We, the parents of Emmaus Catholic College, believe the College is making significant gains as a school. We especially appreciate the efforts the College is making to ensure that learning is valued. As parents, we are strongly encouraged to take a keen interest in our child’s education and are always made welcome at the College.

We value the contact made with us through the College newsletter, the student diary, the College website, the information nights and parent teacher meetings.

Any parent meetings at the College always run for one hour only from 6.30pm on Tuesday nights and are not to be missed.

We believe the College provides a safe and happy environment for our children where they feel well cared for. The uniform standard has been considerably raised and we appreciate the strong supportive approach to student discipline.

Parents are able to participate in College events such as liturgies, the College Council, parish events, the College canteen, working bees and fundraising activities.

We, the students of Emmaus Catholic College, are immensely proud of our beautiful school and appreciative of the changes made to the College buildings and the gardens and oval. We have been successful in raising awareness of, and securing funds for, various charities such as Project Compassion and have enjoyed such events as Emmaus Day, the sports carnivals, clean up schools day, the Driver Awareness and Duke of Edinburgh programs, the Mock Trial Competition, the St Vincent de Paul hamper projects, a Christmas dinner for the residents at Emmaus Village and Rice Day.

Emmaus Catholic College follows the Parramatta Diocesan document Enrolment Procedures in Parramatta Catholic Systemic Schools, January 2002. This document states that when demand exceeds number of places available, priority for enrolment will be given to first, ‘children of Catholic families who live within the geographic boundaries of the parish (or parishes) for which the school was established, on which the school depends OR live outside the parish geographic boundaries but regularly attend such a parish'.

This document can be obtained from the school office or is available on the College website at http://www.emmaus.parra.catholic.edu.au/About/Students/student_management_policies.shtml

Student enrolments

The significant change in enrolment figures between 2005 and 2007 can be attributed to a change in principalship and the introduction of accountabilities around learning in and outside of the classroom. Since August 2007, enrolment figures have been consolidating and increasing.

2007 has seen the implementation of policies and procedures to meet the following priorities. 

1. The Student Management Policy, the Bullying Policy and the Student Awards Policy are now whole-school practice.

2. New pastoral care structures have been developed with Year coordinators specialising in leading a designated Year cohort. All Year group procedures and activities have been evaluated and revised.

3. A whole school approach to the development and evaluation of teaching programs, scope and sequences and assessments has moved to the second year of a three year development plan in 2007.

4. A restructured timetable has been implemented, providing greater frequency of instruction.

5. The subject selection procedures and courses for senior students have been reviewed and revised, ensuring increased access to Vocational Education Training (VET) subjects and to subjects more suited to a student’s interests and abilities.

6. The  College Literacy Plan has been implemented for Year 7 in 2007. All Key Learning Areas (KLAs) have reported on literacy for each subject in the Years 7-12, 2007 reports.

7. The College staff, in collaboration with three other schools, has undertaken the Hitting the Target program to develop clearer and more demanding descriptions of the E-A reporting criteria for each Year 7 subject.

Implementing the following priorities will build on the achievements of 2007.

Literacy Priority

• to extend the reporting on, and embedding, of literacy skills in all teaching programs across every KLA to students in Year 8
• to extend the reporting on, and embedding of, 'subject specifiç' terminology in all teaching and learning programs across every KLA for Years 9-12
• to develop staff professionally through participation in small group learning teams to build and support teacher capacity

Numeracy Priority

• to develop a numeracy plan, to be implemented in semester 2, 2008
• to develop a Mathematics basic skills program for students in Year 7, 2008

Reporting Priority

• to develop standards based reports across every KLA beginning with Year 7 semester 1, 2008

Values Priority

• to identify and articulate our commonly understood values and to embed these in our College documents and learning programs

Teacher Capacity Priority

• to develop structures to support, enhance and build teacher capacity through the identification and collection of data around the professional needs of teachers

 Student Academic Performance Priority

• to develop strategies to increase the number of students in bands 4, 5 and 6 in the Higher School Certificate

Students in NSW sat the English Language and Literacy Assessment (ELLA) and the Secondary Numeracy Assessment Program (SNAP) in March this year. The test results provide valuable information about student achievements in literacy and numeracy. Analysis of these results assists school planning and is used to support teaching and learning programs. 

ELLA and SNAP results ( Year7, 2007) percentage of students achieving in the "High" and "Proficient" bands compared to the state.

The Commonwealth Government sets minimum acceptable standards for reading, writing and numeracy at particular ages. These are referred to as national benchmarks. The performance of the students in our school in the Year 7 English Language and Literacy Assessment (ELLA) and in the Year 7 Secondary Numeracy Assessment Program (SNAP) is compared to these benchmarks. 

Percentage of students achieving at or above the benchmark. 

This trend indicates that the students entering Year 7 from the primary schools are entering with deficits in literacy and particularly numeracy. In May 2007 the College implemented a literacy policy across all KLA's to address these deficits. Extra teacher support has been given across Years 7-10 to support teachers in the implementation of this policy. In addition, the College has identified numeracy as a priority for 2008 and will develop both a numeracy plan to be implemented in semester two and a Mathematics basic skills program to be implemented in semester one for Year 7 students.

School Certificate external test results (Year 10, 2007)

Percentage of students in performance bands 4,5 and 6 compared to the state  

These results indicate that a significant proportion of teaching is catering for students in the middle ability ranges. Assessment tasks and teaching strategies are not extending students to achieve in the higher bands. In 2007 the College implemented a whole school approach to the development of all teaching programs, scope and sequences and assessment tasks to address any deficits in the learning cycle for students in Stage 5. In addition, in 2008, there will be a further focus on subject specific terminology and learning strategies.

Higher School Certificate results (Year 12, 2007)

Percentage of students in performance bands 4,5 and 6 compared to the state

Our results indicate that, as a whole across the 42 subjects offered, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) students of 2007 have made significant learning gain beyond what was expected of them based on their School Certificate results. In addition, the HSC results for the past four years indicate that students of the College are achieving improved results and are becoming more competitive when compared to the state average. Bridging this decreasing gap is a major goal of the College. In 2007, teachers of HSC classes conducted extra study tutorials off timetable and after school, which reflects the College’s commitment to improving academic outcomes for students.

In 2008, KLA faculties will be setting targets for the number of students achieving bands 4, 5 and 6, based on improving the band achieved in their School Certificate. Adding to this initiative, the ‘Hitting the Target’ project for Year 7 has led teachers of HSC classes to be more discerning in their awarding of higher grades and to be clearer and more demanding in their descriptions of the higher grades for the marking criteria of all learning tasks.

The academic curriculum is constantly under review at the College as we aim to meet the individual learning needs of our students. Individuation of learning programs is a skill which all teachers are expected to employ to cater for the diverse range of learning styles and needs of students in their classes.

The College has a dedicated learning support team with a specific staff member responsible for students in each year group. There were 50 funded students in 2007, and those in Years 9 and 10 were offered extended opportunities to explore work placements. The learning support team also coordinates and guides transition programs, which provide individual education plans for approximately 20% of our students. Both funded and non funded students benefit from the case management of their learning, personal development and transition arrangements by a member of the teaching staff. The learning support team works closely with the careers adviser and North West personnel to arrange part-time work placements and support transition to full-time work on completion of studies. Transitional support for all students is provided by the careers adviser and, where necessary, the College counsellor. 

Selected Year 12 students participate in the Australian Catholic University (ACU) linked Step Up Into Teaching program, which gives them one unit credit towards their HSC and two courses to their undergraduate education degree program at ACU. Selected students also participate in TAFE courses and 135 of our Stage 6 students undertake a Vocational Education Training (VET) subject as one of their HSC units.

The Peer Support program is well established to ensure that our Year 7 students are supported in their first year of high school and that senior students learn and use valuable leadership skills.

The school is involved in many co-curricular activities. These include: the choir, community drama, mock trial, dance, music ensembles and the Duke of Edinburgh young leaders' scheme.

The sporting life of the College is very strong with opportunities for students to play all codes of football, cricket, netball, baseball, volleyball, cross country, athletics, swimming and basketball, and to represent the College in these sports in the PDSSSC competitions and a range of knockout and gala events. Teams of students in Years 7 to 10 are involved in either representative sporting competitions or in a broad sporting program every Thursday afternoon. Students from the College also represented at state level in softball, touch football and soccer.

The Student Management Policy and the Student Awards Policy are designed to ensure that students take full responsibility for their actions. Two thousand and seven marked the implementation of these policies.

The zero tolerance policy on defiance, which held students accountable for their lack of respect towards each other and their teachers, has been further developed. In 2007, a full-time teacher was allocated to the supervision of senior study and the supervision of any student choosing to be defiant or disruptive during learning. This teacher immediately contacted the student’s parents, whereupon an interview was arranged with the relevant Year coordinator and the teacher concerned. This initiative will be revised and consolidated in 2008.

The College uniform expectations were further enforced during 2007 in an order to raise the esteem and respect students need to have for themselves their family and the College.

A new leadership model was also introduced for 2007, which raised the profile of the College leaders, giving them more responsibility. In 2008 a Student Representative Council and leadership portfolios for members of the College student leadership team will be further developed.

Two thousand and seven saw the continuing commitment of significant funds to the refurbishment of many College buildings and the surrounding environment begun in 2006. Uniform expectations are now strongly in place and further graduated changes to the college uniform are planned for 2008 and beyond. These changes are primarily to reduce the cost of uniform requirements by having one uniform for the year rather than a winter and summer uniform. Surveys and forums of parents and students have clearly indicated that these initiatives build respect for the individual and the College.

Values forums were held for each Year cohort at the end of 2007 to discern the values that students saw in evidence in the College. Consistently and collectively, Year cohorts were decisive in nominating learning (first), faith (second), community (third), respect (fourth), safety (fifth) and school spirit (sixth) as those values which students believe matter most in their College.

Staff Professional Development occurs from 8.00 - 9.15am in Weeks 3, 6 and 9 each term and on one additional Staff Development Day of each term. This professional learning focuses on the College goals of improving student learning outcomes and building teacher capacity. A high level of staff satisfaction is seen in their very strong engagement at every one of these meetings. It can also be seen in their commitment to meeting deadlines for all phases of the learning and teaching cycle. Additionally, the low level of staff turnover at the end of 2007 strongly suggests a high level of satisfaction with the direction and development of the College.

 In 2007, the school had 60 full time teaching staff and 13 part time teaching staff. All teaching staff have teaching qualifications from a higher education institution. The teaching staff is marked by a healthy balance of gender, youth and experience. There are 24 teachers holding responsibility at coordinator or assistant coordinator level. Six teachers are currently enrolled in post-graduate courses including Masters in Educational Leadership and Masters in Religious Education.

All teachers are afforded the opportunity to become accredited teachers of RE and more than 30% of staff are already accredited.

Professional Learning

All teachers undertook courses in a wide range of professional learning areas including curriculum, pastoral care, child protection, occupational health and safety, and spirituality. The whole staff furthered their professional learning through four staff development days and twelve professional development mornings. During 2006 considerable professional attention was devoted to the development of teaching programs, scope and sequences and assessment tasks for Semester 1 2007. Many teachers were actively engaged in the Key Learning Area cluster meetings organised by the Catholic Education Office.

The average expenditure on professional learning per teacher for 2007 was $92. This estimate does not include whole Staff Development Days, which would be calculated by what it would cost if the staff were replaced with relief teachers for the day. Emmaus Catholic College has four Staff Development Days per year plus each faculty is released for a whole day each semester and Year 7 & 8 literacy groups meet for professional learning for 50 minutes each fortnight. Much of the College’s professional learning occurs on-site.

The average student attendance for Years 7-10, 2007 was 91%. The average student attendance for Years 11 and 12 was 91%.The College maintains a system of text messages which are sent to all parents when a student is absent.

The actual retention rate from Year 10 2005 to Year 12 2007 was 65%.

The implementation of a revised pastoral care structure in 2007 required each Year coordinator to be designated as a particular and ongoing Year coordinator of that Year and to develop his or her skills for that age group. As part of this implementation, the assistant principals assumed a more global responsibility for the management of the College. Pastoral care is the designated responsibility of the year coordinator who is accountable to the assistant principals. All pastoral programs have been evaluated and re-designed to support the new structures.

The Student Management Policy, Bullying Policy and Student Awards Policy have been implemented by the College staff in 2007. Underpinning each of these policies is the intrinsic value and dignity of the person. The Student Management Policy has been developed with the understanding that for every action there is a consequence, however if the value of reconciliation is not apparent in these consequences then the learning for the student and the teacher is compromised. The Student Awards Policy is critically linked to the Student Management Policy and fosters the belief that children will learn best when affirmation is at the core of all teaching. The College's Bullying Policy is designed to facilitate an immediate response for the victim and to support them in developing skills and resilience. The perpetrators of bullying are held accountable for their actions and are supported through counselling and parental intervention. Repeat offenders of bullying will result in a review of a student's enrolment. The full text of student management/welfare and discipline policies can be obtained through the College Website.

School Recurrent & Capital Income

School Recurrent & Capital Expenditure

School System Recurrent & Capital Income

School System Recurrent & Capital Expenditure