2022 Unity College School Performance Report

School Performance Report 2022 #YOU

Mission Statement

Unity College: In the heart of the Murraylands, striving for excellence in education and spiritual growth in a safe, caring, forgiving Christian environment.

PHILOSOPHY

Students come first in an exceptionally caring Christian environment where opportunities and cultural diversity result in inspired life-long learning and development as active global citizens.

HOW

+ We Learn: Unity helps each student reach their full potential and encourages them to be the best they can be.

+ We Care: Unity cares for students and provides a safe and nurturing environment because ‘happy children learn best’.

+ We Engage: Unity provides modern, spacious and functional facilities that engage students who enjoy and have a desire to learn.

+ We Involve: Unity involves parents and the wider community in student learning because ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.

+ We Inspire: Unity inspires students through innovative educators who encourage individuality and diversity because each students learns in a different way.

Introduction

Unity College is a coeducational Christian school of the Lutheran Church of Australia, located in the heart of the Murraylands in the Rural City of Murray Bridge, South Australia, the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people. The College is structured in three distinct sub schools of Junior (Reception – Year 5), Middle (Years 6 – 9) and Senior (Years 10 – 12), providing a seamless pathway for each child’s educational journey. Unity offers modern facilities and innovative approaches to learning, encouraging students to strive for their personal best and high academic achievement, with the Junior School an accredited International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program school.

Through a comprehensive range of subjects, students prepare for a variety of tertiary and vocational pathways equipping them to make positive contributions to the community. Year 12 students historically have achieved excellent ATAR scores (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) with the majority gaining their first choice preference for further education.

Unity College offers a wide variety of specialist programs. The Trade Skills Centre provides Metal and Engineering training to students and community members in a modern, purpose built workshop. The Specialist Sports Program assists talented student athletes to achieve at the highest levels of performance in their chosen sport. The thriving Agriculture Department allows students to study a variety of topics and in Years 10 & 11 they have the opportunity to complete a Certificate III in Rural Operations.

Unity College provides a broad range of extra-curricular activities which include drama, music, art, interschool sports, leadership courses, Pedal Prix, outdoor education, cultural tours with opportunities to travel interstate and internationally. School camps are focussed on curriculum requirements and are held regularly, extending students beyond the classroom and offering them personal challenges and experiences.

The main entry points for enrolment at Unity College are Reception, Year 6, Year 7 and Year 8. However, enrolment can be offered at any year level depending on availability.

From the Principal

BETTER TOGETHERWE ARE, AND YOU WILL BE…

I had the privilege of speaking to our Year 12 Valedictorians at the end of 2022 and shared with them that being together makes us stronger, especially when we are surrounded by others.

The 2022 year has been a time of rebuild and although there have been issues the same as the last 2 to 3 years we have gradually learnt to adapt, change and move forward, and that’s a good thing. This year was certainly not like the previous years but it was far from normal, we often say it’s the ‘new normal.’ However, we have learnt over time to deal with that, to manage in a way that helps us achieve all that we need and want to. If there is one thing COVID has taught us is that we need each other. Learning online was not liked by most of us because we realised we needed each other, we needed to be together.

In the first Devotion for the 2022 year with our Senior Chaplain, Mr Yeager he shared the line:

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack”

This is a very famous quote from author and poet, Rudyard Kipling who has written many literary masterpieces such as the Jungle Book. The Jungle Book is a fable that characterises a man child, Mowgli who is being raised by a family of wolves. And just like all fables, it is a story of good versus evil, in this case Sher Khan the tiger is the evil and characters such as Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear are the special characters who look after Mowgli to keep him safe.

The story talks about the law of the jungle and within the law are many lessons. One such is how the wolf survives, suggesting when individual wolves put the pack first, the pack puts them first and that leads to the pack thriving. The wolves know that they will survive by being a part of the pack. In other words, the wolf needs the pack and the pack needs the wolf.

In 2022 COVID taught us, particularly early in the year that we needed each other. Learning online wasn’t much fun to many of us because we needed our pack, we need not only our family pack but the larger pack, that of our friends. In the first days of this school year we didn’t have that because we learnt online. We still had our Unity Class of 2022, we still had our pack, but we weren’t together, where the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Who makes our own pack? Of course, it goes without saying it’s our family, but who else? Who is the pack we run with? I suggest it’s the group of people we have walking alongside us daily over the years. They are there through the moments that we’ve needed them, building a strong pack together. Throughout the years, our staff become part of the pack too and they quite honestly put the pack first, because the pack is important to them. Every member of Unity is important to us because they form our pack, the extended pack that makes us who we are, and we are stronger together.

The pack is better together, because the more we realise the pack together is stronger, the more we will gain strength. Know that God is part of the pack wherever we go and know that He is with us. John 15:13 says: ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ That’s our pack, our strength, and when we add God into the equation, we are even stronger.

Kaye Mathwin-Cox Unity College Murraylands Principal

Our Student Body

While students from the immediate Murray Bridge postcode area (5253) constitute the greater proportion of students at Unity, we continue to grow our student body from further afield than our historic Murraylands boundaries.

Our relationship with the Areyonga community in the Northern Territory continued as we once more welcomed the CASLAU (Central Australian Students Learning At Unity) students to Unity College.

The Unity bus services from Mount Pleasant and Swan Reach areas continued to grow in 2022 and we have introduced a new run to Karoonda.

Enrolments

The College enrolment at the August Census was 713 FTE. 10% of these were ELS students, with 9% identifying as Indigenous.

Attendance Report

Since 2015 the Commonwealth Government has required schools to provide snapshots of attendance recorded at regular periods. These were taken at regular intervals throughout Semester 1 (roughly the first 2 terms) and again in Term 3. Results were reported online to DEEWR (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) and are available through the My School website.

We are also required to advise and report on Indigenous attendance separate to our overall attendance figure and that data is included in the tables. Please note that these reports are only required to be based on students in Years 1-10.

Indigenous attendance data is not a particularly accurate analysis of attendance as the students in our CASLAU program attend for fewer weeks each term. This is in recognition of their distance from home and we ensure they have extended breaks when they return to their community in Areyonga. While living in Murray Bridge, the NT students have virtually 100% attendance with very few days missed.

Student attendances at Unity are recorded electronically via Daymap during Home Group and for each lesson, providing a clearer picture of student attendance, taking into account part days where students may attend medical appointments etc. Text messages are sent to parent / caregivers for unexplained absences. These are then followed up with phone calls if no response is received.

Student Results Over Time

The Australian Government My School Website uses a number of varying criteria particularly with NAPLAN – one of which is comparing the school results for ‘like’ schools. This takes into consideration a number of factors and includes socio-economic background, school size, ethnic diversity, rural vs urban location etc. While virtually impossible to compare one school to another it does provide some indicators that may be of use when assessing our curriculum effectiveness.

Below is a table from the My School website that provides a snapshot across the areas that are tested in the NAPLAN – Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Numeracy. It is always the aim of teaching staff to improve the outcomes for our students, and tools such as this NAPLAN data is just one that can be utilised to analyse and improve our pedagogy.

Compared to schools with similar students:

Academic Outcomes

Of the 45 students completing Year 12 in 2022, it is pleasing to report that 100% of students received their South Australian Certificate of Education, an outstanding result above the State average. There were 27 students who were eligible for an ATAR. The additional students had chosen courses that allowed them to achieve their SACE but were not requiring them to attain an ATAR.

TOP ATAR SCORES

The Dux of Unity College for 2022 is Charlotte Patterson who received and ATAR of 90.95. We congratulate Charlotte on her achievement. Charlotte received her Dux Award at the 2022 Term 1 Opening Service on Monday 30 January 2023. It is worth noting that 63% of all grades achieved by the Class of 2022 were A and B grades.

The following is a brief summary of the range of results of Unity College students who were eligible for an ATAR:

AWARDS

A variety of awards are presented to students at Unity College to acknowledge and encourage their learning. 2022 has been a year of challenge with COVID and some online learning but through this came excellent achievement and learning. We are proud of all students and their achievements and we acknowledge those who have served their school and have achieved in their academic and community pursuits. The following were major Senior School award winners for 2022:

2022 SENIOR AWARDS

AWARD RECIPIENT

UCOS Christian Leadership Award

Unity Way Service Award

Tracey Venning Memorial Award

ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership Award

ADF Long Tan Future Innovators Award

Order of Australia Merit Award

Olympic Change-Maker Award

Ampol Best All Rounder

Lutheran Women’s Award

Neville Grieger Award

The Journey Award

Muriel Matters Award

Charlotte Patterson

Sophie Pope

Jayden Dawson

Kalder Bormann (Year 12)

Ellie Harrison (Year 10)

Matthew Kubenk (Year 12)

Alecia Bormann (Year 10)

Cheska Nacario

Jack Secomb

Keeley Rathjen

Alicia Koop (Year 11)

Rebekah Wagenknecht

Shanti Doolan

Briannah Griffiths (Year 11)

VET in SACE

It is important to reflect on statistics from another very successful year for the VET in SACE program at Unity College.

1. 79% of Year 12 students completed VET as part of their SACE.

2. 25 Year 12 students completed a Certificate III qualification.

3. 6 students completed a School Based Apprenticeship.

4. 78.26% of the graduating class completed VET certificates as part of their SACE compared to the state average of 42.67%.

In the combination of both VET and SACE pathways, these results reflect how Unity places ‘Students First’ by catering for individual career paths and future aspirations.

VET Off-site placements for 2022 were undertaken at various locations.

Workplace Learning is a wonderful opportunity for our students to explore career choices and gain valuable insight into life at work. We thank the employers for the time and effort they dedicate to making these great learning experiences happen.

POST SECONDARY STUDIES

While some students have successfully gained employment, traineeships or apprenticeships, there are a variety of tertiary courses in 2022 that graduates will be undertaking including:

+ Bachelor of Secondary Education

+ Bachelor of Occupational Therapy

+ Bachelor of Health Sciences (Therapy)

+ Bachelor of Science

+ Bachelor of Engineering (Architecture)

+ Diploma Arts/ Bachelor Primary Education

+ Bachelor of Accounting

+ Diploma Engineering/ Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical)

+ Bachelor of Science (Biology and Conservation)

+ Bachelor of Science (Animal Science)

+ Bachelor Early Childhood Education

+ Bachelor of Architectural Studies

+ Bachelor of Education (Primary)

+ Bachelor of Medical Science

+ Bachelor of Music

Extra-Curricular

Unity College is delighted to offer a range of Extra and Co-curricular activities and programs to enrich the lives of our students. In explanation, ‘Extra Curricular’ activities are usually optional ‘add-ons’ to education, whereas ‘Co-Curricular’ are events and activities directly linked to the study of subjects and courses. Co-Curricular activities include school camps and excursions.

Some of the 2022 Extra Curricular Activities to which students are invited to be involved include:

+ Year 11/12 Student Leadership

+ Year 9 Student Ambassadors

+ SRC – Junior, Middle and Senior Schools

+ Various competitions (eg Maths, Writing)

+ Instrumental lessons

+ Concert and Drama productions

+ SAPSASA sports

+ Knock Out sports

+ Music Ensembles

+ Peer Support

+ Hospitality Catering

+ Easter Devotions

+ Sporting activities

+ AG Show Teams

+ Pedal Prix

As part of our commitment to providing an education to all our students, there are a wide range of additional programs to support student learning across the College. These include:

+ Languages – Japanese and German

+ In class Learning Support

+ Individualised Learning Programs

+ Road Awareness Program (RAP)

+ Drug Education

+ Senior School Tutoring

+ Homework Club

Staffing Report

We offer Professional Development opportunities for staff with a good portion of the Professional Development program occurring during what is known as ‘Retreat Week’. While this provides an additional week of holidays for students in the middle of the year, it is a week with a high focus on professional and spiritual development for all staff.

Our staff continue to be highly trained professionals, with our teaching staff possessing strong qualifications that meet the stringent professional standards as required by the Teachers Registration Board (TRB) of South Australia. Below is a snapshot of our teaching staff qualifications as at August Census:

TEACHING STAFF SUMMARY 2022

Parent Satisfaction

We Learn, We Care, We Engage, We Involve, We Inspire – Unity helps each student reach their full potential and encourages them to be the best they can be.

Unity College continues to work in partnership with families to prepare the young people in our care for the future. Each year a number of opportunities are provided for feedback including parent surveys which assist in forming plans and reviewing progress each year. Of the parents who completed the Year 12 Parent Exit Survey, 100% were either ‘completely satisfied’ or ‘mostly satisfied’ with the overall education experience their child had received at Unity College.

Comments and feedback included in the Year 12 Parent Exit survey included:

+ Best decision we ever made

+ On commencing at Unity College the grades of my child improved immensely because of the support and support strategies of the teachers at the school. The after-school homework club was somewhere my child attended regularly to gain extra assistance from teachers in some subject areas. Also the VET pathways have proved to be very successful in supporting my child enter a career of choice and gaining employment

+ Academic and emotional support from the teachers is outstanding. The teachers build strong trusting relationships with the students and keep these relationships in place throughout the schooling of the student, even when that teacher is no longer a subject teacher to the student

+ Sending our son to Unity College was the best decision we ever made. The school is modern, progressive and gave our son so many more opportunities to learn and develop both academically and socially. All the staff and teachers are very friendly, supportive and we had great communication. The Year 12 final devotion and valedictory service were an excellent way to finish our Unity experience and highlight just how professional the school is run

+ After 22 years involved within Unity College, I believe the education in schools are probably similar but at Unity College the students and their families know they belong and have a purpose. Very proud of Unity

+ I always highly recommend Unity to friends and anybody who is looking for schooling for their children in the Murraylands. Unity is supportive to students and families. The teachers truly respect and care about their students and go above and beyond to support students in their learning

+ Daymap is excellent, teachers communicate very well

+ Teachers have always been extremely approachable and would answer any queries very promptly

+ Our experience at Unity was excellent, our son made lifelong friends and as parents we have also made lifelong friends

+ Thank you, we are overall very happy with Unity

+ We are truly grateful for the opportunity to have sent our children to Unity, and strongly believe that their success beyond school is because of their experience and learning at Unity

Financial Summary

With enrolments continuing to grow and a new Strategic Plan in place, the College is focused on delivering quality educational programs in a contemporary and sustainable learning environment.

To support this strategic direction, resources continue to be invested into key areas such as student learning and wellbeing support, the refurbishment and upgrading of campus learning areas along with on-going improvements to our extensive grounds, playgrounds, bush play and agricultural facilities - all key assets of Unity College.

Accessibility to education at Unity remains a key priority. The Finance team remain focused on ensuring that fee structures continue to deliver comparatively low fee outcomes for families, with changes in fees consistently below ‘Cost of Living’ (CPI) measures.

Unity College is working hard to continue to develop and build strong partnerships with many regional businesses, professional, community and sporting organisations. These relationships serve to provide not only educational opportunities for our students but also facilities that can be utilised by individuals and groups throughout the community.

We also acknowledge the important partnership and the support received from LESNW (Lutheran Education SA, NT & WA). We look forward to their continued support as we continue to build our financial position into the future.

Below is a summary of our Recurrent & Capital Income for 2022.

Governance Report

The governing body of Unity College (College Board) is responsible for the oversight of the College and it is to this body that the Principal reports, while the Board charges the day-to-day running and management of the College to the Principal. The Board is involved in ensuring that the Strategic Plans, policies and statutory regulations governing a school are met and acquitted with due diligence.

Sitting on the Board in 2022 were five members of Lutheran congregations of the Unity College Association as well as two additional non-Lutheran members. Ex Officio members of the Board include the Principal, Business Manager and Principal’s PA (minute secretary). The Board is also represented by a Pastor from within the congregations and this year Pastor Peter Heintze from the Coonalpyn Parish has fulfilled that role. Other Executive Staff attend as required. The Board held eight meetings in 2022, all online. The member’s attendances are recorded as follows: