Background

Officer Secondary College was founded in 2015 and has grown rapidly.  Currently our population is 1020 students. The college is located in Melbourne’s South-East with convenient access via the M1 motorway and Pakenham train lines.

Vision

Officer Secondary College is a 21^st century learning community with strong, vibrant partnerships between students, teachers, families and the broader community. Its educational philosophy is centred on learning and relationships. This is underpinned by the values: Respect, Inclusion, Leadership, Excellence and Citizenship. The College motto is ‘Learning together, learning to lead, together we inspire.’ We believe that every student should have an opportunity to choose a life that has meaning, and that every child can achieve success.

At Officer Secondary College, we believe that teaching is a team endeavour. We promote a highly collaborative environment. This is visible through our team teaching, our PLC structures and a shared ownership of student learning data.

New Teacher Support

As a growing educational facility committed to excellence, Officer Secondary College has highly effective systems to support teachers that are new to the college. The bulk of all meeting time has a professional development focus and there are a number of highly subscribed optional professional development sessions to further augment teacher skills. All teachers new to the college are assigned a mentor, who supports them with induction and classroom coaching to hone their skills.

Additional information about our professional development and support for new teachers can be found in the employment section of the school website:

https://www.officersc.vic.edu.au/employment/

Teaching and Learning Excellence

Officer Secondary College is a Professional Learning Community (PLC) college and is one of only three Secondary schools across the state to be selected as PLC Link Schools. Significant meeting time is devoted to teachers working in subject teams to analyse formative assessment data, identify appropriate interventions and share effective strategies. We know that this is the most effective model to maximise both teacher and student learning.

Officer Secondary College is a team-teaching school. In the majority of our Year 7-9 classes, 50 students are co-taught by two teachers. This provides huge flexibility to support specific sub-groups of students with particular learning needs. It is also an outstanding opportunity to learn new teaching skills and be part of an effective team in improving student learning.

Officer Secondary College has a broad intervention program. In Years 7 and 8, students receive point-of-need support with their Literacy and Numeracy, in addition to regular English and Mathematics classes. In later years, in addition to Literacy and Numeracy support, students can access specific intervention modules that will support them with their VCE learning.

Learning Communities

Officer Secondary College has a “school within a school” model to ensure that every student has a core team of teachers and coordinators they can connect with, and build ongoing relationships with, over the course of their schooling. Our 6 Learning Communities were named by our first cohort of students in 2015, reflecting our focus on student voice and inclusion. These Learning Communities foster an encouraging and friendly atmosphere in which students can learn effectively, and on preventing problems before they occur. The Learning Communities extend beyond just the students, with every member of staff belonging to a Learning Community, working with Leadership, Teachers and Students to ensure that every student feels safe, known and is making learning growth.

Each Learning Community is led by a Learning Community Leader; whose primary responsibility is to support the students in their Learning Community during their time at Officer Secondary College. This support includes closely monitoring the academic and personal growth of each student in their Learning Community. Students remain in the same Learning Community throughout their time at Officer Secondary College, which allows Learning Community Leaders and Learning Community Staff to develop a close relationship with each student and understand each student individual needs. Learning Community Leaders liaise with student’s families as the need arise.

Officer Secondary College provides a supportive environment in which students are prepared to take on challenges, be that in the classroom, in sport or by taking a role in student leadership. Our supportive environment means that students can develop the leadership qualities needed to succeed in school and beyond.

Student Leadership

At Officer Secondary College there are many opportunities for active student participation in leadership. These positions include:

• Student Leadership Executive Committee – School Captains, School Vice Captains and SRC President
• Student Representative Council
• Learning Community Captains
• Learning Community Sports Captains
• PBS Leaders
• E Leaders
• Environmental Captains
• Arts Captains

These positions are awarded based upon rigorous process that includes a written application and an interview. There are a variety of responsibilities and activities that the student leadership team are involved with during the year, with a particular emphasis upon building their capacity as leaders. Student leaders complete duties during Learning Community Time as required and encourage the student body to participate in house sports and other school based activities.

These opportunities allow students to enhance their leadership skills, to experience success and meet challenges which build self-confidence and resilience. Through this process we allow our students to achieve the College motto of ‘Learning together, learning to lead, together we inspire’ and to build on the six college values.

Positive Behaviour Support

Officer Secondary College began the implementation of the School-wide Positive Behaviour Support framework since opening in 2015. Over this time SW-PBS has evolved to becoming a core part of the work of Leadership, Staff and Students at Officer Secondary College. We use SW-PBS to improve the social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people. By implementing SWPBS, teachers and students at Officer Secondary College have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

• increased respectful and positive behaviour
• increased time focused on instruction
• improved social-emotional wellbeing
• positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
• increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
• a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance

Officer Secondary College has implemented the SW-PBS eight essential features. At Officer Secondary College these are:

1. Establish a common philosophy and purpose: Staff and students use a common language to discuss behaviour. At Officer Secondary College this takes the form of the 5Bs (Expected Behaviours) and 5Rs (Ladder of Intervention).
2. Establish Leadership and school-wide support: A vibrant team at the college, consisting of Leadership, Learning Community Leaders, Classroom Teachers, Wellbeing, Integration Aides, Support Staff and Student PBS Captains, leads implementation by creating, reviewing and monitoring an action plan.  The work is done in collaboration by the whole staff with input from students and the community.
3. Clearly define a set of expected behaviours: Officer Secondary College has identified 5 behavioural expectations that apply at all times. These are our 5Bs. These clear, positively stated examples are identified and displayed in different school settings.
4. Establish procedures for teaching and practising expected behaviours: At Officer Secondary College, every week begins with Learning-to-Learn, 25 minutes dedicated to ensuring behavioural expectations are taught to all students by all staff.
5. Implement a continuum of procedures to encourage expected behaviours: Officer Secondary College uses the 5Bs to acknowledge expected behaviour and promote commitment from all members of the college community.
6. Develop a continuum of procedures to discourage inappropriate behaviour: Officer Secondary College has clearly defined problem behaviours and identify specific strategies and responses to minor and major behavioural infractions.
7. Use procedures for record-keeping, decision making and ongoing monitoring: Officer Secondary College reviews data on repeated behaviour issues, the settings in which they occur, and the consequences most likely to be applied for inappropriate behaviours. We correlate these with other sources of data such as academic progress, and analyse this data to make necessary adjustments to school operations in an effort to reduce inappropriate behaviour.
8. Support staff to use effective classroom practices: Officer Secondary College has established systems to support staff to adopt evidence-based instructional practices associated with reductions in inappropriate behaviour.

Please ensure that your application includes:

• a resume including relevant experience as well as personal details (name, address, email 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 at least two referees

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.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU INCLUDE YOUR VIT/WWCC DETAIL IN YOUR APPLICATION