Tracy Powell
Perth,WA
Summary
Dedicated and experienced Teacher with extensive experience across diverse metropolitan, regional, and remote educational settings. Specialises in behaviour, engagement, and social-emotional learning, with a strong focus on fostering student resilience, emotional regulation, and positive participation in education across K–12 settings. Committed to developing collaborative and inclusive learning environments through strong, respectful relationships with students, families, colleagues, and the wider community to achieve positive educational and social-emotional outcomes.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Teacher
School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement
Heathridge, Perth, WA
01.2024 - Current
- Direct and indirect support for individual students exhibiting the most extreme, challenging and complex needs.
- Develop, implement, and report on individual case management of K-12 students with highly complex needs and challenging behaviour and create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments.
- Provide high-level consultancy to school staff, including administration teams, while establishing and maintaining collaborative working relationships to improve student outcomes and build staff understanding, capacity, and confidence in supporting and planning for students with complex and challenging behaviours.
- Implement proactive classroom management strategies to promote a positive and supportive learning environment, enhance student engagement, and meet the diverse learning needs of primary and secondary students participating in the onsite learning program.
- Delivery of targeted professional learning, to engage professionally with colleagues, parents and the community including other Departmental teams and external agencies to support student engagement.
- Provide onsite case management for students attending the Engagement Centre through alternative education arrangements, contributing to a multi-tiered system of support to promote student engagement, participation, and successful re-engagement with education.
- Develop and implement data collection and assessment tools to monitor and evaluate student progress, with a focus on behaviour, engagement, and social-emotional learning.
- Attendance planning, support & implementation: Collaborate with schools and key stakeholders to develop, implement, and review individualised attendance plans that support student engagement, re-engagement, and sustained participation in education.
- Implement and coach staff in the use of Functional Behaviour Assessments (FBA), Special Educational Needs (SEN) planning and reporting, social and emotional learning programs, trauma-informed practices, positive behaviour support, therapeutic crisis intervention strategies, and evidence-based behavioural interventions across both onsite and outreach settings.
- Manage and respond to complex student behaviours while supporting colleagues to build their knowledge, confidence, and capability in effective behaviour management, proactive behaviour support strategies, and trauma-informed practice.
- Knowledge and implementation of Classroom Management Strategies (CMS) and Western Australia Positive Behaviour Support (WA PBS).
- Achieved Senior Teacher Level 2 in 2025.
Senior Teacher
Onslow School
Onslow, Pilbara, WA
07.2023 - 12.2023
- Built strong, respectful relationships with students, staff and their families to strengthen support for student learning and wellbeing.
- Fostered strong connections with local families and the wider community in a remote educational setting, strengthening collaboration and support for students.
- Developed a strong understanding of individual students, their strengths, needs, and interests to create supportive conditions for success.
- Established clear classroom routines, expectations, and structures while adapting learning and support to meet the needs of students with additional needs and those at educational risk.
- Developed and implemented Individual Behaviour Plans and Individual Education Plans to support student engagement, inclusion, and positive learning outcomes.
- Demonstrated adaptability and initiative when commencing a teaching position mid-year, quickly establishing effective classroom routines, relationships, and learning environments without the usual preparation and transition period.
Senior Teacher, PLC leader, Graduate Mentor
La Grange Remote Community School
Bidyadanga, Kimberley, WA
01.2022 - 07.2023
- Created engaging, inclusive learning environments that promoted student attendance, participation, and engagement.
- Developed strong expertise in supporting students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, including learners with English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D).
- Utilised EAL/D Progress Maps to monitor and track students’ language development across curriculum areas, informing differentiated teaching and learning.
- Mentored and supported graduate teachers in their professional practice, with a focus on developing effective classroom and behaviour management strategies.
- Explicitly taught and reinforced expected behaviours through daily lessons, promoting positive conduct, engagement, and a supportive classroom environment.
- Applied trauma-informed practice to support students impacted by trauma, with a focus on developing resilience, emotional regulation, and positive engagement in learning.
- Built strong, trusting relationships with students, recognising the importance of connection and cultural responsiveness when working within a remote community.
- Demonstrated flexibility, resilience, and adaptability when responding to the diverse and evolving needs of students in a remote educational setting.
- Contributed positively to the wider remote community, strengthening professional practice through meaningful community engagement and collaboration.
- Developed a strong capacity to think creatively and respond effectively to complex situations, adapting strategies to meet individual student and community needs.
- La Grange is part of the Kimberley Schools Project (KSP) where our focus was targeted teaching: evidence-based literacy teaching strategies and quality materials with frequent measurement of progress to inform planning and delivery.
- Achieved Senior Teacher Level 1 in 2022.
Teacher
John Butler Primary College
Butler, Perth, WA
06.2015 - 12.2021
- Taught across all areas of primary education from lower to upper primary, undertaking both classroom and specialist teaching roles and adapting teaching and learning approaches to meet students’ diverse academic, social, emotional, and behavioural needs.
- Designed and implemented differentiated teaching strategies to support individual learning needs and promote positive behaviour, engagement, and educational outcomes.
- Created inclusive learning environments that enabled students from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds to access learning at an appropriate level.
- Supported Aboriginal students, students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, students with additional and special educational needs, and students experiencing behavioural and emotional regulation challenges.
- Collaborated with colleagues to develop and deliver engaging, differentiated curriculum programs that promoted participation, inclusion, and student success.
- Built and maintained positive, respectful relationships with parents and guardians, facilitating open communication and collaborative approaches to support student outcomes.
- Established effective professional relationships with colleagues and worked collaboratively to achieve shared educational and student support goals.
- Engaged in ongoing professional learning to strengthen teaching practice and apply evidence-informed approaches to improve student learning, behaviour, and engagement outcomes.
Teacher
Tambrey Primary School
Karratha, Pilbara, WA
01.2008 - 12.2014
- Commenced my teaching career as a graduate teacher in a Year 4/5 classroom, developing a strong foundation in primary teaching, classroom management, and student engagement.
- Taught students from Kindergarten to Year 7 across classroom, specialist, and Literacy and Numeracy intervention roles, adapting teaching approaches to meet diverse learning needs.
- Collaborated within teaching teams to design engaging and holistic learning opportunities, contributing ideas, sharing resources, and developing instructional plans to support positive student outcomes.
- Actively contributed as an early-career teacher by sharing ideas while seeking guidance, feedback, and expertise from experienced colleagues to continually strengthen professional practice.
- Engaged in professional learning, with a particular focus on Classroom Management Strategies (CMS), and applied this knowledge to develop effective classroom and behaviour management practices.
- Worked collaboratively with Aboriginal students, families, and staff from diverse cultural backgrounds to support educational outcomes while demonstrating cultural awareness, respect, and responsiveness to individual learning needs.
Education
Graduate Diploma of Education - K-7
Edith Cowan University
01-2007
Bachelor of Arts - Anthropology
University of Western Australia
01-2006
Skills
- Curriculum development, implementation and assessment
- Special Educational Needs (SEN) planning & assessment
- Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) and Prevent, Teach, Reinforce (PTR) planning
- Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Strategies (TCIS)
- Trauma informed practice
- Berry Street Educational Model, Curriculum and Classroom Strategies
- Data-informed behaviour and engagement planning
- Student engagement and re-engagement
- Attendance planning support and implementation
- Inclusive education and practice
- Community engagement
- Stakeholder communication and collaboration
- Professional mentoring and coaching
- Relationship-based practice
- Cultural awareness & responsiveness
- Consultation and collaborative practice
- Case conference coordination and facilitation
- Professional learning delivery
- Evidence informed practice to Improve student outcomes
- Experience delivering a range of evidence-informed literacy intervention programs, including MacqLit, Heggerty, and UFLI
- Team Teach Intermediate accredited Trainer
Trbwa
33064425
Wwcc
1411037
Personal Information
- Date of Birth: 23/01/85
- Nationality: Australian
Licence
C Class
4WD Training accrediation
Professional Learning
- Classroom Management Strategies (CMS)
- First Steps Mathematics & Literacy
- Talk 4 Writing
- Aboriginal Cultural Appreciation
- EDI (Explicit Direct Instruction)
- Science of Reading
- FASD (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder) Signs and Related Issues
- Anaphylaxis Training
- English K-6 Reading Fluency
- MacqLit/MiniLit
- Spelling Mastery
- Corrective Reading
- Let’s Decode – Lorraine Hammond
- Stronger Smarter Institute
- UFLI Foundations
- Heggerty
- PLC Foundation member and team leader
- EAL/D-Reporting and Assessing
- Gate Keeper Suicide Prevention
- Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
- Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA)
- Team Teach – Intermediate trainer Course
- Zones of Regulation
- Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program
- Play is the Way
- Be You – Social and Emotional Learning
- The MindUP Program
- Smiling Minds
- Kimberley SPACE Project
- Trauma-Informed Practice
- Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)
- Self-Regulation Alert Program
- SEN Planning and Reporting
- 4WD Training
- TCIS- Therapeutic Crisis Intervention in Schools
- Current presenter of Managing and Responding to Challenging Behaviours PL
- DoE Trauma Modules 1-4
- TECA (Trauma Expression Connection Assessment)
- Berry Street Education Model
References
Sean Smeed
Program Coordinator: School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement
Sean.Smeed@education.wa.edu.au
Heathridge Engagement Centre
69 Littorina Ave, Heathridge
WA 6027
(08) 9406 5155
0401 245 149
Eva Wright
School Psychologist: School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement
Eva.Wright@education.wa.edu.au
Heathridge Engagement Centre
69 Littorina Ave, Heathridge
WA 6027
(08) 9406 5155
0488 241 452
Claudette Cattanach
Deputy Principal: Fitzroy Valley District High School
Claudette.Cattanach@education.wa.edu.au
Lot 507 Fallon Rd, Fitzroy Crossing, WA
(08) 9163 8600
0400 224 864
Timeline
Senior Teacher
School of Special Educational Needs: Behaviour and Engagement
01.2024 - Current
Senior Teacher
Onslow School
07.2023 - 12.2023
Senior Teacher, PLC leader, Graduate Mentor
La Grange Remote Community School
01.2022 - 07.2023
Teacher
John Butler Primary College
06.2015 - 12.2021
Teacher
Tambrey Primary School
01.2008 - 12.2014
Graduate Diploma of Education - K-7
Edith Cowan University
Bachelor of Arts - Anthropology
University of Western Australia