Umina PS annual report

Umina Public School has released its annual report for last year.

The report said the school maintained a "quality learning focus with school structures, staffing and organisation supporting literacy, numeracy and technology".

"There is community recognition of the expertise the school has developed in the area of learning difficulties," the report said.

"Classes are organised on a stage rather than age basis."

The vision of the school is to work in partnership with parents and the wider community, to strive to develop all students so that they may achieve personal excellence, through a commitment to lifelong learning, effectively contributing to the well-being of society today and in the future.

The school enrolled 666 students at the beginning of the year.

The P&C and its subcommittees donated about $30,000 to the school's budget throughout the year and the school has a council which comprises parents, teachers and community representatives.

The school encouraged home-school partnerships through events such as trivia nights, bush dances and family barbecues.

The community had use of school facilities which raised about $10,000 for the school.

Some of the groups included Tae Kwon Do, Karate, physical education, dance, church services and children's art classes.

The report said the school has a committed learning focus on the basics, but encouraged all students to participate in extra-curricula activities.

Major achievements in the arts included the boys' dance group of and girls' dance group performing in the Central Coast Dance Festival and Sydney North Dance Festival.

"Many students also entered a number of art competitions and participated in debating for the first time," the report said.

Major achievements in sport included 53 students competing at a zone level in athletics, with 17 competing at regional level and one student going on to state and Pacific Games level.

One student also attended cross-country championships at the national level.

The school had a total expenditure of $383,997.

These figures do not cover permanent staff salaries, building programs or major maintenance.

Much of the money is also in tied and trust funds which is not available for general school use.

"Umina Public School has yet to expend around $30,000 on key learning areas," the report said.

A survey of students, parents and staff in the area of mathematics showed that students enjoyed working in groups to solve mathematical problems.

Parents said they thought numbers were more important than space or measurement areas of mathematical learning and teachers judged students as better with the number component.

Parents made particular reference to the importance of the times table.

Parents also wanted more homework for their children and more frequent feedback on their children's progress.

Parents also wanted to know the course content to enable them to assist their children.

With regard to Aboriginal studies, the curriculum focussed on ensuring "an enriched and honest presentation of Australia’s history prior to and after the early British settlers".

The school also successfully applied for a grant to install a flagpole to fly the Aboriginal flag.

In the State basic skills test for literacy the school has seen an improvement of their year three students of two years ago who are now in year 5.

"For the first time overall results are above State average," the report said.

Numeracy results also showed an improvement with the school achieving over the State average.

The report said the school will continue to monitor student performance and improve in the areas of literacy, numeracy and use of technology during 2001.

School annual report