School of Education Professional Practice 3

SELF REFLECTION FORM

Student Teacher Details
Student Teacher Name: Student Teacher ID:
Benedict Stone 17436508
Student Teacher Phone Number: Student Teacher Email Address:
0414226499 17436508@student.westernsydney.edu.au

Placement Details: If you haven’t complete 60 hours face to face you must provide a detailed statement
of how your experience meets the outcomes for Professional Experience 3. Attach evidence.

Placement Name: Placement Phone Number:

SLSO Arthur Phillip High School 02 9635 8638
Placement Address: Placement Email Address:
Macquarie Street, Parramatta Wendy.minnis@det.nsw.edu.au
Contact Person:
Wendy Minnis

Describe in 500 WORDS any features and benefits of the setting you attended. Consider number of students, location
details, age of students, types of educational programs offered and any other salient aspects of the experience.
Consider how this experience will contribute to your development as a beginning teacher.

Standards
The criteria for pre-service teacher reflection focus.
 Demonstrating knowledge of teaching strategies (1.3.1)
 Organising content (2.2.1)
 Setting learning goals (3.1.1)
 Seeking and applying constructive feedback (6.3.1)

Subsidiary questions:
What surprised you about your learning in your community setting?
What research about communities did you engage with before you commenced?
What goals did you set for yourself in your service learning activities?
In what ways were you communicating with your community participants?
What do you believe the participants in your service learning project learned?
What did you learn? How will the experience shape you as a teacher in a classroom?

Due Dates are notified in the Learning Guide for each semester. The Self Reflection is to be
uploaded on InPlace along with Timesheet and signed Report.
Submissions after the due date will receive an N grade. At the following HECS census date, if the work is
still incomplete, this will become an AF grade. This is University policy. The AF grade can be changed
when you complete the work. You must also keep a hard or electronic copy of your assignment.

Submit this form online. Your PP3 Report written by the Contract Person, is mailed by them and
uploaded by you on InPlace.
Through my professional experience as an SLSO, I had the opportunity to work with students with
diverse backgrounds and learning needs. Through this opportunity, I was surprised by the lengths of
differentiation that are required to effectively serve the learning needs of learners, and by the extent
to which this differentiation was embedded in all aspects of the learning that occurred in the school.
The nature of my practicum meant that I was working one-on-one with these students, which
allowed for me to experience first-hand the differences that students needed in their teaching to be
able to understand the learning.

I was surprised by the extent of how the learning support department in a school relies on the
engagement of parents and local organisations in order to be able to best serve students. It is
through these organisations, and through consultation with parents, that holistic approaches could
be maintained. This highlighted the efficacy of working with parents and communities for the
betterment of education for students, allowing for them to receive help that best served their
learning needs.

Prior to the commencement of my placement, I researched the demographics of the school. Coupled
with this, I also researched the fact that there is a strong department in the school that supports
students with intellectual disabilities, EALD, and Refugee students. A lot of the students in the school
have targeted support, meaning that it was a worthwhile experience to be able to be one member of
a team that was administrating this support across curriculum areas.

Throughout my practicum, the learning goals that I had set for myself were to provide a learning that
revolved around the development of relationships with students, which in turn would allow for me to
be able to best assist students in their learning journey. I also made it a goal to ensure that I learned
as much as possible about the students that I was working with, so that prior to supporting these
students and assisting them, I was aware of the means of best assisting these students. I achieved
this through relying on collegial support, and working with other staff to find out what the students
particular needs were.

Through the targeted support that I provided in the classroom, and one-on-one support, I believe
that students became able to better cope with the demands in the classroom. I believe that the
classroom support that I provided meant that these students were able to engage and participate in
the learning of the lessons effectively, and through the one-on-one support, these students were
able to catch-up on class work and be able to have scaffolded support for assessments. I worked with
senior students to provide a tutoring experience assisting them in preparation for yearly
examinations. It is through these sessions that I believe that students became better equipped to be
able to maintain an effective study and revision timetable.

I communicated with community participants through the fact a lot of the support that I provided
was reliant on the information that the department attained through the cooperation and work that
revolved around contact with parents and the wider school community.

Throughout this practicum, I learned that it is important to be aware of the specific learning needs of
students as this is vital towards the inclusion of these students in the classroom environment so that
they can succeed. This experience will shape me as a teacher as it has exposed me to a variety of
teaching practices, and support mechanisms for students, which I will be able to implement in future
practice. This experience has also made me cognizant of the requirements for differentiation, as
without it, students are not able to achieve the learning outcomes necessary in the classroom.