ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTING – 2015
CATHOLIC EDUCATION, ARCHDIOCESE OF BRISBANE
School Name St
Thomas More College
Postal address PO Box 140, SUNNYBANK, QLD, 4109
3323 4600
Phone (07)
Fax (07) 3344 3598
Email [email protected]
School website www. stmc.qld.edu.au
Contact Person
Peter Elmore - Principal
Principal’s Foreword
Introduction
St Thomas More College, established in 1974, is a co-educational Catholic secondary school located in
Sunnybank, Brisbane; with an enrolment of 748 students and 76 staff. The College provides education from
Years 8 to 12.
St Thomas More College takes its name from Thomas More, Lord Chancellor for King Henry VIII, who
maintained his Christian moral values and stood up for what was right. The College motto comes from
More’s statement “"I die the king's loyal servant, but God's servant first.”
Our aim at St Thomas More College is to provide an excellent all round education for every student at the
College with a commitment to our Christian faith, our learning and our community.
In 2015, St Thomas More College experienced significant growth in student numbers, facilities and staff.
With this development comes growth in opportunities for current and future students. The College continued
the building program and the resource centre, student services and science block were completed in 2015.
The following school report summarises a successful and positive year for the faith learning community that
is St Thomas More College. It also reflects the efforts of an extremely productive and dynamic learning
community. This report will be used to review our current school performance and guide our goal setting and
planning for future years.
School Profile
St Thomas More College
is a Catholic school
administered through Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Brisbane.
✘
Coeducational or Single Sex Year levels offered: Primary
Total Student Enrolments 921
Secondary
✘
Girls 439
P-12 Boys 482
ANNU AL SC HOOL REPORTING – 2015
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Characteristics of the student body
Students at St Thomas More College come from a variety of local primary schools, including Catholic, State
and Independent primary schools. Students typically transfer to St Thomas More College after completion
of Year 7.
Key Catholic primary schools include:
Our Lady of Fatima Primary School, Acacia Ridge
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Sunnybank
St Bernadine’s Primary School, Regents Park
St Brendan’s Primary School, Moorooka
St Paul’s Primary School, Woodridge
St Pius X Primary School, Salisbury
St Stephen’s Primary School, Algester
St Thomas More College prides itself on being a multicultural school. Students come from a wide range of
ethnic and cultural backgrounds; including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.
Our distinctive curriculum offerings
The curriculum structure at St Thomas More College has been developed to suit the particular needs of
both junior and senior students.
The junior curriculum structure consists of a mix of core subjects and rotational ‘taster’ electives. This
structure enables students to experience a range of subjects in preparation for subject selection in senior
years and for future studies post-secondary school.
The College offers academic extension and foundation courses for core subjects to cover the range of
learning needs and requirements.
St Thomas More College prides itself on offering multiple curriculum pathways for senior students which
are designed to meet individual needs. Students are able to undertake an Academic Pathway, leading to
tertiary study, a Vocational Education and Training Pathway, leading to TAFE or the workplace or a
pathway combining elements of both.
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Extra curricula activities
St Thomas More College offers a variety of co-curricular activities, which students are encouraged to
participate in. The College holds our annual Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. STMC
participates in the South East Colleges Association (SECA) inter-school competition. The College provides
students with the opportunity for District, Regional, State and National representation through affiliation
with Metropolitan West Sport. Senior students may represent the College at the Confraternity Cup and
Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN). The College has an extensive Instrumental
Music Program including individual or group music lessons and music ensembles. The College is
committed to producing a College Production/Musical and Junior Drama Production each year. The
College holds the Penny Awards, where students perform a monologue or duologue before a panel of
guest adjudicators, who are industry professionals.
Students may participate in a College Public Speaking and Debating Competition.
How Information and Communication Technologies are used to assist learning
The College has a comprehensive laptop program available to students from Year 7 to 12. All students
receive a laptop for use during school and for use at home, which is fundamental to students completing
their studies across all disciplines.
The College uses MOODLE, which is an online learning management system. This enables students and
parents to access term planners, assessment items and task and revision sheets. It is an interactive
platform that is constantly being updated by teaching staff. Students have access to the St Thomas More
College Student Portal. The Student Portal has frequently used online links, such as MOODLE, Web Print,
Turn It In, My Sites Docs, Outlook, and Google Drive; as well as the College calendar and subject folders.
Social climate inclusive of pastoral care and our response to bullying
St Thomas More College promotes a climate in our school community that is welcoming, relational and
free of prejudice. The College believes that everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe at school; be
accepted and respected as they are; and be happy about coming to school.
All hurtful behaviour, irrespective of whether or not it meets the definition of bullying, is addressed by the
College. St Thomas More College takes the issue of bullying very seriously and has a no tolerance policy.
Any behaviour that results in harm to a student or staff member will be reported and responded to in line
with the College’s Student Behaviour Support Plan.
Students who may experience bullying may speak to any staff member, including the Guidance
Counsellor, Pastoral Coordinator, Campus Minister and PC Teacher. Our Pastoral Care Program ensures
that students feel open to communicating with any staff member in an understanding and non-judgemental
environment.
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Parent, student and teacher satisfaction with the school
Parents are afforded a range of opportunities to provide the College with feedback in regard to their degree
of satisfaction with all aspects of the College. These opportunities take the form of Parent & Friends
Association meetings, Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews and one on one meetings.
The College conducted an Annual Internal School Review with teaching staff, which identified strengths,
areas of development and action to be taken.
Parent involvement in their child’s education
St Thomas More College believes that parents and guardians are an integral part of their student’s
education. Therefore, nurturing the relationship and maintaining communication between home and the
College is of paramount importance. The College supports the role of parents through:
Year Level Information Evenings
Fortnightly College e-Newsletter
Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews
Junior Education Transition (JET) Interview -Year 8 students and parents
Senior Education Transition (SET) Interview – Year 10 students and parents
St Thomas More College Parents & Friends Association
Voluntary contribution of parent’s time and skills
Staff Profile Workforce Composition
Teaching Staff
Non-teaching Staff
Headcounts
71
32
Full-time equivalents
69.26
21.46
2
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Qualifications of all teachers
Highest level of attainment
Number of Teaching Staff (teaching staff includes school leaders)
Doctorate
0
Masters
14
Post Graduate Diploma/Certificate
15
Bachelors Degree
41
Diploma/Certificate
1
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Expenditure on and teacher participation in Professional Learning
39,067
The total funds expended on teacher professional learning in 2015 was $ The major professional development initiatives were as follows
St Thomas More College maintains our high level of teaching and learning by ensuring all staff undertake
professional development initiatives.
The major professional development initiatives were as follows:
Annual Goal Setting and Review
Staff Orientation and Induction Program
Training in Dimensions of Learning – the College pedagogical teaching/learning framework IT Support for
the 1:1 Laptop Program
School Income by Funding Source
School income broken down by funding
source is available via the My School website
at http://www.myschool.edu.au/.
To access our school income details, click on
the My School link above. You will then be taken
to the My School website with the following:
‘Find a school’ text box.
Type in the name of the school you wish to
view, and select <GO>’. Read and follow the instructions on the next screen; you will
be asked to accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before being given access
to the school’s My School entry web page.
School financial information is available by selecting ‘School finances’ in the menu
box in the top left corner of the school’s entry web page.
Average staff attendance rate
The staff attendance rate was 97.32 % in 2015.
Proportion of staff retained from the previous school year
From the end of the 2014 school year, 94.0 % of staff were retained by the school
for the 2015 year. Key Student Outcomes
Whole School Attendance Rate
Prep Attendance Rate
Year 1 Attendance Rate
Year 2 Attendance Rate
Year 3 Attendance Rate
Year 4 Attendance Rate
Year 5 Attendance Rate
Year 6 Attendance Rate
94.00 %
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Year 7 Attendance Rate
Year 8 Attendance Rate
Year 9 Attendance Rate
Year 10 Attendance Rate
Year 11 Attendance Rate
Year 12 Attendance Rate
96.00 %
96.00 %
94.00 %
93.00 %
94.00 %
93.00 %
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Policy and practice to manage student attendance
Parents/guardians are advised to ring the College Absentee Line to report their student’s absence and
provide a written explanation of the absence in their student’s College diary when the student returns to
school. Attendance rolls are marked by teaching staff in the morning during Pastoral Care class and at the
beginning of each lesson throughout the day.
Any unexplained/unreported absence is followed up by the College via a text messaging system to the
student’s parents/guardians. Students who arrive late must sign in on arrival to the College. Likewise,
students who leave early must be signed out of the College by a parent/guardian.
If a student is absent from the College for a prolonged period of time, the College requires written
correspondence to the Principal detailing the absence and supporting documentation if required. Continued
and unexplained lateness or absenteeism will necessitate contact with parents/guardians and intervention
meetings with College staff, the student and parents/guardians. Student’s school reports detail the number of
days absent per term.
Student Achievement – NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9
National Assessment Program – Literacy and
Numeracy (NAPLAN) results – our reading
writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and
numeracy results for the relevant years.
Our reading, writing, spelling, grammar and
punctuation, and numeracy results for the
relevant years are available via the My School
website at http://www.myschool.edu.au/.
To access our NAPLAN results, click on the My School link above. You will then be taken to the
My School website with the following
‘Find a school’ text box.
Type in the name of the school whose NAPLAN results you wish to view, and select <GO>’.
Read and follow the instructions on the next screen; you will be asked to accept the Terms of
Use and Privacy Policy before being able to access our NAPLAN data.
Attainment and Achievement – Year 12
Apparent retention rates Year 10 to Year 12
Year 12 student enrolment as a percentage of the Year 10 (2013)
student cohort.
90.0 %
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Outcomes for our Year 12 cohort of 2015
(Data are available to schools from the QSA secure website using your existing security code)
Number of students receiving a Senior Education Profile.
132
Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate Individual
Achievement.
0
Number of students receiving an Overall Position (OP).
59
Number of students who are completing or completed a school
based Apprenticeship or Traineeship.
6
Number of students awarded one or more Vocational Educational
Training qualifications.
103
Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Education
at the end of Year 12.
131
Number of students awarded an International Baccalaureate
Diploma (IBD).
0
Percentage of OP/ IBD eligible students with OP 1-15 or an IBD.
78.0 %
Percentage of Year 12 students who are completing or completed
a SAT or were awarded one or more of the following: QCE, IBD, VET
qualification.
99.2 %
Percentage of Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC)
applicants receiving a tertiary offer.
100.0 %
Overall Position Bands (OP)
Number of students in each Band for OP 1 to 25
OP 1-5
OP 6-10
OP 11-15
23
19
4
OP 16-20
OP 21-25
2
11
Vocational Educational Training qualification (VET)
Number of students awarded certificates under the Australian Qualification Framework
(AQF).
Certificate I
Certificate II
5
Certificate III or above
68
90
Post-school destination information
At the time of publishing this School Annual Report, the results of the 2015 Year 12 postschool destinations survey, Next Step – Student Destination Report for the school were not
available. Information about these post-school destinations of our students will be published
in September when the information is made available to the school.
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