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POSITION INFORMATION PACKAGE

EARLY YEARS LITERACY SPECIALIST

THE POSITIONThis role is available for a suitably experienced Early Years teacher with a passion for literacy . It is a 12 month fixed term, full time opportunity, which may be extended beyond 2018. This position works with another Literacy Specialist to continue the expansion of the Literacy Acquisition for Pre-primary Students (LAPS) program which began in 2015. You will provide off and on site professional learning to Pre-primary teaching teams at Kimberley schools.

Waardi is a member-based organisation for the Goolarabooloo and Jabirr Jabirr people, established in 2011 as the administration body to manage benefits from the Browse LNG Precinct Project Agreement. Further information is available on www.waardi.com.au and www.guumbarr.com. One outcome of the negotiations was that Waardi received funds to improve early literacy initiatives delivered by Kimberley schools.

THE PERSON WE SEEKTo be successful in this position, you will be a tertiary qualified Early Years, Kindergarten – Year 3 teacher. Your demonstrated experience and passion for teaching literacy is essential, as is your ability to communicate to children and fellow teachers alike and your ability to fit successfully into a small dedicated team. Ideally you would have indigenous experience teaching in a remote context and you would be qualified and experienced Reading Recovery teacher.

WHAT WE OFFERA total package range of $120,000 - $130,000 per annum is offered depending on your qualifications and experience. WA School Holidays and generous Salary Packaging benefits are offered. Optional benefits which may be taken within the maximum package amount are; 17.5% Annual Leave Loading, Annual Leave reimbursement and a comprehensive Salary Sacrifice range of benefits, Accommodation Subsidy and Air Conditioning subsidy.

INTERESTED?For more information about this position, please contact Maree on 91922713 or 0439935617.

APPLICATION DEADLINEApplications for this position are to be received no later than 4:00pm Thursday 11/08/2017 by email to [email protected] or hand delivered to the office at 11 Coghlan Street, Broome.

APPLICATION PROCESSIf you decide to apply for this position, please include the following:

1. A covering letter introducing yourself and explaining why you are applying for this position.2. A detailed response to the selection criteria and3. A current resume with the details of your past employment experience, and the names and contact

details of 3 work referees (preferably supervisors or managers).

Author: Josepha Howard document.docx

Version: 1.0 Created: 01/07/2017 P a g e 1 of 12

mailto:[email protected]



HINTS FOR SELECTION CRITERIA:To be eligible for employment, a person must meet all essential selection criteria as part of the Shortlisting (or selection for interview) process. The information that you provide to us is the way that we decide whether your skills, knowledge and experience meet the Selection Criteria for the position.

The following information is a guide to assist you in your response to the Selection Criteria:

□ Describe examples which demonstrate you can meet the criteria.

□ Avoid general statements and be clear and concise.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

□ Applications are accepted until the closing date as nominated in the ad.

□ Applicants selected for interview will be contacted. Each application is treated confidentially.

□ The interview panel will have a structured set of questions to ask each applicant which are relevant to the position.

□ After the interview process, reference checks will be undertaken following interviews and only with the nominated referees for the preferred applicant(s).

□ The position is offered to the successful applicant as soon as possible after interview.

□ In some positions where adequate levels of fitness are required to perform duties, applicants will be required to complete a pre-employment medical. In all other positions a medical questionnaire is completed on commencement only to provide a background to ensure that the job does not aggravate a pre-existing illness, condition or injury.

□ All unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing once the preferred applicant has accepted the offer of employment.

POSITION DESCRIPTION AND DETAILSA copy of the Position Description is attached. For any further details please contact Maree Gaffney on (08) 9192 2713.





SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT AND ENTITLEMENTS

Remuneration Detail Minimum Maximum

Suggested Base Salary Level : $ 109,589 $ 118,721

Optional Benefits which may be included in the total package:

a) 17.5 % Leave Loading $ 1,844 $ 1,997

b) Annual Leave Reimbursement: $ 1,500 $ 1,500

c) Accommodation Reimbursement (50% of Rental Costs or 50% of interest payments on your mortgage - as part of your Salary Package agreement)

Variable as per lease Variable as per lease

d) Salary Packaging benefits (as per ATO guidelines):

$ 15,899 pa $ 15,899 pa

Superannuation $ 10,410 $ 11,278

Total Package Value: $ 120,000 $ 130,000

CONDITIONS:Employment conditions are in accordance with the Waardi Employment Policy.

SALARY:A total maximum salary package range is offered of $120,000 - $130,000 per annum (depending on qualifications, skills and experience).

OPTIONAL BENEFITS:The following benefits may be included in your total maximum salary package value:

a) Annual Leave Reimbursement

An optional amount of up to $1,500 may be paid to an employee when taking a period of leave (eg Annual Leave) after 12 months service, on the production of a valid Tax invoice/receipt for an Airfare, or accommodation expenses.

b) Leave Loading

17.5% loading on Annual Leave (pro rata) may be paid to an employee paid when taking Annual Leave.

c) Salary Package Options:





Employees are currently able to salary package up to $15,899 per annum. Benefits such as Superannuation, Rent / Mortgage payments, credit card or loan payments and others are available to employees to package which has taxation benefits to the employee.

d) Accommodation Reimbursement (Rental / Mortgage)

Employees are currently able to salary package up to 50% of their Rental costs or 50% of their Mortgage Interest costs if their name is on the Rental Agreement or Mortgage.

e) Air-Conditioning Reimbursement (if receiving Rental / Mortgage assistance)

Employees are currently able to be reimbursed up to $2,240 per year for air conditioning costs, on production of a valid power bill in your name for the property you reside in.

HOURS OF WORK:This position is required to work 38 hours per week, working on average 7.36 hours per day. The current operating hours are 8.00am to 4.30pm, ordinary hours do not exceed 38 hours per week Monday to Friday inclusive of an unpaid break of 1 hour for lunch.

ANNUAL LEAVE:Employees will be entitled to take the WA School Holidays in line with teaching staff.

PERSONAL / CARER’S LEAVE:You will be entitled to 10 Personal Leave days per year.

UNIFORM POLICY: Employees are required to wear neat office attire in accordance with conservative, business dress standards in accordance with the Waardi Employment Policy.

SUPERANNUATION:We currently contribute 9.5% of fortnightly salary, which may be salary packaged.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD:A three-month probationary period is applicable to this position. At the successful completion of this period your permanency will be confirmed by the General Manager. A Probation Period may be extended if required.

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:Reviews are undertaken annually by the Education and Training Coordinator.

MEDICAL QUESTIONNAIRE:All new appointees to Waardi Limited are required to complete a medical questionnaire on commencement. If necessary a Medical examination will be required. Existing illness will not prevent you being employed with us.





POSITION DESCRIPTION

Role Title Early Years Literacy Specialist

Name:

Reports To: Education and Training Coordinator

Supervises: Nil

Position Summary: Develop and Implement LAPS (Literacy Acquisition for Pre Primary) Program and deliver to schools in the Kimberley

Duties and

Responsibilities:

Program Development

Write and develop professional learning sessions for teachers in the area of literacy.

Research current pedagogical practices to incorporate into development if necessary.

Develop resources to support teachers in the delivery of the project.

Program Implementation

Consult, coordinate and liaise with schools to plan the delivery of the project.

Develop of implementation strategies for the project.

Provide Teachers and other educational staff with information, assistance and support about the program and the theory supporting it.

Develop and deliver information sessions and workshops to parents about the program.

Program Delivery

Deliver professional development to teachers in Broome and remotely.

Work with and provide ongoing support to teachers and other educational staff to assist in the delivery of the program.

Assist with collection of Literacy assessment data pertaining to the program and support teachers with the analysis of the data.

Program Administration

Collate assessment data and consent forms and provide summary of data to teachers, Education, Training and Employment Coordinator and Monash University.

Provide verbal and/or written updates to the Education, Training and Employment





Coordinator re program progress or issues faced.

Plan own work on a daily basis to ensure services are delivered to schools at a high standard.

Ensure a safe workplace is maintained, with all safety instructions and procedures are followed.

Teamwork and Relationships

Work effectively in your role to maintain supportive, cooperative and positive relationships within the Waardi team and other external agencies.

Provide excellent customer service in your role.

Attend all Team Meetings, the Annual AGM and Staff trainings as required.

Maintain a clean and tidy office environment.

Ensure a safe workplace is maintained, with all safety instructions and procedures are followed.

Communication

Maintain effective and respectful verbal and written communication with customers and staff at all times.

Identify and deliver continuous improvement in service delivery in your role.

Other

Perform other duties as required and directed by management.

Level of Authority: Perform duties as directed with issues advised to and discussed with the Education, Training and Employment Coordinator.

Essential Skills, Experience and Qualifications

Essential1. Early Years tertiary teaching qualification and demonstrated experience in

teaching early years classes

2. Current Working with Children check

3. Demonstrated understanding of the literacy acquisition process and current best practice related to teaching of literacy

4. Understanding of issues related to literacy acquisition for Indigenous students particularly those living in remote locations

5. Demonstrated capacity to assess a situation in an education context and respond to arrive at a successful outcome

6. Demonstrated experience as a team player

7. Excellent planning and communication skills





8. Capacity and willingness to travel extensively and often as the position demands

9. Current Drivers licence

10. IT skills including knowledge of software programs

Desirable Skills:1. Experience teaching early year’s classes in a remote Indigenous context.

2. Reading Recovery qualification and experience.

Acknowledgement and Agreement:

Employee Signature:

Date:

General Manager Signature:

General Manager Name: _____________________________________

Date:

How to Apply:

As well as addressing Selection Criteria applicants need to provide an:o Application cover letter;o Resume; and o Details of three referees





The provision of literacy related experiences has important educational and developmental ramifications for young children in preschool programs. Children who are supported in their efforts to explore the meaning of print and to use it as an integral part of their daily lives demonstrate capacity to use legitimate reading and writing behaviours long before formal instruction is commenced. (Neuman and Roskos, 1997)

BACKGROUND

Reading Recovery in the Kimberley 2007 – 2016Reading Recovery has been delivered in Kimberley schools since 2006. A cross sectorial approach made Reading Recovery available to all Kimberley primary schools.

Introduction of the Literacy Acquisition for Pre-primary Students (LAPS) Generated by an Analysis of semester 1, 2013 Kimberley Reading Recovery students

ID sheets, which captures more information than text level of children prior to Reading Recovery, showed the 2013 Reading Recovery children had scored the lowest that teachers had seen since the inception of Reading Recovery in the Kimberley in 2006.

Low scoring outcomes of semester 1, 2013 Reading Recovery children reflected that Reading Recovery teachers in training in 2013 worked with students with profound literacy issues.

At the beginning of 2013 a large number of Reading Recovery children presented at year 1 without any formal first year, preprimary, schooling. Many of the children began their Reading Recovery journey at dictated text level. In many instances Reading Recovery was managing the role of first wave teaching typical of good teaching at Pre-primary level and not the purpose of Reading Recovery. While many of the children progressed through their Reading Recovery experience the majority were not in a position to discontinue at the end of a semester engagement with Reading Recovery.

One Kimberley school noted the 2013 year 1 student intake presented with a large number of children below or at the beginning of the reading and writing scale with the next noticeable group at the high end of the scale. A low number of year 1 children at the school presented at an average level of reading and writing.

The semester 1, 2013 Kimberley Reading Recovery data confirmed that there was need to investigate national and international research around explicit teaching of literacy to children prior to enrolment in year 1.

Poor attendance across grades is endemic in Kimberley schools. Engagement with Pre-primary education previous to 2014 was not compulsory and a likely contributor to preparedness issues of the 2013 year one student intake. Pre-school became compulsory in Western Australia in 2014.

What the Australian Early Development Census Tells Us about Children from the Broome Area

“Evidence tells us that a person’s life successes, health and emotional wellbeing have their roots in early childhood. We know that if we get it right in the early years, we can expect to see children thrive throughout school and their adult lives.”

Broome Region - Broome town; Cable Beach/Bilingurr/ Minyarr; Dampier Peninsula; Djugun; La Grange/Waterbank





Percentage of Children in the Broome region Developmentally Vulnerable in 2015 with Comparison of Children in Western Australia and Australia2015 Physical Domain Social Domain Emotional

DomainLanguage Domain

Communication Domain

Australia 9.7 9.9 8.4 6.5 8.5

Western Australia 9.9 8.4 8.5 6.6 8.0

Broome Region 15.5 18.5 14.1 20.4 15.9

Comparison of percentage of Children in the Broome Region Developmentally Vulnerable 2009, 2012, 2015Physical Domain Social Domain Emotional

DomainLanguage Domain Communication Domain

2009 12.2 13.6 14.2 15.5 8.9

2012 9.4 7.9 6.8 12.4 7.5

2015 15.5 18.5 14.1 20.4 15.9

No Significant change in vulnerability2009 - 2015

Significant increase in vulnerability 2009 - 2015

No significant change in vulnerability 2009 - 2015



A child is measured developmentally vulnerable, developmentally at risk or on track. Children who score as vulnerable or at risk in two or more domains will experience difficulty learning.

Evidence such as that provided by the census, with the knowledge that a high number of Kimberley children will have difficulty learning to read from the time they enter the school system, prompted a need for intervention strategies to minimise their difficulty as early as possible in their life.

For census data on all schools in the Kimberley refer to https://www.aedc.gov.au

Literacy Awareness For Preprimary Students (LAPS) Professional Development Initiativeo The model for LAPS is the Language Learning and Literacy (L3) delivered in schools in NSW. o L3 was designed to complement the daily literacy program for students who do not bring a rich literacy

background to their first year of school. Students receive explicit instruction in reading and writing strategies in small groups of three to four selected students. Students then rotate to independent individual or group tasks. The program goal is to reduce the need for more intensive and resource demanding programs in future years.

o L3 has been adapted with the assistance of the NSW Department of Education to best suit deliver of explicit instruction in reading and writing in a Kimberley context.

Focus of the Initiativeo Preprimary teacherso Preprimary support staffo Preprimary students who need to develop decoding skills; reading fluency; automacity; vocabulary;

word knowledge; active comprehension strategies; comprehension monitioring strategies.



https://www.aedc.gov.au/



LAPS 2013

o Seven schools participated in a six month pilot of LAPS in semester 2 of 2014.o The purpose of the pilot was to determine whether there was appetite by Kimberley schools to take

LAPS to a trial phase with the outcome of the pilot that there was.o Feedback from participant teaching teams and evidence of student progress during the pilot provided

Waardi with confidence to take LAPS to trial in 2015 and 2016.

LAPS 2014o Waardi responded to the issue of students arriving at year 1 with poor literate cultural capital by

investigating the L3 program recommended by Reading Recovery Tutors and a Reading Recovery Trainer. It was decided that the L3 model with some modification to contextualize it to accommodate Kimberley schools and children was appropriate.

o Waardi developed and continues to revise content for the LAPS professional learning program for Kimberley Pre-primary teachers and support staff that encompasses: oral language development; comprehension of texts; fluency; concepts about print; phonemic awareness; letter identification; phonics; word knowledge; vocabulary.

o Waardi Implements and continually revises strategies to deliver the LAPS professional learning program using on and off site options that complement participant schools.

o Waardi recruited an Early Years Literacy Specialist to design and deliver LAPS to participant schools with support from the NSW Department of Education and Monash University.

o Waardi monitored the success of the trial based on evidence arrived at during a trial engaging with Monash university to do this.

o Waardi made a judgment about supporting LAPS beyond 2014 informed by evidence arrived at during the trial, including participant feedback.

LAPS 2015

o Four schools signed on for LAPS in 2015 with one dropping out at the end of term 1.o While it was disappointing that only a small number of schools participated, it was due largely to

circumstances beyond Waardi’s control. In November 2015 the Good to Great Schools program was promoted to Kimberley schools and funding made available to schools to participate in the program through the Flexible Literacy for Remote Schools program. Two of the schools that engaged in the LAPS 2013 pilot committed to the Good to Great Schools offer and were unable to continue with LAPS.

o A sufficient cohort of students was available at the three participant schools for Waardi to undertake research of LAPS. Refer to Attachments 1 and 2 for a copy of the Literacy Acquisition for Pre-primary Students – The First Year of Implementation and Literacy Acquisition for Pre-primary Students Report Summary.

o Outcomes of the 2016 LAPS trial provided Waardi with confidence to continue the trial and to investigate the option of extending the program to additional schools.

LAPS 2016

o Five schools signed on for LAPS in 2016 and for the first time there is representation from Government, Independent and Catholic sector schools.

o Waardi continues to work with Monash University to research the effectiveness of LAPS.o Waardi has investigated whether there is appetite from additional schools to take up the LAPS

program in the future.o Based on feedback from consultation with schools Waardi has decided to invest in employing a second

Early Years Literacy Specialist to grow the LAPS program in Kimberley schools.





LAPS 2017

o Eight schools expressed interest in participating in LAPS in 2017. One school withdrew its expression of interest at a late point in proceedings. Waardi withdrew LAPS support at another school after a term when it became evident that the Pre-primary teacher needed to focus on other areas of teaching practice. This reduced the number of participant schools in 2017 to 6.

o Waardi extended the program to schools in the east Kimberley.o Waardi is currently canvassing schools to determine interest in participating in LAPS in 2018.

Familiarising Yourself with Waardi

www. waardi .com.au

Familarising Yourself with the Kimberley – Some Helpful Websites

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2013-Kimberley-Snapshot.pdf

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/economic-activity/

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/the-kimberly/did-you-know/

Further information about the advertised position and employment contract

Contact Maree Gaffney by email at [email protected] or by phone on (08)91929609 or 0439935617



mailto:[email protected]

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/the-kimberly/did-you-know/

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/economic-activity/

http://kdc.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2013-Kimberley-Snapshot.pdf

http://www.waardi.com.au/

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