Professional Experience Office

School of Education
Telephone: 8201 3330
Fax: 8201 2568

Professional Experience Report 2015

Middle & Secondary Schooling
Year 3 Undergraduate & Year 1 Master of Teaching

Pre service teacher name

Danni-Lee Mathew

Student No.

2082584

Site

Willunga High School

Year level(s) taught

Site mentor teacher

Tim Zammit,

Subject

English

Site coordinator

Kirri Minican

University liaison

Rick Lambert

25 day placement
Site Context

School Coordinator - Context statement about your school

Site sector (DECD), Independent.

Willunga High School is situated in the picturesque

Site size, class size and composition of

McLaren Vale Region. There is significant growth in

campus

school population and this is as a result of a

(R-12, Area, Primary, Secondary)

number of factors: client satisfaction,

Physical and/or unique characteristics.

socio-economic climate (resulting in large numbers

Students with specific needs.

enrolling from private schools), land development

Socio-economic factors.

and migrants moving into the area. Willunga High

school is a comprehensive metropolitan secondary
school (47Km from the GPO) in a semi-rural
environment with an enrolment of 1080 students and
was opened on its
present site in 1960. The school has strong
community support, which is evidenced by an active
Governing Council and Industry recognition and
support, particularly from the wine, grape-growing,
hospitality and business sectors. A large fleet of
buses transports approximately 90% of students from
the surrounding towns and rural properties to the
school. Vocational courses provide career pathways
and educational opportunities for all students from
the area as part of the Southern Adelaide and
Fleurieu Trade School (SAFTS) partnerships, as well
as providing increased options

for senior

students. Willunga High School has developed strong

links with the business community through its
vocational courses. Danni taught a class of 25
including students with A and D level disabilities,
trauma backgrounds and ATSI.
Mentor Teacher - Summary Statements
Professional Relationships

Comments

PROFESSIONAL & COLLEGIAL LEARNING

Danni demonstrated an understanding of the role of

Teachers actively engage in personal and

the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

collegial learning within the professional

in identifying professional learning needs. She

community

sought and applied constructive feedback from

supervisors and teachers to improve teaching
practices. Danni participated in all required
professional development during her time at
Willunga High School.

LEARNER RESPECT

Danni has demonstrated that she is capable of

Teachers foster trusting and respectful

developing trusting and respectful relationships

relationships with all learners

with students. This has allowed he to demonstrate

her knowledge and understanding of physical, social
and intellectual development and characteristics of
students and how these may affect learning.

PARENT/CAREGIVER & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

Danni has planned for appropriate and contextually

Teachers work effectively with

relevant opportunities for parents/ carers to be

parents/caregivers and the wider

involved in their childrens learning. This has

community

included using the schools text messaging service

to keep parents informed of their child's progress.

Professional Knowledge

Comments

LEARNING PROCESSES

Danni has proven that she can demonstrate knowledge

Teachers know about learning processes and how and understanding of the concepts, substance and
to teach and implement

structure of the content and teaching strategies of

the teaching area, particularly English. She showed
that she can organise content into coherent,
well-sequenced learning and teaching programs.
Danni can plan lesson sequences using knowledge of
student learning, content and effective teaching
strategies.

LEARNING CONTENT

Danni has shown an understanding of literacy and

Teachers know the content they teach

numeracy teaching strategies and their application

in teaching areas. Furthermore she has used
curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to
design learning sequences and lesson plans. Her
topic knowledge of particular genres was
impressive.

LEARNING CONTEXT

Danni showed an excellent ability to develop

Teachers know about learner contexts and

teaching activities that incorporate differentiated

diversity

strategies to meet the specific learning needs of

students across the full range of abilities. An
example would include the modifying of curriculum
to meet the needs of students for an oral
presentation. She demonstrated knowledge of
teaching strategies that are responsive to the
learning strengths and needs of students from
diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and
socioeconomic backgrounds.

Professional Practice

Comments

PLANNING AND TEACHING

Danni has designed and implemented learning and

Teachers plan and implement teaching

teaching programs using knowledge of curriculum,

strategies for successful learning experiences assessment and reporting requirements. Danni has
Identified strategies to support inclusive student
participation and engagement in classroom
activities.

FEEDBACK AND REPORTING

Danni has demonstrated understanding of a range of

Teachers assess and report learning outcomes

strategies for reporting to students and

parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate
and reliable records of student achievement.
Furthermore she has demonstrated understanding of a
range of strategies for reporting to students and
parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate
and reliable records of student achievement.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

It is evident that Danni can set learning goals

Teachers create a safe, challenging and

that provide achievable challenges for students of

supportive environment

varying abilities and characteristics. She is

developing a capacity to organise classroom
activities and provide clear directions. Danni has
demonstrated knowledge of practical approaches to
manage challenging behaviour.

Pre-service teacher: Comments

Firstly, I would like to thank my amazing mentor teacher Tim Zammit for my highly unique
and transformative experience at Willunga High School. I was fortunate enough to be
welcomed into a supportive teaching environment that allowed me the freedom to develop
my teaching skills and confidence. Teaching Year 8s, 9s and 11s in English provided me
with the opportunity to practice a wide variety of teaching strategies. I found my
presence around the classroom and my one on one teaching was to a very high standard,
however my confidence with standing in front of the class still needs a bit of work,
which is what I will need to work on next placement. Using mentor support and guidance I
challenged myself to plan interesting and engaging lessons that would require students
to think critically. I was often successful in this task with both mentors and students
commenting positively on my content knowledge and activities. Student feedback allowed
me to understand just how well my scaffolding of certain activities went while some
feedback allowed me to rethink certain activities for future lessons. I am looking
forward to experimenting with other types of assessments next year, as it is an
important area in teaching. I am also looking forward to trying a more adventurous
curriculum and getting out of my shell a bit more. I am so grateful to the teachers, SSO
staff, and all the other staff at Willunga high school; this has confirmed my desire to
continue my degree and be the best teacher I can be.

University Liaison: Summary statement

Danni is a quiet achiever. During both lessons I observed she was attending to
individual students as they completed set tasks. I had no doubts that, previous to these
lessons, she had established good relationships with her students via excellent class
management skills. Discussions with her mentor supported my understanding. Danni gave
clear instructions, clarified her expectations and, in return, achieved a supportive

response from her students. Im confident that Danni will become an excellent and
valued teacher.
School Coordinator: Final Comments (optional)
School Coordinator:
The pre-service teacher may wish to submit this report with an application for

employment. Please

avoid the use of acronyms as student reports are often viewed by interstate and international
employers who are not always familiar with South Australian nomenclature
Name of School Mentor Teacher(s): Tim Zammit

Date: 01.09.2015

Name of School coordinator: Kirri Minican Date: 01.09.2015

Consideration has been given to the complexities and degree of challenge of the professional
experience context in evaluating the pre-service teacher's ability to meet the assessment criteria
for the professional experience.
In our opinion, the pre-service teacher HAS demonstrated competency in the professional teaching standards indicated in this report, and is
ready to undertake Professional Experience Final Year.

SATISFACTORY

University Liaison
Name of

University

Report ID: 002159

Liaison: Rick Lambert Date: 13.09.2015