NAPLAN data analysis shows that students who attend Ulmarra Public School for the entirety of their schooling achieve at a higher rate than those who do not.
Ulmarra Public School has a high mobility rate. Many of our families rent housing and have transient job status. This has resulted in children entering and leaving the school with a higher frequency rate than is experienced at neighbouring schools. This mobility rate, combined with an increase in enrolments from 2005 to 2009 of 37%, has impacted on our NAPLAN results.
Detailed analysis of our 2009 Year 3 and Year 5 cohorts revealed that students fell into two categories:
- Those who had enrolled in Kindergarten at Ulmarra Public School and had been exposed to the Ulmarra Public School K-2 literacy and numeracy programs, and
- Those who had entered Ulmarra Public School for the first time in Stage 2.
For many of those students in the second category, Ulmarra Public School was the third or fourth school the student had attended.
Students who had attended Ulmarra Public School for the entirety of their schooling achieved at a higher rate than those who had not.
It is well documented that student performance in literacy and numeracy is affected adversely by the disruption to student schooling in the early developmental years.
Ulmarra Public School K-2 Literacy and Numeracy programs have resulted in strong student performance in both school based and NAPLAN assessment data for those students who have been exposed to them.
As existing Ulmarra Public School K-2 Literacy and Numeracy programs are successful in achieving strong student results, they will be continued and expanded over the coming years.
To assist students new to our school who have not had the benefit of our extensive Ulmarra Public School K-2 Literacy and Numeracy programs, we have implemented intervention programs in Stage 2 and Stage 3. The Quicksmart Maths program is offered to students for both remediation and extension purposes. The Multilit intervention strategy, the Accelerated Literacy whole school program and the Kindy Headstart Transition to School program complete the suite (implemented as part of the National Partnerships initiative) designed to ensure student success at Ulmarra Public School.