Innovative program for teachers launched at UNSW partner school

A new initiative aimed at boosting the quality of learning and teaching in government schools has been officially launched at a UNSW partner school.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli formally launched the Department of Education’s Professional Experience Partnership with UNSW School of Education last week at one of its two hub schools, Beverly Hills Girls’ High School (BHGHS).

The Partnership has been funded to link teachers and teacher education students in a diverse range of 150 plus metropolitan and rural partner secondary schools.

It will provide better support for professional experience and ongoing opportunities for professional learning and applied research into innovative practices in supervision and mentoring.

BHGHS has been selected as UNSW’s first Hub School, building on a long and successful relationship between the two institutions.

Each year approximately 100 UNSW students will be placed at the school, which will be a dynamic research site for the development and dissemination of materials through an innovative online web platform.

Professor Chris Davison, Head of the School of Education, welcomed the launch.

“This initiative will take partnerships with Department of Education schools to a whole new level in terms of quality and sustainability,” said Professor Davison.

A specific focus for 2016 will be on capacity-building for school staff and teaching students in the area of literacy, using assessment information to identify under-achieving school students and target them for mentoring.

Minister Piccoli said the new partnership would result in higher benchmarks and more consistent quality teaching experiences for both schools and universities in NSW.