Kaiela Dhungala First Peoples' Curriculum - Curriculum Leader

Gowrie Street Primary School is located in Northern Shepparton, classified as inner regional, just 200 meters from the Goulburn River.  The majority of the students live locally, walk, ride or are driven to school in private cars. Some students travel on the town bus to and from school.  We have a Pre School on site, Occasional Care, Fun Group , occasional care and Out of School Hours Care. The numbers at all facilities grew in 2016 and places soon filled in the Pre School. We ran two different Pre School rooms employing another Kindergarten teacher; the Pre School was full with 44 students. All other child care facilities on site were constantly full during 2016. In the Primary school we had an enrolment of 286 in 2016 with 14 home groups and 4 specialist classes offered. The school population is a combination of students who are Indigenous, 32.4%, EAL , 14.3%- representing at least 15 different nationalities,  PSD (Program for Students with Disabilities) 6.6% and refugee enrolment of 2.8%. The school has an SFO (Student Family Occupation index) of 0.71. After a Priority Review in 2014 a design team was created to improve the learning outcomes for students. Many initiatives grew from this review that included, open plan learning, workshop model for the learning of Literacy and Numeracy and an increased focus on Teaching and Learning. The four specialist subjects that are offered were Art, Science, PE and Language and Culture learning the local Indigenous Language.

SC1         Demonstrated high level understanding of initiatives in student learning including the Standards, the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and Assessment and Reporting Advice and the capacity to implement and evaluate learning and teaching programs in accordance with the Victorian curriculum.

SC2         Outstanding classroom teaching skills and the capacity to work with colleagues to continually improve teaching and learning.

SC3         Demonstrated ability to monitor and assess student learning data and to use this data to inform teaching for improved student learning.

SC4         Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills and high level interpersonal skills including the capacity to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with parents, other employees and the broader school community to focus on student learning, wellbeing and engagement.

SC5         Demonstrated behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values, including a commitment and capacity to actively contribute to and manage major curriculum or student activities and a commitment to continually improving teaching quality and capacity through the application of knowledge, skills and expertise derived from ongoing professional development and learning.

Range 2 classroom teachers play a significant role in assisting the school to improve student performance and educational outcomes determined by the school strategic plan and state-wide priorities and contributing to the development and implementation of school policies and priorities. 

A critical component of this work will focus on increasing the knowledge base of staff within their school about student learning and high quality instruction to assist their school to define quality teacher practice.

Range 2 classroom teachers will be expected to:
- Have the content knowledge and pedagogical practice to meet the diverse needs of all students
- Model exemplary classroom practice and mentor/coach other teachers in the school to engage in critical reflection of their practice and to support staff to expand their capacity
- Provide expert advice about the content, processes and strategies that will shape individual and school professional learning
- Supervise and train one or more student teachers
- Assist staff to use student data to inform teaching approaches that enable targets related to improving student learning outcomes to be achieved.

The role of classroom teacher may include but is not limited to:

- Direct teaching of groups of students and individual students;

- Contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of a curriculum area or other curriculum program within the school;

- Undertaking other classroom teaching related and organisational duties as determined by the School Principal;

- Participating in activities such as parent/teacher meetings; staff meetings; camps and excursions;

- Undertaking other non-teaching supervisory duties.

Teachers currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and qualified to teach and/or have demonstrated experience in the curriculum area(s) specified for the position.

The Department values diversity and is committed to workforce diversity and equal opportunity in schools and all education workplaces. 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.

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 http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/protect/Pages/childsafestandards.aspx

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Kaiela Dhungala First Peoples’ Curriculum - Curriculum Leader

Role Description

Background

The Kaiela Dhungala First Peoples Curriculum is the work of many community members, organisations and educators, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, of the Goulburn Murray region.  It incorporates the cultures, histories and knowledge of the Goulburn Murray region’s Indigenous peoples, within the framework of the Victorian Curriculum, in a significant and meaningful way.

Those involved with the curriculum acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, their elders and their future elders, for their contributions to this Curriculum and to our community. This curriculum seeks to pay respect to and increase awareness of the strong, vital Indigenous community that has resided in this area for thousands of years (and still today). This is a living culture and history – to fully respect and appreciate this it is essential that schools, teachers and students engage directly with community members and organisations, not just this resource.

Some additional key points regarding the curriculum:

• Is based around the Victorian Curriculum;
• Covers Foundation to Year 10 and is cross-discipline (goal is to cover every discipline)
• It is on track for 25 schools to commence using the Curriculum in 2017 with a further 25 in 2018
• Community consultation has occurred at every stage of the Curriculum’s development and this consultation is ongoing
• The curriculum is development in accordance with Protocols which were developed through extensive community consultation

The Role

The role of Curriculum Leader will be a Classroom Teacher - Range 2 job, which may attract a higher duties allowance.  The role will be based at Gowrie St Primary School, but the curriculum covers the Greater Shepparton and Moira Principal’s Network.    

The work will be supported by Tim Warwick, Assistant Principal of Gowrie St Primary School.

It will be for a 0.2 time fraction – there is flexibility with how this time is spread across the week.

The role is currently funded for two years: July 2018 to July 2020. 

Core functions of the role will be:

• Overseeing the development of curriculum units for the Kaiela Dhungala First Peoples Curriculum
• Coordinating the efforts of a range of teachers, DET officials, community members and community organisations with the development of curriculum units
• Assisting with the maintenance of the Kaiela Dhungala Curriculum website (no previous training necessary)
• Ensuring the Curriculum’s Protocols are met by all future curriculum development
• Supporting schools to implement the curriculum
• Seeking the feedback and guidance of the community on the curriculum units developed
• Presenting on the Curriculum to relevant stakeholders. 

Skills sought in the successful applicant include, but are not limited to: significant curriculum knowledge; demonstrated capacity to develop curriculum, including rigorous documentation; demonstrated capacity to work with community members and stakeholders, and the ability to work across a range of organisations and stakeholders; exemplary organisation skills; and very strong interpersonal communication skills. 

Note: there will be no direct teaching component of this role. 

If interested

• 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.