Purpose

Daylesford Primary School promotes success for all within a caring community by working with students to:

• Strive for excellence in all aspects of their learning

• Build resilience and develop highly effective social skills

• Show respect for themselves, others and the environment

Build a strong sense of personal identity through participation in our community.

Values

Daylesford Primary School is committed to  'Learning and Growing Together' based on the agreed values:

• Be Respectful

• Be a Responsible Learner

• Be Honest and Trustworthy

• Be Caring and Compassionate

• Be a Good Citizen

Environmental Context

Social – community and demographics

Daylesford is an attractive, historic town located approximately 100km north-west of Melbourne and 40 km north-east of Ballarat in the Central Highlands area, surrounded by a natural environment which includes mineral springs, the Wombat Forest and Lake Daylesford.

Established in 1875, Daylesford Primary School has a current enrolment of 275 children from a diverse community drawn from the extensive hospitality industry, rural outlying locations and the small commercial town centre.  A large number of students travel into school daily by bus. The school has two rural annexes- one at Yandoit and one at Drummond. Each of these schools has enrolments under 20.  While these schools are administered from Daylesford, they are able to develop their own curriculum within the framework of a small multi-age environment. Since 2004, Daylesford Primary  School has experienced declining enrolments as a result of rising real estate prices and declining birth rates in the area. This decline has also been influenced by the establishment of a local community school in 2008. Despite these factors, it is anticipated that enrolments will stabilise at around 270 over the period of this Strategic Plan. Nearly all of the students at Daylesford Primary School continue their education at Daylesford Secondary College – the only secondary school in the town.

In 2007, the school’s SFO density was 0.47 which placed it in the 47th percentile for socio-economic status against all other government schools. This level has been consistent since 2004 and is expected to stay at that level.

The school is staffed by a mix of highly experienced and graduate teachers and is able to provide specialist staffing in the areas of Visual Art, Performing Arts and Italian.  The Library is fully computerised and is staffed by a library technician.

Communication between school and school community is valued and actively promoted. Opportunities for parental involvement are encouraged and are integral to the school programs. These include curriculum implementation, School Council, fund raising and parent education.

Educational

The curriculum at Daylesford Primary School is built around the Victorian Essential Learning Standards and as such, has a strong emphasis not only on the discipline-based areas, particularly literacy and numeracy, but also on the development of personal and inter-personal skills. A structured social competencies program, developed in 2007, will continue to be the cornerstone upon which the school strives to build a positive and productive learning environment.

The school year levels are grouped into junior, middle and senior teaching units that collaborate to provide collegiate support and deliver a high quality education program within their team. Staff are committed to continuing to build their teaching skills in order to deliver a challenging and relevant education for all students. The school has benefited from significant resourcing in the areas of ICT and Numeracy coaching and intends to further develop these areas for the benefit of all students.  Assessment and reporting is based on the VELS progression points and the QuickVIc reporting system has been used for some years. The development of digital learning portfolios for students in years 3 to 6 has enabled ICT to be effectively used as part of the school’s assessment processes.

Students have the opportunity to contribute to the running of the school through the Junior School Council and a House system provides significant leadership opportunities for senior students. In addition to the classroom based programs, students also have the opportunity to participate in the school choir, band, senior extension groups and a wide range of sporting activities at both the local and regional level.

Outside normal school hours, the school offers students activities after school through the Active After School Communities program. Students are also able to access the local After School Care service.

Technological

An injection of significant funding for the school’s Information and Communication Technology infrastructure has enabled the purchase of banks of laptop computers, two interactive whiteboards and a range of digital equipment including still and video cameras. In addition to the existing computer resources, these purchases have enabled students to use a range of technology both for the acquisition of knowledge and skills and also for the presentation of their learning. 

Teachers continue to develop their own skills in the use of emerging technologies in order to extend student learning into the areas of digital animation, film making, use of a wide range of software to demonstrate learning, internet research projects including web quests and digital learning objects.  The school’s own intranet is the main repository for teacher developed curriculum materials, assessment records and the daily communication system. Daylesford Primary School has made a conscious effort to move from a paper-based to a digital communication environment.

Environmental – Grounds and Facilities

Daylesford Primary School is fortunate to be set amongst extensive multi-level grounds that boast three adventure playgrounds, a number of asphalted play areas and also a large oval. In addition, the historic gardens contain many old and significant plants that enhance the overall environment as do a number of large-scale student-created art works located throughout the grounds. 

As a National Trust classified school, Daylesford Primary School has, and continues to undertake extensive major maintenance projects including damp proofing, re-roofing involving slate replacement and interior and exterior painting of the main building.

During 2007, the school established a kitchen garden as part of the students’ educational program. A grant to install a large water tank ensured that the severe water restrictions imposed on the town would not greatly impact on the garden.  The kitchen garden continues to be developed with the generous assistance of many local businesses and students actively participate in the growing, harvesting, cooking and eating of produce.

Goals

Student Learning

To ensure that every student’s learning progress is maximised in Literacy and Numeracy

Student Engagement and Wellbeing

To improve students’ ability to self manage their social and learning behaviours.

Student Pathways and Transitions

To ensure effective social and learning transitions for all children into and through the school.

Targets

Student Learning

• The yearly profile of achievement for each cohort between Years P to 6 will show growth in Literacy and Numeracy

• The proportion of students in the matched school cohort who achieve 1.0 VELS level growth between Year 3 and 5 on the NAPLAN will increase.

The proportion of students missing greater than 14 days per year will be reduced from the baseline figure for 2007.

Student Engagement and Wellbeing

• The mean levels of student opinion for each cohort on the motivation and learning confidence variables will be maintained or increase between Years 3 to 6.

• The proportion of Years 3-6 students achieving at the expected level in the Personal Learning Domain will increase.

The proportion of students missing greater than 14 days per year will be reduced from the baseline figure for 2007.

Student Pathways and Transitions

• The mean opinion score for each cohort on the School Connectedness variables will be maintained or improved, as they move from year 3 to 6.

The level of satisfaction with transition processes as indicated on the Prep Parent Transition Survey will be above 90% in each year of the strategic plan.

Improvement Strategies

Teaching and Learning will be strengthened by:

1. The adoption of a whole school teaching and learning framework (POLT)

2. The implementation of the 5Es instructional model

3. A focus on the building of skills in the teaching of Literacy and Numeracy

4. Linking staff P & D plans to student learning and teaching team goals

5. The development of a school wide assessment regime to gauge student performance in Literacy and Numeracy

6. A whole school approach to the development of responsible learning behaviours.

The school curriculum will be developed by:

1. Reviewing and revising the whole school literacy and numeracy programs

2. Developing a whole school approach to the Personal Learning Domain of the VELS

The tracking of student progress that informs teaching and student support strategies will be improved by:

1. The development of K-P transition plans.

2. The review and development of whole school transition processes that assist students as they move through the school, particularly in regard to Years 2 to 3.

3. The utilisation of the SAR mapping tool.

4. More effective use of 'Track’em'

Improved methods of identifying students with significant levels of absence or lateness.