Schools and sites

Lead in days are no longer mandatory. On the commencement of day one you'll need to discuss the following with the pre-service teacher:

• workplace health and safety and child protection
• your site protocols and guidelines
• site based policies, for example, behaviour management, planning, code of behaviour
• expectations with regards to dress, punctuality, teaching loads, special requirements of the site, etc
• procedures for sign in and the wearing of an easily recognisable name badge. (QUT student ID card, Blue Card, and/or a visitor's badge as supplied by your site can be displayed in a lanyard)
• procedures if ill or absent – a medical certificate is required if absent for two or more days.

You'll also need to organise the following:

• a site tour and introductions to colleagues
• a workspace
• a network username and password
• pre-service teacher's alternate and emergency contact details.

Site/school induction checklist (PDF file, 49.0 KB)

As coordinator you'll need to assist the supervising teacher with reporting. Specifically you'll need to:

• participate in evaluation of pre-service teacher progress
• ensure supervising teacher completes interim reports and discuss these with the pre-service teacher
• develop an improvement plan or Student Action Plan if required.

QUT is committed to supporting our students and schools through Permission to Teach opportunities. Contact the Professional Experience Office at peo@qut.edu.au if you have any questions about Permission to Teach.

At the beginning of the placement, you'll need to discuss the following with the pre-service teacher:

• introduce the pre-service teacher to relevant colleagues
• in conjunction with the pre-service teacher, prepare an overview of the work they'll be doing
• discuss your expectations with the pre-service teacher and find out what they hope to achieve or learn
• provide background information on the children or students that the pre-service teacher will be working with.

You may also like to read the Queensland College of Teacher's information on supervising pre-service teachers, including their evidence guide for supervision.

As an experienced teacher, you are able to share your valuable insights and guidance. You should use this opportunity to:

• demonstrate a range of particular teaching strategies and principles
• provide an opportunity for varied teaching experiences
• give guidance on planning and lesson presentation
• advise on classroom management and organisation
• plan, teach and reflect with the pre-service teacher
• encourage the pre-service teacher to plan more complex and engaging teaching and learning strategies once they are comfortable with the basics.

You should also provide regular support and feedback to the pre-service teacher.

• make time to meet with the pre-service teacher on a daily basis
• expect the pre-service teacher to show you their written work each day. Lesson plans should be presented to you 24 hours before teaching to allow time for discussion and any adjustments to be made
• provide regular written and oral feedback to the pre-service teacher identifying strengths and areas that require further development.

Your pre-service teacher should have a physical Professional Practice Folder which should be made available to you every day and to the Site Coordinator and University Partner as requested. This folder will include all lesson plans, observations, implementation notes and reflections about the placement.

Every placement requires the completion of interim and final reports. You will need to:

• complete interim and final reports in a timely manner, and pass on to the site coordinator to sign
• discuss strengths, achievements and areas for improvement with the pre-service teacher
• ensure pre-service teachers receive copies of their final report at the completion of their professional experience.

Some pre-service teachers studying Early Childhood and Primary education will have an additional field in their interim and final reports for assessing their Primary Specialisation. This Primary Specialisation will be in one of the following fields:

• literacy/english
• numeracy/mathematics
• science.

Download the guidelines for assessing Primary Specialisations  (PDF file, 347.5 KB)

If there is a problem or area of concern:

• as soon as possible, provide written feedback to the pre-service teachers, and work with them to address the area of concern
• involve the site coordinator and university partner if needed
• if necessary, instigate a Student Action Plan.

From 1 January 2022 new pay rates were introduced for Supervising Teachers. Any outstanding claims from January 1 to December 31 2021 will be paid at the 2021 rate of pay ($6.80/hour to a maximum of $34.00/day).

To claim for any Professional Experience placement, one claim form needs to be completed by each Supervising Teacher at the end of the Professional Experience.  The agreed rate, Australia-wide, for supervision of preservice teachers from 1 January 2022 is $6.94 per hour/per preservice teacher with a maximum of 5 hours per day able to be claimed.

This means the maximum amount that can be claimed per preservice teacher per day is $34.70 (5 hours). Two or more supervising teachers may share supervision hours of a preservice teacher with the hours distributed amongst the supervising teachers. If supervision is split between two or more Supervising Teachers, they each receive their allocated portion. For example, two teachers each taking 50% of a supervising load would be able to claim $6.94 per hour for a half-day each equalling $17.35 per day for that preservice teacher. Each Supervising Teacher will submit a claim form for the same student with their claim information provided with the hours they are claiming. If a Supervising Teacher is claiming for more than one preservice teacher, then only one claim form needs to be submitted including details for all preservice teachers being claimed. Please note that lead-in days are not able to be counted in the claim as these days are unpaid.

If a Professional Experience does not continue for the full number of days, Supervising Teachers can only claim the days that they supervised preservice teachers (not the entire block of time).

In the event that more than the allocated hours are claimed for a preservice teacher, the claim form will be returned without payment. It is the responsibility of the Supervising Teacher(s) and Site Coordinator to ensure accurate forms are submitted for payment. If the situation occurs where one supervising teacher has already claimed the maximum hours for a preservice teacher, it is the responsibility of the Site Coordinator and Supervising Teachers to ensure this is worked out at a school level.

In order to ensure claims are processed in a timely manner, all forms must:

• be completed in full with all questions answered
• be signed by all required parties
• be in one document in either pdf or doc. (docx.) format; (jpeg and png will not be accepted).
• ensure that a Tax Declaration Form is completed and submitted.

Failure to meet these requirements will result in a re-submission of claims, delaying payment. Payments will be made into nominated bank accounts within a month of successful lodgement of claims.

A site coordination allowance may be claimed by the host site coordinator for managing two or more QUT pre-service teachers or managing two or more supervising teachers. As per the Industrial Agreement, the claimable amount is $1.47 per student/per day.

A claim for payment may be made by the site coordinator for formally meeting with two or more QUT pre-service teachers at the site.  Topics for group talks might include site policies on behavior management, curriculum, legal issues, etc.  As per the Industrial Agreement, the claimable amount is $12.28 per one hour talk.  Group talk hours do not need to be deducted from a supervising teacher supervision hours.

Once your claim has been processed by QUT Payroll, you will receive notification via email to the address listed on your claim form. We strongly encourage you to list your school/site email address on the form. Payments will usually be made within 30 days of the claim, and only made after the Professional Experience period has concluded.