Official Stuff

STATUTORY ANNUAL REPORT 2009

Here is the 2009 official report on Candlebark, as prescribed.

We are required to provide “contextual information about the School, including the characteristics of the student body”.

Devotees of “Beyond the Fringe” (if anyone even remembers it) will understand the temptation I am battling with, to write that the average student body at our school consists of four student limbs, a student torso, a student chest, and is joined to the student head by the student neck. However I am made of strong stuff, and will resist the temptation.

I’m not sure what “contextual information about the School, including the characteristics of the student body” actually means, but will confine myself to facts and say that Candlebark is a day school for children from prep through grade 9, in a forest setting, enrolling 86 students as of the August census in 2009. The typical student body lives in Gisborne, Sunbury or Woodend, and is transported to school by the student bus. However there are about 20 other student bodies scattered in a wide area from Trentham through Daylesford, Castlemaine, Newham, Lancefield, Romsey and Wallan.

Next, we are required to comment on “teacher standards and qualifications as mandated in the relevant jurisdiction”. This seems a little redundant, as we are not allowed to employ unqualified teachers, and to employ a teacher who was not registered by the Victorian Teachers Registration Board would result in heavy fines and, if we persisted, deregistration and closure. But, be comforted in the knowledge that all our teachers are qualified, registered, and generally quite clean.

We are asked to comment on “Workforce composition, including Indigenous composition”: in 2009 we had eight full-time teachers, one 0.8 teachers, one 0.4 teacher, three visiting music teachers, a Business Manager, a Property Manager, a School Manager, a part-time cleaner, a part-time bus driver, and a full-time principal. I haven’t been rude enough to ask any of them about their indigenous composition.

Next is a requirement to discuss student Attendance at school, and the way in which non-attendance is managed by the school. For 2009, we had a student attendance rate of 95%. Parents generally notify us when a student is unable to attend, but when they don’t, we contact them. We don’t have a problem with unauthorised absenteeism.

Student outcomes in standardised national literacy and numeracy testing:

Year 3

All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation & Numeracy for this year level except for one student in three of the categories tested.

Year 5

All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation & Numeracy for this year level except for one student in spelling, and another student in Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation.

Year 7

All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation & Numeracy for this year level except for one student who was below the national minimum standard in four of the categories tested.

Year 9

All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation & Numeracy for this year level except for one student in numeracy.

We are required to give information as to our income, broken down by funding source. Hence the following pie graph:

I recently received some advertising material advertising a new set of textbooks or something similar. It asked six introductory questions.

Are you committed to the Personal Development of your students?
Do you value ‘Positive Relationships’?
Do you believe that TRUST is important?
Are you looking for new program Ideas?
Are you interested in new ways to met Values education outcomes?

Are you looking for new ways to minimise Bullying?

It reminded me of my short career in door-to-door selling when I was 19. We were trained to sell encyclopaedias, using disgraceful tactics. I abandoned the job after knocking on four doors. The main thrust of our sales tactics was to ask customers a series of questions to which they could only answer “yes”, so that they were conditioned to saying “yes” by the time we got to the final question, which was “Would you like to sign just here?”

It would be a brave school that answered “No” to the questions above, “No, we couldn’t give a stuff about personal development and positive relationships actually.”

These annual reports have always required us to write something which will convince those lovable, cute and cuddly bureaucrats, sitting in their remote offices, that we value values, and character development. So let me say that we are committed to the personal development of our students, we value positive relationships, we believe that trust is important, we are always looking for new program ideas and new ways to meet values education outcomes, as well as new ways to minimise bullying.

To this end we continued in 2009 to foster staff development by encouraging, hosting, and/or arranging for teachers to attend workshops or courses in subjects as diverse as the teaching of Spanish, the teaching of Maths, the teaching of reading, as well as more nebulous subjects like “Sustainability leadership & change”, “Learning Today and Tomorrow”, and “Visible Learning” (the last with Professor John Hattie). First aid, bushfire prevention and management, and new technology also came under our scrutiny.

As well as teaching ourselves, or arranging for ourselves to be taught, we taught the kiddies, or arranged for the kiddies to go places where there was a better than average chance that they might learn something. Groups of students went to places or spectacles like WOMAD, Canberra, the haute couture exhibition in Bendigo, Billy Elliot, ballets like Firebird and the Concorde program and workshops with Tasdance, the Great Ocean Walk, the Kimberleys, the Melbourne Writers Festival at Kyneton Town Hall, Scienceworks for Star Wars, “Fresh Science” at the Melbourne Museum, the Science Experience at Latrobe University, a canoe trip along the Murray River, Questacon and Parliament House and other places of interest in Canberra, the Salvador Dali exhibition, and the Melbourne Film Festival for kids. The students met, heard from and interacted with people like Professor John Hattie, flamenco exponents Paul and Lee, footballer/politician Justin Madden, writer Andy Griffiths, artist Shaun Tan, mathematician Dr. Gaye Williams, the producers and directors of the movie “Tomorrow, When the War Began”, charity worker Mother Anita from India, footysack exponent Dan Ednie, a wonderful range of international backpackers, chess teacher Nick Gibson, the Otesha cycling group, and on a regular basis, students and teachers from Sunbury Special School… as well as echidnas, snakes, kangaroos, koalas and wallabies….

Using our own resources we staged a History Week, which offered the opportunity to explore specialized historical topics in considerable depth. The range included The Black Death, History of Sailing Ships, the New Testament, the Renaissance, The Seven Wonders of the World, Bushrangers, and the French Revolution. One of the outcomes involved the whole school getting held up by bushrangers as we were completing a cross-country run, and being taken down to Stringybark Creek where we witnessed a shootout between Ned Kelly’s gang and the police.

And a week-long Drama Festival, which resulted in audiences moving from a scene from Berthold Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, enacted on an old buggy behind the amenities block, down to the creek to see a fantastical performance among the autumn leaves by preps and grade ones. Drama was further enhanced by the adventurous and delightful midyear production of The Real Inspector Hound, along with a short second play, Catastrophe, and later the end of year musical Sanctuary Springs, written by staff-member Scott Hatcher, set to music by Taran Carter, and choreographed by Sarita Ryan, with Rosie Leverton and Belinda Saltmarsh-Kram. We had a real hit with this, and the performance was enhanced further for many of us by our awareness of the number of individual stories of challenges set and triumphantly met during the rehearsals and performances.

We also had many sleepovers and camps, and took the entire school to a four-day camp at Anglesea. We participated successfully in the Premier’s Reading Challenge, and continued a strong commitment to chess, which started to bear fruit in one respect at least: success in local tournaments which in turn earned us entry to the Interschool State championships, an unusual achievement for a school our size.

And that, dear friends in the Department of This and the Department of That, is a limited picture of our school in 2009, or in other words, our official annual report.

STATUTORY ANNUAL REPORT 2008

Yes folks, another riveting charge through a year in the life of Candlebark, as required by the Australian Government Programmes for Schools Quadrennial Administrative Guidelines 2005 to 2008.

Staff Retention and Attendance

In 2008, Candlebark had 7 full time teachers including the Principal, plus 5 part time teachers, 3 visiting instrumental teachers, and two aides employed to provide support for children with learning difficulties. Two part-time teachers and two full-time teachers left at the end of the year. This may sound a lot, but none seemed to be leaving through dissatisfaction with the school; quite the contrary. One however left because a position was abolished. The staff attendance rate was 97%.

Student Attendance

In 187 teaching days we had 447 absences, representing an attendance rate of 97.14%

Staff Professional Development

Among external courses/seminars/conferences attended by staff in 2008 were ones in special education, Italian, first aid, positive interventions with children who present challenging behaviours, reading, ballet teaching, and the teaching of phonics. Additional to this is school initiated professional development, which in 2008 included the teaching of Maths, with Dr Gaye Williams; of Science, with Dr Jenny Sharwood; of literacy, with Stephen Graham; a psychotherapeutic approach to issues that arise within schools, with Carolyn Aston; and workshops and symposia in various other subject areas. $9568.10 was spent on staff professional development.

Value Added

Candlebark adds value in many different ways, for example by offering a weekly programme of activities which has included first aid, 500 (that’s the card game) in Spanish, gardening, knitting, drama, pottery, cooking, Italian, basketball skills, hockey skills, animation, Rube Goldberg Machines, film-making, writing, and many others. Although a small school, we have many camps, excursions and sleepovers, which in 2008 included bike camps, a ski trip, a camp in Melbourne, hiking (in the Grampians, along the Cross-Cut Saw, and from Trentham to Kerrie), a camp in Beechworth, six weeks in Italy for the Year 9’s, the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, as well as bush camping, tours of the Australian Ballet Headquarters, and many more.

Values

Values and character development are important to us. We are probably unique among Australian schools in this respect. We expect students to value niceness over evil, be inclusive, and take on responsibilities that challenge them to aspire to higher levels. A great deal of staff time and energy goes into creating a climate that is positive and benevolent. We encourage students to think in empathetic and creative ways and we didactically teach communication skills and resilience.

Literacy

We participated enthusiastically – for the second year – in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. 54 students completed the challenge, and 1698 books were read. We continue to use the Fitzroy Reading Method, a phonics-based program, as the foundation of our literacy education, with outstanding results.

Music

Many students learned a musical instrument (piano, guitar, cello) in one-on-one lessons. Dance continued to feature strongly in the school program, with very pleasing outcomes. There were many opportunities for students to have extra dance instruction during their free time. We had a number of concerts and soirees throughout the year, culminating in a production of Kid A, a musical written and producd by a staff member, and which involved every child in the school.

Sport

Formal competitive sport against other schools has never been part of the school’s program, but students played a wide variety of sports during PE, during free time, and during activity sessions. The sports included basketball, soccer, rugby, cricket and tennis. Bike riding, bushwalking, cross country running and orienteering are also featured at Candlebark. In 2008 a school triathlon was held for the second time, which around here means it now qualifies as a Tradition. The triathlon included all students, from Prep to Year nine. In 2008 the school again participated in a touch rugby competition, entering a mixed team of adults and students. We actually won two games.

Other Activities

The Grade 6 students won a trip to the Melbourne Show, as successful finalists in an Art competition, and came home with a life-size fibreglass cow, painted to their design. We’re still wondering where to put the damn thing. The school put on a major musical production of a play called Kid A, an innovative full-length theatrical extravaganza, written by staff member Scott Hatcher. A sophisticated and contemporary/futuristic Christmas story, it explored many aspects of our greed/consumerism driven culture. Chess is an activity that is particularly encouraged. It is part of the school timetable, and a popular activity during free time, with much support from staff.

Academic Outcomes

Candlebark is a non-selective school attracting a wide variety of students. We are required to publish Naplans test results, even though we do not consider them to be of much value: NAPLANS Test results: Year 3: All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation and Numeracy, for this year level. Year 5: All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation and Numeracy, for this year level. Year 7: All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation and Numeracy, for this year level, except for one student who was below the national minimum standard in Writing and Spelling. Year 9: All students exceeded the national minimum standard in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation and Numeracy, for this year level.

Annual Parental Survey

To comply with bureaucratic requirements a parental survey was distributed to all families in early 2009. Only four responses were received. This may be because parents who have concerns about the school don’t wait until they get a survey form after the year is finished to express those concerns. Anyway, the results were very positive, even if not of much statistical significance. The school receives many unsolicited e-mails and other messages from parents, expressing their delight with the school. Parents frequently refer other families looking for a school to Candlebark, but we have so many students seeking places at the school that waiting lists are effectively closed. We regard these as more meaningful criteria than surveys.

Annual Teacher Survey

To comply with bureaucratic requirements a survey of teachers was delivered to all teaching staff in May 2009. None responded. No intimidation or blandishments were employed to bring about this result. It’s more likely that they felt they had better things to do with their time, like, hhmmm, let me guess…. I know, teaching!. The staff members at Candlebark consistently express in words and actions a positive attitude towards the school.

Candlebark’s Teaching Staff 2008

At the highest level of attainment, as specified by the reporting conditions, the academic staff held the following degrees and diplomas: one doctorate, one Masters’ degree, and ten Bachelors’ degrees. Candlebark acknowledges that it uses its best endeavours to ensure that it conforms with the relevant Government Acts, both State and Federal relating to educational institutions. Immunisation Requirements for School Enrolment 1. The school acknowledges its responsibilities under the Public Health (Amendment) Act 1992 (The Act) in relation to the control of vaccine-preventable diseases. 2. Parents enrolling their children are required to provide the school with an Immunisation Certificate. 3. In the event of an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, the school upholds the provisions of the Act requiring that un-immunised children are excluded from the school for the duration of the outbreak. The word “outbreak” in The Act is used in the context of a child enrolled at the school suffering from a vaccine-preventable disease.

STATUTORY ANNUAL REPORT 2007

Once again we have to write one of these as a requirement of the Australian Government Programmes for Schools Quadrennial Administrative Guidelines 2005 to 2008.

Staff Retention and Attendance

In 2007, Candlebark had 5 full time teachers including the Principal, 5 part time teachers, 3 visiting instrumental teachers, and 1 learning support teacher. The learning support teacher continued the tradition of learning-support-teachers-not-staying-long, and resigned a week before the end of the academic year. That caused a little flurry of excitement, especially for people with too much time on their hands. A part-time music teacher left during the year, and a full-time teacher left at the end of the year. The staff attendance rate was 97%.

Student Attendance

The student attendance rate for 2007 was 93.5%

Staff Professional Development

Among external courses attended by staff in 2007 were ones in special education, first aid, and the teaching of phonics. Additional to this is school initiated professional development, which included the teaching of Maths, and workshops and symposia in various other subject areas. This year we’re also required to report the amount we spend on professional learning. This is meaningless for us, as we take full advantage of our contacts, the network of nice people who wish the school well, and our own experience and expertise to put together an active programme at minimal cost. But anyway, we spent $2009 on this item in 2007.

Value Added

Candlebark adds value in many different ways, for example by offering a weekly programme of activities which has included sewing, knitting, drama, pottery, weaving, cooking, Italian, basketball skills, soccer skills, animation, rugby skills, writing, and many others. We also have many camps, excursions and sleepovers, which in 2007 included trips to the Immigration Museum, Scienceworks at Bendigo, the Guggenheim exhibition, the Pixar animation exhibition, Cirque du Soleil, the Cathedral Ranges, Rye Beach, the Human Body Exhibition at Docklands, the Incomplete World Exhibition, the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Holocaust Museum, the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, the Chinese Museum at Bendigo, as well as bush camping, performances by the Australian Ballet, a performance by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and many more. Values and character development are important to us. Who would have thought?

Values

We expect students to show kindness and courtesy towards others, and we encourage them to take on many responsibilities. A great deal of staff time and energy goes into creating a climate which is positive and benevolent. We encourage students to think in empathetic and creative ways and we didactically teach communication skills and resilience.

Music

Many students learned a musical instrument (piano, guitar, voice, cello) in one-on-one lessons. Dance featured strongly in the school program; every student at Candlebark is a dancer. There were many opportunities for students to have extra dance instruction during their free time. We had a number of concerts and soirees throughout the year, culminating in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Sport

Formal competitive sport against other schools is not currently part of the school’s program, but students played a wide variety of sports during PE, during free time, and during activity sessions. The sports included basketball, soccer, rugby, cricket and tennis. Bike riding, bushwalking, cross country running and orienteering are also featured at the school. In 2007 a school triathlon was held for the first time — it included all students, from Prep to Year eight. We also participated for the first time in a touch rugby competition, entering two teams of students, and a mixed team of adults and students.

Other activities

The school put on a major musical production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, blending Shakespeare with Gilbert and Sullivan and a variety of dance numbers in a show which involved all students and was probably the greatest theatrical event ever staged at the Romsey Mechanics’ Hall. Chess is an activity that is particularly encouraged. It is part of the school timetable, and a popular activity during free time, with much support from staff.

Academic Outcomes

Candlebark is a non-selective school attracting a wide variety of students. AIM Tests Of our students who sat for the AIM tests in 2007, all Year 7 students exceeded the national benchmarks, except for two who were below the national benchmarks in numeracy. (This assessment comprises reading, writing, and numeracy). In Grade 5, all students exceeded all national benchmarks. In Grade 3, all students exceeded all national benchmarks.

Annual Parental Survey

As required, a parental survey was distributed to all families in mid-2008. The response rate was about 17%. The results were extremely positive, even if not very statistically significant. The school receives many unsolicited e-mails and other messages from parents, expressing their delight with the school. Parents frequently refer other families looking for a school to Candlebark, but we have so many students seeking places at the school that waiting lists are effectively closed.

Annual Teacher Survey

As required, a survey of teachers was delivered to all teaching staff in mid–2008. None responded. No intimidation or blandishments were employed to bring about this result. They possibly felt they had better things to do with their time. The staff at Candlebark consistently express an idealistic and dedicated commitment to the school and are thoroughly engaged in curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Candlebark’s Academic Staff 2007

At the highest level of attainment, as specified by the reporting conditions, the following degrees and diplomas were held by the eight academic staff: one doctorate, one Masters’ degree, six Bachelors’ degrees.

STATUTORY ANNUAL REPORT 2006

This collection of bland generalisations and relatively meaningless statistics, produced as a requirement of the Australian Government Programmes for Schools Quadrennial Administrative Guidelines 2005 to 2008 is designated the Candlebark Annual Report for 2006.

Staff Retention and Attendance

In 2006, Candlebark had 4 full time teachers, 3 part time teachers, 2 visiting instrumental teachers, and 2 support staff. During 2006 one of the support teachers left, and was replaced, and at the end of 2006 one part time teacher left. This gives an overall staff retention rate of 91%. The staff attendance rate was 98.3%.

Student Attendance

The student attendance rate for 2006 was 95.3%

Staff Professional Development

Among courses attended by staff in 2006 were the Victorian Principal’s Conference, AISWA Conference, first aid courses, courses on Bloom’s taxonomy and on the teaching of phonics. Additional to this is school initiated professional development.

Value Added

Candlebark adds value in many different ways, for example by offering a weekly programme of activities which can range from basketball to knitting, from cooking to ceramics. We also have many camps, excursions and sleepovers, which in 2006 included trips to theatre, ballet, CERES, circuses and a factory. Values and character development are important to us.

Values

Music

Just under 50% of the students learned a musical instrument (piano, guitar, voice, cello) in one-on-one lessons. A voluntary choir met at lunchtimes and dance featured strongly in the school program. There were many opportunities for students to have extra dance instruction during their free time. We had a number of concerts and soirees throughout the year, culminating in a production of A Christmas Carol.

Sport

Formal competitive sport against other schools is not part of the school’s program, but students played a wide variety of sports during PE, during free time, and during activity sessions. The sports included basketball, soccer, rugby, cricket and tennis. Bike riding, bushwalking, cross country running and orienteering are particular features of the school’s program.

Other activities

The school put on a major musical production of A Christmas Carol which involved all students. Chess is an activity that is particularly encouraged. It is part of the school timetable, and a popular activity during free time, with much support from staff.

Academic Outcomes

Candlebark is a non-selective school, and in our first year we attracted a wide variety of students. AIM Tests Of our students who sat for the AIM tests in 2006, 100% of Year 7 students exceeded the national benchmarks. This assessment comprises reading, writing, and numeracy. In Grade 5, all students exceeded the national benchmarks except for two students whose reading was below the national benchmark. In Grade 3, all students but one exceeded the national benchmarks.

Annual Parental Survey

A parental survey was distributed to all families in mid-2007. The response rate was 6%. The results, although positive, are statistically insignificant. The school receives many unsolicited e-mails and other messages from parents, expressing their delight with the school. Parents frequently refer other families looking for a school to Candlebark, but we have so many students seeking places at the school that waiting lists are effectively closed.

Annual Teacher Survey

A survey of teachers was delivered to all teaching staff in mid–2007. One teacher responded. The results, although positive, are statistically insignificant. The staff at Candlebark consistently express an idealistic and dedicated commitment to the school.

Candlebark’s Academic Staff 2006

At the highest level of attainment, as specified by the reporting conditions, the following degrees and diplomas were held by the seven teaching staff: one doctorate, three Masters’ degrees, seven Bachelors’ degrees, seven Diplomas, and two certificates.