Catholic Education, Diocese of Cairns
Queensland, Australia
Motto | Multis Coniunctis Magna Perfecta 'Through the work of many, united as one, great things are done' |
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Address | 135 Robert Road, BENTLEY PARK QLD 4869 | |
Postal Address | P O Box 529 Edmonton QLD 4869 | |
Phone Number | (07) 4055 4514 | |
Fax Number | (07) 4055 5864 | |
Email Address | secretary.bentleypk@cns.catholic.edu.au | |
Web Site | http://www.stthereses.qld.edu.au | |
Total Enrolments | 618 | ![]() |
Year Levels Offered | P-6 | |
Student Population | Co-Educational | |
Principal | David Adams-Jones | |
Parish Priest | Fr John McGrath PP | |
Parish Number | (07) 4055 4315 |
About our School St Therese's Parish School is an integral part of the Cairns Diocese and the Edmonton Parish. Located just 20 minutes south of Cairns City, St Therese's provides Catholic Education to an area that is currently referred to as the 'growth corridor' of Cairns. The first Catholic school in Edmonton, Edmonton Convent School, was established by the Sisters of Mercy on the 29th April, 1929, with an enrolment of just 30 students. Its original location was on the Bruce Highway in the small township of Edmonton - an area that had been originally established as a sugar-milling town to serve the many surrounding sugarcane farms. Since those early days, the school has undergone many changes in its history and was renamed in 1965 to that of St Therese's School. In 1995, the school was relocated to its current position where it has continued to grow in order to meet the growing enrolment numbers that have resulted from the development of residential areas south of the city. Today, it has an enrolment of approximately 618 students, Prep to Year 6. The school is proud of its rich historical story as well as the modern facilities that are now available to students, enabling a holistic and quality educational learning environment. The school has completed a master plan following $5.5 million in combined capital projects undertaken as part of the Building the Education Revolution and planned facilities expansion. Today, St Therese's School continues to have a very welcoming feel. It has a group of highly dedicated and motivated parents and carers who genuinely assist with the provision of the best educational environment possible for their children, through their hard work and commitment. St Therese's is also fortunate to be staffed by a strong group of dedicated teachers and school officers who continue the mission of Catholic Education begun so many years ago. It is a school which openly reflects through its practices, the philosophy and values of its foundational partners - the Sisters of Mercy and the priests of the Cairns Diocese - who have over the years helped shape our school community to be what it is today. St Therese's School strives to be a faith and learning community which celebrates God's presence through our Mercy tradition, excellence in teaching and learning, and a strong partnership between family, staff and parish.
Characteristics of Student Body
Over the last five years with the movement of Year 7 going into secondary schooling the enrolment trend has steadily grown from 602 students in 2017 to 618 students in 2018.
School Annual Improvement
Major Focus A Lived and Celebrated Identity Culture that Promotes Learning Secondary Focus for 2018 Future Targets for 2019
Distinctive Curriculum Offerings St Therese's School offers nine Learning Area (LA's) St Therese's is fully engaged in the Australian Curriculum Specialist Teachers are contracted to provide instruction in The Arts, LOTE and HPE. The learning across all Learning Areas is enhanced and enriched through the integration of key events throughout the school year. This includes various visiting school performances, involvement in activities such as ANZAC Day March, Clean-Up Australia, Under 8s Day, Book Week, Catholic Education Week, NAIDOC Week and various feast days in the church calendar. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is taught and integrated across all year levels and instrumental music is offered as an en extra-curricula activity. As part of the Arts curriculum, the school participates in a dance program in which the students receive dance lessons for one term per year. Excursions and camps are also a part of the school curriculum. Students participate in Gymnastics and a Swimming program. All students are expected to participate in any class excursions / camps.
Extra Curricular Activities Excursions and Camps Readers Cup Challenge Dance Program -External provider Years Prep to Year 6 Mary Mills Cup (Netball) Jim Graham Cup (Rugby League) Futsal Tennis, Soccer and AFL Coaching Calana Speaking Competition School Sports - Our school sports program comprises of a number of school-based sporting opportunities including: Swimming Program Gymnastics Program ICAS Competitions (English, Maths and Science) Teachers at St Therese's may offer students the opportunity to participate in out of school events such as the Cairns and District Eisteddfod (eg Choric Speaking), Opti-MINDS Challenge, Battle of the Bands, Science Fair, Student Leadership Program.
Social Climate St Therese's School is a learning community which places emphasis on enabling its students to seek spiritual, academic, creative and physical excellence in order to achieve their potential with dignity, respect and responsibility towards themselves, others and the environment. Through its Student Welfare Policy, the school endeavours to promote: Through the Student Welfare Policy, education and support is provided to the students of St Therese's School in the following areas: This plan has direct links to the Leadership Team supporting teachers within the school, in conjunction with our School Counsellor who provides support for 2-3 days each week.
Parent Engagement Parents and Friends' Association - St Therese's Parents and Friends' Association has been established to enrich the education and learning of students through active participation of parents and staff as partners. The objective of the school's Parents and Friends' Association is to provide a forum through which parents can be supported, informed and involved in their children's education and wider school community. St Therese's P&F is a dynamic and highly supportive group that works very closely with the school in identifying and supporting projects that lend themselves to betterment of facilities and provision of experiences for all students. Some of the more specific initiatives undertaken by the school's P&F over the last two years have included: GRANT APPLICATIONS SPECIAL EVENTS (Trivia Night) Other areas of parent involvement include:
Parent Satisfaction 214 parents participated in the recent School Satisfaction Survey with over 83% of parents agreeing that St Therese's encourages students to achieve to the best of their ability. This is up 3% from 2017. 92% of parents agreed that St Therese's School is a welcoming and caring community where everyone is treated with respect. 97.2% of parents agreed that the grounds, buildings and outdoor facilities are well presented and well maintained. 96.3% of parents agreed that the classrooms are well presented and stimulating places for learning. General comments about the school were: I like the community spirit and also how my child's teacher regularly keeps me informed as to my child's learning journey. I love the feel of the school with very approachable staff including the principal very positive and encouraging environment. What I like most about the school is friendly and approachable teachers, clean grounds, school ethos to be kind, caring and considerate of others.
Data Last Updated Mon 24 Jun 2019
Qualification Highest level of attainment | Doctoral / Post-doctoral | Masters | Bachelor degree | Diploma | Certificate |
Number of staff with this qualification | 0 | 5 | 27 | 5 | 0 |
Workforce composition |
Headcount | FTE (Full-time equivalent) |
Teaching Staff | 41 | 37.8 |
Non-Teaching Staff | 37 | 17.82 |
Indigenous | 1 | 0.47 |
Total funds expended on teacher professional development$109620
Teaching Staff Involved in Professional Development100%
Major Professional Development Initiatives Religious Education ICT Learning Support/Inclusion Support Curriculum/ Enhancing Pedagogical Practices Social and Emotional Learning and Teaching Cultural Awareness and Curriculum Implementation General
Average staff attendance rate for the school year, based on unplanned absences of sick and emergency leave for periods up to 5 days96%
Percentage of teaching staff retained from the previous school year87.00%
Staff Satisfaction 51 members of staff completed the School Satisfaction Surveys with over 82% of staff agreeing that St Therese's School is a welcoming and caring community where everyone is treated with respect. Over 92% of staff members agreed that St Therese's School delivers quality educational outcomes for students. 98.4% of staff members agreed that St Therese's School encourages students to develop a love of learning. General comments about St Therese's School from staff include positive comments about: The school feels like a second family, I love coming to school everyday, leadership and other staff members have supported my professional and personal wellbeing by offering guidance, the staff are welcoming and caring, a welcoming and caring environment.
Data Last Updated Wed May 22 2019
Prep | YR 1 | YR 2 | YR 3 | YR 4 | YR 5 | YR 6 |
93.85% | 93.1% | 94.42% | 94.82% | 93.95% | 92.58% | 93.19% |
If a student is absent for whatever reason, parents are required to contact the school by 9am. Notification can be made via phone or email to the school administration officer, via the Parent Portal or a note to the class teacher. Parents may also leave a phone message by phoning the school before 8am or after 4pm.
Where there is an unexplained absence, this is followed up on the same day with an automated SMS to families. Details are then entered into the school database.
Ongoing absences either for extended periods and/or unexplained are followed up by the Teacher and Line Manager in the first instance and the Principal should further issues arise.
Catholic Education Services conducted a School Results Survey with students of St Therese's School (Bentley Park) in 2018.
St Therese's School provides educational services to students from 415 families.
Survey responses were received from 189 out of a total of 350 eligible respondents.
St Therese's School (Bentley Park) recorded an overall satisfaction score of 77% (3.83 out of 5).
Data Last Updated Tue Nov 19 2019
Reading | Average Score for the school | 408.5 |
Average Score for Queensland | 437.8 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 93.9% | |
Writing | Average Score for the school | 417.5 |
Average Score for Queensland | 410.5 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 97% | |
Spelling | Average Score for the school | 413.3 |
Average Score for Queensland | 432.9 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 92.9% | |
Grammar and Punctuation | Average Score for the school | 380.5 |
Average Score for Queensland | 406 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 94.9% | |
Numeracy | Average Score for the school | 390.1 |
Average Score for Queensland | 413.1 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 86.9% |
Data Last Updated Thu May 30 2019
Reading | Average Score for the school | 508 |
Average Score for Queensland | 517.1 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 95.7% | |
Writing | Average Score for the school | 466.6 |
Average Score for Queensland | 469.4 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 90.5% | |
Spelling | Average Score for the school | 491.4 |
Average Score for Queensland | 511.1 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 92.2% | |
Grammar and Punctuation | Average Score for the school | 485.6 |
Average Score for Queensland | 497.9 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 96.8% | |
Numeracy | Average Score for the school | 491 |
Average Score for Queensland | 501.2 | |
% students at or above the national benchmark | 94.4% |
Data Last Updated Thu May 30 2019
Australian Government recurrent funding$4,705,817
State/Territory Government recurrent funding$1,246,112
Fees, charges and parent contributions$1,374,562
Other private sources$246,715
Total gross income (excluding income from government capital grants)$7,573,206
Income allocated to current capital projects$253,773
Income allocated to future capital projects and diocesan capital funds$0
Income allocated to debt servicing (including principal repayments and interest on loans)$182,042
Subtotal$221,663
Total net recurrent income$221,663
Catholic schools in the Diocese of Cairns meet their annual reporting requirements under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (the Act) Section 423 (1) by updating their information on this section of the Cairns Catholic Education website. Information contained in each section of the report relates to the previous calendar year. The required information is published by 30 June each year, excepting post-school destinations data for Year 12 completers which is published by 30 September.