Music, Visual Arts, Performance

Organisation: Lockwood Primary School

Job Title: Music, Visual Arts, Performance

Word Limit: One page Criterion

Location: Lockwood Primary School

Demonstrated high-level knowledge and understanding of initiatives in student learning, including the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and the Assessment and Reporting Advice and the capacity to implement curriculum programs consistent with their intent

Through utilising the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and the Assessment and Reporting Advice as a guide to inform my teaching, I am able to effectively reflect on my practice to strengthen my pedagogical practices. As such, I have been successful in facilitating a high quality and personalised education for my students to become productive, knowledgeable and well-rounded citizens of our ever-evolving society. This has been demonstrated through:

Fostering a learning environment that is supportive and productive. Through modelling and implementing strategies based on cooperation and mutual respect, I facilitate an environment where students feel comfortable to pursue inquiries and express themselves. This was achieved in my Year 3/6 class at Bealiba Primary School through collaborating with students to set clear and explicit classroom rules at the start of the year. Once the rules had been agreed upon, students used iPads to take pictures and document what each rule looked like (for example, keeping hands to yourself), which were then placed on the walls around the classroom as a visual reminder. This method ensured that all students were well aware of the expectations and as such, they were supported to take responsibility for their behaviour and how they treated others.
Providing students with opportunities to develop independence, interdependence and self-motivation as learners. Within my classroom, I instil practices that build independence and motivate students to work in an autonomous manner by utilising the Daily 5 and CAFE (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary) Menu strategies. During a literacy block, students within my Preparatory to Year 6 class were provided with a selection of five authentic reading and writing choices that they worked on independently and in pairs toward personalised goals. Students were provided with the opportunity to choose which order they completed the tasks, and were supported with significant strategies using the CAFE Menu. When I sounded the bell, students knew to move on to the next task. Utilising these teaching strategies provided students with structured learning where they proactively and independently took ownership for their learning.
Reflecting student needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests in their learning. In order to accommodate the range of abilities and interests within my classroom, whilst encouraging diversity and autonomy, I utilise a variety of personalised teaching strategies. An example of this was the ‘best fit’ box that I provided when students were participating in the Daily 5 block. In addition to instructional level texts, the box contained a variety of books catered to each student’s individual interests. For example, one student had books all about motorbikes, and another about dancing. As students were reading text that interested them, they were engaged in the task.
Challenging and supporting students to develop deep levels of thinking and application. Recognising that technology has a significant place in educating 21^st Century learners, I leverage my skills gained through e-learning training and coaching to provide students with opportunities to expand their learning. This was demonstrated through providing a Year 4 student who was reading at Year 8 level, the opportunity to connect with a nearby school to participate in a higher-level literacy circle. Using a Polycom television and liaising with the other school’s Year 8 Teacher, I ensured that the student had access to the same text each week whilst she read and collaborated with the older students via internet connection. This rich learning experience provided her with the resources she required to extend her learning at an appropriate level to her abilities.
Utilising assessment as an integral part of teaching and learning. To effectively inform my teaching, monitoring of student learning is continuous and encompasses a variety of aspects of understanding and practice. On a daily basis, I undertake formative assessment, whilst recording data that I can look back on to guide areas that I need to focus on with students. For example, with my Year 2 students, I kept a Guided Reading Folder where I would record details such as focus points, observations and future direction. Toward the end of each week, I would review the data that I had collected and use this as a focus point for my teaching for the next week. Doing so ensured that I kept track of each student’s progress, whilst effectively supporting their learning needs and goals.
Connecting learning with communities and practice beyond the classroom. By providing students with opportunities to connect with the local and broader community, I have supported their ability to develop a rich view of knowledge and practice. One of the activities that I facilitated to encourage this at Bealiba Primary School involved local Country Women’s Association members attending the school to provide elective subjects with the students such as cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts and scrapbooking. These activities not only provided students with important life skills, but also gave them the opportunity to interact with members of our community.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to demonstrate my in-depth understanding and utilisation of the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and the Assessment and Reporting Advice to ensure that all students are provided with the opportunity to experience success and achieve positive learning outcomes.

Demonstrated high-level classroom teaching skills and the capacity to work with colleagues to continually improve teaching and learning

As a highly experienced Teacher, I have demonstrated throughout my career high-level classroom teaching skills through successfully employing flexible and adaptable approaches, as well as constructive strategies to allow students to reach their full potential. Moreover, I have worked extensively with colleagues and have significantly contributed to the development, implementation and evaluation of curriculum programs and initiatives that enhance student learning. This has been evidenced through:

Supporting students’ interests through implementing the Beyond Horizons initiative. To encourage student engagement and extend student learning at Bealiba Primary School, I coordinated the Beyond Horizons program, which involved explicit cross-curricular teaching, inquiry-based learning and activities based both within the school and the community. Working with my Year 4 to 6 students, I had them identify an interest area and worked with them to further explore that area. For example, two of my students were interested in learning more about aquariums and in order to initiate further discovery, they were required to write a persuasive piece highlighting why that particular topic interested them. Next, we took an excursion to the aquarium where the students asked questions based on the KWL chart (what they know – K, wants to know – W, and has learned – L), and then presented the information they gathered to the whole school community. This experience encouraged students to feel connected with the community outside of school, promoted independent thinking, assisted them to develop deep thinking and reflection skills, and provided the opportunity for rich learning.
Optimising the social, emotional and academic outcomes of all students through implementing the ‘You Can Do It’ (YCDI) program. During my time at Marong Primary School, I facilitated the implementation of YCDI in all facets of the school community in order to encourage prevention, promotion, and intervention efforts (school, home and community) so that students’ social and emotional strengths were at full capacity. This involved providing Teachers with a variety of strategies to use to infuse and integrate the five social-emotional foundations of the program into their daily teaching, including resilience in the classroom, use of behavioural-specific feedback and explicit communication. My contributions in overseeing this initiative within the school resulted in strong whole-of-school partnerships that were focused on developing the whole child by providing a quality start to the academic, physical, social and emotional education.
Implementing differentiation. At its basic level, differentiation allows me to respond to variance among learners within my classroom, thus creating the best learning experience possible for each student. I recognise that not all students are able to consolidate their learning in the same way, which was demonstrated through my facilitation of assessment in the Beyond Horizons program. One of the participants had low literacy skills and to support him with his assessment, I enabled him to create a storyboard utilising the photographs that he had taken during his excursion, then narrate his talk, which I typed and he then used to create a podcast for his presentation. Doing so enabled this student to be fully immersed in this project in a way in which he was confident and comfortable.
Catering to the wide variety of learning within my classroom. With each lesson, I ensure that I focus on a variety of learning methods that are inclusive of kinaesthetic, auditory and visual learners. This is achieved by providing students with rotating activities, such as the opportunity to watch mathematical concepts on a video, and then consolidate that knowledge through hands-on activities using objects such as counters and play doh, in addition to further cementing their knowledge by using music, rhymes and chants. To facilitate this, I extensively utilise the interactive whiteboard, which additionally includes each lesson’s learning intention for students to refer to.
Enthusiastically participating in staff meetings. Working within a team teaching environment meant that on a weekly basis at Bealiba Primary School, I met with colleagues to discuss how students had progressed through the week and what the focus would be for the following week. This ensured that we were all up-to-date with teaching and learning initiatives. Additionally, we held fortnightly curriculum meetings, where we would look at a variety of focus areas and ensure that they were in line with whole school performance plans and strategic direction.
Curriculum planning and moderating with colleagues and staff from other schools. As Bealiba Primary School was a small school with only 20 students, I often liaised with the other six schools within our cluster to brainstorm regarding teaching strategies, plan curriculum and units of work, as well as moderating assessment. Doing so led to share expectations of learning, deeper understanding about content, as well as understandings of standards and progression of learning. This proved to benefit all students within the school through improved quality of assessment.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to demonstrate my understanding of effective teaching strategies that lead to quality learning for all students, whilst working in collaboration with colleagues toward continual improvement.

Demonstrated ability to monitor and assess student-learning data and to use this data to inform teaching for improved student learning

Throughout my career, I have verified my high-level skills in monitoring and assessing student learning data for improved student learning and deep understanding. Through the provision of a wide variety of assessment strategies, I am able to gauge students’ learning ability and style, thus facilitating my ability to inform future planning of classroom programs. My ability to successfully apply assessment and reporting strategies that take account of relationships between teaching, learning and assessment has been demonstrated through:

Making use of technology to engage and support students in assessment. The integration of technologies into assessment processes can provide opportunities to enhance students’ experiences of learning via assessment as well as diversify the range of options available for them to learn and demonstrate their learning. Moreover, the use of technology for assessment supports 21^st Century learning and ensures that students are engaged in the task. As such, I utilise technology as much as possible to assess students, including using the online program Mathletics. An engaging and fun program, Mathletics responds to students’ strengths and weaknesses, whilst providing them the change to interact and learn collaboratively with their peers. Moreover, it includes targeted content to address outcomes and requirements of AusVELS, and I am provided with a full diagnostic analysis of students’ progress through the curriculum. This in turn allows me to address the individual requirements within my class.
Including students in learning and assessment through the use of learning diaries. In order for students to get meaning from assessment, I ensure that I include them in the assessment process so that they feel accountable for their learning. This has been achieved through encouraging all students to keep a learning diary so that there is emphasis on making explicit and recording the learning that occurs. Throughout the semester, I worked with students to fill their diaries of samples of their work from all subjects. This included completed worksheets, writing tasks, pictures they have drawn and projects that they have worked on. At the end of the semester the students reflected back on the work that they had achieved and were able to see how they had progressed with their learning and understanding. This allowed me to work collaboratively with them to set learning goals for the next semester.
Utilising an assessment table for each student. At Bealiba Primary School, we used a dedicated assessment table for literacy and numeracy which was continually updated and on display for Teachers. The folder contained comprehensive data, including for literacy for example, instructional reading levels, English Online interview results, On-Demand Reading test results, student’s letter identification abilities, RAP reading comprehension results, PROBE results, in addition to writing moderation. The information contained within the folder provided me with a comprehensive guide to assist with planning units of work. It allowed me to view each student’s strengths and weaknesses and then create Individual Learning Plans based on this.
Developing digital portfolios for students. Much like the learning diaries, digital portfolios are an engaging and effective way for students to showcase their digital work and reflect on the learning process. During my time with Bealiba Primary School, I encouraged all students right from Preparatory age to become involved in developing their portfolios which became digital banks of evidence of learning that included photographic stories, assessment comments and rubrics, and learning strategies and plans. Showcased within a PowerPoint presentation, the learning evidence became a way for students to share their achievements and become involved in setting future goals for themselves. My active use of the digital portfolios with students assisted to cultivate habits of lifelong learning by promoting reflection on what to learn and how to learn.
Assessing students in a variety of ways. When assessing students, I consistently focus on the three overarching purposes; assessment For Learning, assessment As Learning, and assessment Of Learning in order to foster improved student learning and deep understanding. Knowing that a single assessment instrument will not tell me all I need to know about student achievement and how it can be improved, I ensure to use a variety of assessment methods that include written, oral, visual and hands-on activities. Doing so ensures that all students are provided with the opportunity to engage in their learning and experience successful outcomes.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to utilise the data gained from student assessment and learning in order to inform my teaching for improved student learning. Moreover, the information that I gather will allow me to provide individualised and differentiated learning that students require to succeed.

Demonstrated high-level written and verbal communication skills and high-level interpersonal skills, including a capacity to develop constructive relationships with students, parents and other staff

When interacting with parents or guardians, students and colleagues, I consistently demonstrate high-level communication skills and professional behaviour. This allows me to foster an encouraging and collaborative learning environment in which students are supported and encouraged to succeed. Whether verbally, or in writing, I have the innate ability to be an influential, confident and persuasive member of the community, which has proven to assist with the development of constructive relationships. This has been evidenced through:

Maintaining strong communication with parents and carers. By making myself open and available to parents and carers, I have been successful in maintaining effective home-school relationships. This has been facilitated through engaging in conversation with parents and families before and after school, including providing positive feedback regarding their child, or discussing any concerns. In this way I am able to work collaboratively with parents and carers in assisting students through any difficulties. During my time at Bealiba Primary School, I made a point of walking students to the gate to meet their parents every afternoon. This assisted with developing strong bonds with families, which facilitated student success within the school. Additionally, I utilised written diaries and home readers to provide communication regarding student progress and/or behavioural issues. I have found that this is an effective way of getting parents and carers involved in the learning process and strategising when we are faced with concerns.
Facilitating educational presentations for parents and carers within the school community. Subsequent to identifying that there needed to be stronger links between learning at home and school at Bealiba Primary School; I designed and facilitated tailored training for parents and carers. This involved a series of presentations focused on the Microsoft Office suite of products and aimed at increasing the competence and confidence of parents and carers to enable them to be more actively involved in assisting their children. The success of the presentations was testament to my strong communication skills and rapport that I developed with the parents and carers. All participants thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the new knowledge that they gained which significantly contributed toward bridging the gap between learning at school and home.
Establishing strong relationships with my students. When students feel a sense of belonging within their environment, they are able to learn effectively, develop their language skills, as well as lifelong learning skills. In order to make this possible, I ensure that I am always approachable and encourage students to talk to me openly and honestly. This is done my taking the time to listen to the students, whilst encouraging and modelling respect, as well as showing and interest and concern in regards to student wellbeing. Additionally, I show interest in each student’s hobbies, sporting interests, likes and dislikes, as well as what they do outside of school. Taking the time to develop rapport with students, results in increased confidence and mood, thus meaning that they are more likely to be engaged in class.
Providing students with positions of responsibility within the classroom. My classroom strategies encompass effective verbal and non-verbal communication to support student, understanding, engagement and achievement. I focus on fostering an environment where students are provided with varying levels of responsibility that include them in the learning process and encourage them to take ownership of their behaviour within the classroom. This has been achieved by providing students with tasks such as being the messenger for the day and taking turns teaching. By modeling respect to students, they are likely to do the same, which is guaranteed to engage students and has resulted in many positive relationships with students over the years.
Contributing to whole school newsletters. Throughout my teaching career, I have demonstrated my high-level communication skills on numerous occasions through contributions to school newsletters. Whilst working at Bealiba Primary School in particular, I was heavily involved in the development and implementation of new whole school initiatives, excursions and school camps, and in order to keep the wider learning community informed of these initiatives, I would provide detailed information within the school newsletter. Additionally, during my time as Acting Principal at the school, I communicated on a weekly basis through the newsletter to ensure that I maintained a positive presence within the school community.
Constantly engaging with colleagues. Maintaining open communication with colleagues has been of great benefit to me and has enabled me to learn through others’ experience, in addition to sharing my own knowledge. Additionally, I have ensured that I am always prepared for staff meetings, including conducting research to find activities to assist with planning meetings and bring ideas forward to others on the team. This has ensured that our time is used effectively and constructively and has fostered a sense of trust with my colleagues.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to pursue constructive and enjoyable working relationships within the school to ensure a positive learning community that fosters positive student learning outcomes.

Demonstrated commitment and capacity to successfully organise and manage aspects of the wider school program and a commitment to ongoing professional learning to enable further development of skills, expertise and teaching capacity, including providing high-level professional assistance to other teachers in classroom related areas

Demonstrating my strong commitment to my teaching profession, I have actively organised and managed wider school programs, as well as contributed to numerous school activities throughout my career. This has not only aided to my professional development and knowledge, it has also modelled and encouraged students to make the most of opportunities that they are presented with. Moreover, as an effective teacher, I have consistently demonstrated improved teaching and performance skills through critically evaluation of my professional practices and through my experience, have provided high-level professional experience to other teachers. This has been demonstrated through:

Coordinating the Ultranet Internet rollout within the Dunolly Cluster. In support of Ultranet – a student-centred electronic learning environment that supports high quality learning and teaching, connects students, teachers and parents, and enables efficient knowledge transfer, I took a position as an Ultranet Coach. This involved attending rigorous training and then coaching schools within the Dunolly Cluster through the implementation of Netbooks for Years 5 and 6. Subsequent to conducting an initial assessment and devising a plan as to how each school could move forward with the utilisation of technology in every subject area, I facilitated regular development sessions with staff at each of the schools. Over a twelve-month period, I provided information and training regarding how to best integrate technology into teaching and learning, thus contributing to the establishment of technology-focused learning environments for the future that would strongly improve educational outcomes.
Facilitating the Active After-School Communities Program. My experience with this program commenced in 2005 at Marong Primary School, and I brought my expertise to Bealiba Primary School as coordinator of the program. This involved effectively managing funding provided by the Government to work with sporting and community organisations, as well as expert coaches in the facilitation of after-school physical activity programs. The program provided students at the school with a positive introduction to sport in a fun, safe and inclusive environment, thus building the foundation required for students to naturally and confidently progress into local club sports.
Organising and managing cluster athletic and swimming days. Over the years, I have found that student engagement in sport facilitates learning of other subjects and enhances skills that students will inevitably use in other areas, as well as assists in the development of character. As such, I placed great focus on providing students with ample opportunity to participate in sporting events within our cluster. As the sole coordinator for these events, I was responsible for organising timetables, coordinating activities, allocating students and teachers to teams, organising volunteers, ensuring clear and consistent correspondence with each of the schools, and ensuring smooth running on the day of the events. Additionally, I have organised cluster science days, book week, and was involved in managing and organising Bealiba Primary School’s 150^th Birthday celebrations.
Attending professional development sessions and knowledge sharing with colleagues. As an experienced teacher, I have had extensive experience in training and mentoring my colleagues in a variety of areas related to ongoing development. This has involved attending Steven Graham coaching and becoming the Literacy Coach within the Dunolly Cluster, providing training and mentoring during the implementation of the Daily 5 and Cafe Menu at Bealiba Primary School, sharing knowledge and resources subsequent to attending George Booker training, as well as working with colleagues to develop units of work after attending a four-day PACE course. Sharing my knowledge and expertise over the years has contributed to raising the capacity of my colleagues, thus facilitating positive learning outcomes within the whole school community.
Participating in collegial discussions. Through staff meetings, I have actively shared and received knowledge and advice that has increased both my own and my colleagues teaching capacity. I am committed to further developing skills within a whole school context and as such, I work productively with my colleagues to review teaching strategies, build professional knowledge and discuss methods of improving our overall practice. At all times I accept and offer constructive feedback to support professional learning, and am eager to guide and mentor those less experienced than me. I recognise the power of collaboration in generating new ideas, as well as in refining my own teaching practice.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to organise and manage aspects of wider school programs, whilst demonstrating my commitment to ongoing professional learning to ensure that my skills, expertise and teaching capacity are continually developed to reflect best practice teaching in line with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Demonstrated ability to create authentic student learning opportunities, including performance opportunities (Bus licence is an advantage)

Committed to the provision of real-life and authentic learning, I constantly encourage students to make tangible, useful sense of their world through creating motivational learning opportunities. Throughout my teaching career, I have sourced and created opportunities, including performance opportunities, in which students can engage all of their senses allowing students to create a meaningful, useful, and shared outcome. This has been demonstrated through:

Introducing and facilitating a sustainability unit of work at Bealiba Primary School. In order to provide students at Bealiba Primary School with quality environmental and sustainability education that develops the capacity to live sustainably, I created integrated units of work that involved first-hand and hands-on experience. This involved partnering with Coliban Water to provide students with water watch education where they learnt how to conserve and reuse water, including the best ways in which to recycle grey water. We also attended the local recycling yard where we focused on ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, as well as the local Pepper Green Farm where students learnt about how fruit and vegetables grow and got to pick and eat their own product. These interdisciplinary learning opportunities allowed students to connect and progressively build their knowledge and skills from across a variety of learning areas, and the action-orientated activities provided them with opportunities to explore, collaborate and foster partnerships within the community.
Utilising my bus licence to transport students to numerous out-of-school learning experiences. Working in a remote area school such as Bealiba Primary School meant that there were limited opportunities for students within the local community. In order to create authentic and rich student learning opportunities, I ensured that I utilised my bus licence and experience driving busses to transport students to a variety of excursions. These included trips to Melbourne city and the zoo, Sovereign Hill, swimming programs and a wide range of school camps. Additionally, I have taken students to productions at the local high schools, to see Mary Poppins in Melbourne and to numerous performances at the Capital Theatre in Bendigo. Doing so has provided students with the opportunity to experience learning outside of the school environment and gain a rich cultural insight to the surrounding areas.
Leveraging my expertise as a professional singer. A musician at heart, I derive great satisfaction from passing on my musical passion and expertise to students. Throughout my career, I have been heavily involved in singing outside of the school and have been able to use this experience to teach singing and music, as well as coordinating numerous choir performances for students. This has included performing at local nursing homes, Christmas carols, markets and shopping centres. The opportunity for students to perform in public forums increases their self-esteem and confidence. Moreover, music equips students with the foundational abilities to learn, to achieve in other core academic subjects, and to develop the capacities, skills and knowledge essential for lifelong success.
Coordinating a cluster performing arts festival. Whilst I was at Bealiba Primary School, I developed, implemented and managed a performing arts festival within the Dunolly Cluster. The festival involved events over two days for the older students, and one day for the junior students covering dance, instrumental, circus and arts workshops and performances. To facilitate the festival, I contacted professionals from each of the areas to coach students within the workshops and we then arranged a concert at the end of the two days where students performed the elective of their choice. Each year, the festival has been a great success and has provided students with the opportunity to experience a number of cultural activities.
Organising a debating opportunity for students. Recognising that debating can play an extremely useful role in the development of students, I arranged a parliament-style debate for students at Bealiba Primary School where I invited a Member of local Parliament provide coaching. This opportunity provided students with the opportunity to improve their analytical ability and capacity to make critical evaluations of different issues and varying viewpoints. Moreover, this experience provided students with the benefit of working together and supporting their peers, whilst encouraging the acceptance of diversity among each other.
Offering my expertise to direct productions and plays. Throughout my career, I have been heavily involved in whole school productions and plays, including taking on the role as Director. This has involved liaising closely with colleagues within the school to ensure that students were aware of their roles and responsibilities, as well as working with the music and art teachers to arrange music, costumes and props.

As a Teacher at Lockwood Primary School, I will continue to create authentic student learning opportunities, including performance opportunities, so that students are provided with the chance to explore a variety of skills with real world applications, thus facilitating optimal learning.