Science Teacher

Tallangatta Secondary College is a small, country, coeducational secondary college located 40 kilometres northeast of Wodonga. The school draws its enrolment of 330 students from local schools within the Kiewa Valley and the broader Wodonga district.  The College currently has 50 staff - 2 Principal staff, 28 teaching staff and 20 Education Support staff). Our current Student Family Occupation (SFO) is 0.42, with no students from a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE).

Our Vision 

 Tallangatta Secondary College is committed to empowering all to become resilient and confident lifelong learners with a strong sense of self and community. 

Our Mission 

 To maximise each student¿s achievement and learning growth by progressing student learning for every student, every day. 

 To optimise each student¿s wellbeing and engagement in learning by empowering student agency. 

 To build a culture of continuous improvement where high expectations, collective efficacy and accountability is our agreed moral purpose. 

 Our Values 

 Having shared values helps us to set expectations of how we should all behave and treat each other to become a school community that values high performance, strong accountability, positive school culture and continual learning.   

 Living our values shows us at our best and helps us achieve the goals of this strategic plan.  

 At Tallangatta Secondary College, our values are Respect, Empathy, Attitude and Learning (REAL) and are embedded in all our actions and decisions as a school community. 

We are committed to providing a broad range of curriculum and extra-curricular programs, whilst maintaining a student-centred approach to meeting individual student needs.

Students in Years 7-10 participate in a common curriculum at their year level to ensure access to all core learning areas (English, Maths, Science, HPE, Humanities). They are also provided with the opportunity to select electives from the areas of Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Technology and LOTE. In addition to this, students in Term 4 of Year 9 will undertake a compulsory Future Makers class in place of an elective, and students in Year 10 have the option of a Peer Support elective in Term 1.

REAL mentors play an active role in monitoring and advising students of subject selections and are the point of contact for parents if they have concerns or questions regarding the process. Students recognised with particular strengths or areas in need of consolidation will be catered for as part of our Inclusive and Responsive Teaching Framework.

We also proudly offer extensive VET and VCE to students in Years 11 ¿ 12 to ensure a managed individual pathway approach is taken as students¿ transition through their senior years of schooling.

In addition to the curriculum unit offerings, the school offers a broad range of co-curricular programs including Student Leadership Team, Youth CFA, Tallangatta Herald Newspaper, Instrumental Music, Biennial Northern Territory tour and Overland Trek.

The College has a one-to-one provision of leased school nominated devices as a learning tool and utilizes Compass as the web-based school management platform. Eight cycles of GPA L reporting supported by termly Student Led Conferences (SLC) ensures learning progress is monitored, shared, and celebrated.

A School Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework (SWPBS) builds a positive learning environment, along with our College values - Respect, Empathy, Attitude and Learning (REAL), 7 ¿ 12 REAL homegroups and REAL mentors. The College has a school nurse, Mental Health Practitioner and Chaplain.

Tallangatta Secondary College supports teachers to reflect and build their capacity through collaborative structures such as Professional Learning Communities and Team Tuesday and Team Thursday. Effective Teaching Techniques (ETT) is our whole school instructional model.

SC1    Demonstrated knowledge of the relevant curriculum, including the ability to incorporate the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills. Demonstrated experience in responding to student learning needs.

SC2    Demonstrated experience in planning for and implementing high impact teaching strategies, guided by how students learn, and evaluating the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth. 

SC3    Demonstrated experience in monitoring and assessing student learning. Demonstrated experience in using data to inform teaching practice and providing feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

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

SC5    Demonstrated behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated experience in reflecting upon practice and engaging in professional learning to continually improve the quality of teaching.

The classroom teacher classification comprises two salary ranges- range 1 and range 2.  The primary focus of the classroom teacher is on the planning, preparation and teaching of programs to achieve specific student outcomes.  The classroom teacher engages in critical reflection and inquiry in order to improve knowledge and skills to effectively engage students and improve their learning. 

As the classroom teacher gains experience his or her contribution to the school program beyond the classroom increases. All classroom teachers may be required to undertake other duties in addition to their rostered teaching duties provided the responsibility is appropriate to the salary range, qualifications, training and experience of the teacher.

Classroom teacher Range 2
Range 2 classroom teachers play a significant role in assisting the school to improve student performance and educational outcomes determined by the school strategic plan and state-wide priorities and contributing to the development and implementation of school policies and priorities.

A critical component of this work will focus on increasing the knowledge base of staff within their school about student learning and high quality instruction to assist their school to define quality teacher practice.

Range 2 classroom teachers will be expected to:
- Have the content knowledge and pedagogical practice to meet the diverse needs of all students
- Model exemplary classroom practice and mentor/coach other teachers in the school to engage in critical reflection of their practice and to support staff to expand their capacity
- Provide expert advice about the content, processes and strategies that will shape individual and school professional learning
- Supervise and train one or more student teachers
- Assist staff to use student data to inform teaching approaches that enable targets related to improving student learning outcomes to be achieved.

Classroom teacher Range 1
The primary focus of the range 1 classroom teacher is on further developing skills and competencies to become an effective classroom practitioner with structured support and guidance from teachers at higher levels and the planning, preparation and teaching of programs to achieve specific student outcomes. These teachers teach a range of students/classes and are accountable for the effective delivery of their programs.  Range 1 classroom teachers are skilled teachers who operate under general direction within clear guidelines following established work practices and documented priorities and may have responsibility for the supervision and training of one or more student teachers.

At range 1, teachers participate in the development of school policies and programs and assist in the implementation of school priorities. 
The focus of a range 1 classroom teacher is on classroom management, subject content and teaching practice.  New entrants to the teaching profession in their initial teaching years receive structured support, mentoring and guidance from teachers at higher levels.

Under guidance, new entrants to the teaching profession will plan and teach student groups in one or more subjects and are expected to participate in induction programs and other professional learning activities that are designed to ensure the integration of curriculum, assessment and pedagogy across the school.

Teachers at range 1 are responsible for teaching their own classes and may also assist and participate in policy development, project teams and the organisation of co-curricula activities.

The role of classroom teacher may include but is not limited to:

• Direct teaching of groups of students and individual students;
• Contributing to the development, implementation and evaluation of a curriculum area or other curriculum program within the school;
• Undertaking other classroom teaching related and organisational duties as determined by the School Principal;
• Participating in activities such as parent/teacher meetings; staff meetings; camps and excursions;
• Undertaking other non-teaching supervisory duties.

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.

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.

The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, 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 family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

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

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

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

To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must 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 Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.