Last Tuesday, March 12, the St Philip’s Teaching School held its first Teaching School Experience Day of 2024. The Teaching School has been hosting Experience Days in some form or another since it launched in 2018. As the first Teaching School (Hub/Alliance) to start in the country, many education leaders from school, tertiary, and government, have been interested to see what we do, learn about the model, and to consider its relevance for other schools and tertiary institutions.
This year, the St Philip’s Teaching School enters its seventh year. We have 21 schools in our Teaching School: the seven SPCC Schools, and fourteen schools from across the Hunter, South Coast and Central NSW, Canberra, and now one in Western Australia. We also partner with other schools and Teaching Schools to provide resources and support.
The whole Teaching School Village is involved in an Experience Day. Participants first hear from our principal, Samantha, who articulates the vision of the teaching school and why this model is a uniquely better way to train teachers.
After hearing from Samantha, participants had the opportunity to see a Teaching School in operation at SPCC Newcastle. This involved observing and speaking with Mentor and Trainee in the classroom.
Heading back to the Central Office, participants get to hear from other members of the Teaching School Team, including Paul Ivey, Lead Specialist – Curriculum and Coaching – who spoke about the theory and resources behind mentoring and coaching and the way the Teaching School program supports the members of the village.
One of those supporting resources is the Mosaic platform. This software is designed to support trainees and mentors in enabling individualised and student-centred learning towards the goal of the graduate standards through the mentoring relationship and beyond. Uniquely, we had two of the three founders of the platform present from the UK, here to do strategic planning to enhance the platform for the Australian context. Paul quickly recruited them to be part of the Mosaic demonstration, where our participants got to hear first-hand and ask them questions.
Participants finish the day with a panel interview and the opportunity to ask questions of other village members, including current students, graduates, teaching school coordinators, mentors, and Teaching School staff.
The Teaching School Experience Day is an immersive experience that enables participants to see and feel the tangible and intangible qualities of our Teaching School. It is an honour to connect with experienced educational leaders from across the country, to hear their stories, and to (hopefully) inspire them to explore this model in their context. We praise God for the fruit of these days and the long-term vision and impact of transformative Christian Initial Teacher Education.
