SANA ZREIKA

• As R/Director, I lead a culture of productive partnerships to leverage improvement, innovation and change to ensure that the three team I lead, DE International, Community Languages Schools Program and the Secondary College of Languages deliver outstanding outcomes for students in NSW.
• I employ a combination of strategic planning, ongoing monitoring, and clear communication to ensure that deliverables are completed on time and within budget while smoothly transitioning between project stages.
• I manage election commitments within community languages schools program that need to be delivered over the next three years. This involves implementing systems and processes to ensure the Community Languages team’s ability to deliver on these commitments working closely with ITD in developing enhancement within the database.
• I have established regular reporting intervals to compare actual spending and progress against projections especially within DE International where it is important to track revenue across the various areas within the unit.
• I have prepared speech notes, responses to Ministerial letters, media releases, submissions and correspondence for senior departmental officials. This required information to be accurate and succinct. It also required adherence to departmental correspondence and briefing guidelines as well as ensuring all information was administered through TRIM.

• As Principal of SCL, I led a culture of productive educational partnerships to leverage school improvement, innovation and change to ensure the school I led is recognised within the organisation. This was evident by gazetting the College as a school and its recognition as a mainstream school attracting its own School Based Allocation.
• Through this achievement I have also been successful in negotiating a strong executive structure for SCL with a deputy, head teacher, and business manager as well as extending the clerical officer support team.
• This has provided strong support for the 48 executive and over 250 teachers and administrative support officers located at Campuses in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
• I implemented continuous school improvement processes that are underpinned by transparent and sustainable school systems and culture embodying a mindset of 'What is best for the student?'
• Along with my executive staff, I led the school in evaluative and reflective practices, empowering staff to engage in evidenced-based change and collaborative partnerships, strengthening student wellbeing, inviting our community to celebrate our shared purpose and enhancing reciprocal relationships with our partners to support student outcomes.
• My exemplary interpersonal skills, sharing the school’s vision and aspirations with all stakeholders to motivate and engage students, staff and families in that journey.
• I have demonstrated excellent communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills and cultural sensitivity. This has enabled me to encourage all stakeholders to feel a part of the workplace and work to develop solutions to challenges as they arise.
• I have been able to negotiate with a range of communities, particularly culturally and linguistically diverse communities, to build partnerships, resolve conflicts as well as enlist support to help achieve the objectives of the workplace.

As Languages Advisor, I led state-wide curriculum implementation and professional learning for teachers to improve the provision of quality languages education for students across the state. My experience in this position included:

• developing and presenting workshops on the new K-10 languages syllabuses to support teachers with planning and programming through other key learning areas in a K-6 setting
• providing targeted support in the areas of programming and assessment, and developing Extension syllabus support material for teachers when implementing new prescribed texts
• providing strategic advice on languages provision in NSW

As Curriculum Coordinator, I led a team of 15 teachers. My achievements included:

• unpacking the Results Analysis Package (RAP) data from NESA to analyse student achievement, to develop learning programs to enhance student performance and outcomes, and to provide professional learning to teachers in understanding the data and its impact on their teaching and learning
• supporting teachers in the development of effective teaching strategies that address the learning strengths and needs of students, as well as using current and comprehensive knowledge of language content to develop engaging learning and teaching programs in Years 7-12
• ensuring that evaluation processes are embedded in teaching and learning programs. In this role, I have in­ serviced teachers on assessing students using evaluative questioning and on how to implement non-HSC style assessment tasks that address the full range of syllabus outcomes, so all students are provided with the opportunity to achieve their best.

As R/Deputy Principal at a distance education setting, I led Head Teachers to enhance teaching, learning and classroom practice across the school and to deliver engaging and challenging learning experiences designed to cater for the needs of students at all levels of development.

• managed and supported Head Teachers through the Performance and Development Process, ensuring the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers formed the basis for guiding and assessing performance and development. I assisted them in setting meaningful and appropriate professional goals
• supervised and supported teachers through their accreditation process. I provided guidance on the samples of work drawn directly from their teaching, on an ongoing basis, as evidence for accreditation and ensured that all teachers are familiar with the process, requirements and resources available from DoE and NESA
• provided opportunities for the teacher to describe their support needs and met with their mentor to discuss progress and gave guidance for further development, discussed classroom practice and phone lesson observations, reviewed and analysed teaching programs and student learning outcome
• managed misconduct and performance discussions professionally with teachers and executive, and provided mediation and sought support from EPAC to resolve difficult situations. I referred to all DoE policies and guidelines to ensure all procedures were implemented fairly and in a timely manner.

As K-6 Languages, Community Program officer, I led state-wide curriculum support to schools and professional learning for teachers to improve the provision of quality languages

• led Assessment and Reporting Project, which involved the supervision of writing teams, advisors and consultants to deliver workshops and support materials to 350 teachers statewide. These workshops focussed on assessment and reporting requirements and on how best to report to parents using the outcomes in the languages syllabuses
• developed and presented workshops on ‘Differentiation in the languages classroom’ to support the continuous uptake of languages beyond the compulsory 100 hours as well as supporting students who have had exposure to languages in their previous years of schooling
• initiated programs: a middle school program for the teaching of languages throughout primary/secondary schools which focuses on the spiral approach to foster continuity of languages study in the transition years