Analysis
An analysis is a summary that provides explanation, evaluation and clarification of a collection of evidence. It provides links to practices across the school and validates the school's on-balance judgement for identified element/s of the SEF.
Things to consider
What impact does the evidence demonstrate:
- at a school-wide level?
- at a stage or faculty level?
- for staff and/or community?
- on the learning and/or wellbeing outcomes for the students?
The analysis may include:
- the impact or the desired change over time
- how the evidence informs future directions towards further school improvement
- reference to the piece/s of annotated evidence
- a description of the impact of the relevant artefacts
- reference to the Statement of Excellence and/or themes from element/s.
Analysis school samples
Hamilton Public School
School context
Hamilton Public School is an important hub in the local community. The school is committed to continual improvement and is focussed on ensuring that all students believe that they can be high achievers and strive to do their best. Hamilton Public School is a proud member of the Newcastle Local Management Group of schools with a current FOIE of 43. Hamilton Public School has an enrolment of 317 students including 7% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and 6% of students having a language background other than English.
Our school is a place where staff, students and the community strive for excellence. We provide a caring and safe learning community that encourages all students and staff to reach their full potential. Our staff are enthusiastic and dedicated professionals who cater for individual students through quality practices that are underpinned by high expectations.
Hamilton Public School supports the development of the whole child and offers many extra-curricular activities including chess, drumming, dance, band, coding, STEM activities and mindfulness. Our major initiative, Nature Play, has been a great success, resulting in improved wellbeing for all students as it encourages cooperation, inclusion, persistence, resilience, creativity and critical thinking. We are actively involved with the Children's University Program run by the University of Newcastle and promote the ethos of lifelong learning. The implementation of Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) across the school has also supported student wellbeing.
Areas of strength
This analysis supports one element of the SEF and references the associated themes. It:
- clearly references the artefacts;
- uses the statement of excellence as an overarching statement for the analysis with an on-balance judgement identified, and
- clearly articulates future-focused directions.
Link
Holsworthy High School
School context
Holsworthy High School is a comprehensive school with approximately 600 students located within close proximity to Holsworthy Army Barracks. 64 students belong to Defence Force families. 30 students have identified as Aboriginal and 156 have a language background other than English.
The school is recognised for its exemplary student welfare practices. It offers a variety of innovative programs with students participating and excelling in a wide range of academic, sporting, cultural and artistic endeavours.
Holsworthy High School has a very strong partnership with its Community of Schools to assist the transition across stages, professional development of staff and increase learning opportunities for all students. Annual activities include the Community of Schools concert, NAIDOC week celebrations, STEM projects and various curriculum activities during Book Week and Science Week.
The school has a highly experienced and knowledgeable staff that are dedicated to providing students with a quality education. Various extra-curricular activities are offered allowing students to reach their full academic, social and creative potential.
Holsworthy High School has an active Parents and Citizens Association who regularly contribute to school improvement through programs such as the Community Garden. Strong Defence partnerships are developed through the Defence School Mentor, with school ANZAC and Remembrance Day ceremonies being large community events.
Areas of strength
This analysis details the four elements addressed in the evidence set. It:
- provides a clear reference to the artefacts and annotated evidence, and
- details statements which make specific reference to the SEF and support an informed on-balance judgement.
Link
Speers Point Public School
School context
Speers Point Public School is seen as a small school with both mainstream and support classes catering for all students in a very family focused environment. Along with the mainstream classes, Speers Point is proud of their four support classes, including two multi-categorical, one Autism and one intellectually moderate support unit classes.
This whole school inclusion is a very integral aspect of the school and is widely regarded, respected and preserved by all community members. All staff focus on the education and wellbeing of all students across the school. The school has an average FOEI of 123 (2019) and whole school population of 156 students (2019). Given the change in demographics in the local area the school population has grown 30% since 2015. The whole community is extremely proud and supportive of their school.
Speers Point Public School has firmly embedded learning and wellbeing practices into its whole school and classroom practices with the key expectations of Safe, Respectful, Responsible, Achievers. Speers Point is a proud member of the Lake Macquarie Area Collegiate (L-MAC) community of schools in the West Lake Macquarie area.
In 2017, Speers Point became an Early Action for Success (Phase 2) school and has a strong focus on best teaching practices and pedagogies.
Areas of strength
This is an analysis of a whole evidence set. It:
- clearly references four elements of the SEF and strongly validates the on-balance judgments;
- references the artefacts within in the evidence set, and
- provides explicit future directions for continuous improvement.
Link
Wiripaang Public School
School context
Wiripaang Public School is a K-6 school, situated in the suburb of Gateshead in the city of Lake Macquarie. Of the school's 210 students in 2019, 33% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Wiripaang Public School has 11 classes, 8 mainstream and 3 within a Support Unit. The Support Unit consists of a Moderate and Severe Intellectual Disability (IO/IS) class, a Mild Intellectual Disability (IM) class and a Multi Categorical (MC) class.
The school services a complex, low socioeconomic community and has a strong focus on high expectations with an ongoing commitment to improving educational outcomes for all of its students and staff. It has a Family Occupation and Education Index (FOEI) of 192, with the state average being 100.
As a Positive Behaviour for Learning school, the expectation of being a Respectful, Responsible Learner underpins the collective vision of all within our learning community. Wiripaang Public School has a Department of Education appointed Aboriginal Education Officer (AEO) and a self-funded Community Liaison Officer (CLO), both staff members foster valuable links between the local and wider community and the school.
NAPLAN data over the past three years reflects complexity with school performance under that of state expectation but more recently our data indicates that we are outperforming statistically similar schools in areas of Writing, Spelling and Numeracy. The school is an Early Action for Success school which provides extra resources for targeted programs and focusing explicitly on improving student outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy K - 2. Consistent collection and analysis of data, early transition programs, Speech Therapy and intervention programs enhancing the opportunities for students to be taught explicitly at point of need and on their personalised learning path. The school offers successful and varied sporting opportunities and a talented creative and performing arts program. Wiripaang Public School is a proud member of the Waiyarang Community of Schools.
Areas of strength
The attached sample of Wiripaang Public School provides an analysis for one evidence set which references elements, links to the school plan and future directions. It:
- clearly identifies evidence of impact
- clearly and succinctly references the artefacts
- provides a rich analysis, articulating required measures for school improvement.
Link
- Download sample (PDF 117KB)
- See accessibility script for this sample.
Analysis example
Teachers at Sample School display high levels of professionalism and commitment. Lessons and learning opportunities are engaging and evidence-based. This evidence set highlights how all teachers value the importance of learning development and the improvement of student outcomes by working collaboratively in a transparent learning culture towards a common goal.
Explicit and systematic teaching supports our judgement of 'Sustaining and Growing in the Learning Domain element of Assessment'. Routine examination of data collected from various sources including PAT, PLAN and NAPLAN has changed teacher practice. By analysing and interpreting student data teachers are able to make informed decisions about their practice to meet the learning needs of their students (see 3.1.1-3.1.5). Teachers collect and collaboratively evaluate various forms of data in team meetings to inform their teaching. NAPLAN data indicates the majority of students are achieving in Band 5 or 6 for literacy (see 3.1.6). The introduction of PAT testing has also provided baseline data to measure the effectiveness of explicit teaching on student outcomes in literacy and mathematics (see 3.1.7).
In the element of 'Data Skills and Use our evidence supports our judgement of Delivering'. Data analysis informs the school milestones and improvement measures, and teachers and the leadership team use data to inform key decisions about teaching (see 3.1.3, 3.1.6). Teachers are reviewing external assessments as well as internal measures to build consistent judgements (see 3.1.4). Staff expertise is used to support and upskill others in various areas of ICT to support data collection and analysis (see 3.2.1-3.2.3).
In 'Learning and Development our evidence supports Sustaining and Growing'. In team and professional learning meetings teachers are actively engaging in professional discussions. The Learning Sprint tools enable teachers to actively evaluate and target learning and provide explicit feedback to students (see 3.2.4). Teachers use pre and post data to evaluate learning (see 3.2.5-3.2.7). The school identifies expertise within the staff in ICT and draws on this to further develop our professional learning community. Teachers are supported to trial innovative future-focused practices (see 3.2.8-3.2.10).
Our school-determined future directions are to:
- further develop our staff as reflective practitioners
- increase professional learning for all staff members to promote collaboration, observation
- and sharing of future-focused teaching strategies
- use learning goals consistently throughout the school to monitor student progress
- develop school-wide processes to develop quality assessments that promote consistent and comparable judgement of student learning, monitor student learning progress, identify skill gaps for improvement and areas for extension.