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

Angela Tomarelli

Student No.

2113900

Site

Reynella East College

Year level(s) taught

9/10

Site mentor teacher

Martine Burian,

Subject

French

Site coordinator

Adam Langley

University liaison

Sam Schulz

25 day placement
Site Context

School Coordinator - Context statement about your school

Site sector (DECD), Independent.

Reynella East College is an R-12 school divided

Site size, class size and composition of

over 2 campuses. It caters for over 1700 students

campus

from all year levels. It is a DECS school which

(R-12, Area, Primary, Secondary)

accommodates students from the Adelaide South

Physical and/or unique characteristics.

district. The class sizes vary depending on the

Students with specific needs.

subject but generally have 20-30 students per

Socio-economic factors.

class. We see ourselves as preparing students of

all abilities who are independent and
interdependent learners, active citizens,
enterprising and prepared to meet the challenge of
the 21st century. As a school, we are aiming to
become a community of learners, where we learn from
each other. We make strong connections to our local
community, and our students are actively engaged
with the community. We host International students
as exchange - short term and long term. Our focus
is on the student as a member of a local, national
and global community. The school setting at
Reynella, a southern suburb of Adelaide, has
extensive gardened grounds, sporting and learning
facilities, and provides an ideal environment for a
focused, well-rounded preparation for life.

Mentor Teacher - Summary Statements

Professional Relationships

Comments

PROFESSIONAL & COLLEGIAL LEARNING

Angela attended Language Faculty meetings and

Teachers actively engage in personal and

confidently participated in any office discussion

collegial learning within the professional

concerning issues related to language teaching and

community

generalised teaching issues as well.

I fully commend the enthusiasm, professionalism and
confidence Angela displayed during her time at REC.
Angela willingly undertook all teacher commitments
such as attending staff and learning area meetings,
yard duty, assemblies and home group. Angela also
quickly familiarised herself with the daily
classroom routines and willingly approached other
teachers to request observation of their teaching
styles and was receptive to behaviour management
strategies and methodologies.

LEARNER RESPECT

Angela assumed the role of teacher with enthusiasm

Teachers foster trusting and respectful

and diligence. Her very approachable and friendly

relationships with all learners

manner endeared students who accepted her teaching

style and guidance without apprehension. Students
developed respect for Angela who in turn was eager
to provide individual support and to develop a more
familiar tone in the classroom whilst maintaining a
fair discipline approach.

PARENT/CAREGIVER & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

Due to the short time that Angela was a member of

Teachers work effectively with

staff at REC, there was little opportunity to

parents/caregivers and the wider

engage much in this area. However, she did have the

community

opportunity to listen in to phone conversations

with parents, which resulted in discussion
pertaining to parent response including concerns
and in further development of behaviour management
techniques.
Angela took an active role in organising an
excursion a fairly lengthy process due to its
legalities. She assumed a supervisory role on this
excursion, took responsibility for the students in
her care (to uphold the reputation of the school
and in maintaining behaviour while in public) and
in providing assistance to complete their set task.

Professional Knowledge

Comments

LEARNING PROCESSES

Angela demonstrated a strong commitment and

Teachers know about learning processes and how enthusiasm towards teaching French to this class of
to teach and implement

year 9/10 students. Assuming a leadership role

develops with time and also hinges on the way
students respond. Angela quickly understood the
dynamics of the class group and worked hard to
provide a challenging and interesting program for
all the students. The students responded well to
her teaching style. Whenever Angela had
difficulties with either presenting part of her
program or in dealing with behaviour issues, she
sought advice and in many creative ways adjusted
her teaching practice.

LEARNING CONTENT

Angela was required to teach a combined year 9/10

Teachers know the content they teach

French class. The composition of this class was due

to low numbers that presented at the beginning of
the year. All students follow a Year 10 course,
which has vocabulary and grammatical structures
supplemented for those in Year 9. All students
complete the same set tasks.
Angela organised what she was required to teach,
what the students had learnt in the module being
taught at that time and wrote out comprehensive
unit and lesson plans. With experience, her ability
to judge how quickly a class will work will grow.
Angela had many creative ideas in presenting the
language to the class. Year 9 students were able to
achieve success due to the variety of tasks
available for them to participate in. Angela
ensured that students focused in the classroom,
which saw her circulating around the room offering
guidance and encouragement to all. A positive and
supportive learning environment was created where
all the students were urged to do their best.

LEARNING CONTEXT

Angela used a range of teaching strategies to

Teachers know about learner contexts and

engage the French students. Teaching aids were

diversity

clearly displayed and appropriately used within the

lesson. Angela always ensured that all the students
knew what to do by circulating in the classroom and
giving each student some individual teacher time to
ensure knowledge and achievement were being gained.
Constant encouragement and assistance is vital in a
language classroom.

Professional Practice

Comments

PLANNING AND TEACHING

Angela familiarised herself very quickly with the

Teachers plan and implement teaching

students and structured a variety of activities

strategies for successful learning experiences around the needs and abilities of the class. Angela
attentively listened to suggestions made to teach
certain aspects of the work. She obtained relevant
text books, sourced material from the Internet and
teachers guide to prepare units of work within
the time constraints and showed flexibility in the
adaptation of her lessons to suit the daily
activities of the school. She used ICT in her
teaching to facilitate visual learners and used
flashcards to stimulate a more interactive approach
to engage students. I was impressed with Angelas
lesson plans and preparation which displayed a
logical sequence of steps and continuity.
FEEDBACK AND REPORTING

The assessment that Angela gave students was

Teachers assess and report learning outcomes

presented and explained in a clear and logical

manner. Appropriate feedback to students who were
working on tasks was provided promptly and a whole
range of support was provided to ensure success.
Completed work was marked quickly and returned with
constructive criticism and praise for their
ability.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Angelas confidence did improve as time

Teachers create a safe, challenging and

progressed. She set classroom rules and

supportive environment

expectations and was prepared to try a variety of

behaviour management strategies to ensure that
everyone was engaged. Angela aimed to promote a
positive learning environment. Assuming a
leadership role develops with time and also hinges
on the way students respond. Angela did a fine job
in her time at REC.

Pre-service teacher: Comments

This experience was so enriching for me. I learned an enormous amount from Martine and a
great deal about myself as well. I got to experienced some challenges in trying to teach
the split level French class where the ability was so varied, but my skills at adapting
lesson developed a lot. Most importantly, for my own professional development, I now
feel confident jumping into a new class and leading students in their learning. I gained
confidence, experience and lots of wisdom from this teaching practicum and look forward
to honing my skills even further next year.
University Liaison: Summary statement
Angela has a wonderful presence in the classroom. She immediately establishes a sense of
friendly authority by projecting her voice, making eye contact, welcoming students
as they enter the room, smiling, and calmly awaiting students attention. At minor
times chatting might break out, and in this regard Angela might consider trialling
various strategies for quickly re-establishing attention at the start of lessons;
however, given Angelas excellent preparation, her lesson plans offer a framework that
draws the class together. Angela is very good at pitching lesson just beyond
students level of comfort. She builds on students established knowledge and
supports them to achieve new learning by posing strategic questions tailored to
individual needs. When running whole group activities, Angela is adept at drawing upon

(while assessing) students collective knowledge, and utilising contributions from

class members to enhance everyones understanding. Angelas lessons are vibrant and
interesting, and carefully structured to walk students through manageable blocks of
learning while sustaining whole group engagement. Angela is careful to set students up
for success by posing questions in various ways, by providing information in written,
spoken and visual form, and by circulating the room in order to touch base with
pairs or individuals to gauge understanding. Angela utilises scaffolding techniques such
as I do-We do-You do to encourage and support participation, and provides options
for students of different levels of proficiency (i.e. from writing in French, to writing
in English and then French). Angelas spoken French is also excellent, which provides
students with exposure and modelling. Overall, Angelas lesson planning, delivery of
content, interactions with students and presence in the classroom are to be commended.
She is vibrant, organised and friendly, and holds high expectations of students. Angela
is highly organised and is fast developing an impressive suite of strategies for
managing behaviour while supporting learning. Angela will be a highly effective
educator.
School Coordinator: Final Comments (optional)
Angela made good progress during her time at REC. She grew in confidence and developed
her ability to deliver a well planned progressive lesson in a variety of different ways.
Angela was able to develop good working relationships with both staff and students and
use these to maximize both the students achievements and her own growth as a member of
the teaching profession.
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): Martine Burian

Date: 08.09.2015

Name of School coordinator: Adam Langley Date: 08.09.2015

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: 002214

Liaison: Sam Schulz Date: 14.09.2015