Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall with Armidale High School student Caitlin Schuman, who could be a beneficiary of the new Professional Experience (PEX) Hub.
MEMBER for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has today congratulated Armidale High School for being selected to help train our next generation of teachers, named as one of only 11 Professional Experience (PEX) Hubs across the State by NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli.
Mr Marshall said Armidale High School had been selected because of its strong track record of sharing high quality professional experience with prac-teaching students.
“This announcement is recognition of Armidale High School’s excellence in the field of prac teacher training,” he said. “With only 11 schools selected from across NSW, it’s a real feather in the cap of the school’s staff, their professional attitude and dedication to assisting future teachers.
“PEX Hubs will play an important role in strengthening the partnership between public schools and universities, in addition to building teacher capacity to provide high-quality prac placements for teaching students.”
As part of the program, Mr Marshall said that Armidale High School had entered into an agreement with the Department of Education and the University of New England, lasting until the end of 2017, to take student teachers into the school for the practicum component of their studies.
“Formalising arrangements between universities and NSW public schools taking on student teachers will create higher quality education and more consistency for students doing prac-teaching,” Mr Marshall said.
“The agreement makes clear the priorities, expectations and role of the schools and the University of New England and is a key part of the government’s plan to lift the quality of teaching in our region, across the state and, in turn, improve student results.”
“In addition to implementing new practices and processes at Armidale High School, the agreement requires Armidale High to begin working with other local schools to share best practice around pre-service teacher supervision.”
Mr Marshall said the 11 PEX Hub agreements would, from next year, set best-practice guidelines for teachers, teacher educators and teacher education students, provide an evidence guide for supervising teachers, standardise reporting on student teacher performance and outline roles and responsibilities for schools and their partner universities.
“The agreements are part of the government’s Great Teaching, Inspired Learning reforms deigned to lift the status and quality of teaching across the State, but particularly in rural and remote NSW,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the benefits this new agreement will bring for Armidale High School, the University of New England and most importantly, our future generations of public school teachers.”