Are you a teacher who believes in person-centred learning and sees young people through a lens of strengths and possibility, rather than challenge?

Help us create a different experience of education where young people can reconnect with learning and thrive.

EduSpace is RAYS’ Special Assistance School for young people in Years 7 to 10 who have experienced significant barriers to education and need a smaller, more flexible and relational approach. Our students bring diverse experiences of trauma, poverty, homelessness, disability, complex family circumstances, statutory systems and social exclusion.

We take a strengths-based approach, meeting young people where they are rather than requiring them to be ready before they arrive. We work alongside them and their families to build on their strengths and create the safety and connection that can make learning possible.

About the role:

This isn’t a conventional teaching role. As a teacher at EduSpace, you’ll help broaden each young person’s sense of what may be possible for them.

You’ll plan and deliver responsive, project-based and differentiated learning experiences that are shaped around each student’s strengths, interests and needs, with their safety, dignity, agency and sense of belonging prioritised.

Relationships are central to how we work. You’ll take time to build trust while maintaining clear boundaries and honest communication. You’ll keep learning goals in sight while recognising that trust and belonging often need to come first, and that progress may begin with small but meaningful changes, such as a young person participating, taking an interest, expressing an idea, recognising their strengths or choosing to return.

You’ll collaborate with young people, families and a broader multidisciplinary team that includes youth workers, social workers and other practitioners. This work recognises that learning can be personal, social, cultural and academic, and is closely connected to what is happening across a young person’s broader life.

Our adaptable, relational and responsive approach continues to evolve through what we learn alongside our students. You’ll bring ideas, create useful structures and find practical ways to translate this approach into meaningful learning, working with us to keep each young person at the centre.

Your responsibilities will include:

- Planning and delivering the Australian Curriculum through flexible, project-based and differentiated learning as part of a multidisciplinary team.

- Developing individual learning plans with students, ensuring their voice meaningfully informs decisions about their education.

- Creating learning experiences that connect with students’ strengths, interests, lives and goals.

- Finding creative and practical ways to engage students when conventional teaching approaches haven’t worked for them.

- Building respectful relationships with students and their families.

- Working with the multi-disciplinary team to coordinate learning and student support.

- Supporting behaviour through relationships, shared problem-solving, clear boundaries and a curiosity about what may be happening beneath the behaviour.

- Monitoring and documenting student learning, participation and engagement through timely, accurate and useful records.

- Meeting curriculum, safeguarding and professional requirements.

- Contributing to EduSpace’s culture and continued practice development.

About you:

- You’re reflective and open-minded,



willing to look inward and question how your own experiences, emotions, assumptions and patterns shape the way you relate to others. You examine your practice, learn from feedback and see personal growth as part of doing this work well.

- You relate well to young people, including those who may distrust adults, avoid learning, reject authority or express distress through behaviour that challenges conventional classroom expectations.

- You’re genuine, warm, creative and fun, and you understand that relationships aren’t separate from learning or behaviour support. They’re often what makes both possible.

- You bring unconditional positive regard, including when a young person is distressed, disengaged or difficult to reach.

- You have insight into how trauma, poverty, homelessness, disability, family circumstances, statutory systems and social exclusion can shape behaviour and engagement, without reducing young people or families to those experiences.

- You understand that adults hold power and have a responsibility to use it carefully. You stay calm, curious and connected, share power appropriately and allow each young person’s perspective to influence what happens next.

- You’re comfortable working in an evolving environment where plans change, progress isn’t linear and behaviour isn’t always convenient. You can plan thoughtfully without becoming overly attached to the plan. You bring enough structure to make learning purposeful, but don’t depend on prescribed lessons, highly organised schedules or predictable classroom conditions to feel capable. When priorities shift, a student disengages or something more pressing emerges, you can reorient without treating the day as a failure.

- You’re creative, playful and resourceful. You enjoy finding unexpected ways into learning, making things and bringing ideas to life. You take initiative, work with what is available and remain curious when something isn’t working.

- You respect the knowledge held by students, families and other practitioners, and are interested in perspectives outside education that challenge your understanding or approach.

- You also understand that good work needs to be visible. You value timely, accurate records, reflection and evidence because they support consistent care, help us learn and allow us to demonstrate the difference the work is making.

- Most importantly, you believe all young people are valuable members of the community. You see relationships, belonging and student voice as essential conditions for learning, not rewards young people must earn through compliance.

Skills and experience:

- Current Queensland College of Teachers registration OR eligibility to obtain registration OR eligibility for Permission to Teach

- The ability to plan and deliver differentiated learning aligned with the Australian Curriculum.

- Demonstrated skill engaging young people who may not respond to traditional classroom approaches.

- An understanding of trauma, poverty, social exclusion and the wider conditions that shape participation in education.





- The ability to work respectfully and in culturally safe ways alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues, young people, families and communities.

- Sound judgement about risk, safety, consent, confidentiality, professional boundaries and when additional support is needed.

- Experience working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, or a genuine readiness to do so.

- A clear commitment to child-safe practice, including listening to young people, respecting their rights and boundaries, and recognising and responding to concerns.

Your teaching background may look different. If the purpose of the role speaks to you but you’re unsure whether your qualification or registration pathway fits, we still encourage you to get in touch. We care about professional eligibility, but we also recognise that the right person for our students may have taken a less conventional path into teaching.

We welcome interest from:

- Primary, special education or early childhood teachers who are interested in working differently with older students.

- Teachers who have stepped away from education and are considering returning.

- Retired teachers who still have something meaningful to contribute.

- Graduate or early-career teachers looking for a strongly relational and collaborative environment.

- People completing their teaching qualification who may be eligible for Permission to Teach.

- Educators from alternative, flexible, special assistance or community-based learning settings.

Appointment is subject to RAYS’ child-safe recruitment and screening requirements, including relevant reference and background checks.
You will also need:

- A current Queensland driver licence.

- A current Blue Card, or the ability to obtain one before commencing.

- Current First Aid and CPR certification, or willingness to obtain these.

RAYS welcomes applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, neurodivergent people, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ people and people with relevant lived experience. We can make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

RAYS is committed to creating environments where children and young people are safe, respected, listened to and able to participate in decisions that affect them. Everyone who works with us shares responsibility for upholding children’s rights, safety and wellbeing and is expected to actively contribute to our child-safe culture.

What we offer:

- A competitive salary negotiated according to experience, plus superannuation.

- Salary packaging of up to $15,900 each year.

- Flexibility and professional autonomy to respond to what works for each student.

- A connected multi-disciplinary team where responsibility is shared and different perspectives are valued.

- Regular reflective practice and professional learning.

- A supportive, values-driven culture committed to your personal and professional growth.

- Flexible working arrangements, including the possibility of a four-day working week.

The position is based at the Redcliffe Area Youth Space.

How to apply

Email *******@redcliffeyouthspace.org to request the position description and school overview for review.

Applications must include a resume and cover letter that outlines reasons for applying and what you will bring to the role.

Email applications to *******@redcliffeyouthspace.org

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED VIA THIRD PARTIES (RECRUITMENT AGENCIES ETC.) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

Applications close 9am Wednesday 7th October 2026

📌 Teacher (Redcliffe)
🏢 Redcliffe Youth Space
📍 Redcliffe