Granville Boys High School

Granville Boys High School (550 students, 99% Non English Speaking Background) is a comprehensive secondary school with one partially academically selective class from 2014 onwards. It is located in South Western Sydney, which is the most multicultural region in Australia. The majority of the boys who attend this school are of Arabic speaking background and Muslim faith. As well there are students from the nations of Africa who have recently arrived in Australia and students from South Pacific Islander backgrounds. A small percentage of the population of the school are of Asian backgrounds coming from countries that stretch from Afghanistan to the Philippines. This wonderful, culturally and linguistically diverse community, which is significantly socio-economically disadvantaged, is supported by the New South Wales Government equity programs. In 2012, together with 229 other NSW Government schools, Granville Boys High School implemented the Local Schools Local Decisions policy through the National Partnership for Empowering Local Schools. The situational analysis conducted in 2011 indicated that the school should aim for a more collaborative learning platform where staff are prepared to negotiate learning programs with students and enable students to become creative problem solvers who are active, diligent learners. Staff have eagerly adopted the peer coaching model to examine their practice and have accepted that their professional development directly contributes to what students are learning in their classes. Through cross faculty teams, staff collaborate and examine student performance data to create integrated learning projects that suit the needs of all students. The staffing allocation consists of 51.0 teachers including executive, 1.0 ESL, 2.8 LAST, a librarian, careers advisor, counsellor and a Support unit. There are 4 additional staff funded by equity programs. Over 30% of staff are classified as beginning or early career teachers.The school is committed to providing a safe and challenging learning environment within which values of academic achievement, equity, respect, safety and citizenship are actively promoted. The school is strongly committed to promoting effective community partnerships and concomitantly, parents and caregivers are very supportive of the school and its policies and practices. The school has been recognised Nationally and at State level for its work within the community.