Location Profile

Forrest Primary School & Early Years Centre is a unique educational centre, situated in the Otway Ranges. The school is set in a picturesque rural setting within the Forrest Township and is part of the Forrest Primary School and Early Years Centre. The Primary school and funded pre-school program provide quality early education, care services for the children of Forrest, and neighbouring districts; aged from 3 - 12 years.

Enrolments continue to increase with a current enrolment of 25 students. The school has 1 Principal, 3 Teachers and 6 Education Support Staff. The Kindergarten has 1 Early Childhood Teacher and 1 Early Childhood Educator.

The school and EYC is committed to continuous improvement and achieving excellence in teaching and learning at every level. We provide excellent learning programs in all curriculum areas with a focus on Literacy and Numeracy. Programs are designed to cater for individual learning styles and abilities and include a variety of student support and extension programs.

The school and EYC offer a range of activities that complement the formal classroom environment including; health and wellbeing, science, arts/literacy programs, community garden, outdoor education, a Bush Kinder program, Sporting Schools program and a range of projects with local community partners, including Forrest Neighbourhood House and Colac Otway Shire. Our staff is dedicated to world¿s best practice and diligently strives to ensure all children are progressing to the best of their ability.

The Forrest Primary School and Early Years Centre is a true learning community, providing support services for the families of Forrest and surrounds. There is a very strong partnership between parents and staff with a high level of parent participation. The school and EYC prides itself on providing a safe, friendly and stimulating learning environment for all of its students and their families.

The Early Years Centre has been accredited with an ACECQA Excellence rating and currently holds a MEETING rating. It is comprised of two learning environments: a 3-year-old kinder room and a 4-year-old kinder room. A qualified ELC teacher implements a high quality education program for every 3- and 4-year-old child, based on the National Early Years Learning Framework and the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework.

Selection Criteria

SC1 Demonstrated high-quality pedagogical approaches, linked with an excellent understanding of children's learning and development from birth to school age.

SC2 Excellent understanding of the National Quality Framework and Standards, relevant legislation, Early Years Learning Framework and the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework and transition to school.

SC3 Experience in implementing the planning cycle, analysing and evaluating an inclusive, child-centred program which supports young children's learning and development.

SC4 Demonstrated ability to lead staff in the delivery of high-quality early childhood programs for a specific cohort of children.

SC5 Demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with children, parents, colleagues and the broader community to suuport the learning development agency, wellbeing and safety of children.

SC6 Demonstrated understanding of trauma informed practice and the capacity to cater for students with a wide range of trauma backgrounds and educational needs.

Role

This position will require you to work as a degree qualified educator across the 3 year old and 4 year old kindergarten programs and will involve implementing and evaluating an appropriate educational program.

As an Early Childhood Teacher you will demonstrate the following specialist knowledge,



qualities and skills:

- Commitment to ensuring that the vision and mission statements are enacted.
- High level problem solving abilities, capacity to set priorities, establish realistic goals and support other educators to do the same.
- Excellent skills in communicating with children, families, staff, professionals and community members.
- Cultural competence.
- Ability to reflect, critically evaluate and assess the effectiveness of work practices as an ongoing learner.
- Capacity to improve professional practice by seeking meaningful learning opportunities for yourself and other educators based on current theory.
- Ability to implement innovative and inclusive ways of acknowledging diversity within the community to improve service delivery.
- Ability to work as part of a team.

Responsibilities The responsibilities of this position will be:

Children

- Develop, in consultation with parents and educators, an educational program that is appropraite to the individual developmental needs and interests of children.
- Develop, recod and maintain documentation as specified in the NQF for individual children based on regular observations across all aspects of the child's development and share this infomation with parents as appropriate.
- Provide a healthy, safe and welcoming environment and ensure that children are supervised at all times.
- Work collaboratively with other members of the early childhood team.

Parents
- Provide regular infomation to parents about the program.

Educators
- Attend team meetings.
- Work as a member of a cooperative team and encourage educators who are involved in the program to contribute to the planning and implementation of the program.
- Participate in the annual staff review/perfomance review process
- Keep abreast of current issues relating to children's services and liaise with relevant early childhood services and other professional services and organisations within the community.
- Comply with the professional development requirements in any industrial award or agreement.
- Recommend and participate in professional development of educators in consultation with the leadership team, including the orientation and formal appraisal of educators for whom the position is responsible.
- Adhere to all service OHS safety procedures.

Who May Apply A relevant tertiary Degree qualification in Early Childhood is mandated for this position.

Experience in working with children 36 months - 5 years of age is required for this position.

Diversity and Inclusion The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA , disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department.

The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD)



via *@education.vic.gov.au

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

Child Safe Standards

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy DE Values The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

Other Information

Please ensure that your application includes:

- A resume including relevant experience as well as personal details (name,address and contact numbers, business and home)
- A section addressing the selection criteria and the requirements for application under the Who May Apply section.
- Names and contact numbers (telephone and email if possible) of two referees who are able to attest to the claims made in your application.

Please note that the selection panel may seek additional referees beyond those you name. Consistent with policy, we shall advise you if we will take this action.

Conditions of Employment

- All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
- Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
- A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
- Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

Program Advantages

No available Qualification Requirements To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class:

- The person must have provisional or full registration approved by the Victorian Institute of Teaching; and
- if the person completed an Australian postgraduate level initial teaching program or course of study on or after 1 January 2024, they must demonstrate that they have satisfactorily completed a postgraduate level accredited initial teacher education program that has been accredited by an Australian State or Territory Teacher Regulatory Authority as satisfying the requirements of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 'Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures'; and
- a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program after 1 July 2016 must also demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements (this condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian ITE program completed by the person).

Details of qualification requirements as updated from time to time can be found at Recruitment in Schools.

📌 Early Childhood Teacher (Forrest)
🏢 Department of Education Victoria
📍 Forrest