Congratulations to Emily on winning the Rostrum quarter final late last term. Emily will go to represent Ngunnawal Primary School and the other group finalists at the semi final this term. Best of luck Emily!

In week 9 of last term we engaged in a National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) Review.The NSIT Review is specifically designed to equip principals, boards and staff with the data needed to plot their school’s current position against international effective practice and to plan a focused approach to school improvement appropriate to the context of their school.

The report provides feedback on the assessments made against each of the nine interrelated domains of effective school practice, gathered through evidence collection and consultation within our school. 

A copy of the full report is available on our school website under the School Board tab. We are incredibly proud of the feedback we have received and look forward to working with our school community on our next long term plan.

I have included below the commendations, affirmations and recommendations provided by the panel.

Commendations

Ngunnawal Primary School is commended for:

• Applying its resources – using system funding for priority groups and individual students and discretionary funds in a targeted manner – to meet the learning and wellbeing needs of all
• Deliberately planning and managing the allocation of teacher, staff and leader time and expertise to meet the wellbeing and learning needs of students. These are directed to the explicit improvement agendas of reading and wellbeing.
• Intentionally adopting PBL and RTN as programs and policies to address the range and variety of wellbeing, behavioural and learning needs of enrolled students.
• Having school-wide EAL/D policies and procedures supported by three part-time teachers to address the learning needs of an increasing number of LBOTE students.
• Having a distributed leadership model where the roles and responsibilities of each leader are clearly defined and the focus is on research-based, effective teaching practices.
• Providing time for school leaders to be actively involved in the classrooms of teachers they lead.
• Having leaders who regularly use data to inform their leadership of teachers with the focus on improving and progressing student learning.
• Having a range of strategically established and evidence-based partnerships which address the identified wellbeing and learning needs of students and their families.
• Having allocated leadership, staffing and funds for the maintenance and sustenance of each school-community partnership.
• Having established documented processes and policies where each partnership is evaluated to monitor the mutual benefits for each partner and the individuals involved.
• The outstanding work of the P-6 Student Engagement Team to create and nurture a positive school culture where all children feel safe, are respected and able to access learning.
• The outstanding work of the Early Years Engagement Officer to support the work of the wellbeing team through targeted and well-planned partnerships, that enables greater engagement in education for all students.
• The strong focus on cultural integrity, particularly the work in embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, stories and culture into school life.
• The development of a school-context Curriculum Framework to prioritise learning and implement a guaranteed curriculum, referencing the Australian Curriculum and enacted through a curriculum-planning template that facilitates the development of the general capabilities and cross-curriculum perspectives.
• The embedding of the 8 Ways of Learning Pedagogical Framework in the curriculum-planning template.
• Enabling leaders and staff who are committed to and can analyse data to gain a clear understanding of current student achievement levels, including priority groups, and how those levels have changed over time.
• Partnering with families in the implementation of the reading improvement agenda.
• The way in which teachers and staff work collegially and cooperatively within their teams.
• The culture of feedback, which is embedded across the school. This shapes goal setting and is used as evidence of progress towards teacher performance and development.  
• The PLT structure which has been successfully established to foster and encourage a year-level shared responsibility for student learning and success.
• A strong culture and belief that all students can learn and improve in wellbeing and reading.
• The range of tailored and sustained interventions in place that are responsive to students’ literacy and wellbeing needs. There are well-established mechanisms for students who are below standard for reading, including RTN.
• Highly individualised learning programs that are provided for students in LSUs, offering small-group learning environments that are tailored to the students’ academic and wellbeing needs. Students in these programs have opportunities to engage in learning activities within their mainstream class in a way that is flexible and suits the needs of the learner and the preferences of the parent.
• The identification of students for RTN and LSU that includes the process of inclusion support for Tier 2 and 3 levels on the data wall in the principal’s office. Referral of these students through the P-6 school engagement team is well understood and data informed.
• The data collected about PBL that is analysed regularly and provided to staff to inform decisions about re-teaching of certain behaviours. These data include a range of different facets such as attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning.

Affirmations

Ngunnawal Primary School is affirmed for:

• Having flexible curriculum, programs and teaching strategies which are being applied across the school to meet the range of individual learning needs found in each classroom.
• Having leaders who provide ongoing feedback about teaching and learning in classrooms through regular meetings, feedback loops and the spiral of inquiry.
• The work of leaders in encouraging creative, engaging and flexible learning spaces through the provision of ergonomic and multi-purpose furniture and innovative outside spaces that have the scope to enable the use of a wide range of effective pedagogies.
• The work that the school has undertaken to develop a consistent approach to the assignment of P grades to students with additional needs.
• The Classroom Connectedness survey that is allowing students to provide more targeted feedback on classroom climate. Teachers are using this survey data to reflect on and inform their practice and its impact on student learning and wellbeing.
• Providing feedback to parents on student learning through parent-teacher nights and academic reports. Feedback is communicated to parents via Seesaw so that they can see examples of learning and qualitative assessment feedback to students.
• Continuing to use multiple sources of data to allow school leaders and teachers to see trends and patterns in relationships between academic and wellbeing progress, as well as monitor improvements.
• Use of learning data by some teachers and in some learning areas to inform day-to-day decisions about teaching and learning in the broader range of subject areas.
• Having some mechanisms in place to extend high-achieving students in a range of learning areas external to the school.
• The design of teaching unit plans which show supported, core and extension learning activities for teachers to select from in response to student readiness for learning.
• Formative assessment which is used to make decisions about next steps for reading and in some other learning areas.
• Communication to parents through the Seesaw platform where samples of student learning activities are posted with a description of the tasks.

Recommendations

• That the school ensures vertical alignment and consistency from P-6 between the written and the enacted curriculum through PLCs.
• That the school builds upon existing data literacy skills and sources to enable tracking of learning progressions in every learning area from P-6.
• That the school uses available data sources to focus future professional learning on curricular strategies, teaching practices and pedagogies that will respond flexibly and creatively to the increasingly diverse range and variety of wellbeing, language and learning needs of the cohorts of students.
• That the school develops deep understandings of concepts and big ideas and the ongoing progress of cross-curriculum perspectives and general capabilities – such as teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving – among leaders, teachers and staff in the first instance and then all students.

PBL/Wellbeing News

In years 3-6, teachers will analyse class wellbeing data which was collected from students in Term 2. This is an opportunity for staff to focus on ways to improve overall and targeted wellbeing within classes and for individual students. Teachers will be responding to the student's perceptions of wellbeing and using their feedback to enhance engagement and enjoyment in learning.

Active Streets

Walking or riding to school is a great way for students to be physically active each morning and afternoon, while helping to reduce congestion around the school and limiting our environmental impact.

Our school is part of the Active Streets program, which is designed to drive culture change within school communities to make walking and riding to school the norm for Canberra students. Discussing riding or walking to school with your children may include:

• showing children the best route to and from school (in person and on a map – check out the Transport Canberra website)
• teaching children how to cross roads safely (utilise crossings and underpasses where possible)
• what to do in case of an emergency (key people to contact or where to go).

Walking or riding is a fun, safe and healthy way to get to school!