Hands on Learning|Engage ES1|3 |Part|time or Fulltime|

Location: Melbourne | Cranbourne

Job type: Full time / From 07/10/2024

Organisation: Schools (Government)

Salary: Salary not specified

Occupation: Other

Reference: 1433145

Location Profile
Koo Wee Rup Secondary College (KWRSC) is a large co-education public school situated in the high-growth corridor of the Southeastern suburbs with easy access to Phillip Island, Mornington Peninsula and the Melbourne CBD.

Koo Wee Rup Secondary College is going through an exciting change with a newly appointed Principal in Term 4 of 2023, and a new Principal Team formed for the beginning of 2024.

Our past and current enrolment sits around 1050 students. Many students travel by bus to attend the college. Our current staffing profile consists of the Principal, 4.4 Assistant Principals, ten Leading Teachers, six Learning Specialists, seventy-one Classroom Teachers and thirty-one Education Support Staff. Koo Wee Rup is a progressive community with a focus on community engagement and support. The school is active in the Cardinia Network developing partnerships with other network primary and secondary schools.

The College is situated around attractive spacious grounds. Previous rebuilds have enabled the update of three learning community centres with plans to upgrade the other centres when the opportunity arises through the Department.

Our vision is ¿to inspire a passion for lifelong learning and excellence in a community which provides all students with the opportunity to achieve their personal best¿. We emphasise the importance of students being independent and responsible, and we instil the values of personal best, honesty and integrity, and respect for others.

At KWRSC our Strategic Plan 2020-2024 goals are to

Improve student outcomes in literacy and numeracy across all domains,
Develop improved engagement of students in their learning, and
Improve student health and wellbeing across the school.
Curriculum offerings in Years 7, 8 and + consist of core components covering the key Domains. In Years + and 10, elective offerings complement the core subjects. Students are also able to study VCE subjects as part of their Year 10 studies. In Years 11 and 12, we offer a comprehensive program that allows students to engage in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), VCE Vocational Major (VCE VM) and Vocational Education and Training (VET).

The College has strong connections to the Head Start initiative and we currently have and will continue to have students undertake an array of SBAT options. We also offer Certificate II VETDSS on campus to support the priority VET pathways as surfaced by the Firth review and the exciting new VCE VM senior certificate option.

KWRSC has a wide range of extra-curricular activities, including Instrumental Music, Musical Productions and Festivals and a wide range of excursions, competitions, sports programs, and camps as approved by the School Council.

Selection Criteria
SC1 Demonstrated knowledge of the relevant curriculum, including the ability to incorporate the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills. Demonstrated experience in responding to student learning needs.

SC2 Demonstrated experience in planning for and implementing high impact teaching strategies, guided by how students learn, and evaluating the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth.

SC3 Demonstrated experience in monitoring and assessing student learning. Demonstrated experience in using data to inform teaching practice and providing feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

SC4 Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with students, parents, colleagues and the broader school community to support student learning, agency, wellbeing and engagement.

SC5 Demonstrated behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated experience in reflecting upon practice and engaging in professional learning to continually improve the quality of teaching.

Role
KWRSC Engage program goals are to cultivate engagement and connectedness, challenge student¿s perspectives, motivate ambition, unleash student potential, and enhance student¿s social and emotional capabilities. Working with students to reset and develop strategies to shift their attitudes and behaviours that have become barriers to their success at school, creating empowerment, and enabling them to thrive at school and in their futures. In an endeavour to meet the individualised needs of our student cohort, there are currently two programs running within KWRSC Engage, Link and Hands on Learning (HoL). Link provides an alternative learning environment to the typical classroom. The focus is inquiry-based hands-on learning and includes reflective practice, developing social and emotional capacities, applied literacy and numeracy, setting goals, shopping for, preparing and sharing meals. Hands on Learning (HoL) is based on the Save the children/ 54 Reasons why model https://handsonlearning.org.au/), It is a school-based wellbeing program that has been proven to significantly increase attendance, foster belonging and connection to school, and improve academic and vocational pathways. Undertaking real and meaningful `hands on¿ projects in a way that builds their confidence and helps develop the social and emotional competencies essential to realise their potential. KWRSC Engage programs are currently Tier 2 systems of support (under the Department of Education¿s Multi-tiered systems of support). In this exciting role at KWRSC, your passion for supporting young people will help drive best practice programs that provide participating students the opportunity to experience success.

Does this sound like you?

You're a self-starter, with a practical and 'can do' attitude and an understanding of how schools work. You're passionate about supporting young people and comfortable as a mentor and role model, and you'll relish the opportunity to support students to grow and thrive learning by doing. Your warm personality will see you easily build strong relationships with students, staff and families, and your integrity will inspire students to achieve ambitious outcomes.

Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:

Deliver the newly developed KWRSC Engage programs including Hands on Learning and Link
Provide onsite alternative education programs to support students who are: at risk from disengaging from school, facing social and/or emotional barriers that are impacting on their learning, and/or are not reaching their full potential
Mentor and work with small groups of students outside the classroom, running programs in the Engage initiative
Member of Engage team and work closely with relevant teaching staff and leadership members
Support young people through the development of strong relationships that keep students connected to school and promote positive student behaviours
Develop and deliver real and meaningful practical projects
Maintain appropriate records and collect evidence to document student progress
Implement key elements of the programs to ensure the consistent delivery of quality programs
Build business and community connections to foster local community project opportunities
Work with the broader staff cohort at Koo Wee Rup Secondary College as necessary to deliver the programs
Detailed training in the KWRSC Engage programs, including Hands on Learning methodologies, will be provided.

Who May Apply
Individuals with the aptitude, experience and/or qualifications to fulfill the specific requirements of the position.

EEO AND OHS Commitment
Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via marrung@education.vic.gov.au

Child Safe Standards
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy

DE Values
The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

Other Information
All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx