Work Type: Ongoing - Part-time
Salary: Salary not specified
Grade: Classroom Teacher - Range 2
Occupation: Health and allied health
Location: Melbourne - Western suburbs
Reference: 1491085
Footscray Primary School is located in Melbourne¿s inner west and has a current enrolment of 340 students. We have over 25 languages spoken in the homes of our school community, and we value and celebrate the many benefits of language learning. As a Designated Bilingual School, we teach and learn 50% of the Victorian Curriculum through Italian language. Our Italian bilingual approach commenced in 2021 and has expanded with each new Foundation cohort. In 2025, all students from Foundation to Year 5 will learn bilingually with 2026 being our first year of whole school bilingual education.
Footscray Primary School has a strong culture of professional learning with teaching teams collaborating to design rich, connected learning sequences. Teachers work in language pairs, sharing two classes that move between the Italian and English classrooms throughout the day. We strive to place learning in authentic contexts and support our young people to inquire, hypothesise, reflect, and take meaningful action.
Our community aims to ensure that every school experience is positive and respectful, and we are guided by Respectful Relationships and School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS). We celebrate diversity and believe a sense of belonging and inclusion are fundamental to children¿s learning and ability to fully participate in life at school and beyond. We believe that all children have the right to learn and feel safe and we pride ourselves on our inclusive practices.
Our community values are showcased through initiatives such as the All Aboard project, which aims to ensure every student can attend excursions, participate in all school activities and wear appropriate uniform regardless of their financial background, and our strong focus on student wellbeing, which builds empathy and emotional intelligence. We value our parents as partners and come together as a community often through events organised by the FPS social club. We have an active public Facebook page where we showcase achievements and connect informally as a school community.
Footscray Primary School is a proud member of the Footscray Learning Precinct. The precinct is championing excellence in learning and teaching at all stages of education, building upon the richness and diversity of the community and provides opportunities for learning in new ways. We enjoy a strong collaborative partnership with Footscray High, Footscray City PS, and Victoria University to ensure we are continually working towards improved outcomes for our learners.
The Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System highlighted that primary schools provide opportunities to identify children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who can then be referred to treatment, care and support.
The Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative is being expanded to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria. Scaling up across the state from 2023, by 2026 every primary school will be able to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to wellbeing.
The Department of Education has been piloting the Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative in Victorian schools since 2020 in partnership with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Evaluation of this pilot initiative has shown that 95 per cent of Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders consider the Mental Health in Primary Schools model has improved their school's capacity to support students' mental health and wellbeing needs.
Participating schools receive funding to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, a qualified teacher, to work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community.
The role of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader is to:
The role provides a proactive focus for the promotion and prevention of mental health and wellbeing through assessment and implementation of context-relevant programs, approaches and initiatives based on a broad and extensive knowledge of the needs of the school.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader role is not a clinical role and is not designed for direct intervention. The role is seen as a key conduit in creating referral pathways once a teacher or other staff member identifies a concern in the classroom.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders are provided training in mental health literacy, supporting emerging needs, and building school capacity and receive ongoing support and professional development through structured and regular Learning Communities Training is developed and facilitated by the Faculty of Education at University of Melbourne, supported by Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
Operating in collaboration with their school, leadership and wellbeing team where relevant, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader will:
Teachers currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and qualified to teach and/or have demonstrated experience in the curriculum area(s) specified for the position.
Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.
The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).
Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [email protected]
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy
The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements. This condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.