Introduction

Machans Beach State School provides students with an environment in which to achieve quality learning outcome each and every days.

The diverse cultural identities within the school create a strong foundation to providing a supportive caring environment for children to achieve. Our school is proud to have a multicultural community which currently includes students from Russia, Finland, Chile, Thailand, Germany, Israel, Philippines, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Mexico as well as Torres Strait Islanders and Indigenous students.

Our  school motto “Respecting ourselves, Caring for others”  implies we set high standards in developing self esteem and caring for each other as proud individuals, school and community members. This motto is supported by our ROCKS behaviour program which is underpinned by the rules of; Respect, Organisation, Cooperation, Keeping focused and Safety.

We endeavour to ensure that every student reaches his or her potential in physical, social, emotional and moral development. We recognise that our overall focus is literacy and numeracy as supported by the District’s Service Commitment -  and that prep and primary provide the fundamental building blocks upon which life long learning is constructed

Our Mission Statement is as follows:

Future outlook

The following report is a snapshot of the achievements of the Machans Beach SS for 2009. The report presents a synopsis of the operations and outcomes of the school in relation to learning, the workforce and the social climate of the school.

 Machans Beach State School aims to:

·         Provide a quality school program that meets the student’s diverse needs by continuing the implementation of  the Scope and Sequence P- 10 framework which include the Essential Learnings years 1-9. These prepare students for living in complex, multicultural, networked societies.

·          Develop and refine productive pedagogies that focus on student engagement, provision for intellectually challenging tasks, tasks which improve connectedness, and improve learning outcome for all students.

·         Improve enrolments and school population

·         Further extend and develop parent partnerships in education

·         Further integration of information and communication technologies within teaching and learning across the curriculum.

·         Continue to provide a safe, tolerant and disciplined learning environment through the focus of “School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Program”

·         Develop and improve community and school partnerships

School Profile

Machans Beach State School caters for the learning needs of students from Prep to Year 7.  In 2008 we had 91 students. Currently, in 2009,  85 students are enrolled in 4 co-ed classes, all of them are multiaged: 

Prep/1- 9/13

Year 2/3 – 11/10

Year 4/5 – 17/5

Year 6/7- 14/6

Our students have a varied background with 28% of students being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent.

The diversity of cultural backgrounds within the fabric of the school impact in areas such as child rearing practices, view of schooling and education, communication with the school and also languages other than English spoken at home.

The community consists of a number of diverse groups including nuclear families, single supporting parents, the unemployed, blended families, split custody, informal adoptive families, rental housing and a large cross cultural population.

Teacher Aides are employed to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who have been identified for help in Literacy and Numeracy.  Additional teacher aide time is utilized from school based funding along with ISIP funding to support programs for all students in P-7.

In 2008 we had a significant change in staffing with two teachers leaving. The importance of consistent and stable staffing remains an issue at Machans, as students, parents, teachers aide and /tutors take time to develop trusting relationships and have historically just developed a working rapport, to find staffing has once again changed.

Curriculum offerings

The curriculum at our school is based upon the Essential Learnings which are embedded in the Scope and Sequence provided by the Queensland Studies Authority. Our Curriculum delivery is focused on values of identity and diversity and informed by our comprehensive knowledge of the individual needs and interests of each child within the  school community.

Machans Beach State School’s overriding values of identity and self concept personalize the curriculum to the learning needs of the children. Intrinsically and extrinsically, we acknowledge the importance of linking these values to successful outcomes for children in their learning. We aim to provide a quality school program that meets the student’s diverse needs. To achieve this we extend and develop parent partnerships in the school. We endeavour to ensure that every student reaches his or her potential in physical, social, emotional and moral development.  Throughout the curriculum the attributes of life long learners are interwoven.

The emphasis given to each curriculum area is relative to the age, abilities and prior learning of the students.   Teachers plan integrated units of work encompassing key learning outcomes, with a focus of open ended tasks which build on specific knowledge and understandings relating to a learning context.

The maths, English and ITC are integrated into units of work that are generally based on science, SoSE, or the arts

·       Intervention programs are in place to support students in specific targeted areas following data from state-wide testing, year 2 diagnostic net and also detailed ongoing internal monitoring. This includes students who performed under the benchmark in the national 3, 5, 7 literacy and numeracy testing.

Extra curricula activities

·       Robotics

·       Leadership and school camps

·       Obstathon

·       Students Council charity events – including fundraising activities Canteen – bandana, Tatts and Tiaras,

·       Cross country and Fun Runs

·       Jump Rope for Heart

·       Arts Council events

·       Environmental projects – in 2008 the whole school participated in a Sustainable energy program with a focus of reducing the school’s carbon footprint. Parents were encouraged to take up the challenge with students becoming the mentors for their parents,

·       Excursions

·       Community Disco (Past present and future)

·       Community and school BBQs

·       The Permaculture Garden – students, families and other members of the community plant edible foods, vegetables, fruit, herbs using the permaculture theory and practice.

·       Student Council activities which support charities, the school, the community and the environment.

·       NAIDOC Week

·       Queensland day

·       Science on the Oval

·       Under Eights’ Day

·       Prep Open Day

·       Education week

·       World Teachers Day

·       World Teacher Aides day

·       Class excursions applicable to units of work

·       End of year break up for the whole school

·       Sustainable energy and the environment – with an exhibition held at babina as a way to show case our projects.

·       Whole school art exhibition to raise money for World Wildlife Fund

·       Combined sports day with Yorkeys Knob State School

·       Reef guardian

·       Trivia night for the community

·       Fairytale Ball for Prep – 3

·       Community breakfast for International Breakfast Day

·       Fashion parade for Prep’s and 1’s using recycled materials

·       Christmas concert

·       SWPBS

·       Positioning of a school sign on the highway as negotiated with the Cairns City Council

·       Our own school sign went up too!

How computers are used to assist learning 

·         The computer to student ratio is 1:3 for years Prep to 7.

·         Students have access to iMac computers in their classrooms .These have now been set up with the new SOE for MOE server (Managed Operating Environment)

·         Each teacher has received a Laptop under the Laptops for Teachers’ program.

·         The ITC index indicates that students and teachers need to become more proficient in using the iMac compute though now that the computers have been configured appropriately this will improve over the coming months..

·         ITC components of the curriculum are integrated into all units of work. These activities extend beyond word processing and Internet research. Rather the activities incorporate the elements of design processes by creating and interacting with all forms of technology.

Social climate

Enrolments at Machans Beach State School fluctuate during the year, with historically the numbers remaining around the same. There remains a solid core of permanent students. Of the fluctuating enrolments these are characterised by some degree of mobility between Machans Beach State School and other schools in the Cairns Area. 

Increased mobility is found to be due to:

·         the transient nature of the community i.e. families moving between towns or families travelling

·         family breakdown i.e. split relationship, custody arrangements

·         housing /accommodation issues – with costs increasing in the suburbs, many families have been forced to move to cheaper accommodation. Many rental properties have been sold to permanent residents though they do not necessarily have children, or have children who already attend other schools..

·         family services involvement

·         cultural demands

The school itself is in the heart of the Machans community.  Machans Beach community is very supportive of its school and students.  Support is also forthcoming from the Progress Association, Machinations, Coast Care, and the community permaculture garden group indicating that the community is comprised of a broad cross section living in a close village atmosphere.   The willingness of community members to share their expertise, skills and cultural heritage with the students is a characteristic that individualises Machans Beach State School.  The school is a central hub within the Machans community with local organisations and individuals using the school as a base for community activities, e.g. Sporting facilities, site for leisure/sporting activities for children, adolescents and adults.  Community members and students (primary and high school) feel welcome and valued at Machans Beach school.

Indications of this are:

·         parent willingness to join with school personnel to solve student issues and problems

·         students arriving at school at 7.15am, and many community members and students (including high school and young adults) utilizing school grounds for recreational purposes until 6.30pm,

Involving parents in their child’s education.

Parents are encouraged to play an active role in their child/ren’s educational development. This includes activities such as:

·         Parents helping out with reading programs

·         Group work in classrooms

·         Playing an active part in the P&C

·         Utilising and involving parents in areas where they are skilled.

Of the 5 teachers in our school, 2 teachers have Masters Degrees, while 3 teachers have Bachelor Degrees.This equates to 40% and 60%.

Expenditure on and teacher participation in professional development.

The total funds expended on teacher professional development in 2009 were $8400 which is more than 10% of our School Grant. 

The major professional development initiatives are as follows:

·       Curriculum development and planning of units of work.

·       First Steps Reading

·       Child Protection

·       ASD workshops – learning to cater for students with diverse needs

·       Literacy training for teachers in P-3, and for all Teacher Aides.

·       Spelling programs

·       Science- inservice

·       School Wide Positive Behaviour Program- continuation

·       LapTops for teachers training

·       One School training

The involvement of the teaching staff in PD activities during 2008 was 100 %

Average staff attendance

·       For permanent and temporary staff and school leaders the staff attendance rate was 97 % in 2008.

Proportion of staff retained from the previous school year.

·       From the end of the 2007 school year 95 % of teaching staff were retained by the school for the entire 2008 school year.