Accreditation and Community Language Schools Victoria

1. Accreditation and Community Language Schools Victoria Welcome the Change! Maria Gindidis gindidis@bigpond.net.au protypo@bigpond.net.au gindidis.maria.m@edumail.vic.gov.au Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

2. New documentation DE&T • Documentation related to the legal status of the school or organisation • Associations Incorporation Act 1981 • Corporations Act 2001 Company Limited by Guarantee • Religious and Accessories Charitable Trust Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

3. 2. Constitution • Need to include appropriate non profit and dissolution clauses. • Examples are given in correspondence: OLT003432 Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

4. 3. Must have an ABN! • The first three criteria for funding are straightforward and especially in the case of one and three, we already abide by these. The clauses will need your Accountants assistant for implementation or a quorum and special members meeting Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

5. A School Charter or Plan! • DE& T schools have moved from three year Charters to four year Strategic Plans and annual implementation Plans. • Our schools will need to comply and/or align our planning with these templates and guides! schoolaccountability@edumail.vic.gov.au Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

6. PROTYPO EDUCATION CENTRE Strategic Plan 2006-2007 Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

7. What are Strategic Plans? • Define the school’s core purpose and values • Take a future’s perspective of student needs in context of community • Agree on outcomes school is trying to achieve for its students • Choose a few key improvement strategies that are critical to school’s success • Decide how resources will be generated, enhanced or allocated to achieve desired outcomes • Plan the implementation of the strategy • Identify milestones/success indicators • Ensure all stakeholders know and understand SSP Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

8. 2008 – Four year cycle4th year = self evaluation • The School Accountability and Improvement Framework provides a four-year school planning cycle. The fourth year of the cycle – the year in self-evaluation, review and planning – is when schools evaluate their performance and undertake their strategic planning for the future cycle. • During the year in self-evaluation, review and planning, school communities can set their strategic directions using these questions: • What outcomes are we trying to achieve for our students? • Where are we now? • What do we have to do to achieve the outcomes we want? • How will we manage our resources to achieve these outcomes? • How will we know whether we are achieving these outcomes? Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

9. Summary of school planning processes Strategic Thinking – reflecting and evaluation past, present and future. Developing the new Strategy – Communicating. Writing Planning the implementation- actions, achievement milestones Engaging People – conversations, participation, motivation Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

10. Essential elements of a School Strategic Plan An effective strategic plan comprises two distinct parts: • School Profile including • Purpose • Values • Environmental context – the challenges the school faces and the opportunities available to the school • Strategic Intent including: • Goals and targets for student outcomes as defined by • Student learning • Student engagement and wellbeing Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

11. What is a goal? Goals are aspirational statements. They decide what the school is striving to achieve in the areas of student learning, student pathways and transitions, and student engagement and wellbeing. Goals will evolve for a range of sources including: • The school’s purpose, values and environmental context • Analysis of student outcomes from the school self-evaluation and school review • The strategic planning community consultation process • The government’s goals and targets for education and training Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

12. Goal specification checklist The following criteria should be considered when specifying goal statements • The goal is expressed in terms of improvement in student outcomes • The goal addresses an area requiring significant improvement in the school’s student outcomes • A robust evidence-base has been used to identify the goal area • The goal simply, briefly and precisely describes the student outcome are that the school is trying to improve • Staff and wider school community adapt the goal as appropriate Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

13. What is a Target? Targets are the measures of success in achievement of the goals Targets describe how the school will measure achievement of its goals. Targets can take a number of forms. They may focus on raising the achievement of all students, or on improving the minimum or maximum levels of achievement in a group of students. Targets are best expressed as proportions of students meeting various ‘standards’, Provides a focus to schools and classroom teachers on what outcomes the school is trying to achieve Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

14. When setting targets, it is useful to consider the following: • Are they measurable? Targets need to be clear, simple indicators that can be quantified and described easily. Targets can be expressed using the standard school performance measures that are collected and monitored annually (as contained in the School Level Report), or using school specific data collections. • Are they realistic yet challenging? Targets should always be improvement oriented and provide a stretch for the school. • Are they achievable within a specified timeframe? Targets should have a four year timeframe for achievement. See Appendix DATA - Examples from Protypo… The absence of state-wide performance data should not prevent a school from setting goals and targets in each of the student outcome areas. Schools should consider the collection and monitoring of locally derived performance data to inform the achievement of these school goals. Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

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16. Relationship between improvement and compliance accountabilities Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

17. Action Plans Levels of School Planning Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

18. Purpose Annual & Implementation Values Planning Goals, Targets & Key Improvement Strategies Monitoring & Environmental Context: Current & Future Reporting Achievements Strategic Intent SchoolProfile Implementation School Planning (Adapted from Davies and Davies, 2005) Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

19. Effective Schools Model Adapted from Sammons, Hillman and Mortimore (1995) Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

20. Strategic Intent - What do we have to do to achieve the outcomes we want? Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

21. Annual Implementation Plan – Year 1 What • the activities and programs (operations and practices) to be undertaken in that year to progress the key improvement strategies and significant activities • annual focus of the key improvement strategies and significant activities Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

22. 5. Course Outline VELS VELS Why a new direction? – The crowded curriculum * We had a CSF curriculum based on 747 learning outcomes, 2,719 indicators * Described in terms of the 8 key learning areas and * is not comprehensive in terms of what our community expects. Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

23. A validation year - Schools * Standards will be trialled by schools and validated in practice * But expect no change of accountability processes for 2005 * Ethnic schools develop curriculum plans for 2006 and beyond and needed for accreditation. Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

24. Stages of learning Years Prep to 4 Laying the foundations Years 5 to 8 Building breadth and depth Years 9 to 10 Developing pathways Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

25. So What’s new? • Standards now describe the essentials … not the detail • giving schools greater flexibility to: • develop programs appropriate for local needs • foster deep understanding Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

26. What do I do with my CSF units? • Develop a VELS Template for teachers! • Send key curriculum teachers to VELS training • Do NOT throw the baby out with the bathwater! Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

27. What does a VELS planning template look like? See Appendix 2 Handouts Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

28. 6. Examples of Reports • Progress Reports versus • Comprehensive Reports • DE & T Examples • www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/studentreports See Appendix 3 - Handout Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

29. What child has achieved Areas for improvement or future learning How the school will help What can be done at home Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

30. A separate report for each subject studied Child’s achievement against what is expected for this time of year The level of achievement expected of all students at the year level The achievement of your child last year The achievement of your child this year How and why are these 2 domains included in the science report, would they also be in other subjects Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

31. Students Personal learning goals set at the start of the year What are the logistics here? Its hard enough to get the teachers input organised Student Comment Teacher Comment Student’s next goals Attendance Parent Comment Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

32. 7. FIRST AID CERTIFICATE • See Appendix : Policy also! Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

33. 8. Student Supervision Roster • YARD DUTY… First Aid Bag! • See Appendix Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

34. 9. Student Attendance Roll “A copy of the student attendance Roll for the term immediately preceding the application of accreditation.” Keep all documentation up to date! Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

35. Staff… • A list of teachers WHO DO NOT have a recognised qualification in languages teaching to be placed on the waiting list for participation in LOTE Methodology Courses. Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006

36. Final Words… • Leadership! Fish will rot from the head! Collaborative Leadership Maria Gindidis: ESAV Training August 2006