Learning Specialist Targeted Teaching & Learning

Government schools; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Sunshine College invites applications for a Learning Specialist Targeted Teaching: Senior Curriculum. The role focuses on strengthening teaching practice, analysing student achievement data and supporting effective curriculum delivery across VCE studies, excluding English and EAL.

The incumbent will work with curriculum leaders and teachers to identify evidence-based strategies, model exemplary teaching, and lead professional learning to raise achievement, engagement and wellbeing for students.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated expertise in curriculum knowledge and high quality teaching across senior secondary studies.
• Ability to lead data-informed teaching practice and provide feedback to students and parents.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills for collaboration with students, staff and the broader school community.
• Commitment to department values and facilitating school-based professional learning.
• Ability to mentor and coach teachers in improving practice and outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Strengthen curriculum delivery, instructional practice and assessment across VCE studies.
• Analyse SAC results and student data to identify opportunities for improvement and inform teaching.
• Build teacher capacity through coaching, mentoring, modelling and evidence-based feedback.
• Collaborate with curriculum leaders to identify professional learning priorities and support implementation.

Education

Tertiary qualifications in Education

Job description

Learning Specialist Targeted Teaching & Learning

SC1 Demonstrated expert knowledge of the relevant curriculum. Demonstrated ability to model exemplary teaching practice, including the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum, and implement school priorities.

SC2 Demonstrated expertise in the implementation and modelling of high impact teaching strategies that respond to student learning needs. Demonstrated ability to support teachers to evaluate the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth

SC3 Demonstrated exemplary ability to model the monitoring and assessment of student learning. Demonstrated ability to support others in using data to inform teaching practice and to provide feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

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

SC5 Demonstrated ability to model behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated ability to support others to reflect on their practice and facilitate school-based professional learning.

Selection Criteria

SC1 Demonstrated expert knowledge of the relevant curriculum. Demonstrated ability to model exemplary teaching practice, including the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum, and implement school priorities.

SC2 Demonstrated expertise in the implementation and modelling of high impact teaching strategies that respond to student learning needs. Demonstrated ability to support teachers to evaluate the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth

SC3 Demonstrated exemplary ability to model the monitoring and assessment of student learning. Demonstrated ability to support others in using data to inform teaching practice and to provide feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

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

SC5 Demonstrated ability to model behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated ability to support others to reflect on their practice and facilitate school-based professional learning.

Role

Learning Specialists will be highly skilled classroom practitioners who continue to spend the majority of their time in the classroom delivering high-quality teaching and learning and have a range of responsibilities related to their expertise, including teaching demonstration lessons, observing and providing feedback to other teachers and facilitating school-based professional learning.Learning Specialists are expected to have deep knowledge and expertise in high quality teaching and learning in delivering improved achievement, engagement and wellbeing for students. The role of the Learning Specialist will be to model excellence in teaching and learning through demonstration lessons and, mentoring and coaching teachers in improving the skill, knowledge and effectiveness of the teaching workforce.

The Learning Specialist role is aimed at building excellence in teaching and learning within the Teaching Service.

The Learning Specialist Targeted Teaching: Senior Curriculum is a key instructional leader responsible for strengthening teaching practice and improving student achievement across VCE studies, excluding English and EAL, at Sunshine College.

Working collaboratively with curriculum leaders, VCE teachers and the other Learning Specialist, the role will focus on analysing student achievement data, identifying effective teaching practices and supporting their implementation across the College. Through coaching, collaboration and professional learning, the Learning Specialist will build teacher capacity and support improvements in curriculum delivery, assessment and student learning outcomes.

Aligned with the College's Strategic Plan and Annual Implementation Plan, the role will promote high academic expectations and aspiration, strengthen evidence-informed teaching practices and support teachers to maximise student achievement across senior secondary studies.

Responsibilities

Curriculum and Teaching Practice

• Support teachers and curriculum leaders to strengthen the quality and consistency of curriculum delivery, instructional practice and assessment across VCE studies.
• Promote high academic expectations and aspiration among teachers and students, ensuring learning experiences provide appropriate challenge, support and extension for all learners.
• Identify effective teaching, assessment and curriculum practices within individual subjects and support opportunities to share and adapt these approaches across the College.

Student Achievement and Learning Growth

• Work collaboratively with VCE teachers and curriculum leaders to analyse SAC results, examination performance, study scores and other relevant achievement data to identify strengths, trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Support teachers and teams to translate student achievement data into targeted improvements in teaching practice, assessment, feedback and examination preparation.
• Identify opportunities to improve achievement across the full range of student abilities, including supporting students at risk of underachievement and extending high-performing students.

Instructional Leadership and Teacher Capacity

• Build teacher capacity through coaching, mentoring, modelling effective classroom practice and providing evidence-based feedback.
• Facilitate collaboration between VCE teachers and curriculum teams to share effective teaching strategies, assessment approaches and practices that contribute to strong student outcomes.
• Work with curriculum leaders to identify professional learning priorities and support the implementation of evidence-informed teaching practices.
• Collaborate with the Learning Specialist Targeted Teaching to strengthen curriculum progression, academic expectations and preparation for senior secondary learning.

School Improvement and Program Evaluation

• Support the implementation and evaluation of senior curriculum improvement initiatives aligned with the College's Strategic Plan and Annual Implementation Plan.
• Monitor trends in student achievement and evaluate the impact of teaching and assessment practices, using evidence to inform ongoing improvement.
• Identify and share examples of effective practice and strong student outcomes, supporting their application across relevant learning areas.
• Actively contribute to relevant College teams and communicate achievement trends, improvement priorities and progress to college leadership.

Other Duties

Undertake additional duties and responsibilities as assigned by the principal.

Who May Apply

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, 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 safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces.It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (seeWorkplace adjustment guidelines).

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

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.

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

Conditions of Employment

• 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

Qualification Requirements

To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class:

• The person must have provisional or full registration approved by the Victorian Institute of Teaching; and
• if the person completed an Australian postgraduate level initial teaching program or course of study on or after 1 January 2024, they must demonstrate that they have satisfactorily completed a postgraduate level accredited initial teacher education program that has been accredited by an Australian State or Territory Teacher Regulatory Authority as satisfying the requirements of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 'Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures'; and
• a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program after 1 July 2016 must also demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements (this condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian ITE program completed by the person).

Details of qualification requirements as updated from time to time can be found at Recruitment in Schools.

Location Profile

[Sunshine College operates as a two site multi-campus school in North and West Sunshine with responsibility for serving the educational needs of around 1000 young people, employing approximately 140 staff. We are currently entering an exciting renewal phase in our teaching and learning practices and physical structure, including the opening of new facilities.

The Sunshine community is wonderfully diverse, with a strong sense of pride and identity.

Our college reflects this diversity with a wide range of teaching & learning programs across both campuses. Our successful mainstream programs being augmented by the curriculum delivered at Harvester Technical College, located adjacent to the North Campus of Sunshine College. The Harvester Technical College through its teaching staff provides innovative best practice approaches in vocational education based around applied learning. We have developed strong links with major industries and business partners, in guiding the curriculum development and in building relationships to support outcomes for students. Teachers at the HTC operate in a team environment, integrating curriculum around learning projects for a dynamic year 10-12 student cohort.

Teachers across both of the 7-12 campuses of Sunshine College are expected to be creative of new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning, with an understanding that students learn best through discovery, research & development processes and especially when this learning is linked to applied situations.

Our student¿s average growth rate in NAPLAN Reading and Numeracy from Year 7 to Year 9 is at or better than state averages.

A major and exciting challenge for us is to become one of the leading schools in Victoria on how literacy issues are positively addressed. Students in Years 7 to 11 are involved in the SunLit program, receiving structured literacy lessons throughout the week.

Maths staff are regular presenters at the Mathematics Association of Victoria Annual Conference and were acknowledged for their work in Numeracy in winning the Lindsay Thompson Award for Excellence in Education.

Each year our students achieve high ATAR scores and have won Premier¿s Awards and the VCE Achiever of the Year Award placing them among the top elite students in Victoria. The duxes of the school over the last years are studying Commerce, Law, Engineering and Education. Our outcomes for students graduating from the HTC into apprenticeships, work or further study are exceptional.

The College supports the broader community in a number of ways through community curriculum initiatives, largely coordinated in our Connect and Pathways courses run at Years 7 to 10.

We are committed to maximising learning outcomes and life opportunities for our students byproviding high quality learning experiences which will empower them to continue to learn, adapt to changing circumstances, and create opportunities for themselves, while valuing self, others, and their environment.

Our core school values focus on GROWTH, LEARNING, WELLBEING and RELATIONSHIPS. These values guide our philosophy in how we educate and support our students and nurtures our belief that all students can learn.

Staff work in supportive Focus Groups, at times they team teach and are committed to continual personal and professional growth, and accept new educational challenges as a natural part of their professional lives.

Staff at Sunshine College have worked together to develop what we call a ¿core plus¿ instructional model that allows for domain specific innovation and creativity but is underpinned across all domains by five core instructional practice principles:

• Learning Intention articulated and reflected on
• Readiness for Learning determined
• Activities that Target Individual Success delivered
• Quality Feedback provided
• Reflection undertaken

We believe that our teaching staff are by far the most valuable resource of the school. We know that it is our teachers who ultimately make the difference for students, and we support them accordingly.

The Victorian Auditor-General¿s Office tabled a report in the Victorian Parliament titled ¿The Effectiveness of Student Wellbeing Programs and Services.¿ Sunshine College was chosen to talk to representatives of the VAGO about our successful well-being approaches and programs.

Our performance and development culture is based around the collaborative work of staff in professional learning teams where curriculum is collegiately designed and consistently delivered across classrooms and campuses and where self-reflection is critical to enhancing the craft of teaching.

Sunshine College promotes the safety, participation and empowerment of all children, including those with a disability.Our culture is based on Collaboration, Aspiration and Inclusion. Our College is culturally safe for indigenous children and for those from culturally and linguistically diverse background. We encourage applications from indigenous peoples and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Applicants will need to hold valid tertiary qualifications and be able to meet Victorian Institute of Teacher registration requirements.

Please note Sunshine College reserves the right to contact colleagues other than those listed as referees.