PROF

EXP 3
2017

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 3
FINAL REPORT
PRESERVICE TEACHER: Jessica Narcisi ID: 110118285
PROGRAM: Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood)
SITE: Elizabeth North Preschool
SITE COORDINATOR: Celeste Matthews MENTOR/S: Lisa Purdy, Wendy Batson
UNIVERSITY LIAISON: Sandy Wilson
LEARNING AREAS
YEAR LEVEL (S) TAUGHT: Preschool
(secondary only)
DATES OF PLACEMENT: 21/03/17 to 09/06/17 TOTAL DAYS: 25

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE CONTEXT:

Elizabeth North Preschool is a Category 1, school-based preschool with currently 94 children enrolled with three full time teachers,
two part time teachers and five support educators. Additionally, Playgroup is offered to families one day per week and Occasional
Care is operational three days per week. This service is provided in a room situated inside the preschool with two educators
working with children in occasional care. The preschool children have a range of needs with 9 children coming from cultural or
linguistic groups, 23 children identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, four children under the Guardian of the Minister and
children with Autism, Global Developmental Delay, severe speech and language delays and children with challenging behaviour.
Currently there are 26 children accessing the Preschool support program with additional funds provided for educators to work one
to one in supporting children. The children are from a lower socio-economic area and working with families in the community is
highly sought.
SUMMATIVE COMMENTS BY MENTOR TEACHER/S:
Jessica has successfully completed her preschool practicum and has demonstrated her ability in working
within a large team of educators by providing children with a number of engaging experiences throughout
her placement. She has maintained a professional attitude towards her teaching and has been a kind,
caring and supportive educator to the preschool children. Jessica has shown commitment to her teaching
and planning and has worked hard to deliver a program that meets the Early Years Learning Framework.
Well done Jessica on a successful practicum. We wish Jessica all the very best in her teaching career.

__________________________________
DATE: 09 / 06 / 2017 SATISFACTORY/UNSATISFACTORY
Mentor Teacher Signature (Delete whichever is not applicable)

SUMMATIVE COMMENTS BY SITE COORDINATOR:

Jessica has consistently shown enthusiasm and professionalism towards all aspects of her practicum in Elizabeth
North Preschool. She is to be commended on her punctuality, attention to detail and consistency in managing a daily
changing environment. At all times, Jessica appeared interested and keen to learn, and was not afraid to ask
questions to clarify. She took on board the suggestions of all educators and worked well in a large and busy
preschool setting. I wish you all the very best for the future Jessica, I have no doubt you will make a fantastic teacher.

__________________________________
DATE: / / 2017 SATISFACTORY/UNSATISFACTORY
Site Coordinator Signature (Delete whichever is not applicable)

VERIFICATION BY AUTHORISED UNIVERSITY PERSONNEL:

The Mentor Teacher, Site Coordinator and Preservice teacher have been consulted during the placement and this report
documents evidence of the Preservice Teachers achievement of the Professional Experience objectives.

__________________________________
DATE: / / 2017 SATISFACTORY/UNSATISFACTORY
University Personnel Signature (Delete whichever is not applicable)
 SUMMATIVE COMMENTS BY PRESERVICE TEACHER:
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to complete my professional experience 3 in the preschool at Elizabeth North. It has
indeed been challenging but I have learnt so much and have had a lot of fun. All staff have been very welcoming and made me feel
a real part of the preschool. My mentors have been so supportive and have helped my greatly along the way. I have learnt so much
from them regarding different ways to teach at a preschool level, their planning process as well as how to manage all different
behaviours. With their support, I have developed my confidence in teaching and taking over lessons with a large group of children and
have developed strategies to effectively manage classroom activities. It has been great to not only be a part of the teaching in the
classroom but also being a part of staff meetings and additional PLC meetings to gain further understandings of what happens outside
of the classroom and the additional responsibilities of a preschool educator.
Over professional experience three I believe I have continued to develop my knowledge and understandings across all the AITSL
standards. I think that my strengths lie with standard 1 knowing how students learn and AITSL 2 knowing the content. I feel that I have
significantly developed my knowledge and skills in all the other standards but in particular, standard 3, planning to implement effective
teaching and learning strategies and standard 4, create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments. Even though
throughout this placement I have gained considerable knowledge on these standards for professional experience four my focus will be
on developing by knowledge and skills of the AITSL standard 7, to engage with professional teaching networks and broader
communities further as well as continuing to develop my knowledge and skills in AITSL 5, providing feedback and reporting on student
learning.
I have had the opportunity to teach the children in science about plants, what they are, what they need as well as teach them in
numeracy by increasing their development of number sense and skills. I have had the opportunity to participate in several other
learning areas throughout each day at the preschool such as literacy, art, ICT, languages (Spanish). I have also had the chance to see
how the child protection curriculum is implemented.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Preservice Teacher Signature Date

NOTES FOR MENTOR TEACHERS AND SITE COORDINATORS COMPLETING THIS REPORT
The assessment criteria used in this report are the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

The Preservice 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.

The preservice teacher has completed the required the full 25 days of their placement including visit YES /NO
days.

MENTOR TEACHER COMMENTS: PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

1. Know students and how they learn 2. Know the content and how to teach it

1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics
of students
1.2 Understand how students learn
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and
socioeconomic backgrounds
1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of
students across the full range of abilities
1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability
1. Know students and how they learn
1.1 Jessica was able to consider each childs physical, social and intellectual development through her
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
2.2 Content selection and organisation
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous Australians
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Outstanding

planning and observations she shared with educators. She would consult with educators about
appropriate experiences, activities and group time leaning to accommodate all childrens levels of
development.
Good
1.2 Jessica understands how preschoolers learn through play which was evident through her planned

experiences. This was evident when she had planned a flower and leaf sorting activity. After some time
spent on this, she modified and extended the experience by adding glue and paper bags where children
could create a collage using natural resources. This proved to be a popular activity which had many
children accessing and participating in this experience. It provided many discussions about what they Satisfactory
were creating and the resources they were using.

1.3 Jessica provided experiences that were inclusive to all children from diverse linguistic, cultural,
religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. She set up experiences that were culturally appropriate,
sensitive and respectful to all children. Unsatisfactory

1.4 Jessica followed and modelled the teaching strategies of educators in using a variety of strategies to children that
identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. This included greeting children in the Kaurna language, singing well
known songs such as Heads, shoulders, knees and toes in the Kaurna language and participating in Reconciliation
Week.

1.5 Jessica organised her experiences so that they were open-ended and all children were able to participate. This included
her numeracy activity which involved the use of digit cards, dice, paper and pencils. Children of different abilities and
ages could engage in this activity at their own level and what they were interested in doing. Some children liked looking
at the digit cards, others wanted to match them whilst some children wanted to attempt to write the digits on the pieces
of paper.

1.6 Jessica supported children who have additional needs through group times, often sitting with them to support their
learning. Other times she would help them find fidget toys or the wedge for them to sit on. This was helpful for these
particular children in making them feel at ease and ready to learn.

Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it

2.1 Jessica demonstrated her knowledge and understanding of working with children from three to five years of age. She
implemented a range of teaching strategies to facilitate childrens learning such as the use of parallel play to model skills,
questioning, explicit teaching and observation to plan further learning opportunities.

2.2 Jessica organised and planned learning experiences that were sequential and play based. She considered the resources
required, the location of the experiences and when to establish the experience to maximise childrens learning.

2.3 Jessica demonstrated her knowledge of the Early Years Learning Framework as she planned sequential, open ended
and engaging play based experiences for three to five year old children. She provided documented plans that linked the
content with the outcomes from the Early Years Learning Framework. Jessica modified and adapted planned learning
experiences based upon her direct observations of children engaged in learning. This was evident when Jessica observed
children requiring support with the concept of sorting. This resulted in Jessica including visuals to support children with
sorting experiences.

2.4 Jessica demonstrated a broad knowledge of, understanding and respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
and languages. For example, Jessica actively supported children in greeting each other using the Kaurna greeting ninna
marni during morning group times.

2.5 Jessica developed her knowledge of literacy as she participated in Levels of Questioning training with DECD Speech
Pathologist and A story a day reading project targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. She displayed her
understanding of numeracy through her planned learning experiences and her large group times where she implemented
focused learning opportunities targeting number.

2.6 Jessica implemented strategies for using ICT in the preschool including using Notebook to design and create engaging,
sequential and interactive experiences for children to use on the Smartboard. She selected appropriate music and clips from
sources such as YouTube in addition to designing interactive games to embed these in her group times.
MENTOR TEACHER COMMENTS: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
3. Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning 4.Create and maintain supportive and safe learning
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals environments
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs 4.1 Support student participation
3.4 Use teaching strategies 4.2 Manage classroom activities
3.5 Select and use resources 4.3 Manage challenging behaviour
3.6 Use effective classroom communication 4.4 Maintain student safety
3.7 Evaluate and improve teaching programs Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically
3.3 Engage parents/carers in the educative process
5.Assess, provide feedback and report on student 5.3 Make consistent and comparable judgements
learning 5.4 Interpret student data
5.1 Assess student learning 5.5 Report on student achievement
5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning
Standard 3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning Outstanding

3.1 Jessica was able to establish challenging learning goals for all children by using her observations of children
and using these to determine what might be suitable for the group as a whole. She persisted during group times
to introduce the parts of a plant. Seeing that children had limited prior knowledge of what parts made up a plant
(stem, leaf etc), she revisited this concept again and challenged childrens thinking when they did not understand Good
some concepts such as the roots.

3.2 Jessica planned learning experiences that were sequential throughout her placement. She centred her
learning experiences around plants and started with asking children what they knew about plants and followed
this with discussing the things plants need and introduced larger concepts such as photosynthesis. She Satisfactory
followed this up with looking at different kinds of seeds and finishing up with predicting which would grow.

3.3 Jessica was able to use a number of teaching strategies which included following the lead of the educators,
using the 6 Ls (eyes looking, ears listening, legs crossed, hands in laps, lips closed and ready to learn),
reminding children to follow preschool rules and routines, using Green choices and praising all children for their Unsatisfactory
efforts. She regularly asked for feedback and took on board helpful hints such as behaviour techniques to use

during large group times.

3.5 Jessica took the time to prepare suitable resources at home and also looked for resources she could use at
preschool. She made sure these were set up before the children arrived and made sure to refill or reset them as
required. Jessica made sure to clean up after herself and worked with educators to set up the program for the
following week.
.
3.5 Jessica always presented herself professionally and respectful towards children, educators and families. She
would communicate specific information with educators and used voice projection during her group times. Whilst
she read stories to children she would change the tone of her voice to make the story more engaging for
children.

3.6 Jessica regularly evaluated her teaching programs with educators, children and by herself. She would meet
with educators and discuss what she would like to do and consulted with them and she would also take on board
written feedback from educators. Jessica would also ask the children what they could remember from the
previous day or two and revisit previous learning to gauge childrens understanding. She also reflected each day
in her folder.

3.8 Jessica engaged parents/carers and families in the educative process by being accessible to families at the
beginning of the day and by welcoming children and families during her time at preschool.

Standard 4 - Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

4.1 Jessica clearly demonstrated a range of strategies to support inclusive participation in preschool activities.
She built strong trusting relationships with children and used a calm and gentle approach in supporting children
with their learning. This was evidenced as Jessica built a caring relationship with a child suffering from extreme
trauma and encouraged and supported this child in having the confidence to access and participate in play
experiences.

4.2 Jessica organised and managed the preschool environment as she set up and prepared the indoor learning
area before the children arrived, managed resources needed throughout the day and supported the staff in
packing up and cleaning at the end of the day. Jessica helped in arranging and setting up the preschool for the
official launch of A Story A Day project.

4.3 Jessica implemented a variety of practical approaches to managing challenging behaviours. This was
evidenced as she modelled behaviours for children to follow during group times (eg. put her fingers on her lips to
remind children to listen, provided sensory support for a child with sensory processing disorder and encouraged
children to sit alongside her). During play times Jessica used strategies such as redirecting, modelling and
playing alongside children to support and offer solutions to problems during play.

4.4 Jessica demonstrated an awareness of childrens safety by providing experiences and resources that were
safe for all children. She used strategies including giving verbal reminders and modelling to support and remind
children about safe play. Jessica followed safe hygiene procedures and practices by following the preschool
policies.

4.5 Jessica demonstrated safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT. This was evidenced as Jessica would
preview and download material from YouTube before presenting it to children, ensuring the content was
appropriate for children to view.

Standard 5 - Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

5.1 Jessica shared information from her observations about children and their learning during staff meeting time.
She included experiences she thought were appropriate for the needs of the preschool children, discussed with
educators individual childrens needs and evaluated the preschool program during staff meetings.

5.2 Jessica would ask children a wide range of questions and would extend childrens thinking and
understanding by giving them new questions to think about such as why do you think that? She would celebrate
childrens success through praise and non verbal cues such as high fives and encourage all childrens attempts.

5.3 Jessica was able to make consistent and comparable judgements by using her evaluations and observations
to plan appropriate learning experiences for the identified children in the preschool.

5.4 Jessica was introduced to the preschools Data Summary Sheets and also the Levels of Questioning data
collection. She was able to see how educators interpret this data and use it when planning and communicating
with children. Jessica was able to interpret many pictures children had drawn and she was able to interpret
childrens name writing.

5.4 Jessica was able report on student learning both informally with educators and through written observations.
She listened to feedback from the DECD Speech Pathologist and was shown how educators prepare for the
reporting process through data collection and shown the report template they use for all children.

MENTOR TEACHER COMMENTS: PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

6.Engage in professional learning
6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7. Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and
the community
7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

Standard 6 Engage in professional learning Outstanding

6.1 Jessica clearly identified her professional learning needs as she asked questions, actively sought
clarification, support and feedback from her mentor teachers and reflected and evaluated her teaching practice.
This was evidenced as Jessica indicated she would like to further develop her skills in using the notebook
Good
program as part of her large group time. Shared conversation and training occurred with Jessica using this
learning to further develop and present her large group time sessions.

6.2 Whilst on this placement Jessica participated in weekly preschool and whole site staff meetings, attended
professional development including using the Notebook program on the interactive Smartboard, Levels of Satisfactory
Questioning, A Story A Day project and Reporting. Jessica attended an early years district wide pupil free day
on reflective practice.

6.3 Jessica used the feedback from her mentor teachers to inform, improve and adapt her teaching. This was

evidenced as Jessica reflected upon feedback pertaining to managing the large group of preschool children. Unsatisfactory
From this feedback and reflection Jessica successfully implemented additional strategies in managing a large

group of children.

6.4 Jessica demonstrated an understanding for continued professional learning and the implications for
childrens learning as she actively attended and participated in professional development, attended preschool
meetings and staff meetings.
Standard 7 - Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

7.1 Jessica was always professional and ethical towards children, families, educators, leadership, visitors and the wider community.
She was kind, respectful, friendly and welcoming. At times, Jess was involved in confidential conversations and respected this.

7.2 Jessica complied with legislative, administrative and organisational policies. She conducted administrative duties such as taking
the attendance roll and helped with organising the NQS documented evidence into the 7 areas during staff meeting. She supervised
children, implemented handwashing techniques and providing soap for children and she had an awareness of OHSW practices.
Jessica was also made aware of custody orders for some children.

7.3 Jessica would often open the door in the morning to greet families and children and she would welcome them into preschool.
She would help settle children when needed and answer or find out the answer, to any questions families may have.

7.4 Jessica was included in the Peachey Partnership meeting at Mark Oliphant Collage and she also spent the day participating in
the pupil free day at Andrews Farm Kindy. She attended the annual school/preschool disco and helped to settle children and
participated in this community event. Jessica also engaged with special visitors including, the police, MFS, CFS, SA Ambulance.

Professional Experience Office University of South Australia,

Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes SA 5095
This is a certified copy of the original assessment document provided by the site in which the student was placed for the professional experience. It
may be used for employment purposes.