De La Salle College Caringbah

School Context

De La Salle College Caringbah, a Year 7-10 Catholic Systemic Boys School within the Archdiocese of Sydney. The College has a student population of 440 with a staff of 32 teachers and 10 support staff. The College has two new scheme teachers who have been involved in the formal College Induction Program A mentor and supervisor were assigned to each of the new scheme teachers. The mentor, supervisor and new scheme teacher meet on a regular basis. The new scheme teacher has also been included in the PEEL group (a teaching and learning group) which meets formally each month.

Project outline

The new scheme teachers
Role of the New Scheme Teacher
New Scheme Teachers has responsibility for managing their progress towards mandatory accreditation including:
* Communicating regularly with their colleagues to discuss their practice
* Collecting samples of their work (e.g. lesson plans, programs, student work samples that have been
authorised by their supervisor) as evidence for accreditation
* Analysing and documenting their own progress against the Standards
* Communicating their own support needs
* Seeking professional engagement with colleagues within and outside the school to improve their practice.
, their mentors
Role of the Mentor
Mentoring is viewed as critical to the accreditation process and as such the encouragement of a
mentoring culture is vital in building capacity in the New Scheme Teacher to meet the Standards.
Therefore all colleagues have some responsibility to:
* Support the New Scheme Teacher in his/her progress towards accreditation
* Provide a confidential sounding board for the New Scheme Teacher
* Encourage discussion about exemplary teaching practice
* Provide the New Scheme Teacher with opportunities for exploration, discussion and feedback
* Provide advice about other sources of support from within and outside the school.
and supervisors
Role of the Supervisor
The supervisor has responsibility for assisting and supporting the New Scheme Teacher to meet the Standards including:
* Developing an appropriate knowledge of the Professional Teaching Standards,developing relationships and supporting
the accreditation process
* Provide a confidential sounding board for the New Scheme Teacher
* Providing opportunities for discussion and feedback between the supervisor and New Scheme Teacher regarding the New
Scheme Teacher’s progress, classroom observations, review and analysis of teaching programs, and student learning outcomes
* Identifying with the New Scheme Teacher relevant professional development needs and directing
the New Scheme Teacher to resources and courses that address these
* Making an informed decision on the competence of the New Scheme Teacher based on a holistic professional judgment
* Completing the approved Accreditation Report in conjunction with the New Scheme Teacher and submitting the report,
through the Principal, to the TAA Officer.
operated as a team in the project, Supporting new teachers through pedagogical intervention. A series of specific lesson observations of new scheme teachers practice informed the direction of the project. A self reflection/assessment worksheet Follow this link to view the self reflection/assessment worksheet.. was completed by the new scheme teachers to establish perceived strengths and weaknesses. Formative feedback from three separate lesson observation sessions was given by the external consultant. New scheme teachers were required to maintain a learning journal Follow this link to view the learning journal.. to assist them in identifying issues, particularly those pertaining to pedagogical and classroom management. These issues were then discussed in team meetings with the external consultant.

New scheme teachers were given opportunity to share their successes and targeted areas for professional development with the members of the PEEL group. The new scheme teachers and the experienced teacher wrote the final report including recommendations for the future program development.

Collegial team approach

The availability of the PEEL group Follow this link to view more information on the PEEL group.. and the school staff to provide a range of strategies to the new scheme teachers, created a real sense of team effort. The collaborative problem-solving of the inner /outer circle engaged the whole staff in assisting the development of the new scheme teachers. The new scheme teachers felt that they were members of a learning community with all members contributing, sharing and learning from the experience.

Project outcomes

Project outcomes include:

• new scheme teachers were able to modify and enhance their practice from the the range of feedback provided
• peer observation and feedback, supervisor feedback, an adapted class study feedback and well as external feedback from a consultant were vital to the project
• the use of the inner/outer circles Follow this link to view more information on inner/outer circles .. provided the forum for collegial support and encouragement Follow this link to view De La Salle College final report.. for the new scheme teachers.