• Second round of Narratives and data entering

Literacy related co-curricular programs

• Year 6/7 Book Club
• Premiers Reading Challenge 81% participation in 2009
• Read Like the Reds to assist reluctant readers completing the Presmiers Reading Challenge
• Developing a ‘reader's garden’
• Regular reading groups in library led by parents and grandparents
• Parents listening to reading in junior primary – daily
• Buddy Class reading and literacy activities
• Literacy Room support- for ESL learners and
• Class newsletters
• Lunchtime drama/dance group
• Birthday readings with the Literacy Coach

Literacy Targets
Mapping Common Challenges
Common challenges identified for students at NSPS from analysis of writing samples are:

• Understanding of audience, Text structure-including orientation, complication, resolution, development of consistent ideas, appropriate vocabulary paragraphing, sentence structure, including simple, compound, complex, punctuation
• Spelling of common and more difficult words

 In light of 2009 NAPLAN results and internal data collection, explicit teaching of deficit areas is highlighted in teaching and learning programs. An example relevant to explanation writing was:
Task- students from years one to seven were asked to write and explanation text on a familiar topic with no scaffolding or support. Teachers then analysed a selection of the writing samples against a checklist of skills to determine what students already knew about writing explanations, and what needed to be explicitly taught. Working with the literacy coach, teachers learnt about and taught explicitly several components relating to explanation texts, covering purpose, structure, language, grammar and punctuation. Six weeks later, students were asked to write another explanation without support. Sample data collected showed that for a Year 2/3 class, all students had attained the set target of demonstrating 3 additional skills. Another class -straight Year 3, demonstrated an additional 6 skills in their writing. Sample targets included: Explanation Writing Target

• After 6 weeks of teaching of reading, comprehending and writing explanation texts, the sample group of students in each class will build a minimum of 3 more skills needed to write an explanation text independently.

Reading Comprehension Target

• To increase performance in the Reading Comprehension section of NAPLAN by 2% against the National average, and in particular to see an improvement in students’ ability to answer inferential type questions.

Date Last Changed 16th April, 2013