Professional Experience Guidelines

All students must read and agree to the following conditions of placement when applying for placement. Students identify they have read and agree to these conditions in the Safety in Practice Agreement form.

• Students must regularly check their UTAS email account for correspondence and should not forward the University email to another personal email account, the University will accept no responsibility for lost emails from forwarding. All University correspondence is done via UTAS email accounts.
• Students must adhere to all Professional Experience Guidelines when applying for and undertaking placement, failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in withdrawal from placement which may result in an unsuccessful completion of the placement for the unit.
• Prior to the Professional Experience Office arranging a placement, it is a student's responsibility to ensure they have obtained the relevant compliance requirements as listed on the Tasmanian and Interstate webpages.
• Under no circumstances are students from any course to approach a school site or individual teacher to secure a placement. Failure to adhere to this requirement may render the student ineligible for placement for that calendar year.
  • Interstate students are to refer to interstate specific information sent in your welcome email and the alternative placement dates calendar where applicable.
• Students must disclose any conflict of interest when applying for placement – please see the Professional Experience Guidelines for more information.
• Students are required to be aware of when placements are scheduled and must make the necessary arrangements to ensure they are available to undertake placement during the designated times. Consideration must also be given to the additional out of hours' time required for preparation and planning whilst on placement.
• Students who do not apply for, or decline to accept their allocated Professional Experience placement, without an approved variation form being submitted to the Coordinator, Professional Experience will be awarded an AN result for the placement and will be required to re-enrol in the unit the following year.
• The Professional Experience Office will endeavour to place students in a range of educational settings; however, no guarantees can be provided in relation to requests for specific educational sites by the student.
• Students should expect to be allocated to an available placement, this may require travel and all students must be prepared to travel to their allocated placement and prepared for any costs associated with this travel. As a guide travel distance/time would not normally exceed 45 minutes/60 km.
• Students need to give thoughtful consideration to placement preference information, which is provided via InPlace. If a student is unable to proceed with the allocated placement they may be required to withdraw as sourcing an alternative placement cannot be guaranteed.
• Students requesting a rural/remote placement or a placement away from a home-based location will be expected to meet all expenses associated with travel and accommodation. Students undertaking their final placement in Tasmania may be eligible to apply for funding under the Tasmanian Department for Education, Children and Young People's Professional Experience in Isolated and Rural Schools (PEIRS) program, which may assist in the cost of travel and accommodation. Students can email Professional.Experience@educ.utas.edu.au to express interest or for more information about the PEIRS program.
• It the responsibility of students who are on Learning Access Plans (LAP) to disclose this in Section 2 Medical and Functional Declaration of the Safety in Practice Agreement. A Safe to Practice Health Assessment must also be submitted.
• The Professional Experience Office will inform students via their UTAS email address when placement information can be viewed on InPlace. The majority of students can expect to be contacted by the Professional Experience Office no later than 1 week prior to the commencement of their placement.
• The Professional Experience Office will endeavour to have all students placed for the scheduled placement period. However, on occasion, it may be necessary for placements to be arranged outside of the formally scheduled round for that PE placement. The Professional Experience Office will advise those students should this occur.

All students must ensure that they apply for and receive the required clearance/s to attend their Professional Experience placement. Failure to do so will mean that the Professional Experience Office will not arrange a Professional Experience placement, which may result in a delay to the student's study pathway and graduation timeline. More information related to compliance can be found on the Tasmanian Students or Interstate Students specific pages.

All School of Education Professional Experience Placements are managed in the placement management system: 'InPlace'.

Students are required to indicate their regional preferences for educational sites for their Professional Experience placements via InPlace.

The Professional Experience Office uses this information to match students with available placement settings, which are sourced through an Expression of Interest to education sites.

The Professional Experience Office uses this information to match students with available placements. The allocation process includes, but is not limited to, consideration of:

• conflict of interest,
• transport requirements,
• region preferences,
• diversity of placement,
• specialisations (secondary only)
• placement history
• and placement availability.

The School of Education recognises that a conflict of interest may arise from a number of situations, including family connections/relationships or paid employment. In order to ensure a quality placement experience and a valid final assessment, students must identify, manage, and where possible, avoid undertaking placement in settings where such "conflict of interest" may arise.

Examples of conflict of interest include, but are not limited to:

• current or past employment at a site
• a previous placement site
• a child attending a site
• a family member/relative (including partner) working at a site

It is important that all potential conflicts of interest are disclosed to the Professional Experience Office via InPlace. Failure to declare a conflict of interest may result in an automatic withdrawal of the placement and a failure of the unit.

Students in any doubt regarding the suitability of their placements regarding any real or potential conflict of interest are encouraged to seek advice from the Professional Experience Office.

If at any time a student is engaged in Limited Authority to Teach or other paid employment at a potential placement setting, after identified InPlace deadlines, they are required to notify the Professional Experience Office

Employment at a placement site

It is not uncommon for students to gain employment at educational sites where they have previously undertaken a placement. However, if a student is currently or has previously been employed at a school, such as in the role of a Teacher Aide or as a Teacher on a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT), we cannot approve arrangements for the student to undertake a placement at that same site. Exceptions to this guideline may apply when:

1. The student is part of the Department for Education, Children and Young People’s Teacher Internship Placement Program (TIPP), in which combining employment and placement is integral to design of the program, is already approved by the Teachers Registration Board, and in which clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and supports are in place; or
2. The isolated and remote location of the student limits their opportunities to undertake a placement to where they have been or currently are employed; or
3. The assessment of the Professional Experience placement is led by staff at the University, such as in the Grad Cert (ECE) (See below).

Graduate Certificate of Education (Early Childhood) Students

Students may complete placements in their own school/centre under the following conditions:

• The student holds teaching registration
• The Centre Director or School Principal at the placement site is not a relative
• The student is not being supervised by a family member/relative
• The student is not teaching their own children's class/room

2023 Semester 2 final placements regarding LATs

As per the information identified in Placement and LATs - 2023 Semester 2 only a student undergoing a final placement will be able to undertake their placement at the school they have a contract (LAT) at for their placement dates, as long as both parties have had their application approved.

School form PDF 136.1 KB to be submitted to professional.experience@educ.utas.edu.au by 30 June 2023.

Student form PDF 129.0 KB to be submitted to professional.experience@educ.utas.edu.au by 30 June 2023.

All students must be aware of the scheduled Professional Experience dates and be prepared to undertake a placement during the scheduled time. Professional Experience is undertaken on a full-time basis, and the dates of Professional Experience may only be changed in exceptional, unplanned circumstances.

To apply for a date variation, the student must complete a formal Variation Request and provide as much information as possible. Including all relevant supporting documentation (e.g., medical documentation).

Variation requests are considered on a case-by-case basis by the Coordinator, Professional Experience, in accordance with the Professional Experience Guidelines. If the variation request does not clearly fall within the Professional Experience Guidelines, the request will be considered in consultation with the Coordinator, Professional Experience and the Director of Initial Teacher Education,

By way of example, variations may be approved for: illness, accident, holidays booked prior to the Professional Experience Calendar being finalised, unplanned significant event such as bereavement or palliative care for a family member.

Requests for variations based on work commitments, childcare, failure or non-completion of pre- or co-requisite units, being required to repeat the professional experience due to failure or withdrawal, holidays booked after the release of the Professional Experience Calendar will not be considered.

Upon consideration of the variation request and supporting documentation the student will be notified in writing by the Coordinator, Professional Experience as soon as practicable. If the variation is denied, arrangements will need to be made to undertake the placement at the scheduled time or withdraw from the unit and re-enrol when the placement is next offered.

Students may choose to appeal the decision, which needs to be submitted in writing to the PE Office, with additional supporting documentation and information to support the request. The appeal will be considered in consultation with the Academic Director, Professional Experience.

Students may request to complete their placement overseas, however there are some guidelines that must be followed. For more information, please email the Coordinator, Professional Experience.

The majority of the professional experience days must be completed in Australia and usually only one placement during the course of your degree may be considered internationally. Final placements must be undertaken within Australia.

International Placement Procedure

Email the Coordinator, Professional Experience to express your interest in undertaking a placement outside Australia and to obtain approval. Once approval is obtained, it is the student’s responsibility to source an acceptable international school in which to complete their placement.

International Placements can take up to 8 weeks for approval, students must be mindful of this when considering an International Placement and ensure the communication occurs early.

Once you have a school in mind, and have obtained a tentative approval from the school that they can accommodate you, the details should be emailed through to the Professional Experience Office, including the dates of placement (a variation of the scheduled dates may be necessary to align with school terms), and the contact details of the school’s professional experience coordinator and supervising teacher.

Ideally, placement should be undertaken in a Group 1 Country: Republic of Ireland, Canada (tertiary studies must have been completed in English), United Kingdom, New Zealand, and United States of America. For Group 2 Country (any country not appearing on the above list) the TRB will require more information in order to assess the suitability of the placement.

In order to be eligible to supervise your placement the supervising teacher must:

• must be eligible for registration with the Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania (TRB)
• must hold a 4 year undergraduate degree which included a practicum placement of at least 80 days in a school environment, or a 3 year undergraduate degree and a 2 year post graduate teaching qualification with a practicum placement of at least 60 days in a school environment
• must demonstrate proficiency in English – an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic assessment with an average band score of 7.5 across all four skill areas of listening, speaking, reading writing - where no score is below 7 in any of the four skill areas and 8 in speaking and listening
• must agree to documentation being sent and evaluated by the TRB (this includes their C.V and transcripts)
• must be teaching a 'normal' school curriculum – not TESOL
• must teach the class in the English language

Placements will not be confirmed until all conditions and requirements can be met and the Coordinator, Professional Experience has received approval from the TRB that the placement is suitable. Once all requirements have been approved you will be notified via email to confirm the arrangements.

Students must attend placements on a full-time basis for the total number of days of each placement, regardless of prior experience, work and family commitments or unforeseen circumstances. Students must adhere to work hours in relation to the arrival and departure times set for full time staff at the placement site. Students must be punctual at all times and must not leave the site early or arrive late. It is expected that students attend staff meetings and other professional learning as required by the placement site.

• Participation in activities that require attendance beyond the usual times of the school day, such as for camps, is to be viewed as a regular school day. This cannot be broken down to cover make-up days.
• Full time attendance (5 days per week/approximately 7.5 hours per day) on placement is mandatory, students who are studying the course on a part-time basis are still required to attend placement full time.
• BEd(AL) and Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education may undertake a part-time placement as per the course specific guidelines.

Please note: Graduate Certificate of Education (Early Childhood) candidates may submit a request to the Professional Experience Office to complete their placement on a part-time basis, at a minimum 3 consecutive days per week. The full number of placement days must be completed.

Students must attend for 100% of the required days over the course of their degree, with all missed days due to public holiday, illness or unforeseen circumstances required to be made up immediately prior to or after the placement block. Professional Learning (PL) days undertaken by the student at the placement site may be counted towards the professional experience placement if the site is willing to agree to this.

For ALL absences the student must contact the school/supervising teacher before the teaching day commences, preferably the afternoon before (where possible).

Any absences must be documented on a Leave of Absence / Negotiated Days form. Any absences of more than two days must be accompanied by a medical certificate. If absence from placement is 2 weeks or longer, or resulted from a medical condition/injury, the student may be required to provide additional documentation prior to the placement being approved to recommence.  The student may require additional days for re-introduction to the site to be added to the number of placement days. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis. For more information, please contact the Professional Experience Office.

It is a student's responsibility to ensure they have completed the correct number of days prior to graduation. Failure to complete the minimum number of days required will render a student ineligible to graduate or to register as a teacher.

The assessment documentation for the student is completed by the Supervising Teacher and/or the school principal, or their representative, on the final day of the placement. At the completion of a Professional Experience the Supervising Teacher should finalise the assessment report and email to the student and keep a copy for the school files. The student is to submit the assessment report via their online learning platform as soon as they receive it.

A Cautionary Advice Notice (PDF 1023.8 KB) indicates to all parties that there is a need for improvement of the student's performance against one or more of the standards in the assessment report.

Receiving a CAN does not constitute a failure but serves as an indication that some aspect(s) of performance are not meeting the designated expectations and, if not addressed, could result in failure of the placement. The form should be completed by the Supervising Teacher, in dialogue with the Professional Experience Mentor and the student wherever possible. A copy of the CAN is to be provided to the Professional Experience Mentor and the Professional Experience Office.

Completing a CAN will ensure that appropriate support is provided for both the student and Supervising Teacher. The student should be given reasonable notification about concerns in relation to their performance and opportunity to address the concerns. A CAN form and a documented Action Plan is required to confirm a failed placement.

CAN Process

• The Supervising Teacher should first discuss any concerns with the student through written constructive feedback. This feedback should clearly outline the nature of the concern in relation to the Professional Experience Expectations and the final report. The student should be given opportunity to address concerns. If the student is unable to implement the feedback to successfully amend the concerns raised, then it is required that a CAN be completed by the Supervising Teacher. It is essential the CAN form is completed at the earliest point within the placement in consultation with the Professional Experience Mentor.
• The CAN process can be actioned at any time during the placement. The procedure may be initiated by either the Supervising Teacher or the Professional Experience Mentor. A CAN process must be actioned with adequate time for the student to have opportunity to address items on the Action Plan.
• The Supervising Teacher provides the student with the completed copy of the CAN form.
• The Supervising Teacher immediately emails this completed CAN form to the Professional Experience Mentor and the Professional Experience Office so that relevant support and advice can be provided by the University.
• A meeting will then be held between the student, the Professional Experience Mentor and the Supervising Teacher to create an Action Plan to support the student in the area/s in which they need to demonstrate improved performance. An Action plan will be completed and signed by all parties involved.
• Ongoing monitoring and support is provided by the Professional Experience Mentor and the Supervising Teacher.
• If the student is able to demonstrate competency of the actions outlined and agreed to in the Action Plan and meet the Professional Experience Expectations as outlined, the student would be expected to pass the placement.
• If the student is unable to successfully demonstrate competency against the requirements of the final report, a fail grade (NN) will be awarded.

If a student is not successful in completing a Professional Experience placement a fail grade (NN) will be awarded. The student must complete an Individual Preparation Plan (IPP), with a Professional Experience Advisor, and be successfully signed off on all requirements prior to being eligible to enrol in the next available offering of the Professional Experience unit. The student will be required to undertake the placement again in full, with no credit given to an incomplete or unsuccessful placement.

An IPP meeting will be conducted to identify the previously encountered barriers to success as identified from the placement documentation. Support will be offered to the student by the Professional Experience Advisor during the IPP process. The completed IPP form must be signed by the student and a Professional Experience Advisor, and submitted to the Professional Experience Office.

Once the Professional Experience Advisor has notified the PE Office that the IPP has been successfully completed, the student is able to enrol in the next available offering of the Professional Experience Unit.

Completion of an IPP does not guarantee successful completion of the placement – the intention is to provide the student with appropriate support and guided reflection prior to re-attempting placement.

The Professional Experience placements are governed by the academic progress review process outlined in the Student Participation and Attainment Ordinance. As such, if a student fails a Professional Experience placement twice, they may be excluded from their course.

A number of situations arise during Professional Experience placements that can give rise to grievances. The School of Education deems that Professional Experience for students should have a set of standards that are common across all experiences offered.

Further, it is the right of the student to appeal their award or to raise concerns about the placement. Appeals must be undertaken through the normal appeal processes within the University and School of Education.

All efforts will be made to maintain confidentiality within the resolution process and to ensure a prompt and fair investigation and/or resolution of any complaint.

Personal Accident Insurance

• The University of Tasmania's insurance program provides cover for students whilst undertaking unpaid Work Integrated Learning placements (including professional experience) approved by the University.
  Note: Workers Compensation does not apply to students undertaking professional experience.

• The Insurance program includes coverage of non-Medicare expenses but does not cover any out-of-pocket costs from the Medicare refund/gap payment.

Claims Process

• The Tasmanian University Student Association (TUSA) manage the claim process for the student personal accident insurance policy and the state-wide contact person is the TUSA Northern Services Manager, Caleb Dunn, who can be contacted on 03 6324 5305 or submit a request via the TUSA Contact page.

The School of Education strongly encourages all preservice teachers to maintain regular contact with schools.

For this reason, volunteering in an educational setting or classroom is highly recommended for all students, regardless of study mode or pattern of attendance. In addition, many units require students to have access to an educational setting, so being involved in an ongoing volunteering arrangement is considered highly beneficial.

We suggest, where possible, that you approach a school or educational setting with which you have already had some contact (e.g., your child attends the school, it is in your local area). Contact the school Principal or other appropriate person and make a convenient time to meet. In the meeting you should use the points below to explain what volunteering involves, and if appropriate, negotiate a regular time commitment.

The nature of the volunteering experience should be negotiated with the appropriate person at the educational setting, and may involve some of the following:

• Work in the same classroom/educational setting each week.
• Work with a teacher who is able to utilise you in a productive way each week.
• Work with individual children/students, on activities appropriate to the age group and educational setting.
• Provide assistance for the classroom teacher in preparing learning centres, resources, displays, etc.
• Observe children/students closely to monitor their learning.
• Observe classroom interactions closely to better understand the dynamics of the educational setting.
• Develop positive relationships with children/students, staff and others in the educational community.

In addition, please observe the following:

• Make yourself aware of policies in the educational setting in regard to behaviour, bullying, dress/uniform, computer use, etc.
• Do not take legal responsibility for teaching the children/students.

Do not manage the behaviour of children/students. You can remind children/students of the rules/boundaries and alert the teacher.

The Professional Experience process is a collaborative one, with many stakeholders involved in the process. All stakeholders need to work cooperatively to ensure each Professional Experience program reaches its goals. The roles and responsibilities of each are outlined below.