Maryamore Mason

Passionate, organised and professional candidate with experience in leadership and collaborating with whole school community. Willingness to take on added responsibilities and comfortable working in high-stress situations. Proactive about using proper protocols and interacting with community contacts. Highly skilled at motivating students through positive encouragement, communication and relationships. Successful in helping students develop strong literacy, numeracy, social and learning skills through age appropriate pedagogies.

Application for Guidance Officer & Counselling position

SC1: Capacity to provide leadership that enables the effective delivery of whole-of-school educational programs and services that support the inclusion of all students. 

I have demonstrated the ability to:

· work in conjunction with all members of school professionals (guidance officer, behaviour advisory teacher, special needs teacher), in obtaining a solution that works for all members/students involved in the collaborative process of consultation in designing programs that cater for each individual student’s needs.

· organise and facilitate various excursions, completing risk assessment forms, behaviour action plans for challenging students and leadership duties comprising large quantities of students.

· present my experiences and understandings of the validation process to all school staff, emphasising the importance of evidence-based documentation highlighting adjustments/modifications of timetabling, activities through work samples and assessments to align with up to date Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and EAPs.

· present effective teaching and assessment strategies in lower phase meetings.

· lead discussions as a cohort leader, liaise with various in-school professionals (guidance officer, behaviour advisory teacher, special needs teacher), and present important information to the rest of the school about new ideas, resources, teaching methods and skills.

· actively participate in and drive the school Science of Reading program including the Reading House. This involved reviewing documents and providing input for the ongoing development of the curriculum framework.

· meet with parents and external services such as Occupational Therapists, and the Speech Pathologist to ensure consistency and discuss student performance and opportunities to assist in further development of student outcomes.

· conduct a series of observations in class and the playground of students identified with high behavioural support needs and work with key stakeholders in determining actions to take to target these behaviours.

· enlist the aid of the Behaviour Advisory Teacher to assist with resources and behaviour management techniques to implement within the classroom.

· utilise behaviour plans to assist students to engage in day to day educational programs.

· work within the Special Education Unit to cater for students with needs across the whole school to work towards achieving their IEP goals.

· be dedicated to tasks and persons in the process of developing and implementing programs and

services.

I have the immediate capacity to:

· identify, and become familiar with, whole-school policies and procedures- e.g. behaviour, curriculum, timetabling

· identify the direct needs of the school- e.g. bullying, drugs, career, education, abuse and neglect

· liaise with in-school practitioners to prioritise the needs of the school in conjunction with various external agencies/organisations.

· coordinate meetings with administration and specialists to develop whole-school needs programs, inclusive to all.

· acquire referral and assessment deadlines relevant to specific disabilities- e.g. Intellectual Impairment

· prioritise funding allocated to students with special needs/ disabilities.

· manage and review verification processes.

· present whole school programs in staff meetings e.g. bullying or child abuse prevention programs.

SC2: Capacity for effective counselling and individual case management involving a multidisciplinary approach, within an environment of competing priorities.

I have demonstrated the ability to:

· effective counselling in Solution Focused Brief Therapy that is outcome focused and that builds positive relationships. Continuous reflection of content to ensure best ethical practice.

· effective collaboration with classroom teacher and learning support teacher to discuss the challenging behaviours of priority cases within my class. Throughout these formal interviews, I evaluated current support practices, identified behaviour triggers and suggested strategies for future implementation of behaviour plans.

· assist speech therapists, occupational therapists and paediatricians in gathering information on students in my class in relation to physical and visual ability, behaviour, speech, social-emotional and cognitive processing.

· consult and work collaboratively with education support providers (advisory teachers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language pathologists) in the process of developing support plans and providing education support to students.

· acknowledge effective counselling practices, roles and procedures through discussions with the school GO.

· effectively use counselling micro skills within a variety of therapeutic approaches at residential school at university and in a number of assessment tasks.

· my theoretical and practical approach will vary depending on the client and the problems they introduce.

· display effective consultation and collaboration skills with various school practitioners, external agencies, organisations, government authorities including the police department and the department of child services to acknowledge specific policies and practices to support the case management of a child with a mental illness.

· conduct informal counselling on a day-to-day basis with challenging students to transform negative behaviours and attitudes into more positive ones, through small group discussions and social skills development.

· develop my skills of empathy, attending, summarising, paraphrasing and in some cases confrontation and assertiveness through informal and formal discussions with parents and staff personnel.

· effectively case manage students with special needs and behavioural difficulties by working with key personnel to develop an approach to meet the individual’s needs.

· effectively investigate children’s learning by administrating standardised testing at a class level.

· gather and analyse data in regards to the Year 2 Net and NAPLAN and successfully use this data to improve student learning.

· become familiar with outside agencies to help students academically, socially, emotionally and behaviourally. 

I have the immediate capacity to,

· identify the caseloads that already exist within the school and establish where to progress.

· manage timetabling to coincide with caseload priority

· gather information through observing student classroom and playground behaviour to assist with referrals.

· communicate with parents to organise a meeting in regards to their child’s observable behaviours.

· complete documentation, with the presence of parents/caregiver, to obtain personal details, background information, family history and observable behaviours. From this point recommendations for referral to outside practitioners, paediatrician, speech therapist, occupational therapist or psychologist, may result in a diagnosis.

· conduct, after specific training, cognitive assessments, such as the Wechsler intelligence scale for children- WISC-IV, WIAT- III, the Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence- WPPSI-III, and Adaptive Behaviour assessments to detect aspects of impairment.

· make connections between the data gathered and the next immediate stage of contact.

· improve continuously on my therapeutic practices to meet the social and emotional needs of all students.

SC3: Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and the capacity to develop and sustain productive relationships within and beyond the school community.

I am:

· extremely compassionate, kind and considerate of others thoughts and suggestions, contributing my own where and whenever possible and only when appropriate.

· friendly, approachable, fun and full of enthusiasm in and out of the classroom.

· always seeking guidance to improve through ongoing discussions with the principal, deputy principal, learning support teacher, special needs teacher, behaviour advisory teacher and the school’s guidance officer, to ensure up to date theory and teaching methods are delivered to all students.

· trustworthy, respectful, responsible, conscientious and hard working when asked to attend staff meetings, planning sessions and committee meetings.

· extremely resilient and accepting of criticism to guide my professional development.

· reliable and helpful, always dedicating time outside of school hours to assist with the organisation and clean up of school events.

· flexible, honest, authentic and have a warm but firm approach with my students.

· recognised as having great rapport with staff and students, as I am committed to listening, energetic and have a good sense of humour. Through fair, firm and flexible expectations, respect is reciprocated.

· always participating in sporting and social events with staff, in and outside of school to build upon staff relationships and morale.

· able to demonstrate confidence and connectedness with parents on a day-to-day basis, before and after school, discussing student progress, concerns or interests.

· able to mentor and liaise with Pre-Service teachers to communicate school expectations and support learning needs.

· able to facilitate information sessions and conduct interviews with parents and caregivers.

· seen as having an open door policy for students, staff, parents and school community members.

· able to initiate meetings and ongoing communication and feedback to parents and caregivers regarding the social/emotional and academic development of their child, celebrating successes and working

through issues to obtain the best possible student outcomes.

· able to present professionally and communicate effectively with advisory teachers and visiting specialists such as OT, Doctors and DOCS.

· able to actively lead the school’s social club, promoting positive staff morale.

I have the immediate capacity to:

· seek information from SGO’s and various internal and external practitioners to guide and assist the processes involved in dealing with differing situations and critical incidents.

· maintain strong professional partnerships with SGO’s and GO’s within the region to share information and caseloads with respect to confidentiality.

· conduct information sessions for parents to inform e.g. parenting practices, child protection information, overcoming bullying, informing them of outside agencies/organisations that may assist their child’s development.

· attend necessary Professional Development relevant to the needs of the school and its community.

SC4: Capacity to develop and implement student support programs and services for students with high support needs that reflect best practice and that align with departmental policies and procedures.

I have demonstrated:

· the capacity to design, implement and evaluate Individualised Education Plans and Educational Adjustment Programs in accordance with the special needs teacher and caregivers to develop teaching strategies or programs to cater for the individual needs/goals of students in my class with a particular impairment.

· collaboration with other teachers to provide in-depth developmental delivery, assessment and moderation practices.

· commitment towards social skills development, to teach problem solving, anger management, sharing, respect and self-esteem building.

· a high awareness of supporting personnel and agencies available to schools when dealing with students and families with high needs.

· a thorough understanding of the Science of Reading to support reading and reading comprehension. 

· working in a collaborative environment with key specialist personnel – STLaN, GOs, SEP staff and HOCs to develop and implement learning experiences that cater for the learning needs of all students – particularly those with identified needs.

· the ability to develop and implement differentiated learning programs for class cohorts by identifying various levels of student needs within the class and drawing on the expertise of key specialist personnel to create appropriate learning targets and goals for students to work towards.

· using data gathered from standardised testing and in-class testing to drive classroom learning experiences and work in collaboration with students to set challenging yet realistic goals for their learning.

I have the immediate capacity to:

· request various assessments and observations from in-school practitioners and parents/caregivers to assist in providing the right environment and curriculum needs of the student.

· co-design Individual Education Plans with the Head of Special Education (HOSE) or special needs teacher and classroom teacher to design a program for the academic, physical, health, social and emotional needs, depending on the child’s current circumstances.

· Evaluate and re-design programs within the timelines allocated.

Karen Weekes

Deputy Principal at Bowen State School

Contact - 0429 347 253

Ian Johnson

Principal at Mastery Schools - Coolangatta 

(previously the Deputy at Miami State School)

Contact - 0418 102 380

Amee Smithurst

Guidance Officer & Supervisor during my final placement -

Pimpama State School

Contact - 07 5549 433