Educational and Financial Report - Masada College

Reporting Area 2: Contextual Information about Masada CollegeMasada College is a coeducational modern orthodox Jewish day school Preschool to Year 12. We develop independent thinkers, through Reggio Emilia &Culture of Thinking pedagogy. Catering for students across the learning spectrum we allow students to reach their potential, support & encourage academicexcellence by offering students a range of learning challenges. Our HSC results consistently place us in the top 20 schools in NSW. Masada believes thereis a leader in each child & fosters opportunities for students to take on responsibility & leadership ensuring our graduates are confident, responsible,Australian citizens. Masada, through its tolerant, caring & nurturing environment, promotes strong community values, with a specific focus on respect &responsibility. Our Raising Responsibility behavioural management system underpins our values system. Community awareness & involvement is reflectedin the work initiated by our Charity Committee & SRC & the public recognition awarded to our students by external organisations. Our diverse range ofco-curricular programs ensures our success in developing in our students a strong sense of community, pride in their heritage & identity.Masada College has an:♦ SES score 130♦ We have a strong Learning Support Team who work closely with selected students, staff and liaise regularly with parents to ensure their students areprovided with consistent and appropriate support. In 2011 there were six students who were recognised in terms of eligibility for integration funding.♦ Our non selective policy means we have children with attributes that range across the learning spectrum. We offer enrichment programs and have astrong focus on learning support.♦ Approximately 3.61% ie 12 of our 332 Senior School student enrolments are overseas students who require English as a Second Language support.We have Value Added to our education — below are some of the valued added components:♦ Academic♦ Additional Teaching and Learning Opportunities♦ Exposure to Values Education♦ Community Involvement♦ Co-curricular OpportunitiesAcademic♦ Our HSC results in the majority of subject areas showed an improvement in terms of the percentage of students in the top band compared to 2010.♦ Masada was placed 6th non selective school in New South Wales and 17th overall in New South Wales.♦ 50% of students in our non-selective school gained ATARs over 90 and 70% over 80.♦ Our NAPLAN results, particularly in Year 3 & 5 were very strong with a marked improvement of Year 5 students on their Year 3 results. We wereplaced 2nd in NSW for our Primary School results.♦ Our Reading Plus program continues to support students with their reading speed and comprehension and perception levels with noticeableimprovements resulting.♦ Gabriella Shofer & Mark Velik won Co-op Scholarships to University of New South Wales and Brandon Cowan Co-op Scholarship to UTS♦ Our Hospitality student Jess Broll won a scholarship to William Blue Hospitality.♦ Jonathan Felthun was awarded the Department of Education award for Academic Excellence.♦ Six Visual Art students were short listed for ArtExpress and three were selected for exhibition, Carly Brand, Jacob Hirsh and Gabriella Shofer♦ Shir Dekl , Year 11 topped the State in HSC in Modern Hebrew♦ Jonathan Felthun was placed 10th in the State in HSC for Biology♦ Monique Heller and Lori Gross were placed 10th in the State in HSC for Business Studies7