James cook boys high school

James Cook Boys High School is a comprehensive secondary school located 6km south of the Sydney CBD in the St George District of Kogarah. The school has 377 students, including 8 overseas fee-paying International students and a Special Support Unit comprising of 12 students. The integrated IM (mild intellectual disability) program operates on an inclusive model that provides students with both individual targeted support and opportunities to integrate with mainstream peers.

The school priorities are to improve student academic performance, enhance student learning outcomes, increase student engagement and retention by using the Quality Teaching and Learning framework and wide-ranging student wellbeing programs. Student learning needs are supported through explicit curriculum delivery, formative assessments and focused Teacher Professional Learning (TPL).

Extensive external-agency networks support the emotional and social development of all students. Student leadership is promoted within and beyond the school. The entire student population is represented in all areas of decision-making across the school through a democratically elected Student Representative Council (SRC).

In 2013 the school conducted numerous programs to support student learning. Specific programs included:

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  enrichment and acceleration programs in science, mathematics, music and computing applications
  
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  transition programs with local primary schools as part of the Bayside Learning Community
  
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  talented and accelerated student programs in Visual Arts and PDHPE for primary school students of the Bayside Learning Community
  
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  staff mentoring HSC student programs
  
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  student leadership programs aimed at increasing the leadership capacity throughout the student body
  
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  student peer – tutoring programs in literacy
  
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  student peer - mentoring programs
  
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  Improving Literacy & Numeracy National Partnerships Program
  
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  BEACON Foundation program to successfully transition students from school to further study / employment
  

James Cook Boys High School works with the local community to provide opportunities for all boys to maximise their potential using self-reflection and enquiry.

Our mission is to provide the most effective learning opportunities by working in partnership with students and parents to promote socially responsible behaviour. We aim to ensure a safe, respectful, responsible and engaging learning environment for all students.

The focus of the school is to continue developing a deeper understanding of the skills required in becoming successful 21^ST Century learners. We continue to explore and develop the different types of learning activities and assessments required to maximize student engagement and learning outcomes.

This report gives an overview of our students’ academic, sporting and social achievements in pursuit of their “personal best” at James Cook Boys High School.

I certify that the information in this report is the result of a rigorous school self-evaluation process and is a balanced and genuine account of the school's achievements and areas for development.

Mr T. Vallis

Principal

Parents & Citizens’ message

In 2013, James Cook Boys High School Parent and Citizens Association (P & C) had some

We introduced some much needed fundraising by organising raffles throughout the year. Thank you to all the students and staff who supported our efforts. Money raised by the P & C will be injected back into the school for the purchase of resources that are required. The primary source of funding for the P & C in the future will be the newly introduced annual P & C contribution, which at present is $20 per student, all money raised via this levy will be spent on resources benefiting all the students at JCBH.

We had a number of guest speakers attend our meetings throughout the year and we would like to thank the following people:
Matthew Edwards – English Faculty
Steve Tsaridis – Head Teacher Welfare
Sara Smith – NP Literacy
Michael Keating – LAST
Kathy McDermott – English Faculty

The main objective within the P & C is to promote the interests of the school community by holding an open forum where parents, citizens and staff can articulate their ideas and goals for the students at JCBH. The meetings enable the whole school community to determine the needs and aspirations for the school and it also demonstrates how the partnership between the Principal, teachers, parents, students and community members can help benefit all those involved.

Mrs Margaret Paraskevopoulos –

P & C President
Student representative’s message

James Cook Boys Technology High School’s SRC have been selected from our high achieving student body. It comprises of students who are the leaders of the future and who have demonstrated skills and characteristics that are representative of the schools culture.

We conducted several fundraising events throughout the year to benefit not only our school by building up much needed resources, but also to assist charities in their effort to raise funds and assist in their causes. We thank the P&C for their kind donation of items which we have used in our fundraising drives.

We have helped with the orgainisation of Harmony and Multicultural Days and attended district SRC days which have allowed us to build relationships with peers in nearby schools

Our aim, through the prefect and SRC bodies, is to become the voice of our peers and we are dedicated to improving the perception of our school in the wider community. We encourage student participation in all school based events and are proud ambassadors of this school which has helped develop us from boys into young men.

Kamel El-Chikrawe, Tom Tomasi

2013/14 School Captains

Student information

The school has a culturally diverse student population with 80% of students from a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE). Students from a LBOTE background represent more than 40 different ethnic groups. While a large percentage of students were born in Australia, English is still a second / additional language for many in our school community.

The core values for all students are to respect everyone and to perform to your potential at all times. These primary values are constantly, consistently and vigorously promoted within the school.

Enrolments in 2013 were 377 students. Since 2012, the school has experienced a significant decline in student enrolments.

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  improve the accuracy of class and school rolls
  
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  reduce the administration costs in developing and maintaining attendance data
  
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  shorten the time for school contact with absent student families through faster correlation of absence data and an improved SMS system
  
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  directly link attendance with the school’s student management policies.
  

The year 12 students of 2013 have moved onto the next stage of their lives in a variety of ways. 28 students received multiple offers from the University of Technology Sydney, Sydney University, the University of Western Sydney, CQ University, UNSW Australia, and Macquarie University half of these offers were made by the University of Western Sydney. Private colleges that students have enrolled in are ACPE for Sports Medicine and Bedford College for Education.

Of the 47 students contacted 55% are studying at university or private colleges, 11% undertaking courses at TAFE, 21% working in either fulltime or part-time work, and 13% looking for employment or further study options.

Retention to Year 12

Student retention is a key priority focus area within our school. Strategies used to enhance student retention are the implementation of Quality Teaching & Learning (QTL) programs, a variety of student mentoring programs and personalized tailoring of senior study patterns that are geared towards individual and attainable career pathways.

Eight year 12 students undertook vocational education opportunities at TAFE, three of whom are students from our IM class participating in the Retail Access program. The remaining five TVET students successfully completed their courses in Hairdressing, Automotive Mechanic, Airbrushing, Auto Paint and Panel, and Plumbing. The student who completed the certificate II in Plumbing has now moved onto a fulltime Plumbing apprenticeship.

James Cook had twelve year 12 students enrolled in Vet Business Services. All students undertook the compulsory 70 hour work placement with companies such as the Department of Justice, Attorney General Office, Hurstville Private Hospital, and the Xchange. One of the major benefits students gain from these programs is the compulsory component of “real world” and “hands on” experiences.

The teaching staff comprises of 41 teachers ranging from highly experienced to early career teachers. Also, there are 8 administrative and support staff within the school.

Teaching staff at James Cook Boys High school are located across 8 faculty areas. Each faculty area is supervised by a Head Teacher. Our faculty profile is as follows: English; Mathematics; Science; Human Society In Its Environment (HSIE); Physical Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE); TAS; Languages Other Than English (LOTE) and Creative Arts. Also, the school executive team comprises of one substantive educational support Head Teacher in the area of Welfare.

James Cook Boys High School continues to benefit from the input of highly skilled and motivated staff that lead by example, both in and beyond the classroom, are passionate about their teaching and committed to achieving the best learning outcomes for their students.

The school staff comprises of two teachers with an indigenous background

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirements for teaching in NSW public schools.

Several members of staff are New Scheme Teachers working at various stages in achieving proficiency levels with the Institute of Teachers. These teachers are making an extremely valuable contribution to the progress of quality teaching and learning within the school.
All members of staff are provided with training and development opportunities through School Development days and individual professional learning experiences.

Qualifications	% of staff
Degree or Diploma	100%
Postgraduate	20%
NSW Institute of Teachers Accreditation	25%

Further information regarding staff qualifications may be obtained from the school Principal.

This summary covers funds for operating costs and does not involve expenditure areas such as permanent salaries, building and major maintenance.

School performance 2013

Academic achievements

Reading

Average 5 year data trends (2009 – 2013) reveal the average percentage of Year 9 students achieving minimum standards for Reading was 85.9%. In 2013, the percentage of Year 9 students achieving minimum standards for Reading was 86.5%. This has resulted in an increase of 0.6%.

Similarly, the average percentage of Year 9 students achieving proficiency standards (Bands 9 & 10 ) for Reading was 6.7%. In 2013, the percentage of Year 9 students achieving proficiency standards for Reading was 3%. This has resulted in a 3.7% decrease.

Numeracy

Average 5 year data trends (2009 – 2013) reveal the average percentage of Year 9 students achieving minimum standards for Numeracy was 94%. In 2013, the percentage of Year 9 students achieving minimum standards for Numeracy was 82.4%. This has resulted in a decrease of 11.6%.

Similarly, the average percentage of Year 9 students achieving proficiency standards (Bands 9 & 10 ) for Numeracy was 19.5%. In 2013, the percentage of Year 9 students achieving proficiency standards for Numeracy was 13.7%. This has resulted in a 5.8% decrease.

HSC

When our students’ School Certificate results were mapped against their HSC results, it is apparent that there was significant Value Added / growth of +1.8 in the results of our middle – performing students. The Average Value Added Index shows substantial positive growth in learning for the middle-performing students.

In the National Assessment Program, the results across the Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy and numeracy assessments are reported on a scale from Band 1 to Band 10.

The achievement scale represents increasing levels of skills and understandings demonstrated in these assessments.

Year 7: from Band 4 (lowest) to Band 9 (highest for Year 7) with Bands 6, 7, 8 & 9 achieving above national minimum standards and Bands 8 & 9 achieving proficiency levels.

Year 9: from Band 5 (lowest) to Band 10 (highest for Year 9) with Bands 7, 8, 9 & 10 achieving above national minimum standards and Bands 9 & 10 achieving proficiency levels.

The My School website provides detailed information and data for national literacy and numeracy testing (NAPLAN).

Click on the link http://www.myschool.edu.au

and enter the school name in the Find a school and select GO to access the school data.

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  17% of students achieving proficiency levels in Reading ( NSW 27.2% )
  
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  97.9% of students achieving the minimum standards in Reading ( NSW 93.4% )
  

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  16.6% of students achieving proficiency levels in Writing ( NSW 16.4% )
  
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  79.2% of students achieving the minimum standards in Writing ( NSW 87.6% )
  

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  27.1% of students achieving proficiency levels in Spelling ( NSW 34.3% )
  
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  100% of students achieving the minimum standards in Spelling ( NSW 92.6% )
  

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  29.2% of students achieving proficiency levels in Grammar & Punctuation ( NSW 30.1% )
  
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  87.5% of students achieving the minimum standards in Grammar & Punctuation ( NSW 86.2% )
  

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  29.7% of students achieving proficiency levels in Numeracy ( NSW 27% )
  
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  97.9% of students achieving the minimum standards in Numeracy ( NSW 96% )
  

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  5.8% of students achieving proficiency levels in Reading ( NSW 21% )
  
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  86.5% of students achieving the minimum standards in Reading ( NSW 93.1% )
  

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  7.7% of students achieving proficiency levels in Writing ( NSW 14.2% )
  
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  67.3% of students achieving the minimum standards in Writing ( NSW 75.1% )
  

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  11.5% of students achieving proficiency levels in Spelling ( NSW 22.4% )
  
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  94.2% of students achieving the minimum standards in Spelling ( NSW 91.7% )
  

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  5.8% of students achieving proficiency levels in Grammar & Punctuation ( NSW 19.1% )
  
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  73.1% of students achieving the minimum standards in Grammar & Punctuation ( NSW 84.6% )
  

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  13.7% of students achieving proficiency levels in Numeracy ( NSW 25.5% )
  
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  82.4% of students achieving the minimum standards in Numeracy ( NSW 89% )
  

In the Higher School Certificate, the performance of students is reported in performance bands ranging from Performance Band 1 (lowest) to Performance Band 6 (highest).

When our students’ results were mapped against the school average 5 year data trends (2009 – 2013), the subjects achieving the most significant increases in the 2013 HSC were: Ancient History; Biology; Mathematics and Music.

Course Summary Graphs

There were 73 students who attempted the 2013 Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations.

Note: this data is in relation to the NSW average value-added index of zero

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  Lower performing students had an average value – added index of – 3.9 below the average like schools group
  
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  Middle performing students had an average value – added index of +1.3 above the average like schools group
  
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  Higher performing students had an average value – added index of – 0.3 below the average like schools group
  

Note: this data is in relation to the NSW average value-added index of zero

MUSIC

Extra-curricular activities were organized during recess and lunchtimes whereby different performing ensembles rehearsed and performed a wide range of repertoire that inspired students from years 7 to 12. A number of Music elective students also concentrated on developing their composition skills and demonstrated a special talent that culminated in digital studio recordings. Throughout the year instrumental lessons for the piano, guitar, drums, singing and woodwind were provided.

Towards the end of term 3 there was once again a year 12 Showcase of Music and Visual Art students that was presented in the school’s common room. Students were encouraged to present their HSC performance repertoires to an audience of family, teachers and friends thereby gaining a greater sense of self-confidence and experience in Music performance.

Multi-Cultural Day was celebrated at JCBTHS with a special concert.  A wide range of talented students from years 7 to 12 entertained parents, teachers and students with a very diverse program of entertainment. 

Earlier in the year a number of different performing ensembles entertained visitors to our school for Open Night. On this occasion our students managed to impress everyone with their varied program, technical skills and the efficient process in which they set up their own audio equipment.

TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED STUDIES

For 2013 the Technology and Applied Studies faculty offered the following classes.

Stage 6 – Engineering Studies, Industrial Technology – Timber, Industrial Technology – Electronics, Information Processes and Technology, Software Design and Development.

Stage 5 – Industrial Technology – Timber, Industrial Technology – Electronics, Graphics Technology, Information and software Technology.

Stage 4 – Technology (Mandatory)

The faculty’s staff consisted of 3.8 teachers. HSC results in Engineering Studies were very much above State average, however in IT Timber they were below State average.

The 2013 HSC results in the Mathematics course resulted in 80% of students in the Mathematics course achieving a band 4 or greater this has been an increase of 10% from 2012. In the General Mathematics course James Cook students were 18% also scored a band 4 or greater. Also, in Extension 1 Mathematics 91% score a band E3 or greater while in Extension 2 Mathematics 92% score a band E3 or greater. A special mention goes to Shuai Shao for 1^st Placement in Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Extension 2, Shubhamkumar Prajapati for 1^st placement in Mathematics and Konstantin Tasevski for 1^st in the General Mathematics course. These students are to be commended and congratulated on their hard work and efforts for all their achievements as with the rest of the cohort.

The data for NAPLAN showed a slight decline of 13% results overall throughout the strands of Numeracy Patterns and Algebra, Measurement, Data Space & Geometry and Numeracy. It is pleasing to see that 53% of the cohort has shown significant growth in Numeracy well above the state average. While the remaining students who are yet to achieve the growth equivalent or better than the state average are participating in Numeracy programs in Year 7 to strengthen and consolidate concepts in preparation and readiness for the Year 9 NAPLAN testing.

The Year 9 NAPLAN data showed a slight decline of 10% overall results throughout the strands of Numeracy Patterns and Algebra, Measurement Data Space & Geometry and Numeracy. These results show that 53% of students have shown growth in these areas above state average. The remaining students who are yet to achieve growth equivalent or better than the state average are in progress through coordinated efforts of their teachers and Numeracy programs in place to reinforce and support student progress in Numeracy.

2013 saw the targeting of all strands being tested in NAPLAN through, students working through Numeracy booklets which provided constant revision and thorough understanding of examination strategies. Frequently used mathematical terms and their meanings were targeted by the numeracy team to ensure students understood definitions used across different key learning areas to form a common talking point for staff and students used in their areas of focus in the year.

Earlier in Term 3 the Mathematics faculty ran The University of New South Wales Mathematics competition. This competition is conducted worldwide and Australia wide participation which provides students a competitive platform to showcase their ability in problem solving and compete with and against the best mathematicians in the world for the elusive status and myriad of prizes. These students are intrinsically motivated to perform to the best of their ability.

We are proud of the results that the students have attained and hope that in the years to come that we will see an increase in the number of boys participating in the future competitions. In the Australian

In the University of New South Wales Mathematics Competition we achieved we achieved 1 High Distinction, 1 Distinction, and 2 Credit awards. A special mention to a fine young mathematician Ray Miao who performed exceptionally well in both competitions.

During Term 3, all year 7 students participated in the ‘Number Crunchers’ competition. Each student completed a series of tests which were collated to determine the top 5 ‘Number Crunchers’.

The successful competitors were Joshua Del Prado, Lonish Padarath, Eric Bahk, Selimon Shukuzad, and Volkkn Er. These boys all displayed exceptional Mathematical ability.

On Thursday 11^th October, the five finalists headed to Kogarah High school for the cluster final of the ‘Number Crunchers’ competition. Here they competed with five other schools. The format is similar to a ‘Spelling Bee’ with answers calculated mentally and given in spoken form in front of an audience. The last non eliminated student to give the correct answer is acknowledged as the ‘Number Cruncher Champion’ of their school. After twelve nerve racking rounds, Joshua Del Prado emerged as James Cook’s champion but unfortunately was taken ill to represent our school at the Grand Final which was held at the Powerhouse Museum in November. His replacement was Lonish Padarath who went 3 rounds into the final and just missed the opportunity to enter into the Ultimate Final round.

Two other competitions were also held during the Cluster Final. Firstly, the Rubiks cube challenge. Lonish Padarath was our entrant. He put up a good challenge but was outclassed by a competitor who completed the puzzle quickly. Secondly, the Pi challenge. This was to determine who could recite Pi to the most number of decimal places. Lonish was our capable and determined entrant, with over 140 decimal places to his credit. On the day his competition was strong with the winner reciting more than 300 decimal places.

The format of the competition is exciting but can also create nervous tension for the competitors. All five boys must be congratulated on their commitment to the competition.

The PDHPE is a dynamic faculty, offering a wide range of courses to suit all levels of student ability and interests. Courses currently studied include:

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  PDHPE (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education) 7-10
  
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  PASS (Physical Activity and Sports Studies) Year 9
  
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  PASS Year 10
  
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  Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation Year 11 2 unit
  
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  Sport, Lifestyle and Recreation Year 12 2 unit
  
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  PDHPE Preliminary Course Year 11 2 unit
  
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  PDHPE HSC Course Year 12 2 unit
  

PASS students were issued a student workbook, professionally developed by Titan Education for the optional units of study selected for James Cook students.

Sport Lifestyle and Recreation has proven very popular for students wishing to pick up a 2 unit course, who are not seeking an ATAR score for university entry. Monies from our limited funds have being directed to establishing greater resources to cater for the considerable interest in this subject. The production of a booklet from Titan Education which is course specific to the needs of the James Cook students forms the basis of study for this course. This booklet reflects all the course requirements of the board of studies.

PDHPE 7-12 requires many strategies and resources. Class texts are already established and many websites are utilised to help in delivering engaging and content appropriated learning opportunities for the students. Topics such as:

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  Self esteem
  
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  Relationships
  
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  Motivation and confidence
  
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  Goal setting
  
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  Fitness
  
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  Lifestyle balance
  
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  Energy balance and weight control
  
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  Decision making
  
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  Smoking alcohol drugs
  
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  Sexual health
  
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  Mental health and suicide
  
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  Illness disease and disorder
  
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  Adolescence and change
  
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  Rights and responsibilities of consumers
  
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  Sports injuries and first aid
  
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  Australia’s health priorities
  

Professional development undertaken by staff include:

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  Smart board usage and applications.
  
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  Boys education and effective learning strategies
  
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  Certificate 2 Sports Coaching completion through New England University
  
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  Masters Sports Science Edith Cowan University (Mr.Van Dijk) Graduating June 2014
  
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  Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment Mr Yelavich Mr. Van Dijk
  
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  Year 7 Advisor / Sports Organiser Mr. Yelavich
  
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  Year 8 Advisor Mr. Van Dijk
  

The expansive range of subjects offered necessitates extra curricula programs. In 2014 programs offered included:

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  Kayaking around Sydney Harbour for 40 students
  
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  Tea gardens outdoor recreation camp to support PASS and SLR programs
  
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  Oz tag gala day
  
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  Ice skating
  
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  Par 3 golf
  
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  Ten pin bowling
  
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  Senior first aid certificate
  
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  Touch football challenge
  
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  Learn to Swim School year 7 and 8 (in view of the “chronic” state of the boys’ swimming ability)
  
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  Wet and Wild
  
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  Jamberoo Recreation Park
  
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  Coollandel Shoalhaven Bush Walk
  

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  athletics
  
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  cross country
  
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  swimming
  

The athletics and cross country carnivals are well attended and James Cook is always strongly represented at zone and regional levels.

The PDHPE faculty possesses a deal of expertise and continually supports the students in their sporting endeavours. James Cook continues to uphold the tradition of a serious sporting school at CHS level. Sports entered at CHS include:

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  Rugby league
  
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  Soccer
  
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  Volleyball
  
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  Turner cup football
  
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  Touch
  
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  Basketball
  
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  Table tennis
  
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  Swimming
  
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  Athletics
  
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  Cross country
  
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  Cricket
  
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  Squash
  
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  Softball
  
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  Tennis
  
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  14’s rugby league
  

Open Soccer/ Football, coached by Mr. Alan Kentwell, were again very competitive unfortunately losing the regional final to Canterbury 1-0.

The PDHPE staff also coached teams in:

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  Volleyball
  
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  Oz tag
  
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  Touch
  
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  Basketball
  
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  Rugby
  
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  Cricket
  

Science

This year science faculty were pleased with their HSC results, and are continuing their effort to improve the results of those students struggling. Special attention is given to raise the confidence of the students. Students in Yr 11 and HSC are given extensive notes to help them out with their preparation.

2013 saw a flurry of activities as we prepared to implement national curriculum in year 7 – 9. The science faculty spent a considerable time going through the curriculum and familiarising themselves with new syllabus. We are still working towards understanding and implementing the new topics. New workbooks are being developed for Years 7- 10 to new syllabus

We are continuing our process of installing electronic version of the text book and will slowly phase out the need for students to carry heavy text books. Few copies of the text books will still be available for students’ reference.

Data projectors are being used in all science class rooms. The science teachers have prepared some excellent workbook for all junior classes. These workbooks present information to the students in easy and precise manner. They are valuable resources that can be used by students for completing homework, assignments and for the end of the topic tests. Every student in all classes have been given these workbooks.

All teachers in the faculty assisted in providing engaging displays and mini – experiments for the ‘open night’. Some students also assisted. The science teachers and laboratory assistant have continued to prepare activities and demonstration for students. Andy Geldard with the help of Mark Richard has set up the D2 laboratory in the ‘D’ block for all junior experiment. This has worked out quite well, with student enjoying this experience.

During the year the Faculty was involved in an effective transition program. A variety of primary school students visited our school. The students were given the opportunity to take part in science practical and theoretical work. This allowed primary school students to acquire science experience in a safe environment.

The application of the Quality teaching model in writing all our assessment tasks as well as in our lesson plans has been our focal area. Data from ESSA and NAPLAN and school based diagnostic tests have been used to analyse the trends in literacy and in numeracy. We have as results of this data collected, we are preparing work booklets with cloze passages, graphs, charts and tables for both stage 4 and stage 5 students.

The science faculty has continued to work supporting the students in Special Education unit. Some of the students have been mainstreamed in science classes. We are endeavouring to prepare well designed lesson materials suitable for these students. Kerrie Alibrio has made a video on Vikings with her Special Ed students. This video has been sent to Nova Focus on ability short film competition.

The work of our Laboratory Assistant has been invaluable in preparing the chemicals for all our experiments. Ms Geldard has also organised all chemical and equipment in all the prep rooms with appropriate labelling, thus reducing our time for preparing for the experiments.

Peter Loucopoulos and Krishna Diwakar have been taking extra classes during school holidays for Yr.12 students in Chemistry and Biology. These extra help has seen our results in both these subjects improve.

In science competition only 10% of the students were able to perform well in the deep knowledge and analytical tasks. All teachers in science faculty are working towards improving students’ performance in these areas. Diagnostic activities have been designed to develop analytical and interpretation skills in all our students.

Most of the teachers are willing grade sport coaches and are also involved in whole school programs such as photographs, school diaries, Multicultural day, Harmony day, half-yearly and yearly reports coordination.

Year 8 and Year 10 student research projects is steadily improving and it is expected that the very best of the coming project can be entered in the National Science competition.

HSIE

Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) provides students with the opportunity to participate in a diverse range of subject areas. Students are offered exciting and extensive learning experiences that cater to their varying abilities in both the junior and senior school. All teachers in HSIE are highly skilled and specialised in their respective teaching areas, and they endeavour to professionally develop current practice in education. This is turn provides the most effective and engaging classroom environment for learning and is of utmost benefit to the students.

A vital and imperative focus for HSIE in 2013 was the preparation for the implementation of the NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum in 2014 for years 7 and 9 in History. By engaging in various professional development courses and utilising Faculty programming time, teachers in HSIE have developed substantive programs for Years 7-10 in History. Each program is accompanied with a scope and sequence, plus authentic assessments for the entire Junior History course. All programs will be reviewed at the end of the school year for further programming and modification of the course. In addition to the syllabus content, the programs also incorporate the use of Technology in the Classroom, the National Partnership focus of Reading, elements of the Quality Teacher module and other aspects of Literacy and Numeracy.

HSIE was intrinsically involved in developing strategies for the classroom that highlighted the school focus of reading in the National Partnership program. All HSIE teachers incorporated activities in the classroom that encouraged involvement and enhanced the engagement of students in Reading. These strategies were as simple as determining the meaning of words from context to the more complex dissection and reconstruction of texts. These strategies accompanied with the continuation of explicit teaching contributed to a greater understanding for students of the fundamentals of their HSIE subjects.

There was also a continued focus on creating Quality Assessments that were both engaging and authentic. By using the Quality Teacher model extensively and backward mapping all tasks, it ensured that the outcomes reflected what the students have learnt in the various HSIE subjects. The implementation of explicit teaching and giving students the opportunity to provide feedback on tasks contributed to greater performance. This feedback was utilised by HSIE teachers to plan and implement strategies for future learning in the classroom and to create tasks reflecting students’ needs and providing access to student driven learning.

An expansive number of students participating in HSIE achieved substantive and commendable results in 2013. In the Higher School Certificate students achieved Band 5 results in Business Studies and Geography, with a number of students gaining solid results in Ancient History. Business Services continued to produce high performers with students gaining pleasing results. This emphasises the fact that Business Services is a course highly suited to our school’s clientele. The results of the Higher School Certificate demonstrated a range of results from consistent performance to exhibiting high standards.

In addition to the curriculum, students in HSIE participated in various subject related field studies, excursions and extracurricular activities. These activities provided the basis of enhancing student learning experiences, engaging students in their chosen subject areas and providing an opportunity for interaction with the wider school community. Year 7 Geography conducted field studies in the school grounds familiarising themselves with the school, developing the skills used by Geographers and becoming adept at using Geographical tools. An excursion to the Australian Museum to view an exhibition on Alexander the Great, allowed students to study authentic ancient artefacts and use their archaeological skills to identify and describe the objects. This was a rare and exceptional opportunity to view artefacts from the ancient world and it engaged students enormously. History students had the opportunity to visit virtual sites such as exploring Ancient Egyptian Pyramids or going on a Viking quest. This highlighted aspects of History and Archaeology that we would not have had the physical ability to explore. Year 10 in their study of urban development and physical environments visited the local community for an extensive field study. This helped students to note and understand the changes that take place over a period of time in any environment and helped foster understanding and appreciation of their local community. Legal Studies students once again visited the Downing Centre, Sydney’s District Courts, to observe and experience the workings of the legal system. In addition, many HSC students attended study days in a range of HSIE subjects.

Business Services students took part in work placement, a mandatory element of the course, which provided practical experience in this VET course and exposed them to a functioning office environment.

Student participation in the Share Market Game proved how successful this activity continues to be. It is highly popular and provides students of Commerce the opportunity to learn about the processes involved in the buying and selling of shares.

HSIE teachers continue to participate in professional development courses and activities focused on assessment, programming and implementing the National Curriculum. They continue to support welfare programs individually in the classroom or in an extended role, as Head Teacher Welfare (Mr. Tsaridis), Year Advisor (Mr. Errington) and Coordinator of the Merit system (Ms Jarvis). Teachers in HSIE have been instrumental in initiating and organising events pertaining to the Bayside Learning Community, an initiative involving learning across the KLA’s from primary to high school. Ms Jarvis’ and Ms Atzemis’ involvement in the professional learning team help to organise whole school events and professional opportunities directly related to our target areas and essential programs being conducted throughout the school. Many HSIE teachers contributed greatly to the overall efficient running of the school in 2013 with their participation in organising school photos, coordinating work placement, school administration and exam rosters, coaching grade sport, conducting school audits, WHS inspections and coordinating half-yearly and yearly reports.