2014-2015 Annual School Development Report

ST. ANNE’S ACADEMY (400-435)

P. O. Box 300

Dunville, NL

A0B 1S0

Telephone: (709) 227-3192

Fax: (709) 227-2069

Vision

The St. Anne's Academy school community is dedicated to academic excellence and the development of high personal standards, in a safe, caring, and socially just environment, which encourages the continued growth of the child, being mindful of individual differences and learning styles.

Mission

St. Anne’s Academy is committed to providing meaningful educational opportunities which will promote the development of literacy and mathematical skills across the curriculum, within a safe, caring, inclusive, collaborative, and healthy environment.

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Director’s Message
June 2015

This school development report for the 2014-15 school year outlines your school’s successes and highlights matters such as student achievement and professional development.

The formulation of a school development report is the result of significant planning and input from the entire school community. A thorough plan lays the foundation for a productive and successful school year and will be beneficial to every member of the school community, most importantly the students of your school.

As we conclude the first year of the District’s 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, I would like to thank our school communities, administrators, teachers, support staff, school councils and community volunteers for their participation and input. Your efforts to develop and implement previous plans have helped to ensure a focus on student success and achievement at all levels. I sincerely thank all involved for the work undertaken as enhanced collaboration within our school communities sets a great example for our students.

School development reports outline some amazing and encouraging initiatives and I am proud to see the great work being undertaken by schools throughout the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. Looking forward, I am optimistic about the progress we will make as we continue to build upon these plans and continue to provide a quality education for every student in our District.

Sincerely,

Darrin Pike

CEO/Director of Education

Newfoundland and Labrador English School District

Message from the Principal

It is with great pleasure that I present the Annual School Development Report for St. Anne’s Academy for the 2014-2015 school year. The 2014-2015 school year was another great year for the St. Anne’s Academy school community, with many successes to be celebrated and highlighted.

In terms of academics, in the last year, St. Anne’s Academy continued on its journey as a Phase 5 Inclusive School and also participated in the District’s Literacy and Numeracy Support Program, thereby allowing staff to remain up to date on current best practices to be implemented in the classroom. All staff are committed to working together to improve teaching and learning to ensure the success of our students. Both provincial assessment results and internal school data indicate that most of our students are excelling in most areas of the curriculum

Last year, we implemented year three of our four-year School Growth and Development Plan, which was first implemented in September 2012. This year, of course, we move on to year four of four as we continue to focus on the two goals of our plan, one which focuses on student achievement particularly in an inclusive environment and the second which promotes a safe and caring school culture. This growth plan will allow us to achieve certain goals over the coming years, while still monitoring current trends within the school and making the appropriate adjustments.

The St. Anne’s Academy school community is one in which the cooperation of students, staff, parents, outside organizations, and the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District was and continues to be outstanding. I look forward to working with the school community to continue to strive to ensure our students become lifelong learners and productive, contributing members of our society.

Shelly Quilty

Principal

St. Anne’s Academy

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Message from School Council

It is my distinct pleasure to bring greetings on behalf of the St. Anne’s School Council in the successful development of the 2014-2015 Annual School Report for St. Anne’s Academy. The 2014-2015 school year proved to be another year of success for the St. Anne’s Academy school community.

A new School Council was formed for St. Anne’s Academy in October of 2014, consisting of community, parent and school representatives. Terms of office are for one to three years, which will maintain a good mixture of new and experienced membership for Council continuity. For 2014-2015, the St. Anne’s School Council members were:

Parent Representatives: Martina Clarke, Don Horlick, Wanda Brooks, and Lisa McFarlane

Community Representatives: Robert Ryan and Rhonda Power

St. Anne’s Academy Staff Representatives: Shelly Quilty, Nadine Griffiths, Glenda Davis and Joan Whiffen

The School Council was actively involved in reviewing the provincial assessment results and internal assessment data, as well as the results of last year’s School Climate Surveys, which were presented at the first council meeting of the year. Based on these results, it is evident that our students are excelling in most areas of the curriculum and that they feel that St. Anne’s Academy is a safe, caring and welcoming school. We will continue to work with and on behalf of parents, the community and the staff of St. Anne’s Academy to ensure that the priority needs identified in the School Growth and Development Plan are met. These include encouraging the development of well-rounded students, promoting the importance of academic achievement, and ensuring a safe and caring learning environment.

On behalf of the St. Anne’s Academy School Council, I would like to thank the staff of St. Anne's Academy for going above and beyond for the betterment of our students. The St. Anne's Academy School Council will continue to support our students, staff and school and we look forward to this coming academic year.

Rob Ryan

Chairperson, St. Anne’s Academy School Council

Overview of School

Our School Community

St. Anne’s Academy is located in Dunville, and is part of the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District. Our current school enrollment is 239 students and we offer programming for Grades K-6. Our school serves the communities of Ship Harbour, Fox Harbour, Dunville, Freshwater, Ferndale, Jerseyside, Placentia, Southeast Placentia, Point Verde, Bond’s Path, and Barasway. Approximately 95% of our students are bused to school.

St. Anne’s Academy has a total of 19.2 teaching staff, including specialists in the areas of Guidance, Instructional Support, Music, French, and Physical Education. As well, there is expertise in the areas of Art and Technology. The support staff includes three full-time and one half-time student assistants, three custodial staff, and one administrative assistant. The Newfoundland and Labrador School District also provides itinerant services to St. Anne’s Academy in the areas of speech-language pathology, educational psychology, hearing impairment and autism.

Key Highlights/Special Projects

Last year, inclusion was a major focus throughout the school year as we continued on our journey as a Phase 5 Inclusive School. As such, teachers accessed a variety of in-service on the topic of inclusion, including in-service from the inclusion itinerant. Teachers also attended planning/sharing sessions in which they planned units of work that incorporated inclusive practices. We also continued to hold monthly collegial circles during which teachers presented the various DI strategies that they had been using in their classrooms.

Our school also participated in the Literacy/Numeracy Support Program offered by the District. This program involved in-depth planning and reflection with a focus on improving literacy, particularly with regards to process writing.

With regards to positive behaviour supports, we continued to implement our High Five program which insists that students demonstrate respect for themselves, for each other, for the environment and for the property of others. As well, it teaches them to be responsible, to follow directions, to be ready at all times, and that physical contact is not acceptable. We are extremely pleased with the evolution of this program and witness much cooperation and teamwork amongst the children as a result. Desired attitudes and behaviours are readily apparent throughout the school, self-esteem and self-image are enhanced, wise choices are encouraged, and tolerance and mutual respect permeate student daily interactions.

Other initiatives/programs/PD sessions included:

Ø  Intramural Program – Grades 1 - 6

Ø  After School Team Sports – Grades 3 – 6

Ø  Elementary Dance Program

Ø  Cross Country Program (Harvest Run)

Ø  Comprehensive Music Program

Ø  Primary/Elementary Choirs (Kiwanis)

Ø  Expressive Reading Performances

Ø  Technology Education – Grades K-6

Ø  Elementary Drama Program

Ø  Focus on Fitness and Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Ø  Art Program – Grades 1-3

Ø  Kids Eat Smart Breakfast Program

Ø  Running Records - Literacy

Ø  Specialized Rooms - Literacy, Math, Science, French, Technology and Fitness

Ø  Comprehensive Volunteer Program

Ø  Literacy Promotion – Book Fairs and Book Clubs

Ø  Family Math Week

Ø  Newspapers in Education

Ø  Annual Host of Choral Connections

Ø  Environmental Awareness Projects

Ø  Field Trips

Ø  Creation of Wellness Initiatives

Ø  Collegial Circles Focused on Differentiated Instruction

Ø  Won a BURP cart and $1000 in funding towards books of interest to male students

Ø  Won a stand-up desk for participation in Find Your Fit Challenge through Recreation NL

Partnerships

St. Anne’s Academy has a very successful relationship with the local business and service community. This results in the ability to purchase items for our programming that ordinarily we would not be able to afford.

The Placentia Lions Club plays a particularly significant role in our ability to keep up to date in our various purchases. These purchases include additions to technology, our performing arts program, our athletic program, and other programs/activities we deem to be important to the delivery of services/programs to our school.

The continuing partnership with the Kids Eat Smart Foundation has allowed us to continue a very successful breakfast program each school morning. As well, we provide fruit trays to all classrooms on a weekly basis.

Our partnership with the Town of Placentia has kept our sport facilities suitable and available for school recreation programs. It has also allowed us to access various services and personnel they have available.

The recycling program at St. Anne’s Academy continues to be very successful. Partnerships with the Star of the Sea Hall, Freshwater Community Centre, and Forty Shades Recycling make this possible.

Eastern Health provides the school with various personnel and services when requested.

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Summary Report on the School’s Most Current Data

Provincial Assessment Data

Reading Records for Grades 1 and 2

Grade 1: Percentage of Students (in June) at or above the Provincial benchmark

Grade 1 Enrolment = 38

2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15
School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province
66.7 / 60.2 / 60.2 / 84.4 / 60.2 / 59.3 / 64.3 / 54.7 / 53.7 / 57.9 / 52.0 / 51.4

What do these results tell us?

For the 2014-2015 school year, the percentage of grade 1 students at or above the provincial benchmark was slightly higher than

both the district and the province, with 57.9% reaching the yearend benchmark (Level I). Unfortunately, this was lower than the

school percentages in each of the previous three years. This has been noted and will be addressed by the current grade 2 teachers as

they implement the Literacy Plan this year.


Grade 2: Percentage of Students (in June) at or above the Provincial benchmark

Grade 2 Enrolment = 27

2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15
School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province
81.8 / 68.1 / 66.9 / 65.6 / 66.9 / 65.5 / 85.3 / 61.6 / 60.5 / 65.5 / 54.7 / 54.9

What do these results tell us?

For the 2014-2015 school year (and in fact, for the previous three years), the percentage of grade 2 students at or above the provincial

benchmark was significantly higher than the district and province. With our continued focus on literacy, we project that

we will continue to see these results moving forward.


Grade 3 English Language Arts

Grade 3 Enrolment = 34

2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15
School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province
Multiple Choice
Reading / 71.7 / 67.8 / 67.5 / 79.3 / 73.0 / 72.7 / 87.7 / 84.0 / 83.6
Constructed Response: Percentage of students meeting/exceeding grade level expectations
Demand Writing / 94.7 / 81.5 / 81.7 / 91.7 / 65.3 / 64.4 / 84.4 / 75.1 / 73.4
Poetic/Fiction / 79.4 / 48.8 / 47.9 / 74.2 / 66.9 / 65.2 / 80.7 / 72.0 / 71.0
Informational
Non-Fiction / 72.7 / 64.3 / 64.4 / 90.0 / 80.3 / 80.1 / 86.7 / 82.7 / 82.5

What do these results tell us?

The provincial assessment results for grade 3 students for the 2014-2015 year are very positive. Students performed better than both the region and the province in all areas. Particularly noteworthy are the results for Demand Writing in which 84.4% of our students achieved at Level 3 or above. Demand writing has been an important focus of our School Development Plan in recent years.

Grade 3 Mathematics

Grade 3 Enrolment = 34

2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15
School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province / School / Region / Province
Multiple Choice
Number Concepts / 81.8 / 78.5 / 78.3 / 77.2 / 71.7 / 72.9
Number Operations / 79.2 / 72.8 / 72.5 / 73.2 / 64.3 / 65.5
Shape and Space / 76.3 / 73.9 / 74.8
Constructed Response: Percentage of students meeting/exceeding grade level expectations
Number Concepts / 80.7 / 73.7 / 75.9
Number Operations / 56.3 / 53.5 / 55.4
Shape & Space / 65.6 / 61.9 / 64.5
Mental Math / 87.1 / 82.2 / 83.8
Problem Solving / 92.1 / 83.5 / 82.6 / 68.8 / 54.2 / 56.4
Reasoning / 71.1 / 72.9 / 72.2 / 46.9 / 31.9 / 34.4
Communication / 81.6 / 74.4 / 73.4 / 46.9 / 31.9 / 34.4

What do these results tell us?

Provincial assessments were not given in Math during the 2014-2015 school year; therefore, data is not available.