PRIMARY FINAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

REPORT 2019
Student ID
Pre-service Teacher Charlotte Nixon 2168038

School Maitland Lutheran School

Year Level
Mentor Teacher(s) Lauren Barnett 2

School Co-ordinator Darren Sanderson

Brenton Lamshed Coordinator

University Liaison Jennifer Frances

Extended Placement: Up to 65 days

Teaching Days

CONTEXT Please add brief context statements about the school and class:
School sector; size and composition of campus (R-12, Area, Primary); particular
features or unique characteristics; index of disadvantage.
School
Maitland Lutheran School is an independent co-educational school catering for
primary and middle school students. It is situated in a rural setting in Maitland on the
Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. The school draws students from a wide area and
has an Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) rating of 974.

Class (including children with special needs)

Charlotte worked in a Year 2 classroom with 22 students, all with a diverse range of
needs. Throughout her practicum, Charlotte worked with 5 students on Individualised
Learning Plans and 1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student. For the subjects
Health, PE and Integrated Curriculum (Science/Humanities), Charlotte was required
to team-teach and plan collaboratively with the Year 1 teacher.
ASSESSMENT AGAINST THE AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
Please place an ‘X’ at the point along each continuum that best represents the development of the pre-service
teacher towards each of the standards at this time.

PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Standard 1 Know students and how they learn

I I I xI
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Standard 6 Engage in professional learning

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

I I I x I
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient
SUMMARY STATEMENTS (You may choose to comment on both personal and professional characteristics)
School Coordinator/Principal
It has been a privilege having Charlotte as part of our Maitland Lutheran School
team this term and to see the way she has fitted in with our teaching staff so
seamlessly. She has shown herself to be highly dedicated to her work and more
than willing to put in the time and effort required to create a successful teaching and
learning experience, even coming in to school during holiday periods to meet with
teachers and plan her units of learning.
Charlotte readily developed meaningful relationships with students in the way the
she interacted with and showed genuine care for them. Her friendly nature helped
her quickly build rapport also with parents and staff. The relational skills that
Charlotte demonstrated served to further enhance her effectiveness in the
classroom.
At all times, Charlotte showed she was a composed teacher with highly developed
organisational skills. Charlotte planned and implemented engaging lessons and
showed she could scaffold and extend students when necessary. She was fair and
consistent when managing behaviour. Charlotte proved herself to be a dedicated,
competent teacher and I have no hesitations about her readiness for entering the
teaching profession.

Name: Darren Sanderson Date: 10/07/19

University Liaison

Following observations of Charlotte’s teaching and discussions with her and her
mentor, I believe that she has demonstrated the skills, knowledge and attitude at
Graduate level. Charlotte has developed a solid foundation for her teaching career
during this placement.

She took the opportunity to consolidate her planning and assessment processes,
based on the Australian Curriculum and she demonstrated a range of classroom
management strategies that fit within the school and classroom context.

I was impressed with Charlotte’s ability to develop positive relationships within the
school community and the genuine care, regard and respect that she showed to
each student.

Charlotte is aware of the need to differentiate the curriculum to support individual

students and showed a strong intent to reflect on her teaching.

She was keen to receive and act on feedback about her teaching performance and
showed a strong work ethic during the placement.

I wish Charlotte well with her teaching career.

Name: Brenton Lamshed Date: 11/7/2019

SUMMARY STATEMENT (May be used as a referee statement)
Classroom Teacher/Mentor
Student Name: Charlotte Nixon
Professional Knowledge
Charlotte demonstrated exceptional knowledge of the students in our class. Her
outstanding ability to promptly and genuinely build rapport with the students allowed
her to have such a successful practicum. Charlotte was able to successfully
ascertain students’ ability levels and cater for this range in an effective manner.
Charlotte allowed full participation of the students in our class working on
Individualised Learning Plans by making reasonable adjustments and providing
scaffolding. ICTs were used in Charlotte’s lessons in a variety of effective ways to
support student learning.

Charlotte designed learning tasks that allowed her to capitalise on the inquisitive
nature of students, using a constructivist approach that engaged students in real
world and practical experiences. By getting to know students individually and
intermeshing their interest with learning tasks, she was able to ensure learning was
inclusive, engaging and meaningful. Throughout her final practicum, she has
developed the ability to deliver high quality learning programs that allow students to
meet the Australian Curriculum student achievement standards and ensure students
engage with and develop an understanding of the necessary content knowledge.

Professional Practice
Charlotte planned thoroughly for students and came into undertake additional lead
in/planning days prior to commencing placement, showing impressive dedication to
her teaching. The students’ families received a written introduction from Charlotte,
which supported Charlotte when developing relationships with parents. She
introduced herself and interacted respectfully with parents onsite. Her friendly,
approachable nature was an asset when developing such relationships.

Learning goals were carefully considered by Charlotte to create logically sequenced

lessons and unit plans. Charlotte used a variety of teaching approaches to ensure
students were engaged and best positioned to experience success. Resources were
collected from a range of sources in order to maximise the likelihood of student
engagement. Teaching under the Walker Learning Approach, Charlotte showed she
was creative and resourceful in her selection of materials when planning
Investigations. Charlotte has impressive organisational skills which aided her when
planning and preparing her lessons. Her knowledge of current trends allowed her to
authentically integrate the use of ICTs, ensuring learning tasks were relevant to the
learning styles of today. Establishing and maintaining safe and supportive
environments that house high, transparent expectations grew to be one of
Charlotte’s strengths.

Students’ work was assessed using a variety of approaches. Charlotte designed

student friendly assessment pieces closely aligned with the Australian Curriculum
standards. Self assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment were all
utilised effectively by Charlotte. She used a wide range of verbal and written
feedback to extend and encourage learners. Charlotte was thorough in her use of
written feedback and used the knowledge gained from this form of assessment to
adjust her lesson plans where appropriate.
Professional Engagement

Charlotte approached her practicum with a strong desire to grow and learn. She
conducted herself in a highly professional manner, always engaging respectfully
with everyone onsite. Charlotte showed initiative and contributed keenly at staff
meetings. She asked thoughtful questions and took notes during our weekly
Professional Development sessions.

For the subjects Health, PE and Integrated Curriculum (Science/Humanities),

Charlotte was required to team-teach and plan collaboratively with the Year 1 teacher.
She proved herself to be a valuable team member during our planning sessions,
collaborating effectively with colleagues and contributing interesting ideas. Charlotte
consistently reflected on her learning programs and sought out feedback, always
taking it on board and altering methods in response when appropriate. Both staff and
students loved having her as part of our Year 1 and 2 team.
Charlotte met all of the professional requirements and proved herself to be a
dedicated, talented teacher who would be an asset in any school.

Written by: Lauren Barnett Date: 10/7/2019

 SUMMARY ASSESSMENT (As agreed by the School Coordinator and the University Liaison)

In our opinion Charlotte Nixon

has demonstrated the following overall level of performance in this final professional experience:
(Please click on appropriate box below)

☐ Unsatisfactory

☐ Satisfactory

☒ Competent

☐ Outstanding

NOTES FOR COMPLETING THIS REPORT

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.

Please keep an electronic copy of this report and submit the report to the University Liaison.

If this is not possible then please email it directly to: primaryprofexp@flinders.edu.au