College of Education
St Albans Campus
McKechnie Street
PO BOX 14428 MELBOURNE
VICTORIA 8001 AUSTRALIA
PHONE +61 3 919 7511
vu.edu.au
April 2015
Dear Centre Director/Mentor Teacher,
Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary)
Year 2 (Non Accelerated) Pre Service Teacher Childcare Placement – 0-2 Years
Thank-you again for your support with the organisation of the Project Partnership placement for our Year 2 (nonaccelerated) pre-service teacher (PST) studying in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood/Primary) course
at the St Albans Campus of Victoria University. Please note the following information regarding pre service
teacher requirements during this placement.
Whilst non-accelerated pre-service teachers have had placement experiences in community based playgroups,
and primary school classrooms, they have had little (if any) experience in Long Day Care with babies aged 0-2
years. We do ask that this be taken into consideration during placement and when completing their report.
Attendance details

During the block placement from Monday 11th May – Friday 22nd May 2015, PSTs are expected to work a
five day full-time week (7 hours per day), with the breakdown of contact and non-contact time the same as
the mentor teacher wherever possible, for continuity of care with the babies and common planning time
with the mentor teacher. Further details of all requirements of the placement are in ‘The Essentials Year 2’
which has been emailed to your setting and which PST’s are required to give to you on arrival.
Professional expectations, PSTs are expected to:

Develop effective and respectful professional working relationships with their mentor teacher and other
staff at the centre and warm relationships with the children and their families.

Complete the Communication Protocol Form with the mentor teacher at the end of the first 2 days of the
placement to ensure that the PST receives timely feedback early enough in the placement to be able to
set and achieve goals and strategies for the remainder of the placement to improve on practice.

Maintain a placement folder which should include the PST’s personal philosophy of teaching, all child
observations, individual and group plans and evaluations, and any other materials and information
relevant to the placement. A list of information to be maintained in the folder is detailed in ‘The Essentials
2015 ABEC Year 2’.

Plan a minimum of 10 play-based experiences based on children’s interests or needs which are
appropriate and suitable to the 0-2 year age group and which address the EYLF outcomes, the practice
principles and their course unit of study curriculum areas.
Units of study throughout 2014 and the beginning of 2015 will have provided PST’s with some ideas for
experiences and resources to suit babies aged 0-2 years, however this placement usually occurs in
semester 2, so the earlier timeframe means that they have studied fewer units as well as fewer
experiences when they begin this placement. Please discuss these with the PST ensuring they make an
early start to planning and ensuring you sign and acknowledge each of their 10 written experiences.
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY ABN 83776954731 CRICOS Provider No. 00124K
Year 2 (non-accelerated) 0-2 years PP 2015

PSTs must information about their intended teaching activities throughout the placement. Written
intentional teaching plans must be available for approval by the mentor teacher before each of the 10
experiences is implemented at a time which has been discussed with the mentor. Plans should also be
offered to the mentor afterwards for written comments in the evaluation before reflection and definitely
before the following lesson. This ensures that the full cycle of planning and reflection is carried out.
Whilst spontaneous experiences throughout placement are expected and highly important, prior
approval of teaching ensures that professional teaching responsibilities are understood by all.

PSTs should take increasing responsibility for the planning and implementation of the program within
the two week placement. This will be implemented through consultation and collaboration with the
mentor teacher.

PSTs need to meet all of the requirements detailed in the Year 2 Semester 2 Long Day Care Report
The PST will write evidence in their report and work collaboratively with their mentor to have this
acknowledged and signed. We ask that mentors clearly circle ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory’ before
signing the report and returning it to the PST before their last day. PSTs are required to copy their
completed report and return it to Jenny Aitken on Monday 25th May.
Support for Settings and PSTs while on placement.
Partnerships Support Coordinators
Mentors are urged to make contact with either Sonja Cornish or Kristin McCormick if there are any queries or
concerns about any aspect of the placement. Their contact details are as follows:
A-K settings Christin McCormick
L-Z settings Sonja Cornish
Sonja or Christin will email each service during the first week and then follow up with one phone call over the 2
weeks.
Praxis Inquiry lecturer
Praxis Inquiry lecturers Jenny Aitken and Pauline Leonard will communicate with PSTs via the eLearning
environment at Victoria University called VUCollaborate. PSTs are required to contribute to discussions each
week about their experiences.
The two Partnership Support Coordinators and I will remain in close communication for the duration of the
placement sharing any triumphs and concerns which may need to be followed up in order to support the PST on
their placement.
On behalf of the College of Education at Victoria University, I would like to thank-you and your centre for
participating in the project partnerships placement program of the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and
Primary) course.
Yours sincerely
Jenny Aitken
Year 2 Co-ordinator and Praxis Inquiry Lecturer
Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood/Primary)
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY ABN 83776954731 CRICOS Provider No. 00124K
Year 2 (non-accelerated) 0-2 years PP 2015