School Context

​I completed my Professional Internship at an Independent Public School situated in a fast-growing suburb in the south-east of the Perth metropolitan area. It opened its doors in 2008 with a student enrolment of 208 students from Kindy to Year 7. In 2010 the school was one of the first to become an Independent Public School, which allowed for innovative approaches to the educational program that support the student’s needs (My School Website, 2015). It has since grown to house over 1000 students as at the start of 2016 now ranging from Kindy to Year 6. The school has a staff of 106, with 59 teaching and 35 non-teaching staff (School Website,2016).

​The principal has a highly visible profile in the school, as he is seen talking to students and staff daily, showing each member of the school community that they are valued.  The staff are encouraged to build strong relationships with the community, thus embracing the multicultural nature of the school as they believe it enhances the school community and the relationship with the parents and students.

NAPLAN results are on par with similar schools in Australia (My School Website, 2015), and are used to identify areas of concern that are then addressed during collaborative planning. Although the school currently have no indigenous students, the staff embrace their culture and celebrate it through incursions, art and areas in the playground. The culture of the school is dedicated to sharing knowledge, working collaboratively to solve problems, looking for new ideas to improve learning and creating the best possible learning environment for the students (Lashway, L 2003). The school provide the following specialist programs, Physical Education, Music and Science.
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Collaboration and teamwork underpin everything the staff do, which extends to their teaching as collaborative learning form an intricate part of the educational program. The school ethos is a safe, caring environment where both students and adults feel valued as individuals. It is a place of excellence where students are encouraged to achieve their full potential in all areas of their development (academic, creative, personal, physical, social and emotional). There is a partnership between the students, parents, staff and the community as values are promoted, and students learn to work together, respect themselves, others and their environment. 

Classroom Context

I completed my Internship in a mixed gender, mixed ability Year 1 class. The class consisted out of twenty-three students (nine girls and fourteen boys) with diverse cultural and -linguistic backgrounds. Amongst the group are nine English as a Second Language or Dialect (EAL/D) learners, of which four were fluent in English and five received EAL/D support. Aiding to make this class a highly diverse learning environment was the fact that we also had seven SAER students with (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) learning difficulties. The learning disabilities include two students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), both receiving medication, one student who are Hearing Impaired, two with possible Dyslexia, and one with Global Developmental Delay (GDD). The last SAER students have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Motor Skill Disorder and ADHD. He is withdrawn from class every morning for the first two hours of the day and has an Educations Assistant supervising during recess and lunch times.

As collaborative learning form an intricate part of the school’s ethos, the students are seated around clusters of tables to enable small group work. Learning Centres is used during some Literacy and Numeracy sessions using mixed ability groups. The classroom is equipped with four computers and four IPads which is used during Literacy and Numeracy.
The Year 1 teachers met on Thursday afternoons after school for their team meetings where they collaborate and reflect on the teaching programs and assessments. They used these team meeting also to provide support, help and ideas to each other which made it easy to build relationships.
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The school had a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with well-maintained buildings and gardens. The play areas are well designed, to engage students during recess and lunch. The staff were friendly and helpful, always willing to assist.

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