Student teachers will be put through their paces at schools in Point Cook and Seabrook as part of a plan to improve training for future educators.
The $1.6 million plan announced by Teaching Profession Minister Peter Hall will create 12 professional academies across Victoria.
The first academy will be based at Point Cook Senior Secondary College.
Carranballac P-9, Point Cook P-9 and Seabrook Primary School will be partners in the academy, along with Victoria University.
Mr Hall says the academies will provide pre-service teachers with 12 months of
on-the-job-training.
“There’s only so much you can learn from a text book and in a lecture theatre,” he said.
“The best way of learning to be an excellent teacher is by working with and watching the best teachers in a real school environment.”
Point Cook Senior Secondary College principal Greg Sperling says the school is already providing student teachers with 12 months’ work experience through a partnership with VU.
The academy will allow this program to be expanded, giving student teachers a chance to train at Point Cook P-9, Carranballac and Seabrook.
Physical education teacher Danielle Murray began as a pre-service teacher at Point Cook Senior Secondary in 2009.
In her fifth year of teaching at the school, she’s a mentor to other student teachers.
Ms Murray says the program makes the process of being a pre-service teacher “less daunting”.
“Point Cook Senior and VU gave me the opportunity to apply teaching practices in the classroom on a more regular basis,” she said.
“The importance of the program as a pre-service teacher, for me, was not only building relationships with my mentor but also with the staff and, most importantly, the students.”
LAURA LITTLE
