Swansea Public School

Swansea Public School is located on the shores of the beautiful Lake Macquarie and is at the gateway to the Lake. The school has access to a number of lovely waterway areas including beaches and lake. The community is in a state of change with many new residences being built in the area. Swansea is well supported by a number of key community and health services. Swansea Public School has a committed Parents and Citizens Association that works to support school programs and to build community spirit. The parents are committed to the Swansea community and continually seek ways to address community issues and to ensure that it is a great place to live. Swansea Public School is an innovative school promoting quality programs to its community such as programs to develop awareness and respect for the Aboriginal culture. The school is an important part of the Galgabba Community of Schools that encourages Caring, Opportunity and Success. The school regularly engages in programs, teacher professional learning experiences and special events with other local schools. At Swansea Public School there is a strong focus on the early years of schooling with programs such as Reading Recovery, the Kindergarten Literacy program and targeted small group support assisting the acquisition of the critical foundational learning skills for the early years of schooling, as identified through the Best Start Kindergarten assessment process and the use of the Literacy continuum. The school participates in the L3 program to support Kindergarten students to become competent readers and writers. The school offers a variety of programs that enhance citizenship, teamwork, equality, social justice and tolerance. The school is involved in the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) that delivers units of work in behaviour, peer support, conflict resolution, emotional resilience, social skill development and values education. This program provides critical data-sets that guides the planning, programming and behaviour management strategies of PBL, through explicit teaching and learning activities. The school has a strong student discipline policy that is contingent upon positive communication with parents and a very popular reward system. The guiding philosophy is underpinned by the notion of "educating the whole child" and although there is a relentless focus on the improvement of skills in Literacy and Numeracy there are also exciting activities and programs in sport, creative and practical arts and technology. The school's three priorities for 2015 to 2017 include Curriculum, Cultural Respect and Global Citizenship and Student Well Being and Health. From 2017 to 2020 Swansea PS will have an Instructional Leader collaborating with staff to strengthen the literacy and numeracy outcomes for our students especially in K-2. The school has embraced the KIDSMATTER initiative for wellbeing and we are focusing on social and emotional wellbeing using mindfulness and growth mindset. At Swansea Public School we offer a range of enrichment opportunities such as coding, digital sparks and the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program.