Tweed Heads Public School

Tweed Heads Public School is a K-6 school, geographically located on the NSW-QLD border and 300 metres from Coolangatta Beach. The school has a strong sense of history and tradition. Our motto is 'Good, True and Beautiful'. Our school values are Respect, Friendship, Responsibility, Honesty and Caring. In 2024 our enrolments are 380, which represents an increase of 55 percent since 2018. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander enrolments represent 15 percent of our total enrolments and we also have 18 percent of students from an English as an Additional Language / Dialect background. We are a proudly culturally diverse and inclusive school community. We also cater for a significant number of students with disabilities integrated into our mainstream setting. Our school offers a wide range of extracurricular activities including a well established and successful dance program, a range of PSSA sports, a water sports program, academic pursuits including public speaking, debating, choir, spelling bee along with a diverse range of lunchtime student interest clubs. We also conduct a variety of curriculum based excursions for all year groups. We are always looking to expand our range of extracurricular programs. Staffing is stable with a low turnover. We have a blend of experienced, mid-career and early career teachers, including a number of temporary teaching positions, as a result of staff on full or part time leave and flexible funding sources. Equity funding is used to release existing staff to conduct programs supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, English as an Additional Language/Dialect students and students with other additional needs. We have a number of School Learning Support Officers who are employed under integration funding support. In 2023 we were supported with additional COVID funding to employ teachers to assist students needing additional support. The school utilises Aboriginal background funding to release a teacher to support identified students with academic achievement, cultural enrichment and wellbeing. Attendance rates for Aboriginal students are on a par with overall attendance. We celebrate major events such as NAIDOC with pride and as a whole school. We also have strong and developing links with local agencies to support our students. Recently our teaching staff completed a self-evaluation and reflection process based on 'What Works Best'. Staff identified that the four elements which have the biggest impact on student achievement and for which there was a need for whole school focus were: Explicit Teaching, High Expectations, Wellbeing and Effective Feedback. We will prioritise these and also incorporate the other elements including Data Analysis, Assessment, Classroom Management and Collaboration to support our work across our strategic directions.