School Name: St Joseph’s RC Primary School.
Mission Statement: ”Faith, Excellence, Success, Laying the Foundations for Life” is an integral part of life at St Joseph’s. This is not only academic excellence but also striving for excellence in Catholic values.
Website: https://sjswhakatane.wordpress.com/
Justification for choosing this placement: For my Learning from Life placement I will be based in a small Roman Catholic School in Whakatane, New Zealand. St Joseph’s is a small school of around 280 pupils made up of years 1 through to 8. I’ll be working primarily in Room 7 (year 2/3) with Mrs Jackson. I was very keen to go abroad for my LfL placement for two key reasons- I love traveling and I hope to teach abroad after completing my probationary year and so I wanted to experience school life in another country. I am particularly keen to work in a school for this placement because I am dedicated to furthering my skills for future practice and keenly interested in how different education systems work. I find New Zealand extremely attractive- both the country and their curriculum and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out a little more about a local school!
At this point, it’s not 100% clear as to what my daily roles and responsibilities shall be. However what I do know is, I am fully committed to starting this placement with a completely open mind and a willingness to learn, a desire to be helpful and great enthusiasm to do well!
Learning from Life Placement Proposal Form
| For the Learning from Life module, I have secured a placement in a primary school in Whakatane, New Zealand. Over the six weeks I will be working in a range of different classrooms to gain a broad overview and understanding of how life at St Josephs Primary School works. There will be the opportunity to observe a wide range of age groups, classes and teachers in action. As well as spending my initial time observing around the school, I will also be active in seeking opportunities to help and participate in classroom life- taking reading groups, performing lessons, helping with planning etc. Due to the time of year of the placement, there will also be an opportunity to attend a week-long activity camp. I think this will be a really interesting and valuable experience in terms of grasping important cultural elements of New Zealand’s education system.
I’ve chosen this setting because I find the learning ethos in New Zealand very attractive and I would love to experience it first hand. I am particularly interested in learning more about the importance of outdoor-learning and teacher autonomy in their education system. I love sport and I’m a big advocate of spending as much time outside as possible, something that I understand is emphasised in New Zealand and I would love to find out more about what this looks like in terms of a normal school day. As well as this, after graduating I would love to spend time working in New Zealand for a number of different reasons and I feel that this placement is a perfect opportunity to gain experience of what life as a teacher in New Zealand is like. I feel the benefits of performing this placement abroad are many- learning more about a different culture, creating contacts in the teaching profession around the world, experiencing a completely different education system and travelling to an area of the world I’ve never been to before. In terms of what I can bring to the placement, I like to think that first and foremost my enthusiasm and commitment to learn and improve will be of benefit. After completing my first year professional placement, I feel I have a good understanding of what is required of me as a student teacher in terms of professionalism and dedication. I think my prior experience working with children from different cultures, for example when I taught for a year in Ghana and when I worked as a general councillor in America, will help me to feel comfortable and confident in a new and unknown setting. |
