School+Leaving+Age+Innovation+Projects

Congratulations to the following Western Sydney schools on their successful applications for funding: Engagement and Retention Continuum at Glenwood High School ||< **Rationale**: Glenwood High School aims to improve student confidence in learning via structured approaches for all Stage 6 students and help them achieve an HSC with value added results. Increasing education/career options for disengaged students and those who would have finished school at 15 to seek TAFE or work options prior to 2009, is a priority. Project 2: Professional Practice for whole school improvement in teaching & learning – PLT (cross faculty professional learning teams) Groups 2012 || **__Project 1__**: The introduction of the NSLA has focussed teachers on re-writing programs for the senior school to include a variety of teaching strategies which take into account the learning styles and needs of a wider range of students. Since 2009 the school has implemented a program to include Year 10 in the senior school with a clear focus on high expectations and the belief that all students will complete Year 12. Faculty plans outline specific actions that the faculty will use to address student engagement in the senior school through quality curriculum teaching, learning and assessment design. In the context of 60 new scheme teachers a sustained and relevant professional learning program is essential within each faculty. Faculty professional learning plans identify key issues from the school plan and from the evidence of the annual faculty reports to enable the faculty to build knowledge and capacity of teachers to achieve their set targets. **__Project 2__**: Each professional learning team (each with 5 – 15 teachers) is addressing an issue identified in the school plan where a whole school focus in 2012 – 14 would make a significant difference to student outcomes. Each team is being led by an “expert” identified by the school. Each team has two roles and tasks to achieve in 2012. By focusing on aspects of curriculum, assessment, teaching & learning, the school’s teaching staff intends to: Pedagogy and high expectations || School structures such as timetable and subject choices are too rigid and fail to provide for individual need. A culture shift has occurred due to variation in enrolment and clientele resulting in a need for differentiated curriculum and learning experiences to cater to student diversity. Provision of strategies for underachieving students. Need to expand community partnership involvement in student learning and outcomes. Need to teach and focus on the whole child through understanding of innovative quality teaching pedagogy. Data analysis indicates the need to address literacy and numeracy issues in Stage 5 in order to achieve better outcomes for these students. ||
 * = School ||= Project Title ||= Specific issue/s to be addressed ||
 * = **Kellyville High School ** ||= Going to University, Running a Business, Going to Work ||< * **Launch the program entitled “Going to University, Running a Business, Getting to Work”** as a unique and innovative program devised by our school to be implemented for all of our students.
 * This program seeks to address the needs of all the students at our school and those captured by the New School Leaving Age who wish they could leave school but have no idea what they want to do. These students have poor attendance, high suspension rates, welfare referrals and low assessment task submission rates. The school needs to support students and their parents to understand the breadth of decision making required for the students’ future. The implementation of this program will provide multiple, continuous opportunities for students for their future. ||
 * = **Quakers Hill High School ** ||= Flexible Delivery Employment Skills and Community Partnerships Initiative (Project Based Enterprise Learning) ||< Enhancing access for disengaged and/or underperforming students to a range of learning activities and projects that will:
 * improve employability skills for individuals who wish to pursue a variety of alternative education or employment options which meet New School Leaving Age criteria.
 * improve the school’s relationship with the wider community through creative and sustainable partnerships. ||
 * = **Springwood High School ** ||= ‘School is for you: promoting student engagement through effective senior school pedagogies’ ||< Specifically, the initiative will:
 * acknowledge that students are “consequential stakeholders” (Groundwater-Smith and Mockler) in our school by making them action research partners in the process of identifying effective senior school pedagogies that they find engaging and effective
 * assist teachers to enact best practice senior school pedagogies through a process of self-regulated professional learning (Russell, 2012), informed by rigorous individual and collective analysis of student engagement and attainment in the senior school
 * increase the visibility of learning at SHS by establishing higher levels of congruence in Years 10 and 11, and then subsequently Year 9 and Year 12, between assessment processes, adult learning principles and the findings of the proposed action research into effective senior school pedagogies, supporting the introduction of the Record of School Achievement (RoSA) at SHS
 * support and enhance proposed structural changes in the senior school, designed to ensure the provision of a relevant and diverse range of subject offerings, by enacting a complementary focus on high standards in curriculum delivery and related self-regulated professional learning. ||
 * = **Glenwood High School ** ||= A New Student Engagement Officer: Developing a Year 9 to Year 12
 * Method**: The employment of a //__Student Engagement Officer__// for one day per week (0.2) to coordinate a number of new initiatives including working as a transition officer, running the school’s Tutorial Learning Centre, providing professional learning to staff on the explicit teaching of learning and responding, working with disengaged students and investigating new curriculum options. The teacher will be relieved of ten periods per fortnightly cycle to manage these school systems. Currently, disengaged students work with careers advisers, year advisers and deputy principals (who have many other duties) and the //__Student Engagement Officer__// will ensure a more effective school to work transition for these students. This will help achieve Goal 15 of the //NSW State Plan// by increasing the amount of students completing the HSC and/or TAFE. ||
 * **Rooty Hill High School ** ||= Project 1: Faculty professional learning to enhance teaching and learning in the senior curriculum (Years 10-12) and ensure the successful implementation of ROSA
 * 1) Engage in sustained and deep professional learning that can then be shared with other teachers in faculty and whole school professional development sessions. (building teacher capacity and expertise)
 * 2) Develop new processes and learning products to be used to improve teacher practice in the classroom and improve student outcomes. (building student expectations and achievement) ||
 * **Northmead High School ** || Linking Quality Teaching and Student Engagement  || Personalised learning engagement
 * Differentiation
 * Project Based Learning
 * Drumbeats
 * **Parramatta High School ** || PHS Gateways Program – Stage 5: Student Retention, Motivation and Engagement: Better Options Better Outcomes  || Disengaged students who are poor attenders and lack motivation.