Work Type: Ongoing - Full-time
Salary: Salary not specified
Grade: Principal - Range 3
Occupation: Principal and assistant principal
Location: Melbourne - Northern suburbs
Reference: 1489415
(a) Vision and values
Demonstrated capacity to create a shared vision, define and gain acceptance of school goals and set and communicate expectations for effective performance.
(b) Teaching and Learning
Demonstrated ability to manage the quality of teaching and create a positive culture of challenge, support and collaboration.
(c) Improvement, Innovation and Change
Demonstrated capacity to produce and implement clear, evidence-based improvement plans and policies and lead innovation and change.
(d) Management
Demonstrated capacity to ensure that the school's human, physical and financial resources are efficiently allocated and managed.
(e) Development
Demonstrated capacity to create a professional learning community that is focused on the continuous improvement of teaching and learning, supporting all staff to achieve high standards and commitment to their own learning and wellbeing.
(f) Engagement
Demonstrated capacity to develop positive relationships with students, parents/families and the local community and participate in and contribute to system-level activities.
(g) Community Criterion
Outline your ability to establish and maintain positive, proactive, and collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support and enhance student learning and wellbeing outcomes at Coburg Special Development School.
The role of the principal is to lead and manage the planning, delivery, evaluation and improvement of the education of all students in a community through the deployment of resources provided by the Department and the school community.
At the same time, the principal, as executive officer of the school council, must ensure that adequate and appropriate advice is provided to the council on educational and other matters, that the decisions of the council are implemented and that adequate support and resources are provided for the conduct of council meetings.
The principal is accountable for the overall management and development of the school within statewide guidelines and Government policies. A clear set of accountabilities, which distinguish their work from other members of the Teaching Service and the education community are set out in detail in the contract of employment.
The core accountabilities of all principals are to:
Appropriately qualified individuals currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
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
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.
To be eligible for appointment as a principal a person must either:
At Coburg SDS, we strive to provide all students with the skills needed to meet their full potential through our child-centred, transdisciplinary learning approach. Students are empowered to be active members of the school and wider community by building independence, communication, and relationships. We work together as a team to provide a positive, safe, and engaging learning environment where student voice and readiness for life after school is at the centre of our teaching and learning.
Learning goals for each student are established through negotiated education plans developed in collaboration by the 'team around the learner', which can include education staff, therapy staff and families. The school employs speech and occupational therapists to ensure that all students can engage as effectively as possible with the curriculum. The school has a policy to work collaboratively with students' external, NDIS therapists, such as Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists.
Our school follows the School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS) framework, which has been developed from an evidence base and contingent on data, demonstrating the most effective ways to respond to, and prevent, behaviours of concern at our school. Research has shown that SWPBS tiered supports are successful in reducing problem behaviour, improving school culture, and increasing engagement and academic performance. We have introduced, and are continuing to embed, the Prevent, Teach, Reinforce (PTR) framework within our practice to support the prevention of challenging behaviours and increase the teaching of more positive and desired behaviours.
We continue to improve our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) practices across all areas of the curriculum broadening our focus from both wellbeing and engagement to social capabilities within our inquiry cycles, including student voice and agency. The PLCs are successful in improving both teacher competencies and student outcomes. Coburg Special Developmental School continued to be a PLC link school in 2024, which has afforded us opportunities to positively support other schools in their development of PLC practices.
Our school values are Building Independence, Building Communication and Building Relationships. These values were developed with input from staff, students, and families during 2017 and continue to be relevant to our community aspirations, as shown through feedback during the 2023 review process. Our values embody what is important to everyone in our school community.
Currently, the school's enrolment is 66 students, all with a primary diagnosis of developmental delay or intellectual disability. Many of our students have additional needs that affect their learning including but not limited to autism, communication and sensory needs, and can display behaviours of concern. The school was divided into three classes each of Early Years, Middle Years and Later Years, with an added class during Term 2 in the Middle Years as enrolments increased. We began the year at our original Gaffney Street site, where our Early Years unit was housed in our base rooms on the site of Coburg North Primary School, as well as one classroom at the main school site. On the last day of Term 1, we moved the whole school across to our new buildings at Urquhart St, which meant all classes were able to be housed together on the one site.