Community Arts Project 2010

Our Project Outcome To increase parent participation in the school by involving parents and students in the design and production of: A mosaic A story quilt representing every family in the school.

Project Outline and Partnership Profile Involved P-6 during Art Specialist classes Incorporated into Units of work where it naturally fitted Addressed our Annual Action Plan goals in both Student Wellbeing and School Community Partnerships spheres Used our own artist in residence, Mrs. Mary Lanera. Mary is our Arts Specialist Engaged the expertise of a grandfather and father who are both craftsmen in tiling and mosaic Used a School Community Partnership Approach (an initiative is developed with the specific goal of engaging parents)

STUDENT WELLBEING 2010  To provide a safe, healthy learning environment for all students at St Paul Apostle South School. SCHOOL COMMUNITY To foster and strengthen active links between the school, its parent group and also the wider community. Intended OutcomesTargetKey Improvement Strategies That parents and the wider community will form a more positive view of the school and its educational programs. That parent involvement in the school will be strengthened. That parents in SRC Parent Opinion Survey move from a score of 76 to 85 in General Satisfaction. That parents in SRC Parent Opinion Survey move from a score of 70 to 80 in Parent Input. Actively involve parents in the Asian Art – NALSSP project and the Student Wellbeing Arts Grant Project. To develop strategies to harness the richness of the schools multicultural community  Initiate an annual school event which promotes the multi-cultural diversity of its community

Cultural Diversity More than 44 countries are represented across our parent population. The predominant countries, other than Australia, are: India Sri Lanka Mauritius and Vietnam Other countries include: Chile, China, East Timor, Italy, Iraq, Lebanon and the Philippines

Informed parents about Community Arts project Questionnaire sent home Information session Parent mosaic workshops Story Quilt in Art classes Story Quilt Workshops for parents Story Quilt Homework Task Family workshops to begin story quilt squares Construction of Mosaic Construction of Family Story Quilt Engaging Parents

Monitoring Parent Involvement Number of families in our school – 188 Parent Questionnaire – 16 returned out of 188 Information session on Community Arts Grant- 7 parents (am session) 5 parents (pm session) Mosaic workshops – workshop 1 : 12 parents workshop 2: 14 parents workshop 3: 14 parents Story Quilt Parent Workshop – 22 parents (afternoon session) 12 parents (evening session) Parent volunteering in the Art room has increased.

Engaging Staff Application was jointly written in 2009 by Principal and Student Wellbeing Co-ordinator. Agreement for project was sought from Student Wellbeing Team and Art Specialist. Powerpoint on Community Arts provided by Judy Jack was cut and pasted to suit our school community and shared with Staff at a staff meeting early in Term 2. School Leadership Team were also informed about the project. Regular updates have been provided to Staff at Staff meetings and School Leadership meetings.

Challenges… Involving parents who work full time Communication: Staff who work part-time and on different days Parents with English as a Second Language Keeping up the momentum and maintaining parent involvement Balancing project time with new buildings being constructed and other projects e.g Contemporary Learning

Special moments…. A discussion that occurred between the Arts Specialist and the Student Wellbeing Co-ordinator about the power of the Arts to build community. Meeting the grandfather of a student who shared his story of how he became a mosaic artist Parents sharing their story quilt ideas with other parents Parents talking and laughing together while completing mosaics Deciding on the final mosaic design A Parents and Friends meeting held in Term 3 was attended by record numbers – was it a result of our project?!

Question time….