Teacher Special Education ACIP - Putland School

Position Information

Putland Education and Training Unit (ETU) is located within Cobham Youth Justice Centre (YJC). Putland ETU provides educational services only to the young people incarcerated within the facility. The primary function of the centre is the detention of young men between the ages of 15 to 21 years who have been remanded in custody following their arrest and prior to sentencing. The nature of detainees' offences varies, as does the time taken for their court matters to be finalised. Putland ETU provides targeted education programs to the young male detainees who are housed in the centre. These young men present with significant challenging behaviours and have been assessed as posing increased safety risks to themselves and others. Protocols and procedures are in place with our partner agency, to ensure the safety of all staff and students. We work closely with staff from our partner agency, to assist our young people to learn life skills and gaining new knowledge and perspectives to best prepare them to be successfully integrated back into society. Putland ETU provides 102 student places at any one time. Putland ETU provides 102 student places at any one time.

Most detainees have been charged with serious violent offences and population turnover is extremely high with an average stay of approximately three weeks. The majority of students have had exposure to some form of trauma or violence, including physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse and dysfunctional family environments with 67% of students reporting exposure to significant traumatic and violent experiences. Students have a history of non-attendance at school and therefore have significant gaps in their learning with 64% of students having no active school enrolment in the community. Students are from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds that include a 37% Aboriginal and 43% Pacific Islander population. 41% of students speak a language or dialect other than English (EAL/D) or have a language background other than English (LBOTE).

A customised curriculum framework has been designed to promote innovation, flexibility and relevance to our students' needs. This framework includes opportunities to engage in the key learning areas (KLAs) of English, mathematics, personal development, health and physical education, Aboriginal studies, information and communication technologies, work education, history, geography, science, visual arts, music, design and technology, food technology, photographic & digital media and dance. Due to contextual constraints all teaching and learning programs are aligned to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) outcomes with students also having the pathway option to engage with distance education, University and/or TAFE/sVET/eVET. General curriculum is aligned to Life Skills as the majority of students are enrolled at SSP placements and allows our general curriculum to encompass a variety of subject areas and pathway options. Our staff comprise a mix of primary and high school trained teachers to be able to support each student's chosen educational pathway and learning needs.

Putland ETU works on an extended school year agreement and a site tour is highly recommended prior. Please get in touch with the panel convener to book one in.

Selection Criteria

1. Approval to teach special education and/ or experience teaching students with diverse learning needs that will allow you to perform duties to support the teaching and learning needs of students with diverse backgrounds, emotional disturbance, behaviour difficulties, and complex challenging behaviours.
2. Demonstrated effective classroom management skills and an understanding of and capacity to manage the needs of students with challenging behaviours in a safe and secure custodial environment.
3. Strong communication and interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to build positive relationships with students, staff, in-class SLSO, and the wider community, and to contribute effectively to a collaborative and supportive whole school culture.
4. Understanding and knowledge of the Department of Education’s Aboriginal Education policy to ensure quality outcomes for Aboriginal people.

Conditions

An unconditional full approval to teach is a requirement. If you do not hold a full approval to teach with the NSW Department of Education, you are required to commence the application process at the same time as you apply for this teaching opportunity.

Special Notes

This is an above centrally identified permanent position established through school funds. The successful candidate’s continued appointment to this position will be subject to the continuity of funding, the ongoing requirement of the position and the educational needs of the school.
Should the funding or the requirement for the position cease, the teacher will receive nominated transfer status; please refer to the Staffing Procedure for the Teaching Service in NSW Public Schools for additional information.
When accepting the position, the successful applicant will be indicating their acceptance of the terms and conditions attached to this appointment.

Applicants are to include details of their WWCC clearance number as part of this application.

About the NSW Department of Education

The Department of Education is the largest provider of public education in Australia with responsibility for delivering high-quality public education to two-thirds of the NSW student population. We welcome applications from all ages and genders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans, refugees and people with disability. If we can make some adjustments to our recruitment/interview process to better enable you to shine, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion Team (dandi@det.nsw.edu.au) or visit NSW Department of Education Diversity and Inclusion

New merit selection application guidelines for classroom teachers, executives and principals have been introduced to provide greater clarity to applicants and selection panels. The guidelines are located here. To ensure that your application complies with the guideline page limits, your attachments must be in PDF format.