Sancta Maria College .::. Annual Report 2008

The fifth year of Sancta Maria College commenced with a student roll of 866 students. (408 boys and 458 girls). Included in these figures are the 17 International Students (7 male and 10 female). The total roll represents a 15% increase. The majority of the students increase was generated at Year 7 (139) students. Most of these students were from Our Lady Star of the Sea School (74% - of Year 6) and St Marks School (57% – of Year 6). The percentage take from each of these schools was consistent with the pattern from previous years. Students in Year 7 came from 24 contributing schools. The same number as in 2007. 2008 was our first year with year 13 students. There were 78 on the roll, (31 male and 47 female). This represented a 75% retention rate from Y12 into Y13.

Property Development in 2008 included the opening of St Anne Black (3 level, 12 classroom block) in August and a Board of Trustees funded storage shed. The Diocese funded the extensive renovations to the front car park and the side car park in preparation for the construction of the primary school that is due to open in 2010. Plans for the Gymnasium were finalized with construction due to start in January 2009. The Board also funded the cricket nets and the outside basketball court area. Fr Ezio’s (Liaison Priest) house was placed on site in June.

The academic results at Level 1, 2 and 3 NCEA were outstanding with pass rates of 91%, 97.3% and 65.3% respectively. All three pass rates are significantly above the national average

The Special Character remained a focus as we continued to establish strong Catholic values. We were greatly advantaged by having Fr Ezio Blasoni join us on site. Our foundation Director of Religious Studies resigned at the end of the year and we acknowledge the significant contribution that Susan McDonald made to the development of the Special Character at the school.

ANNUAL PLAN 2008

Analysis of Variance

1. PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Differentiated learning was a professional learning focus for the year. The target of 4 professional learning sessions per term for the staff was achieved in Term 1 and Term 2. In term 3 there were two sessions and in term 4 there was one allocated session. There were a combination of whole staff and department focused meetings. The reason for the fewer sessions in Term 3 and 4 was the requirement for the staff to focus on the new student management system that the school decided to move to during the year and the introduction of the New Zealand Curriculum.   The target of each department having at least 4 differentiated Units of work in their schemes by the end of 2008 was achieved with most departments having significantly more than the targeted number

2.             CRITICAL THINKING

The target in this area was not achieved as Critical Thinking did not become focus in 2008 except in it’s relation to differentiated Learning and ICT. Many staff are familiar with a number of the Critical Thinking strategies and are quite comfortable with their implementation and are able to share with others. While there were no specific Professional Learning sessions, Critical Thinking was a common theme in our discussions. The focus for the ICT Cluster in 2009 will be based around Critical Thinking

3.             ICT
SEOnet Cluster completed its second year as part of the MOE’s ICT initiative. We strengthened our connections with Elim Christian College and Our Lady Star of the Sea through Cluster show-case presentations, Lead teacher meetings and by liaising closely with the SEOnet facilitator Peter Sim.

·            Several teachers attended the Learning@schools conference in Rotorua and we sent an enthusiastic team to represent
          Sancta Maria College to the ULEARN conference in Christchurch.

·            Peter Sim continued to offer support to many staff in 2008 and we are already noticing greater confidence amongst staff
          in the use of ICT as an integral part of teaching and learning programmes. Many staff have shared their knowledge and

          ideas at meetings.

·            We worked hard to develop a SEOnet Inquiry Learning Model, fitting with the New Curriculum and Year 7 and 8 staff
          attended several Professional Learning sessions focusing on Research and Pedagogy. The Inquiry Model will be

shared school wide in 2009 as we embark on our ‘Hooked on Thinking’ PD, and will embrace SOLO Taxonomy as a common practice. Representatives from the core subjects will form a staff team to promote this initiative to Departments.

The use of ICT for enhanced Teaching and Learning continues to be a focus at the college. The cluster with Our Lady Star of the Sea and Elim Christian School continues to be of enormous benefit to staff and students. Staff are growing in confidence in the use of ICT and are exploring more innovative methods of using the tool as a means of supporting enquiry learning. The use is such that the Board of Trustees is funding an extra computer

laboratory at the school in 2009. Specific questions and feedback in the Staff Appraisal Process, together with classroom observations by the appraiser indicated a strong move by the staff in the effective use of ICT.

4.             ASSESSMENT FOR BETTER LEARNING

Use of PATs and asTTle.

At the beginning of the year staff experienced two professional Learning sessions based around the effective use of assessment concentrating on PAT and asTTle.

At the meetings, staff were given the asTTle scores of all year 8-10 students and encouraged to record them as the base for differential learning within the classroom. Year 9 teachers and the Year 10 teachers were released as a group to discuss the assessment results and to co-ordinate strategies in relation to specific students.

The student related goals were to have the average asTTle number/algebra reading levels one grade higher than in 2007, and continue to be above the national average.

Student Based Goals

          AsTTle results clearly indicate that Middle School students are achieving exceptionally well.

          Year 7 students are working at the average:

          Number:                                      Level 4P (Number / Algebra)

          Strand:                                         Level 4B (Stats, Measurement, Geometry)

          Reading:                                      Level 4P

          Year 8 students are achieving (average):

          Number / Algebra:                     Level 4A

          Strand:                                         Level 4P

          Reading:                                      Level 4P

          Year 9 students are achieving (average)

          Number:                                      Level 5B

          Reading:                                      Level 5P

          Year 10 students are achieving:

          Number:                                      Level 5A

          Reading:                                      Level 5A

These results show that our targets were met and we are achieving well above the NZ average for a similar school (co-ed decile)

5.             NUMERACY

There were clear improvements made by students in year 7 to 10 when comparing AsTTle results.

At the beginning and end of the Year, students in Year 7 to 10 took AsTTle tests on the same topics so that a comparison would be made and an indication of value added.

For example Year 9

The average Year 9 student should be top of NC level 4/bottom of level 5

There was a wide range of abilities within each class

AsTTle results at the end of year 9 for a sample class were

4B           4P           4A           5B           5P           5A           6B           6P           6A

3            2           8                3              5              5              3                              1

This shows a very interesting range of abilities

Improved                               18

Stayed the same 8

Worse                                    4

Clearly students have improved and are at the expected level or better in most cases (those in bold).

NCEA

100% of students in 2007 achieved Numeracy (8 or more credits)

In 2008 two students did not gain the necessary 8 Numeracy credits. One of these students had learning difficulties and did well to manage to pass a unit standard. The other student should have passed but had a difficult home situation and was not able to study and fell short by 2 credits. This gives a percentage Numeracy pass rate of 98.5%.

Again this is exceptional.

6.             NCEA EXAMINATIONS

The target was that the percentage pass rate for the year 11, 12 and 13 NCEA students is at least 5% above the National average for a school of similar decile. Results clearly indicate that this target was exceeded at all three levels:

NCEA Results 2008

Again, the students have performed exceptionally well with over all pass rates exceeding national results for All Schools; Decile 8 Schools; Decile 8 – 10 Schools; and in most cases Decile 10 Schools:

Percentage Figures

Sancta Maria College

%

National

%

Decile 8

%

Decile 8 – 10 %

Decile 10

%

Level 1

91

62.4

71.7

73.2

71.7

Merit

34.3

17.3

23

26.4

29.7

Excellence

9

4.6

5.9

8.3

10.8

Sancta Maria College

%

National

%

Decile 8

%

Decile 8 – 10 %

Decile 10

%

Level 2

97.3

65.4

73.2

73

69.5

Merit

24.3

12.3

15.3

18.6

21.2

Excellence

5.4

3.1

3.7

5.2

7.1

Sancta Maria College

%

National

%

Decile 8

%

Decile 8 – 10 %

Decile 10

%

Level 3

65.3

53.1

60.2

62.9

63.6

Merit

13.3

11.0

12.9

16

18.6

Excellence

4.0

2.6

3.0

4

5.1

2006

2007

2008

Level 1

93.3

93

91

Level 2

95.2

97.3

Level 3

65.3

Scholarship candidates were identified and were offered supplementary tuition and key note addresses by previous scholarship winners from other schools (as this was our first year with Yr 13 students). In-house support was given by staff who covered topics around thought processes required in handling the scholarship level. Results were very pleasing and reflected the success of the target. The programme will be further enhanced in 2009.

Outcomes                             6 students                             gained scholarships

                                                1 student                               gained 4 scholarships

                                                1 student                               gained an outstanding scholarship

A total of 10 Scholarships were gained.

Gifted and talented students achieved well in the school Academic Honours Awards and in the gaining of endorsed certificates.

Academic Honours Awards

To achieve Academic Honours Awards students must achieve the following:

Level 3          Gold                60 or more Credits with Excellence

                        Silver              60 or more Credits with Excellence or Merit

Level 2          Gold                60 or more Credits with Excellence

                        Silver              60 or more Credits with Excellence or Merit

Level 1          Gold                80 or more Credits with Excellence

                                                80 or more Credits with Excellence or Merit

Level 3 2008

         3 students gained Gold Awards

         6 students gained Silver Awards

To gain “Endorsement” from NCEA you need to gain 50 credits with Excellence or Merit

Level 3

         3 students gained Endorsement with Excellence                                   4%

         10 students gained Endorsement with Merit                                            13.3%

Level 2

         NCEA Endorsement:

                 18 students gained Endorsement with Merit                24%                   (17.2%) (Brackets indicate 2007

                                                                                                                                                                percentages)

         4 students gained Endorsement with Excellence 5.4%                        (4%)

Academic Honours

         2            Gold Awards                          2.7%                      (2%)

         12          Silver Awards                                                        16.2%               (13.1%)

Level 1

         12 students gained Endorsed with Excellence             9%                     (7.1%)

         46 students gained Endorsed with Merit                        34%                   (32%)

Academic Honours

         2            Gold Awards                          1.5%                      2007   No Award

                                                                                                                     2006     (2%)

         14          Silver Awards                                                     10.5%   2007     (10.7%)

                                                                                                                     2006     (11.6%)

7.             GIFTED AND TALENTED

Students at lower levels were identified and taken on a weekend excursion to develop self awareness and leadership skills. Follow up sessions were held throughout the year. The above results reflect the initial success of the programme.

8.             MAORI AND PASIFIKA
Target:

The percentage pass rate for Maori and Pasifika students at year level 1, 2 and 3 NCEA are higher than the national average.

Students were identified within each class and progress was monitored throughout the year. A homework club was established to support the students and regular meetings with parents were held.

Results:

There were 21 Pasifika students at Level 1. 18 of these students (86%) gained their Level 1 certificate, 5 at Merit Level.

At Level 2 and 3 there were a total of 20 Pasifika students studying multi level courses. 16 of these students (80%) gained either Level 2 or Level 3 certificate.

9 Maori students entered NCEA Level 1. All 9 (100%) gained their Level 1 certificate.

At Level 2 and 3 there were 3 Maori students. 2 gained Level 2 certification and 1 gained Level 3. The results in both Pasifika and Maori students are above the national means.

These groups will remain as a focus for 2009 to ensure continued success.

9.             LITERACY AND NUMERACY

Target:

Literacy and Numeracy rates for level 1 NCEA continues at a rate greater than 90 %

At level 1 96.3% of the students gained their literacy requirement and 98.5% gained their Numeracy requirement. This compares with a national average of 77.3% and 84.9% respectively.

Target achieved

Level 2 and 3 Literacy targets are the focus for 2009

10.          EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

An EEO co-ordinator has been appointed and a database has been established on all Board of Trustees employees. A questionnaire has been devised for all applicants for all positions to gain feedback so as to profile potential and successful applicants. An EEO target for 2009 has been set.

P Daley

Principal

March 2009