School Community Liaison Officer

Work type: Full time

Salary: Salary not specified

Grade: Ed Support Level 1-Range 3

Occupation: Other

Location: Western Metropolitan

Reference: 1469665

As part of the Victorian African Communities Action Plan, education is identified as a key focus area and funding is available to employ School Community Liaison Officers in school communities with high populations of African young people to improve their connection to education and provide tailored support.

The School Community Liaison Officer at Truganina will support your school community and a cluster of neighbouring schools with high populations of African young people to increase school engagement, strengthen partnerships with families and community and facilitate activities to increase retention and school completion.

This role will be one of eight School Community Liaison Officers appointed to school communities with high populations of African young people across the State and supported by a Senior Program Officer appointed by the Department of Education Training (DET) and operating from the DET central office in Melbourne.

Location

The School Community Liaison Officer will be located at Truganina College and will work in partnership with two ¿ three neighbouring schools that have high populations of African young people.

Truganina College places its learners at the centre of all that we do. The college caters for the educational and personal needs of each learner by providing an environment that inspires learning, promotes positive relationships, security, a sense of belonging and a culture of respect and pride. The College motto of; Inspiring Excellence in Learning to Believe, Achieve and Succeed underpins all decisions that are made.

The College operates using an F-9 Sub school model. The role will see the successful applicant drive, in an unrelenting manner, achievement of the goals and targets in the College Strategic Plan with outstanding student achievement through the use of evidence based, high impact teaching strategies.

The specifics of the role are detailed below.

Officially opened in 2015 Truganina College is located within the City of Wyndham on the corner of Clearwood and Brigalow Drives, Truganina, MEL 203 B3. The area is believed to be named after Truganini, a full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian woman who spent a short time in the area.

The College is organised around the primary and middle years stages of schooling. The school has a strong focus on effective transition from Early Learning Centres and to Senior Secondary education.

The College has a culture of high expectations and a clear focus on visible learning with strong learning growth for every student.

The key components of the teaching curriculum at Truganina College are the effective teaching of literacy and numeracy, using evidence informed, high impact strategies. The College provides high quality learning experiences ensuring breadth and depth in all curriculum areas. Staff work together to share responsibility for and cater to the individual learning needs of all students.

The design of learning environments reflects the specific requirements of all disciplines and supports a diverse range of active, student centred approaches that are based around the idea of `learning to learn¿, emphasising such cross-disciplinary skills as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and team work whilst using information technology to support the learning.

The College culture is one of shared practice, distributed leadership and the development of differentiated learning that are age, stage and ability appropriate.

The learning environment is developing to allow students to make decisions about their learning. Effective learning environments create these opportunities by making learners responsible for their choices and empowering them with the spaces and options that can make those choices work. Student input into decision making is developing.

Truganina College engages in partnerships which support the learning and wellbeing needs of students at different developmental stages and the needs of families. Partnerships involve maternal health centres, kindergartens, local schools, and tertiary providers. The college is building strong links with the community. The learning process is a joint effort between the college and the families. The language of learning is used in all interactions with the community.

People with a strong passion for, and interest in further developing a new school and an understanding of the commitment required are encouraged to apply. The staff work closely with the Principal and the wider school community to establish the vision and strategic direction of the school.

SC 1 Experience working with school communities, families and community organisations involving individuals of culturally and linguistic diverse backgrounds.

SC 2 Excellent stakeholder management and relationship building skills including the ability to partner with and broker support from local community organisations

SC 3 Ability to build strong working relationships with parents and local community organisations to identify best practice and areas for improvement to support student and parent engagement.

SC 4 Excellent time management and organisational skills

SC 5 Ability to work as part of a statewide team and embrace a community of practice approach

The School Community Liaison Officer will be paid Ed Support Level 1 - Range 3.5 and is required to support school communities to focus on increasing school engagement, strengthening partnerships with families and community and facilitating activities to increase retention and school completion.

The School Community Liaison Officer will be expected to work in collaboration with School Community Liaison Officers appointed to other schools across the North West, South West and South East Victorian regions through membership of an established community of practice. The School Community Liaison Officers will be supported by a centrally based program officer and provide regular reports to support the implementation, evaluation and ongoing monitoring of the project.There is an expectation that this role will require travel to other sites of delivery and to the DET Central Office in Melbourne CBD.

• Provide support to school communities they are working with to establish and maintain communication between young people, families and the local community
• Work directly with groups of young people or individuals, planning interventions to ensure young people are connected to an education
• Work directly with young people to provide platforms for student voice, facilitate leadership opportunities and facilitate activities that aligns with their needs
• Facilitate information sessions for parents to support an increased understanding of the education system and platforms and increase engagement with parent teacher nights, information days and school celebrations
• Facilitate professional learning for school staff on cultural responsiveness and safety coordinate workshops and forums for the school and local community
• Facilitate access to homework clubs and afterschool programs, to offer support and mentoring outside of the school
• Support school leaders with the rollout of the cultural competency framework and other activities aimed at strengthening inclusivity for diverse communities
• Participate in a statewide community of practices and statewide planning days with other School Community Liaison Officers
• Undertake other activities as directed by the School Principal

Individuals with the aptitude, experience and/or qualifications to fulfill the specific requirements of the position.

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via marrung@education.vic.gov.au

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the departments exemplar available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy

The departments employees commit to upholding the departments Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The departments Values complement each schools own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

Applications close Monday 31 March 2025 at 11.59PM