Callaghan College, Wallsend Campus

Location: Newcastle, NSW

The school is a 7-10 Campus of 1100 students. 45% of students are in the bottom quartile socio economically. 127 Aboriginal students are enrolled. There is also a small refugee student group, mainly from Africa but Syrian students are arriving.

How has your school used its Gonski funding?

The Gonski money has been targeted at Literacy and Numeracy acquisition and improved outcomes. Teachers have been employed to work with students and to provide professional learning for staff.

How has Gonski made a positive difference for students?

In NAPLAN 2016 the school obtained its highest number of Bands 9 and 10 and the lowest percentage in the lower bands. The school was also much closer to the NSW average in reading, spelling, punctuation and numeracy.

In the Year 8 VALID test the school was above state average for all schools with 3 times the number of Band 6s than the state.

What could your school do with Gonski funding in the future?

More targeted professional learning for staff to ensure important foundation concepts are taught systematically across the school.