2025 Experienced Teacher Standards Pathway Information Booklet by thekingsschool_official

The King’s School Teacher Accreditation

(AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS)

The King’s School Procedures • Accreditation Leaders and Supervisors • AIS Workshops, Coaching and Professional Learning Courses • Network of academic staff at varying levels of accreditation

STAGE 1

Provisional / Conditional –

Structured support program, resources and templates to achieve Proﬁciency.

STAGE 2

Structured support program, resources and templates to maintain Proﬁciency.

STAGE 3

Experienced Teacher

ExperiencedTeacherStandards

Structured support program, resources and templates to achieve Experienced Teacher (MEA Independent Schools). Post 2004 Teachers only.

STAGE 4

Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher

Structured support program, resources and templates to achieve HALT.

ET 7.1 Maintain high ethical standards by meeting codes of ethics and conduct established by regulatory authorities and schools.

ET 6.1 Use the Professional Standards for Experienced Teacher to reﬂect on current practice and identify and plan professional learning needs.

ET 5.1 Design and implement a range of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies to assess student learning.

ET 7.2 Demonstrate ongoing compliance with relevant legislative, administrative, organisational and professional requirements, policies and processes.

ET 6.2 Evaluate professional learning undertaken to enhance knowledge and practice, targeted to professional needs and school priorities.

ET 5.2 Provide constructive feedback to students to promote learning and an understanding of their achievement relative to the learning goals.

ET 7.3 Develop and build active, ongoing, respectful, collaborative relationships with parents/carers regarding their children’s learning or wellbeing.

ET 6.3 Work with colleagues, giving and receiving constructive feedback, to improve professional knowledge and practice.

ET 5.3 Participate in and apply knowledge from assessment moderation activities to make consistent and comparable judgements of student learning.

ET 7.4

Make an active contribution in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice.

ET 4.1

Demonstrate inclusive and positive interactions to engage and support all students in classsroom activities.

ET 3.1 Design and implement learning activities for all students based on explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals.

ET 2.1 Select, implement and evaluate teaching strategies that incorporate content knowledge of the teaching area.

ET 1.1 Select teaching strategies based on assessment of students’ physical or social or intellectual development and characteristics to improve student learning.

ET 4.2 Develop with students, orderly and workable routines that create an environment where the use of classroom time for learning is maximised.

ET 3.2 Implement and evaluate wellstructured teaching and learning programs or lesson sequences that engage students and promote learning.

ET 2.2 Design and implement teaching and learning programs in which the content is coherent and well sequenced.

ET 1.2 Design teaching and learning programs using research or information provided by colleagues about how students learn.

ET 4.3 Negotiate and establish with students clear expectations for appropriate student behaviour and consequences for challenging behaviour.

ET 3.3 Select and implement a range of teaching strategies to develop students’ knowledge, skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking.

ET 2.3 Implement and evaluate teaching and learning programs that are designed using knowledge of curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements.

ET 1.3 Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies that have been designed to be responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic or cultural or religious or socioeconomic backgrounds.

ET 6.4

Apply professional learning that is designed to address identiﬁed student learning needs.

ET 5.4 Use internal and/or external student assessment data to analyse and evaluate student understanding of subject/content, modifying teaching practice and/ or identifying interventions.

ET 4.4 Develop and implement strategies that ensure students’ wellbeing and safety based on school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements.

ET 3.4 Evaluate the implementation of a range of resources including ICT that have been selected or created to engage students in their learning.

ET 2.4 Design and implement activities that enable students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures or languages.

ET 1.4 Implement and evaluate effective teaching strategies that are designed to be responsive to the home community or cultural setting, linguistic background or histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

ET 5.5 Report clearly, accurately and respectfully to students and parents/carers about student achievement, making use of accurate and reliable records in a timely and consistent manner using school protocols and procedures.

ET 4.5

Model for students and implement strategies to promote the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in teaching and learning.

ET 3.5 Use effective verbal and nonverbal communication strategies to support student understanding, participation, engagement and achievement.

ET 2.5

Design and implement effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy or numeracy achievement.

ET 3.6

Evaluate and suggest modiﬁcations to teaching and learning programs based on information gained from student feedback and formal and informal student assessment data.

ET 3.7 Provide appropriate and contextually relevant opportunities for parents/carers to be involved in their children’s learning.

ET 1.5

Design and implement a range of teaching activities that incorporate differentiated strategies to meet the speciﬁc learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.

ET 2.6

Select and implement effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into teaching and learning programs to make selected content relevant.

ET 1.6

Implement and evaluate teaching activities that have been designed to support the participation and learning of students with disability and address relevant policy and legislative requirements.

2025 Experienced Teacher Accreditation Manual

Published April 2024

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Part 1 – Introduction

1.The purpose of the

Experienced Teacher Accreditation

Manual

This Experienced Teacher Accreditation Manual sets out the AISNSW policies and procedures for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation and provides guidance and advice to assist applicants, supervisors and principals to interpret the requirements for Experienced Teacher accreditation within the context of their school and individual teacher’s roles.

2.The purpose of Experienced Teacher accreditation

Experienced Teacher accreditation provides an opportunity for eligible teachers to have their current expertise recognised and validated by demonstrating that their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher and being accredited by AISNSW at this level. Accreditation at Experienced Teacher is voluntary.

Teachers accredited at the level of Experienced Teacher will gain recognition, and respect from students, colleagues and parents.

Experienced Teacher accreditation is portable across schools in the Independent sector and may provide additional renumeration depending on an individual school’s employment agreement.

2.1. CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPERIENCED TEACHERS

Experienced Teachers are consistently operating beyond the level of a Proficient teacher. They demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of their students and how to teach them which is visible across three domains:

Knowledge of students and content

Knowledge of teaching and assessment strategies

Professional knowledge, practices and communication.

Experienced teachers:

are skilled and competent teachers who have an in-depth knowledge of their subject content and effectively teach a range of students

understand the background and stage of development of their students and consistently use a variety of teaching and assessment strategies to enhance the learning experiences of their students constantly reflect on and evaluate the success of their teaching practices and use this knowledge to plan learning experiences and provide meaningful reports to students, parents and caregivers demonstrate effective communication, reflected in the relationships these teachers develop with a range of stakeholders, including students, parents and members of the school and wider communities implement classroom procedures that enable all students to learn in a safe and secure environment participate in a range of ongoing professional learning experiences to improve their professional knowledge and practice

involve themselves in the school and wider community and conduct themselves in such a way as to promote the profession and their school.

3.Experienced Teacher accreditation process at a glance

3.1. IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

Action

Timeframe

E Ev ide n ce t im e f ra m e: Tuesday 30 January 2024 to Friday 1 August 2025

A pplica t io n pe r io d: Monday 4 to Friday 15 November 2024

S u bm iss io n o f ev ide n ce pe r io d: Monday 28 April to Friday 1 August 2025

Accre dit a t io n o u tco m e to a pplica n t s : Within 12 weeks of submission of Portfolio of Evidence.

Addit io n a l ev ide n ce ( w h e re re qu e ste d) : To be submitted within three months of feedback being provided.

Part 2 – Policy

4.Eligibility and transferability

4.1. ACT AND NSW TEACHERS - STANDARDS AND NSW HYBRID MODEL MEA

Eligibility to apply for accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher is based on the following criteria.

Teachers who entered the teaching profession in NSW and ACT p pr io r t o 1 October 2004:

must have completed seven years of full-time equivalent service by the end of the year in which their Portfolio of Evidence is submitted, AND are currently on Band 2 of the salary scale in accordance with their school’s Multi-Enterprise Agreement.

Teachers who entered the teaching profession in NSW and ACT a a f t er 1 October 2004:

must have completed at least five years of full-time equivalent service after achieving accreditation at the level of Proficient Teacher. The five years of full-time equivalent service must be completed by the end of the year in which their Portfolio of Evidence is submitted.

Note for New South Wales teachers: the date a teacher achieved Proficient Teacher accreditation is stated on their NESA Teacher Summary Report which can be accessed by logging into their account on the NESA eTAMS website.

In schools that have adopted the Independent Schools NSW/ACT Standards Model (Teachers) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021 or Independent Schools NSW Teachers (Hybrid Model) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021, teachers satisfying the requirements for accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher are entitled to move from Band 2 to Band 3 of the salary scale in the calendar year following their accreditation at Experienced Teacher.

4.2. TASMANIAN TEACHERS - STANDARDS MODEL MEA

Eligibility to apply for accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher is based on the following: teachers who have achieved accreditation at the level of Proficient Teacher with the Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania, AND who have reached the P1 step of the salary scale in the Tasmanian Independent Christian School (Teachers) Multi Enterprise Agreement 2022, AND who have the support of their school.

Teachers who apply for accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher and are successful in the first instance will receive their accreditation at the end of the year in which their Portfolio of Evidence is submitted.

Salary progression will occur in accordance with the MEA in place at the school.

4.3. LEAVE

All forms of leave, including maternity, sick leave and long service leave, whether paid or unpaid, do not count as contributing to the calculation of years of full-time equivalent teaching required to be eligible to apply for accreditation at Experienced Teacher.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

4.4. RELEVANT INTERSTATE AND OVERSEAS TEACHING EXPERIENCE

AISNSW acknowledges teaching experience, including overseas and interstate teaching experience, that is recognised by schools at the point of employment of teachers.

This also applies to returning teachers, as defined in NESA’s Teacher Accreditation Manual, who have returned to teaching in NSW after an absence of five or more years who have been re-accredited by NESA at Proficient Teacher, or re-accredited at Provisional and then immediately accredited at Proficient Teacher by NESA.

Teaching experience refers to the teaching of school-age students in a classroom situation, but not teaching in a university or as an itinerant teacher or in a preschool that is not attached to a school.

4.5. TRANSFERABILITY

Accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher will be transferable between schools within the NSW and ACT independent sectors that have adopted a Standards or Hybrid Model Multi-Enterprise Agreements or Tasmanian Independent Christian Schools (Teacher) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2019

5.Application

Teachers wishing to apply for Experienced Teacher accreditation should first self-assess their eligibility and readiness. They must then discuss their intention with their Principal. If the teacher and Principal agree that the teacher is ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation, the teacher should make an online application during the next application period. Teachers can apply through their personal AISNSW Profile during the application period. Teachers whose Experienced Teacher accreditation application is accepted will be able to draw their evidence from the previous calendar year to the year of their submission of evidence.

AISNSW will:

1.confirm that the applicant is eligible to participate in Experienced Teacher accreditation in that year, and

2.advise the applicant’s Principal of the application, seek confirmation of the Principal’s support for the application and details of the nominated supervisor.

If the Principal supports the application and the applicant is eligible, the applicant will receive formal notification of the acceptance of their application (by email) from AISNSW.

Please refer to the section on How to apply for Experienced Teacher accreditation

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

6.Cost of Experienced Teacher accreditation

6.1. FEE

There is a fee for each applicant for Experienced Teacher accreditation. This fee consists of two components. An Application fee which is due at the time of applying and a Submission of Evidence fee which is due at the time the applicant submits their evidence. Both fees are non-refundable.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION APPLICATION FEE

Non-refundable amount: $275.00 incl GST.

Due at the time of applying during the application period: 4 November – 15 November 2024.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE FEE

Non-refundable amount: $925.00 incl GST.

Due at the time of submission of evidence during the Submission of Evidence period: 28 April to 1 August 2025.

The payment process requires a credit card payment at the time of the transaction. Teachers should consult with their Principal regarding payment of Experienced Teacher accreditation fees.

6.2. REFUNDS

Both the Application fee and the Submission of Evidence fee are non-refundable.

If an applicant defers into the following year’s cohort, they will not be asked to pay the application fee a second time.

Applicants who withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation will be required to pay a new application fee if they wish to reapply.

7.Change of school

Applicants who change schools during the Experienced Teacher accreditation process can continue with their accreditation if they:

move to an Independent school on one of the following multi-enterprise agreements:

–Independent Schools NSW/ACT Standards Model (Teachers) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021

–Independent Schools NSW Teachers (Hybrid Model) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021

–Tasmanian Independent Christian School (Teachers) Multi Enterprise Agreement 2022, and have spoken with the Principal of their new school to confirm they support the applicant continuing with their Experienced Teacher application.

Applicants may use evidence that they developed and implemented from both schools.

If an applicant selects evidence from multiple schools, they must provide a Declaration of Authenticity from the Principal of each school.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

Please refer to the section of this Manual on How to notify AISNSW of a change of school

Applicants who move to a Government or Catholic systemic school will need to make a notification to defer or withdraw their application.

8.Deferrals and Withdrawals

An applicant who has applied for Experienced Teacher accreditation and finds they cannot complete the requirements for accreditation before the closing date for submission of evidence has two options available to them: withdraw their application, or request to defer their application to the follow year’s cohort for accreditation. Note only one deferral request is allowed, deferring applicants must complete their Experienced Teacher accreditation submission with the following year’s cohort or withdraw their application.

Applicants need to make a formal request for deferral or withdrawal.

If an applicant is uncertain about which option to choose, they should call the AISNSW Teacher Accreditation team to discuss their circumstances.

For details of how to make a formal request for a deferral or withdrawal, please refer to the section of this Manual on Procedures for deferral or withdrawal from Experienced Teacher accreditation

8.1. DEFERRALS

With the endorsement of their Principal, an applicant may apply to defer their Experienced Teacher accreditation application once only, to the following year.

Requests for deferral may be made up to the final date of the Submission of Evidence for the cohort. Please refer to the section on Important Dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation

If an applicant has not made a formal request for deferral of accreditation and does not submit their initial (or additional) evidence by the due date, as relevant, AISNSW will consider that the applicant has withdrawn from the accreditation process.

REQUEST FOR DEFERRAL

Reasons for requesting a deferral from the accreditation process may include: long service leave or parental leave teaching overseas or interstate illness or misadventure carer’s responsibilities conducting research for a degree or under the auspices of a grant that is related to teaching other reasons at the discretion of AISNSW.

EVIDENCE TIMEFRAME FOR DEFERRED APPLICATIONS

Applicants who defer their application for one year, may use evidence collected from the start of the evidence timeframe for their initial application through to the point they submit their evidence in the year they are completing their Experienced Teacher accreditation.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

If the applicant has started collating evidence in their AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder, they will need to make their own copies of this evidence as they will no longer be able to access the folder once their deferral is processed.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to maintain records of any evidence they have gathered over the course of their application. The teacher will need to upload all their final evidence to their new OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder provided by AISNSW in the year they are completing Experienced Teacher accreditation.

PROCESS FOR DEFERRAL REQUEST

For details of how to request a deferral of accreditation please refer to the section of this Manual on How to defer Experienced Teacher accreditation

8.2. WITHDRAWALS

Applicants who are unable to complete and submit their Portfolio of Evidence by the closing date for the Submission of Evidence or no longer wish to proceed with Experienced Teacher accreditation may choose to withdraw their application.

Applicants should discuss their intention to withdraw their accreditation application with their Principal.

Requests for withdrawal may be made up to the final date of the Submission of Evidence for each cohort.

If an applicant has not made a formal request for withdrawal or deferral of their accreditation application and does not submit their initial (or additional) evidence by the due date, as relevant, AISNSW will consider that the applicant has withdrawn from the accreditation process.

Applicants who have withdrawn their application for Experienced Teacher accreditation may make a new application for accreditation in the following or subsequent years. A new application fee will be required.

If the applicant has started collating evidence in their AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder and would like to retain a copy of their evidence, they will need to make their own copies of this evidence as they will no longer be able to access the folder once their withdrawal is processed.

PROCESS FOR WITHDRAWALS

For details of how to make a formal request for a withdrawal. Please refer to the section of this Manual on How to withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation

8.3. EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

If exceptional circumstances arise which prevent an applicant from completing their Portfolio of Evidence or submitting additional evidence, the applicant’s Principal can contact the Head of Regulation and Accreditation. The Head of Regulation and Accreditation will consider the applicant’s circumstances and will convey the options available to the Principal.

9.Requirements for accreditation

To be accredited at the level of Experienced Teacher, an applicant must demonstrate to AISNSW that their practice consistently aligns to the Experienced Teacher Standards.

To achieve Experienced Teacher accreditation, applicants must:

hold a role in an independent school that includes responsibility for the implementation of teaching programs and the assessment of students/children

meet the Standards for Experienced Teacher accreditation. Please refer to the section of this Manual on Standards and Descriptors

submit evidence drawn from the evidence timeframe that sufficiently demonstrates that their practice aligns with all the Standards for Experienced Teacher accreditation:

–evidence must address all 7 Experienced Teacher Standards and include:

a Principal Attestation signed by their current Principal that confirms the applicant’s practice aligns with Standards 4, 6 and 7

Documentary Evidence that addresses a minimum of 20 Experienced Teacher Standard Descriptors from across Standards 1, 2, 3 and 5.

the documentary evidence must include one Observation of Practice Record that may address up to 5 of the 20 Experienced Teacher Standard Descriptors

an Explanation of Evidence - Annotations document for each set of documentary evidence (excluding the Principal Attestation and Observation of Practice Record) that explains how the evidence demonstrates that the applicant’s practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher

a Declaration of Authenticity signed by the Principal of each school from which the documentary evidence is drawn, attesting to the fact that the evidence is genuine and created by the applicant independently or collaboratively in the normal course of their professional work as a teacher at the school. If any of the applicant’s evidence was developed in collaboration with colleagues, the section on collaborative evidence must be completed and signed by the Principal

–evidence is required to be submitted through the applicant’s AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence by the closing date for the submission of evidence period. Please refer to the section on Important Dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation

PRINCIPAL ATTESTATION

Applicants are required to submit a Principal Attestation with their submission of evidence.

The Principal Attestation is completed by the Principal and provides evidence for the following Experienced Teacher Standards:

Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

Standard 6: Engage in professional learning

Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

The Principal Attestation is the only evidence required for these three Standards. No annotation is required to support the Principal Attestation.

If the Principal is absent/on leave, the Acting Principal may sign the Principal Attestation. The Acting Principal must indicate on the Principal Attestation that they are signing on behalf of the Principal.

The Principal Attestation may be signed-off at any time during the evidence timeframe. Please refer to the section on Important Dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Applicants are required to collate and submit documentary evidence that sufficiently demonstrates that their practice aligns with all the Standards for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

An applicant’s documentary evidence may be drawn from any time during the evidence timeframe.

An applicant’s documentary evidence needs to explicitly address a minimum of 20 Standard Descriptors selected from the following Experienced Teacher Standards:

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn

Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it

Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

Documentary evidence may be packaged into evidence sets, although there may be some circumstances where an applicant chooses to provide a stand-alone document as an item of evidence. Generally, each evidence set would address no more than 5 Standard Descriptors.

Applicants have the flexibility to select and collate evidence that reflects their role and context. To authentically demonstrate that an applicant’s practice addresses each of the Standards, they will need to select evidence that demonstrates an appropriate scope, depth and breadth of practice using different types of evidence. Please refer to the section on Documentary evidence for examples of types of evidence.

Evidence should include documentation such as programs, student work samples, assessments and communication with colleagues and parents/carers. Generally, such documentation would show the implementation of NESA curriculum, but evidence may also be drawn from school-based curriculum such as religious or cultural studies.

Experienced Teacher applicants usually have their own teaching load, however the evidence requirements provide the flexibility for teachers in independent schools in non-teaching roles to select evidence that is relevant to their role that demonstrates that their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher.

EXPLANATION OF EVIDENCE – ANNOTATIONS

An Explanation of Evidence - Annotations document is required to support each set of evidence submitted in the applicant’s Portfolio of Evidence except for the Observation of Practice Record and the Principal Attestation.

The annotations should be a succinct explanation of how the applicant’s evidence demonstrates that their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher.

Annotations must be developed for each set of evidence to explain: the context of the development and implementation of the evidence the impact of the implementation of the practice(s) demonstrated through the evidence on students and/or colleagues and/or the applicants own teaching practice

how the evidence aligns to the level of Experienced teacher and demonstrates the applicant’s practice at this level

if any of the evidence in an evidence set was developed in collaboration with colleagues, the relevant annotation(s) should also explain the scope of the applicant’s contribution and role in the development of the evidence.

The annotations for each evidence set may be written holistically but should reference the Standard Descriptors that have been identified as relevant for the evidence set. Generally, each evidence set would address no more than 5 Standard Descriptors.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Separate annotations are not required for each individual item of evidence unless a piece of evidence is a stand-alone item.

All claims made in annotations must be supported by evidence.

Annotations should be separate to the evidence, clearly identify which set of evidence or item of evidence they relate to and not be written across the items of evidence.

OBSERVATION OF PRACTICE

One Observation of Practice Record is to be included as evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation. The observation is to be completed by only one person.

The observation of practice may be undertaken at any time during the evidence timeframe.

The observation of practice is to be undertaken by the applicant’s supervisor or Principal (or their nominee) and may address up to five Standard Descriptors of their choosing selected from Standards 1, 2, 3 and/or 5.

For the Observation of Practice Record to provide evidence of each descriptor selected, the applicant should be observed fully demonstrating each selected descriptor in the lesson/practice being observed.

The Observation of Practice Record is the only evidence required for the one to five Descriptors that have been selected for the observation of practice. No other evidence is required for the selected Descriptors.

No annotation is required to support the Observation of Practice Record.

Usually, the observation of practice will be an observation of the applicant teaching a lesson to their class. However, applicants in non-teaching roles have the flexibility to have their practice observed in a context that that is more relevant to their role, for example a demonstration lesson.

Where a school is unsure of the appropriateness of the context for an observation of practice, the Principal or supervisor may contact the AISNSW Teacher Accreditation team for advice.

Applicants and observers may find the visible examples of practice for the selected Descriptors detailed in the guide to evidence in this Manual useful as they provide illustrative examples of actions that teachers may take to demonstrate they are meeting a Descriptor during an observation. Refer to the section of this Manual on Standards and Descriptors

DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY

In order to ensure the validity of the evidence submitted, applicants are required to provide a signed Declaration of Authenticity attesting to the fact that the evidence is genuine and created by them individually or in collaboration with colleagues in the normal course of their professional work as a teacher.

This declaration is co-signed by the Principal and the applicant.

It is expected that the majority of an applicant’s evidence is developed independently, however an applicant may include evidence that has been developed in collaboration with colleagues. If an applicant includes documentary evidence that has been developed in collaboration with colleagues, the section of the Declaration of Authenticity on collaborative evidence must be completed and signed by the Principal attesting to the fact that the applicant personally contributed to the development and implementation of the evidence and that the item of evidence is representative of the applicant’s own work and practice which is consistent with the identified Standard Descriptors.

If an applicant moves from one school to another during their evidence timeframe and they have selected evidence from more than one school, they must include a Declaration of Authenticity signed by the Principal of each school from which their documentary evidence is drawn.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

PERMISSION TO USE STUDENTS WORK

Applicants do not need to seek permission from students or parents/carers if they are including student work as a part of their evidence. However, applicants are required to ensure the confidentiality of student and parent personal details by de-identifying (redacting) all student and parent names on all evidence submitted.

PERMISSION TO USE PHOTOGRAPHS/VIDEO OF STUDENTS

Applicants need to check if their school has permission to photograph and/or video students before including any photographs or videos with students’ images in their documentary evidence.

If the school does have permission, the applicant may include video or photographic evidence that includes images of those students for whom permission has been granted.

If the school has not sought permission to video or photograph students, the applicant needs to speak to their supervisor or Principal about seeking written permission from the students themselves and/or their carers/parents to photograph or video students for their evidence.

Students who do not have permission to participate in videos or photographs must not be included in videos or photographs submitted as part of an applicant’s evidence.

10.Roles and Responsibilities

10.1. AISNSW

AISNSW is responsible for:

making available access to the online application and information about accreditation at the level of Experienced Teacher to AISNSW member schools and their teachers

checking eligibility of applications, confirming school support for applications, and informing teachers of the acceptance of their application if eligible to proceed

providing current and prospective applicants and supervisors access to Experienced Teacher accreditation online information sessions

making available professional learning support and advice for applicants and their supervisors to inform and guide the collection, preparation, and collation of the Portfolio of Evidence for submission

providing applicants with access to an AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder to upload their evidence for submission

acknowledging, via email, submission and acceptance of applications, submission of the Portfolio of Evidence and providing information about the outcome of the submission

discussing the application with Principal, where appropriate

requesting additional evidence from applicants, where necessary

providing an electronic certificate of accreditation to successful applicants.

10.2. PRINCIPAL

The Principal is responsible for:

being familiar with the Experienced Teacher accreditation requirements

discussing with teachers their eligibility and readiness to commence Experienced Teacher accreditation prior to the teacher making an application

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

providing ways to support the teacher during Experienced Teacher accreditation

identifying suitably qualified people within the school to act as Accreditation Supervisors and notifying AISNSW of each applicant’s supervisor. Note, an Accreditation Supervisor does not need to be the applicant’s line manager or hold Experienced Teacher accreditation themselves

providing ways to support accreditation supervisors in their role

endorsing applicants’ Declaration of Authenticity and completing their Principal Attestation. Where the Principal is not able to endorse the Declaration of Authenticity and/or the Principal Attestation, the Principal should contact the AISNSW Head of Regulation and Accreditation

discussing teachers’ applications with an AISNSW representative, where appropriate

completing the relevant section of the Notification of Deferral or Notification of Withdrawal on behalf of an applicant when an applicant wishes to defer their accreditation to the following year or withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation.

10.3. ACCREDITATION SUPERVISOR

The Accreditation Supervisor of an applicant is nominated by the Principal and is responsible for:

familiarising themselves with information about the requirements and processes for Experienced Teacher accreditation, for example by reading this Manual and participating in an Experienced Teacher Accreditation Online Information Session

supporting the applicant by providing advice and feedback on evidence and annotations when requested by the applicant(s)

observing the applicant and writing the Observation of Practice Record unless the Principal (or their nominee) will undertake the observation

providing information to the Principal to inform the completion of the Declaration of Authenticity and Principal Attestation, as relevant

communicating with the Principal if concerns arise regarding an applicant’s practice and/or evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

10.4. APPLICANT

Each applicant is responsible for:

self-assessing their eligibility to apply and considering their readiness for Experienced Teacher accreditation, for example by completing the AISNSW online module – Am I ready for Experienced Teacher Accreditation, prior to discussing their intention to apply with their Principal

notifying the Principal of their intention to apply for Experienced Teacher accreditation and meeting to discuss their eligibility and readiness to apply

submitting an online application during the application period

paying the Experienced Teacher accreditation Application fee and Submission of Evidence fee as they are due (applicants should consult with their school regarding payment of these fees)

understanding the requirements and processes for Experienced Teacher accreditation, for example by reading this Manual, participating in an Experienced Teacher Accreditation Online Information Session and engaging with the Experienced Teacher Accreditation Portal

seeking advice and working collaboratively with their allocated Accreditation Supervisor collecting, preparing, uploading, and submitting their evidence in their AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder by the closing date for their cohort

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

providing a signed Declaration of Authenticity for the evidence included in their submission

ensuring confidentiality of student and parent personal details by de-identifying (redacting) all student and parent names on all evidence submitted

notifying AISNSW of any change in their employment during the accreditation process and notifying their new employer of their application for Experienced Teacher accreditation

notifying the AISNSW Teacher Accreditation team of any change to their contact details in addition to keeping their AISNSW account up to date

submitting any additional evidence requested by AISNSW, if applicable, by the date identified if applicable, completing the Notification of Deferral or Notification of Withdrawal and providing it to the Principal with sufficient time for it to be submitted to AISNSW by the closing date.

11.AISNSW support

In addition to this 2025 Experienced Teacher Accreditation Manual, the following resources are also available to support teachers working towards Experienced Teacher accreditation:

Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation online module

Experienced Teacher Accreditation Portal

2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation Information Sessions

2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation network meetings (to be held in 2025)

AISNSW professional learning.

Teachers can register to access the above resources/professional learning through the Courses and Events page on the AISNSW website.

AISNSW ‘AM I READY FOR EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION?’ ONLINE MODULE

AISNSW has an online module Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation? which is available to teachers in AISNSW member schools at no charge.

Teachers considering applying for Experienced Teacher accreditation are advised to complete this online module before speaking with their school about undertaking Experienced Teacher accreditation.

This online module covers:

eligibility for Experienced Teacher accreditation

self-assessment of current practice against Experienced Teacher Standards to reflect on readiness next steps.

At the completion of the ‘Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation?’ online module, teachers should be able to engage in more meaningful discussions with their school about undertaking Experienced Teacher accreditation.

Register for the Am I ready for Experienced Teacher Accreditation online module through the Courses and Events page on the AISNSW website.

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AISNSW EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION PORTAL

AISNSW has developed an AISNSW Experienced Teacher Accreditation Portal which provides information and resources to support teachers, supervisors and schools as they consider, work towards and/or complete Experienced Teacher accreditation.

The Portal covers sections including: approaches to evidence effective annotations observation of Practice portfolio of evidence

This online portal is available to teachers in AISNSW member schools at no charge. To access the Experienced Teacher Accreditation Portal, register through the Courses and Events page on the AISNSW website.

AISNSW 2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION INFORMATION SESSIONS

AISNSW has an online information session available to introduce potential applicants and supervisors to the processes and procedures of 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation. The online information session is presented by AISNSW Consultants and is available to teachers in AISNSW member schools at no charge.

The online information session will provide an overview of: the roles and responsibilities of 2025 Experienced Teacher applicants, supervisors and principals key timeframes evidence collection requirements for the submission of applicants Portfolio of Evidence.

AISNSW 2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION NETWORK MEETINGS

AISNSW will run a series of 2025 Experienced Teacher Accreditation Network meetings in Terms 1 and 2, 2025.

The Experienced Teacher Network meetings are facilitated by AISNSW Consultants and will be available to 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation applicants and supervisors.

Experienced Teacher Network meetings provide applicants and supervisors opportunities to connect and discuss aspects of their accreditation, with AISNSW consultants providing additional support where required/needed.

2025 Experienced Teacher applicants and supervisors will be provided with links to register for the network meetings.

AISNSW PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

AISNSW offers a range of optional Professional Learning courses designed for potential or current applicants and supervisors.

For information about available courses refer to the Courses and Events page on the AISNSW website.

AISNSW can also design bespoke consultancies for individual schools. To engage AISNSW to provide a consultancy, email the Teacher Accreditation team at istaa@aisnsw.edu.au

Part 3 – Procedures

12.How to Check Eligibility and

Readiness

A prospective Experienced Teacher accreditation applicant should first self-assess their eligibility for Experienced Teacher Accreditation, then self-assess their readiness for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

After completing these self-assessments, prospective applicants must then speak with their Principal about their readiness to make an application for Experienced Teacher accreditation and commence gathering evidence.

12.1. CHECK ELIGIBILITY

Please refer to the section of this Manual on Eligibility and Transferability for the eligibility criteria to make an application for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

To check eligibility, prospective applicants can use the following AISNSW eligibility tools:

Experienced Teacher Employment History Spreadsheet

The Employment History Spreadsheet is a tool to assist applicants to gather their employment history for the purpose of determining their eligibility to apply for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

Experienced Teacher Eligibility Calculator Worksheet

The Eligibility Calculator Worksheet includes instructions to assist prospective applicants to input their employment and accreditation history to calculate if they meet the eligibility criteria for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

To complete the Experienced Teacher Eligibility Calculator Worksheet, applicants need the following details:

the date they were granted Proficient Teacher accreditation (NSW teachers can find this date on their NESA Teacher Summary Report which is found under Reports in their eTAMS account)

a summary of their teaching employment history for each period of current and past employment, including the date commenced and finished and the teaching load (0.1 – 1 full time equivalent (FTE)) which may be collated in advance by using the Experienced Teacher Employment History Spreadsheet.

An instructional video on how to use each of these tools is available in the AISNSW Online Module Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation

12.2. CHECK READINESS

A prospective Experienced Teacher accreditation applicant should consider whether they: are consistently working beyond the level of the Proficient Teacher Standards demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of their students and how to teach them. have in-depth knowledge that is visible across these three domains:

–knowledge of students and content –knowledge of teaching and assessment strategies –professional knowledge, practices and communication.

AISNSW has an online module Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation which is available to assist teachers to self-assess their readiness for Experienced Teacher accreditation. Please refer to the section of this Manual on the AISNSW Online Module Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation

13.How to apply for Experienced Teacher accreditation

Applications are made online through the applicant’s AISNSW account. Applications for Experienced Teacher accreditation can only be made during the designated application period. Please refer to the section of this Manual on Important dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation

PREPARING TO MAKE AN APPLICATION

To apply applicants, need:

1.An AISNSW account linked to their current school.

Applicants can log into their AISNSW account or create a new account here. Once logged in, go to ‘My Profile’ then ‘Personal Details’ then ‘My Schools and Roles’. If the applicant’s current school is not listed as their employer, they will need to add the school. Their Principal will then need to confirm their employment through the Principal’s AISNSW account before the applicant’s account will be linked to the school.

2.A copy of their NESA Teacher Summary Report.

Applicants can download a copy of their Teacher Summary Report through eTAMS. Once logged in, go to the Teacher dashboard, select ‘View Reports’ then select the ‘Teacher Summary Report’. Download and save a copy of the report to attach to the online application.

3.A summary of their teaching employment history for each period of current and past employment, the date commenced and finished and the teaching load (0.1 – 1 FTE) to input into the online application.

Applicants can use the Experienced Teacher Employment History Spreadsheet to collate their employment history.

ONLINE APPLICATION

Applicants make an application for Experienced Teacher accreditation online during the application period by following the steps below:

1.Discuss their intention to apply with their Principal to confirm their support.

2. Log in to their AISNSW account:

Click on ‘My Profile’

Click on ‘2025 ET application’

Complete the application form after the link is sent to them.

AISNSW PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS

AISNSW will:

check each application to confirm eligibility to undertake Experienced Teacher accreditation in that year’s cohort

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advise each Principal of the applications from teachers at their school and seek confirmation of their support for each application and the details of each applicant’s nominated Accreditation Supervisor formally notify each applicant (by email) to confirm their application has been accepted and the name of their nominated Accreditation Supervisor.

14.Submission of evidence and finalisation

Applicants upload and submit their evidence through a OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder provided to them by AISNSW.

Applicants can upload their evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation at any time once they have received the link from AISNSW to their OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder.

Applicants can only submit their Portfolio of Evidence during the designated submission period. Please refer to the section of this Manual on Important dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation

14.1. SUBMISSION OF PORTFOLIO OF EVIDENCE

AISNSW will provide each applicant with access to a OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder for them to upload their evidence for submission. Access will be provided by email to each applicant in Term One of the year of submission using the email address provided in their application form.

Principals and supervisors will also be provided with read-only access to the OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence for each of the teachers in their school.

UPLOADING EVIDENCE

The AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folders will be set up with the following folders:

Documentary evidence

Annotations

Observation of Practice

Attestation and Declaration.

Applicants should upload their evidence to their AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence using the steps below:

1.Access their OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder:

Click on the link emailed to them for their OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder account.

Follow the prompts to verify the account.

To verifty account click on Send Code button.

Get the code form their email account.

Copy/type in the Code and click Enter (before pressing enter applicants can choose to stay signed in to avoid logging in each time).

2.Upload all of documentary evidence to the D Do cu m e n t a r y E v ide n ce folder. Label each file of evidence clearly using the naming protocols.

3.Upload a completed Explanation of Evidence - Annotations document for each set of evidence to the A n n o t a t io ns folder. These are the only files to be uploaded to this folder.

4.Upload the completed and signed Observation of Practice Record to the O Obs e r v a t io n o f P r a ct ice Folder. This is the only evidence required in this folder.

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5.Upload the completed and signed Principal Attestation and the Declaration of Authenticity into the A t t e s t a t io n a n d D e cla r a t io n folder. These two files will be the only files required in this folder.

SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE

Applicants are required to formally submit their Portfolio of Evidence once they have uploaded all required evidence including their documentary evidence, Explanation of Evidence - Annotations documents, Observation of Practice Record, Principal Attestation and Declaration of Authenticity.

To submit their Portfolio of Evidence, applicants should follow the steps below:

1.Log in to their OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence and locate the ‘READ ME’ document.

2.Click on the ‘Submission of Evidence Button’ in the ‘READ ME’ document Register to submit evidence and pay the Submission of Evidence fee. Complete the Submission of Evidence form after receiving the link to the form. Note the link will be sent to the email address identified in the applicant’s AISNSW account

Once AISNSW receives an applicant’s Submission of Evidence form, their OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder will be updated to ‘Read Only’. Applicants will still be able to view their uploaded files but won’t be able to edit or upload further evidence. The applicant’s Portfolio of Evidence will move into the review phase.

14.2. SUBMISSION REVIEW

AISNSW will review each submission in its entirety, including any additional evidence provided on request.

Accreditation is awarded when AISNSW has verified that the applicant has provided sufficient evidence that demonstrates an appropriate scope, depth and breadth of practice across all of the Standards for Experienced Teacher.

Applicants are to demonstrate their practice aligns with all 7 Standards at the level of Experienced Teacher in accordance with the information detailed in this Manual.

If an applicant’s initial submission of evidence has not sufficiently demonstrated their practice across all 7 Standards for Experienced Teacher, an AISNSW consultant will contact the applicant to discuss their evidence. Applicants will be provided with the opportunity to submit additional evidence for review.

If the additional evidence provided still does not sufficiently demonstrate their practice against all 7 Standards for Experienced Teacher, the applicant will be provided with written feedback and a final opportunity to provide further evidence. AISNSW will also contact the applicant’s Principal before making a final accreditation decision.

If the additional evidence does not provide sufficient evidence of the teacher’s practice against all 7 Standards for Experienced Teacher accreditation, the applicant will not be accredited at Experienced Teacher. Feedback will be provided to the applicant and their Principal.

If the final accreditation decision is to not accredit the applicant, they may apply for accreditation again in the future. New applications are subject to new fees being paid.

Where there are concerns about an applicant’s submitted evidence, including breaches of privacy, misleading or false information, the matter will be referred to the Head of Regulation and Accreditation, who will liaise with the applicant’s Principal.

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ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FOR APPLICANTS ON LEAVE

Applicants on parental, long service or approved medical leave who have submitted their Portfolio of Evidence and are requested to submit additional evidence will have the timeframe for submitting the additional evidence adjusted according to the period they are absent from teaching. The Head of Regulation and Accreditation will determine any adjusted timeframe on receiving notification of the leave of absence from the school. The decision on any adjustment to the timeframe will be communicated to the Principal. Applicants are to notify AISNSW when they return to teaching after a period of parental, long service or medical leave.

14.3. NOTIFICATION OF OUTCOME BY AISNSW

AISNSW will notify the following individuals of the outcome of an applicant’s Experienced Teacher accreditation submission:

1.The Principal will be notified by email of the outcome of their applicants’ submissions. The names of the applicants who have achieved Experienced Teacher accreditation, those that have been provided with an opportunity to provide additional evidence and those that have not met the requirements for Experienced Teacher accreditation will be included.

2.Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by email within three days of their Principal being informed.

15.How to notify AISNSW of a change of school

If an applicant changes schools during the accreditation process, the applicant is responsible for: notifying the AISNSW Accrediation Coordinator of their change of school and new email address by emailing i is t a a @ a is n s w e du a u , and separately updating their school and email address in their AISNSW account.

For information about changing school and use of evidence please refer to the section of this Manual on Change of school.

16.How to defer Experienced Teacher accreditation

Applicants wishing to defer Experienced Teacher accreditation should follow the process below:

1.Discuss their intention to defer with their Principal.

2.Complete the Notification of Deferral form and have the form signed by their Principal.

3.If the applicant has started uploading evidence in their AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder, the applicant will need to make their own copies of this evidence as they will no longer be able to access the folder once their deferral is processed. Deferred applicants will be given access to a new folder in line with the rest of their new cohort.

4.Email the completed and signed Notification of Deferral form to AISNSW at istaa@aisnsw.edu.au before the final date for the Submission of Evidence for their cohort. Please refer to the section of this Manual on Important dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation.

5.AISNSW will process the deferral request and confirm the deferral of the application by email to the Principal and applicant.

6.If the applicant has been provided access to their AISNSW OneDrive folder for their Portfolio of Evidence, this access will be withdrawn, enabling us to reactivate their application the following year.

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Deferring applicants will be automatically transferred to the following year’s Experienced Teacher accreditation cohort. It is critical that deferring applicants advise AISNSW of any change of school or contact details for their deferral to be successfully transferred the following year. For information about changing school please refer to the section of this Manual on Change of school

Please refer to the section of this Manual on Deferrals for the policy provisions for deferring, including the provisions for the timeframe in which evidence may be drawn from over the deferral period.

17.How

to Withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation

Applicants wishing to withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation should follow the process below:

1.Discuss their intention to withdraw with their Principal.

2.Complete the Notification of Withdrawal form and have the form signed by their Principal.

4.Email the completed and signed Notification of Withdrawal form to AISNSW at istaa@aisnsw.edu.au before the final date for the Submission of Evidence for their cohort. Please refer to the section of this Manual on Important dates for 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation

5.AISNSW will process the withdrawal request and confirm the withdrawal of the application by email to the Principal and applicant.

6.If the applicant has been provided access to their AISNSW OneDrive folder for their Portfolio of Evidence, this access will be withdrawn, enabling them to reapply for accreditation in future years.

Please refer to the section of this Manual on Withdrawals for the policy provisions for withdrawing from Experienced Teacher accreditation and reapplying for accreditation in the future.

18.Ongoing Support

This 2025 Experienced Teacher Accreditation Manual provides the policies and procedures for Experienced Teacher applicants, their principals, and supervisors. It includes information to assist applicants to successfully complete Experienced Teacher accreditation.

If applicants require further assistance they can:

1.Request support, advice and feedback from their nominated supervisor.

2.Access the range of AISNSW support, including resources and professional learning. Refer to the section of this Manual on AISNSW support

3.Email the AISNSW Teacher Accreditation team at istaa@aisnsw.edu.au for specific advice.

Standards and Descriptors

Part 4 –

The Standards and Descriptors for Experienced Teacher accreditation describe the characteristics of the practice of a teacher o perating at the level of Experienced Teacher. There are seven Experienced Teacher accreditation Standards across three domains. Each Standard has Descriptors that elaborate on the practice of Experienced Teachers at that Standard. This section includes the details of each Standard and its Standard Descriptors. This section also includes suggestions of visi ble examples of practice and the types of evidence that an applicant may consider using to demonstrate their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced T eacher. The types of evidence included as suggestions are not prescriptive or definitive. Applicants should consider their teaching context and seek the advi ce of their supervisor when selecting evidence.

Examples of evidence

Notes about students’ physical or social or intellectual development and characteristics. A class program or individualised program, informed by a personalised plan that includes teaching strategies that are appropriate to the students’ physical or social or intellectual needs and improve student learning. An explanation about why the selected teaching strategies are included in the program.

A record of communication with colleagues about how your students learn OR an annotated bibliography of two to ﬁve researched articles that are relevant to how your students may learn. A program that demonstrates how you have used the information gained from colleagues or research to design the program’s sequencing, pedagogy, organisation or use of resources.

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: assess and/or gather and record information about students’ physical or social or intellectual development and characteristics implement programs that include teaching strategies which support students’ learning and are based on information gained about students’ physical or social or intellectual development and characteristics.

Experienced Teachers: research ways their students learn record information sourced from colleagues about promoters and blockers to learning faced by their students and how these can be addressed in their school and/or classroom context design teaching and learning programs that demonstrate how information gained from colleagues or research has been used to promote their students’ learning.

Focus area

Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students

Descriptor

Select teaching strategies based on an assessment of students’ physical or social or intellectual development and characteristics to improve student learning.

1.1

Understand how students learn

Design teaching and learning programs using research or information provided by colleagues about how students learn.

1.2

Examples of evidence

Notes about students’ learning strengths and needs. A program that includes: –teaching strategies that have been selected and implemented based on information gathered about the learning strengths and needs of students –an evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing the selected teaching strategies in meeting the learning strengths and needs of students and promoting their learning.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: gather and record information about the learning strengths and needs of their students through meetings or correspondence with people such as students, parents and caregivers, counsellors or learning support personnel or by accessing school records or by surveying or observing students implement programs that include teaching strategies that have been selected based on knowledge gained about the learning strengths and needs of their students evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies that have been selected and implemented to promote student learning.

Focus area

Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

Descriptor

1.3 Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies that have been designed to be responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic or cultural or religious or socioeconomic backgrounds.

Examples of evidence

Notes about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ local community or cultural setting, linguistic background or histories. A bibliography of references that informed the selection of the teaching and learning strategies. A program that includes teaching strategies for their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the selected teaching strategies in supporting these students’ learning.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: gather and record information about the home community or cultural setting, linguistic background or histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from relevant people such as elders, supervisors, colleagues, itinerant teachers, educational consultants and academics and other relevant professionals and/ or educational journals, brochures, websites and/or professional development courses implement effective teaching strategies that are designed to be responsive to their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ home community or cultural setting, linguistic background or histories evaluate the effectiveness of teaching strategies that have been selected and implemented to support their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Focus area

Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

Descriptor

1.4 Implement and evaluate effective teaching strategies that are designed to be responsive to the home community or cultural setting, linguistic background or histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Examples of evidence

Notes about all the students in a class or a selected group’s speciﬁc learning needs gained as the result of formal or informal assessment or from support teachers or school records. A program that has a range of teaching activities that include differentiated strategies that cater for all students in the class. Student work samples that demonstrate the differentiated strategies that were used to cater for all students in the class.

Notes from colleagues, parents/carers and support services about students’ disabilities and how to support these students so that they can participate in the activities and achieve the learning outcomes. A program that includes adjustments or differentiated activities for students with disability or an individual program for a student with disability. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the selected teaching activities in supporting the access, participation and learning of students with disability.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: gather information about the specific learning needs of students by reading student files, talking to colleagues or conducting assessments design and implement a range of teaching activities that include differentiated strategies that are selected based on information gained about the specific learning needs of their students. These include teaching activities for mainstream students and identified students with different needs.

Experienced Teachers: access information about the speciﬁc learning needs of students with disability from sources such as school records, colleagues and parents/carers access information about the school and legislative requirements relevant to the learning needs of the students with disability implement teaching activities to support the access, participation and learning of the students with disability evaluate the effectiveness of teaching activities in supporting participation of students with disability in the activities and promoting learning.

Focus area

Differentiate teaching to meet the speciﬁc learning needs of students across the full range of abilities

Descriptor

Design and implement a range of teaching activities that incorporate differentiated strategies to meet the speciﬁc learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.

1.5

Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

1.6 Implement and evaluate teaching activities that have been designed to support the participation and learning of students with disability and address relevant policy and legislative requirements.

Examples of evidence

Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it

A program that includes: –speciﬁc examples of the teaching strategies that incorporate relevant content knowledge of the teaching area –an evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching strategies in supporting the students to le arn the content of the teaching area.

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: select and implement a range of teaching strategies for a speciﬁc teaching area demonstrate in their programs how the teaching strategies incorporate relevant content knowledge use information from students and assessment data to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategies.

A program in which the content is organised logically and delivered in a sequence that supports student learning.

Experienced Teachers: design and implement programs in which the content is organised logically and the sequencing shows progression from simple to complex, facts to concepts or pre-existing to new knowledge and skills.

Focus area

Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

Descriptor

Select, implement and evaluate teaching strategies that incorporate content knowledge of the teaching area.

2.1

Content selection and organisation

2.2 Design and implement teaching and learning programs in which the content is coherent and well sequenced.

Examples of evidence

A program that: –demonstrates the use of curriculum documents and school and/or faculty/stage policies for assessment and reporting, clearly marked to show where the program includes these requirements, if relevant, AND –includes an evaluation of the program in terms of the extent to which it effectively enabled students to meet the outcomes and informed the applicant of student progress.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: implement programs that are based on knowledge of: –relevant curriculum documents –curriculum and/or school-based assessment requirements –reporting requirements.

Focus area

Descriptor

2.3 Implement and evaluate teaching and learning programs that are designed using knowledge of curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements. Curriculum, assessment and reporting

A program that focuses on developing students’ understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages.

Experienced Teachers: consult with members of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community or undertake professional learning or complete professional reading to develop an understanding of culturally sensitive and appropriate ways of teaching students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages design and implement activities that develop students’ understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures or language.

Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians

2.4 Design and implement activities that enable students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures or languages.

Examples of evidence

Researched information about strategies for teaching literacy or numeracy to students in the form of: –an annotated bibliography of at least one researched article or notes provided by one or more colleagues or other relevant professionals –certificate and notes taken from a professional development course. A program that includes multiple specific literacy and/or numeracy teaching strategies based on researched information. Student work samples that demonstrate how multiple specific literacy or numeracy teaching strategies have been implemented.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: research and record information about literacy or numeracy strategies and their potential impact on student achievement from sources such as educational journals, websites, professional learning courses or support personnel such as an English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) teacher or a teacher’s aide implement and evaluate literacy or numeracy strategies that provide opportunities for students to enhance their achievement.

Focus area

Literacy and numeracy strategies

Descriptor

Design and implement effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy or numeracy achievement.

2.5

A program implemented by the teacher, that includes a range of ICT and teaching strategies to integrate the ICT selected to make the content relevant to the students. Student work samples that together demonstrate the use of a range of ICT included in a program, to make content relevant to students.

Experienced Teachers: select and implement multiple different teaching strategies that involve student use of ICT gather and evaluate information from students about how using ICT has made the learning of the content relevant to them.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Select and implement effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into teaching and learning programs to make selected content relevant.

2.6

Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

Examples of evidence

A program that includes: –explicit statements of the learning goals for the students –activities that link to the learning goals –an evaluation of the extent to which the goals were challenging and achievable based on data or information from students’ achievements and/or from student feedback surveys.

A program that includes: –a clear sequence of activities that have been selected to engage and support the learning of all students within a class or cohort –an evaluation of the extent to which the sequence of activities engaged students and assisted them to achieve the learning outcomes.

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: explicitly communicate to the students challenging yet realistic and achievable goals in learning activities to be undertaken by the students in the lesson describe to the students, concepts and/or skills they will attain by engaging in the activity implement learning activities based on the goals that are shared with the students.

Experienced Teachers: implement a program that has taken into account the students’ interests, context, age, stage of development and/or background, approaches to learning and learning needs evaluate the program in terms of the extent to which it engaged the students in the learning activities and assisted them to achieve the learning goals.

Descriptor Focus area

Establish challenging learning goals

Design and implement learning activities for all students based on explicit, challenging and achievable learning goals.

3.1

3.2 Implement and evaluate wellstructured teaching and learning programs or lesson sequences that engage students and promote learning. Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

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One or more programs selected by the teacher or student work samples that include clearly identiﬁed examples of each of the different teaching strategies that develop students’ content knowledge, skills, problem solving, critical thinking and creative thinking. Note: The teaching strategies should be clearly identiﬁed and demonstrate opportunities for students to develop their knowledge, skills and thinking.

Experienced Teachers: select a range of pedagogies for their students that are designed to develop their content knowledge, skills, problem solving, critical thinking and creative thinking effectively implement these strategies within the classroom.

Focus area

Descriptor

3.3 Select and implement a range of teaching strategies to develop students’ knowledge, skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking. Using teaching strategies

A program that includes: –a range ICT and non-ICT resources, that have been selected or created by the applicant or a video of students showing them using a range of ICT and non-ICT resources –an evaluation by the applicant about the effectiveness of all the resources in engaging students.

Experienced Teachers: select and/or create a range of ICT and non-ICT resources designed to engage students by being age-appropriate, suited to the context of the lesson and to the interests and skills of the students gather and summarise information from students about how the ICT and non-ICT resources engaged them in their learning evaluate the effectiveness of a range of ICT and non-ICT resources, in terms of the way they assisted the students to engage in their learning.

3.4 Evaluate the implementation of a range of resources including ICT that have been selected or created to engage students in their learning. Select and use resources

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Examples of evidence

A program or lesson plan/s or work samples that include: –examples of communication strategies (e.g. graphic organisers) –demonstration of impact of effective communication.

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: demonstrate the use of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in the classroom. Examples of non-verbal communication: hand or eye movements, eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures, the use of body and face movements to communicate, the use of visual cues/signals, pause and wait time use of advance organisers non-verbal cues that impact positively on student engagement and/or behaviour, e.g. proximity to students modelling or showing by example a skill or desired outcome of student learning Examples of verbal communication strategies: use of grammatically acceptable and precise language, explanation and use of appropriate terms for the level and stage of the students effective use of the voice, focused and supporting questioning and/or discussion techniques.

Focus area

Descriptor

3.5 Use effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student understanding, participation, engagement and achievement. Use effective classroom communication

Examples of evidence

Record and analysis of students’ achievements based on formal or informal assessment data and student feedback. A detailed evaluation of a program that includes suggested modiﬁcations or adjustments, and that refers to the analysis of the assessment data and student feedback that informed the changes.

Plans and notes from parent/teacher conferences and interviews. Samples and screenshots of online platforms, management systems or other forms of communications with parents/carers regarding aspects of their child's learning.

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Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: record information gained from student assessment and student feedback modify a program taking into account student achievement of the learning goals and student feedback evaluate a program based on information gained from student feedback and assessment data.

Experienced Teachers: provide opportunities for parents/carers to share their skills, knowledge and expertise with students in accordance with school protocols to enhance programs use established structures in the school (such as emails, newsletters and school websites) to encourage parents/carers to be involved in school and/or classroom activities provide opportunities for parents/carers to be involved with students’ learning at home through homework, assignments, surveys or interviews develop a school-home initiative with parents/carers to support their child’s home study habits or goal setting or decision making that directly impacts their learning.

Focus area

Descriptor

Evaluate and suggest modiﬁcations to teaching and learning programs based on information gained from student feedback and formal or informal student assessment data. Evaluate and improve teaching Programs

3.6

Engage parents/carers in the educative process

3.7 Provide appropriate and contextually relevant opportunities for parents/carers to be involved in their children’s learning.

Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: implement strategies that demonstrate inclusive and positive interactions to engage and support all students in classroom activities, for example: –providing adequate wait time for all students to be able to respond –implementing collaborative and cooperative learning structures and tasks –positively acknowledging all student responses and achievement –building and supporting rapport between students by developing an appreciation of a positive work ethic, good behaviour, politeness and positive language and tone. promote respect and appreciation of others by using strategies such as: –listening positively to students –acknowledging students’ contributions –supporting students to respond in an appropriate manner –being accessible to all students –displaying equitable amounts of time/engagement with individuals.

Descriptor Focus area

Demonstrate inclusive and positive interactions to engage and support all students in classroom activities. Support student participation

4.1

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Examples of evidence

Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: develop with students orderly and workable classroom routines, for example: –negotiating with students classroom routines, materials and organisation –facilitating student understanding of the classroom protocols –discussing and establishing expected conduct of students during activities –seeking student input into the variety of tasks to address learning goals –collaborating on effective time management strategies such as realistic timeframes and a workable timetable –developing strategies for students to selfdirect their learning –establishing with students explicit routines and reinforce them on a regular basis –setting realistic timeframes for the completion of tasks and, where necessary, negotiating varying amounts of time for different students –working with students to ensure they understand what is expected in relation to both their learning and behaviour –providing resources and checking students know how to access and use resources to achieve the learning outcomes.

Focus area

Descriptor

4.2 Develop with students, orderly and workable routines that create an environment where the use of classroom time for learning is maximised. Manage classroom activities

Principal

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: negotiate explicitly, in the classroom with students, parameters for appropriate behaviour and consequences of not following the rules support students in understanding their rights and responsibilities in the classroom and the consequences of behaving in an inappropriate and unacceptable manner establish, display and implement clear expectations, protocols and/or rules and consequences ensure that students can articulate negotiated and established rules and their understanding of the consequences of not following the rules share with students disciplinary strategies to be used in the classroom, for example using the student’s name, and then stating the issue and the consequences of continuing with the behaviour.

Focus area

Descriptor

4.3 Negotiate and establish with students, clear expectations for appropriate student behaviour and consequences for challenging behaviour. Manage challenging behaviour

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: develop and implement curriculum and legislative requirements such as Child Protection and Workplace Health and Safety within the classroom develop and implement appropriate safety procedures, establish clear classroom safety rules and guidelines, enforce them and constantly remind students of safe behaviour and workplace practice develop risk assessments and implement these with students recognise risks and report them promptly to the appropriate personnel in their school maintain a physically safe classroom ensure student safety whilst engaged in hands-on practical tasks use appropriate materials or resources that do not present a safety risk to the students address unsafe behaviour situations and attend to students who are in distress or danger develop and implement appropriate consequences for students failing to comply with safety rules develop and implement strategies to support student wellbeing within the classroom and the school.

Focus area

Descriptor

4.4 Develop and implement strategies that ensure students’ wellbeing and safety based on school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements. Maintain student safety

Principal Attestation

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: model for students how to use clues in search result ﬁndings to discriminate between relevant and non-relevant sites model respectful communication when using ICT model and explicitly demonstrate how to acknowledge digital resources in presentations and resources model for students appropriate ICT safety procedures model and implement strategies to assist students to understand and adhere to the School’s Acceptable Use of ICT Policy identify and minimise risks in student use of ICT discuss with students ethical online conduct and set clear limits about what is allowed and what is not allowed establish clear ICT safety rules and guidelines for students and enforce them consistently implement a set of realistic ICT guidelines or the school’s ICT policy.

Focus area

Descriptor

4.5 Model for students, and implement strategies, to promote the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in teaching and learning. Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically

Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

Examples of evidence

A program or programs or student work samples that demonstrate the implementation of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies.

Note: Each type of assessment strategy should be evident.

Samples of work from multiple students that include constructive feedback from teachers about students’ achievements relative to the learning goals and suggestions for improvement. A record of a student conference detailing the feedback given to the student on their progress and achievement of the learning goals.

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: design and implement a range of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies, i.e. assessment for, as and of learning, based on student learning goals.

Experienced Teachers: create and use assessment criteria/rubrics to provide students with constructive feedback about their achievements relative to the learning goals and areas for improvement provide constructive oral or written feedback to students based on work samples and assessment tasks in line with assessment criteria that reﬂect the learning goals.

Descriptor Focus area

Design and implement a range of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment strategies to assess student learning. Assess student learning

5.1

Provide feedback to students on their learning

5.2 Provide constructive feedback to students to promote learning and an understanding of their achievement relative to the learning goals.

Examples of evidence

A record of a moderation discussion or process such as notes made during a moderation activity, digital communication or video of the discussion. Annotated samples or records of observations of students’ work together with the marking criteria or rubrics used in moderation activities. A video recording of the comparison of student work samples and standardised work samples and the conclusions drawn about the level of student achievement relative to the curriculum outcomes.

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: participate in moderation activities that involve the discussion of student work samples, the application of benchmarks and the annotation and selection of work samples that represent different levels of achievement apply knowledge gained from moderation activities to make accurate judgements about student work samples that are comparable with colleagues’ judgements and reﬂect the marking guidelines and benchmarks established prior to and during the moderation process compare and contrast student work samples with standardised work samples to determine student learning achievement in relation to goals or outcomes.

Focus area

Descriptor

5.3 Participate in and apply knowledge from assessment moderation activities to make consistent and comparable judgements of student learning. Make consistent and comparable judgments

Examples of evidence

A record of analysis of specific assessment data to inform adjustments or interventions in a program. An evaluation of a program that includes specific reference to student assessment data and suggested adjustments to one or more of the following: teaching activities, strategies, sequencing, selection of content or interventions for specific students based on an analysis of student data. An annotated program that includes ongoing adjustments to teaching activities, strategies, sequencing, selection of content or interventions for specific students based on an analysis of internal and/or external student assessment data.

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: identify, gather and analyse student assessment data to evaluate their understanding of subject/content make adjustments to teaching practice or include interventions for speciﬁc students based on the evaluation of the students’ understanding of the subject/content.

Focus area

Descriptor

5.4 Use internal and/or external student assessment data to analyse and evaluate student understanding of subject/content, modifying teaching practice and/or identifying interventions. Interpret student data

Examples of evidence

A report provided to parent/carers and students using accurate, reliable and comprehensive records of student progress and achievement that have been used to assist reporting and demonstrate consistency between the student’s level of achievement and the report. A record of a parent meeting or threeway conference involving the parents/carers, student and teacher, conducted to discuss student achievement. A record of a parent/teacher interview demonstrating accurate, respectful reporting of student achievement and identiﬁcation of future learning goals and areas of improvement for the student.

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers write reports that: are in accordance with school procedure and protocols use appropriate language and terminology are easily understood by the intended audience accurately reﬂect student achievements include constructive comments where appropriate, identify how students can improve their learning are submitted in a timely manner are respectful to students and parents/carers.

Focus area

Descriptor

5.5 Report clearly, accurately and respectfully to students and parents/carers about student achievement, making use of accurate and reliable records in a timely and consistent manner using school protocols and procedures. Report on student achievement

Standard 6: Engage in professional learning

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: reﬂect on current practice to identify areas for professional growth using the Experienced Teacher Descriptors develop a personal professional learning plan that includes professional learning activities and/or courses based on analysis of the Experienced Teacher Descriptors.

Principal Attestation

Experienced Teachers: identify and participate in a range of professional learning activities that are targeted to professional needs and school priorities and are based on analysis of the Experienced Teacher Descriptors. This may include online courses, webinars, face to face courses, participation in a professional learning team, postgra duate study or professional reading evaluate professional learning in terms of the extent to which it enhanced the applicant’s knowledge and practice.

Focus area

Descriptor

Use the Professional Standard Descriptors for Experienced Teacher to reﬂect on current practice and identify and plan professional learning needs. Identify and plan professional learning needs

6.1

Engage in professional learning and improve practice

6.2 Evaluate professional learning undertaken to enhance knowledge and practice, targeted to professional needs and school priorities.

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: offer constructive and informed critique and suggestions to colleagues and willingly seek and acknowledge feedback from colleagues demonstrate willingness to participate in formal and informal discussions with a range of colleagues to improve professional knowledge and practice participate in professional discussions to generate ideas and questions, contribute own thoughts on topics and actively listen to a range of colleagues give and receive constructive feedback in forums such as networks/wikis/ blogs within the school or wider education community work collaboratively with colleagues to review and evaluate teaching activities and strategies, write programs, generate ideas and pose and respond to questions.

Focus area

Engage with colleagues and improve practice

Descriptor

6.3 Work with colleagues, giving and receiving constructive feedback, to improve professional knowledge and practice.

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: identify and participate in professional learning activities that are targeted to address identiﬁed student learning needs apply knowledge and skills gained through professional learning to subsequent professional practice to address identiﬁed student learning needs.

Focus area

Descriptor

6.4 Apply professional learning that is designed to address identiﬁed student learning needs. Apply professional learning and improve student learning

Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/ carers and the community

Examples

Principal Attestation

Experienced Teachers: are discerning about with whom and where confidential issues and information about students and colleagues are discussed do not disclose student information without first checking with the appropriate manager or supervisor keep records and relevant documentation secure and confidential are honest, fair and equitable in interpersonal, professional and academic relationships and in research and scholarly activities respect the dignity and diversity of students, colleagues and members of the school community are sensitive and constructive in the development of appropriate partnerships with colleagues and parents/carers understand and implement mandatory reporting requirements by reporting critical incidents, confidential issues and child protection concerns to relevant personnel.

Descriptor

Maintain high ethical standards by meeting codes of ethics and conduct established by regulatory authorities and schools. Meet professional ethics and responsibilities

7.1

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: implement mandatory school procedures and policies in all aspects of their professional roles reﬂect on and discuss relevant legislative, administrative, organisational and professional requirements, policies and processes with colleagues demonstrate to colleagues compliance with school and legislative professional requirements such as accreditation, performance and development processes, disability legislation, child protection and assessment meet deadlines for administrative tasks.

Focus area

Descriptor

Demonstrate ongoing compliance with relevant legislative, administrative, organisational and professional requirements, policies and processes. Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

7.2

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: actively communicate with parents/carers regarding their child’s learning or wellbeing in a professional manner and following school protocols provide opportunities for parents/carers to share their skills, knowledge and expertise in accordance with school protocols provide opportunities for parents/carers to be involved with supporting their child’s learning document all initial and ongoing communication with parents/carers demonstrating sensitivity to the background of parents/carers proactively access personnel such as interpreters and community representatives to promote effective communication between themselves and parents/carers provide opportunities for parents/carers to give formal and informal feedback on school-based activities within and beyond the school grounds.

Focus area

Descriptor

7.3 Develop and build active, ongoing, respectful, collaborative relationships with parents/carers regarding their children’s learning or wellbeing. Engage with the parents/carers

ACCREDITATION MANUAL

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER

Examples of evidence

Principal Attestation

Visible examples of practice

Experienced Teachers: actively maintain contact with colleagues external to the school and community stakeholders to broaden their knowledge and improve practice actively participate in professional and/or community networks such as meetings, online educational forums, professional associations or professional learning committees within the school or community to broaden their knowledge and improve practice actively contribute to online forums/ networks/wikis/blogs that involve colleagues and/or members of the community to broaden their knowledge and improve practice.

Focus area

Descriptor

7.4 Make an active contribution in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice. Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

Part 5 – Guide to Evidence

19.Documentary

Evidence

Independent school teachers may be in a range of different roles and conduct their professional duties in a variety of settings such as early childhood, primary or secondary classrooms, in outdoor and indoor facilities, using a wide variety of approaches and methods. The range, developmental stages, and backgrounds of students in a class influence the choices teachers make about aspects such as pedagogy, resources, and classroom activities.

Together these factors influence the evidence applicants may select from their professional lives to demonstrate that their practice aligns with the Experienced Teacher Standards.

To demonstrate that an applicant’s practice consistently aligns with the Standards at Experienced Teacher, the applicant needs to draw upon the documentation that is naturally generated on a daily basis through their teaching and role. These documents illustrate a teacher’s professional practice and can be used for an applicant’s documentary evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation. The applicant’s annotations provide commentary about how their practice is demonstrated through the documentation as well as the impact of their practice within their school.

When selecting and collating evidence, applicants may include individual items of evidence that address more than one Standard. It is important that each item of evidence is aligned to the identified Standard(s) and related Standard Descriptors and includes visible examples that demonstrate the applicant’s practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE EVIDENCE

Evidence that is effective in demonstrating practice at Experienced Teacher has the following characteristics: current – documentation has been used during the evidence timeframe authentic – demonstrates the applicant’s own knowledge of students, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, school policies and professional learning valid – accurately reflects the practice described in the identified Standard Descriptors reliable – shows consistency of practice across all items of evidence.

EXAMPLES

OF TYPES OF EVIDENCE

Teaching and learning programs, units of work or lesson sequences

Individualised learning programs

Teaching and learning activities

Differentiated teaching strategies and/or adjustments

Evaluations of courses or teaching programs

Assessment tasks and tools

Assessment data

Student work samples

Video footage and audio recordings

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Student records of achievement

Teacher notes about student learning needs

Student reports

Photographs

Written and digital communication such as notes, emails, blog entries and invitations

Certificates or records of attendance at professional development courses

Teacher notes, agendas, and minutes of professional meetings

Professional learning records and evidence of application to own practice

School newsletters, magazine or internet articles, contributions to publications and conferences

Lesson observations

Communication and correspondence documentation.

GUIDELINES FOR USING DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE ITEMS

Programs should show evidence of currency (e.g. date of implementation) and that they are working documents.

Ongoing notes or comments hand-written or digitally recorded on the program show that the applicant has used the document.

Sign-off by the applicant including a signature and date, indicates the program has been implemented. Evidence submitted that contains materials copied from textbooks, created by other teachers, or sourced from the internet should be clearly referenced.

As a general rule-of-thumb, teaching programs/units of work/lesson sequences submitted as evidence for Accreditation should not exceed 20 pages.

Any records/certificates of attendance at professional learning sessions should include the applicant’s name, date of attendance and short details of the professional learning provider.

Providing a brochure or invoice for a professional learning session does not provide evidence of attendance at the professional learning session or demonstrate the scope or implementation of the learning.

Any student work samples, evaluations, self-reflection sheets, examinations or assessment tasks included as evidence are to be completed by the applicant’s students and should not be blank templates. Student work samples should be dated, and students’ surnames removed.

Some Descriptors include the word ‘range’, for example a broad range of strategies. Some Descriptors include the word ‘variety’. In the context of this Manual, range and variety are interpreted to mean at least three examples.

INFORMATION REGARDING SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE

Evidence provided by an applicant should demonstrate the applicant’s implementation of the practice being demonstrated.

Multiple student work samples used to demonstrate practice should be submitted as one PDF document. Links to Google docs or other cloud-based documents cannot be submitted as evidence.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Once a teacher finalises and submits their Portfolio of Evidence a holistic evidence review process takes place that considers a teacher's evidence and annotations as a package. This allows for a flexible and holistic approach to the collation of evidence that can reflect a teacher’s own individual context (e.g. planning and programming, assessment and reporting, reflective practice (such as using data and feedback), classroom practice (inc. behaviour management)).

FLEXIBLE APPROACHES TO EVIDENCE

Experienced Teacher accreditation provides flexible and streamlined approaches for applicants to showcase how their teaching practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher.

The submission of documentary evidence that demonstrates an applicant’s practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher can be approached in a variety of flexible ways. Applicants might consider one or a combination of approaches, for example:

1.Standards approach – using each Standard as the organiser for collating and aligning sets of evidence to demonstrate practice.

2.Thematic approach – gathering documentation thematically to create sets of evidence and mapping the evidence across Standards.

3.Project approach – identifying a specific initiative, priority or project implemented within the evidence timeframe that is focused on improving student learning outcomes and using it to collate evidence to demonstrate their practice across the Standards.

4.Any other approach – appropriate to their role and context.

STANDARDS APPROACH TO DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Applicants may approach their documentary evidence by aligning their practice and associated evidence to individual Standards.

With this approach, an applicant may begin by analysing features of each Standard as identified in each of the Descriptors for the Standard and then identify examples of evidence that demonstrate their practice against these features to create an evidence set. Depending on an applicant’s evidence, they may collate one or more evidence sets for each Standard.

The annotation for each evidence set will explain the context of the evidence and how it illustrates the applicant’s practice and impact referring to the Descriptors within the Standard that the evidence targets.

THEMATIC APPROACH TO DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Applicants might consider using a thematic approach to collating their documentary evidence to demonstrate their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher. This approach may include gathering evidence that is the product of the natural cycle of teaching first, collating this evidence into themes and then mapping these sets of evidence across the Standards and Descriptors.

There is no prescribed list of themes. Individual applicants may group evidence into any theme that is relevant to their practice within their context.

Some examples of themes may include sets of evidence that relate to: student needs – set of evidence that demonstrates the applicant’s knowledge of their students and how to teach them

effective teaching strategies – set of evidence that demonstrates the applicant’s planning and implementation of effective teaching strategies integrating ICT - set of evidence that demonstrates the applicant’s safe and ethical inclusion of ICT to enhance student learning outcomes

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

reflection and modifying teaching – set of evidence that demonstrates how the applicant reflects on their own teaching and their use of research, information from colleagues or other professionals and assessment data to evaluate student understanding and modify their teaching assessment and feedback – set of evidence that demonstrates the applicant’s selection and use of a range of assessment strategies as well as how they provide feedback to their students and parents/ carers.

PROJECT APPROACH TO DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Where an applicant is delivering a specific initiative, priority, action research, inquiry or other project that is focused on improving student learning outcomes in their current role, they might consider using a ‘project’ approach to collating their documentary evidence to demonstrate their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher. In this section, the term ‘project’ is being used to capture any initiative an applicant has implemented in their current role within their school to improve student learning outcomes.

The project must be linked to student learning outcomes to be able to be used as evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation. There are no prescribed projects or methods/models that need to be used in this approach. An appropriate project is one that provides a vehicle to improve both teaching practice (the applicant’s and/or others) and student learning outcomes. An applicant may identify a project in which they have a significant role that could include leading colleagues and/or implementing the project with their own students.

The evidence of impact of a project may include the applicant’s impact on their own students, or on colleagues or students across a faculty, year group or stage, or on staff and students across the whole school. Data collected throughout the project, such as assessment data, student engagement or peer or student feedback may support the demonstration of impact of the project.

This approach may include gathering evidence that is produced as a natural result of the development, implementation and evaluation of the project. All documentary evidence needs to align with the Experienced Teacher Standards. The sets of evidence drawn from a project may be collated according to each Standard, or in themes, or in any other way that is appropriate for the context of the project.

A project approach to evidence may include documentation generated in the planning process but is likely to predominantly relate to the implementation and evaluation of the project. Any documentary evidence used in a project approach needs to align with the Experienced Teacher Standards.

In addition to evidence drawn from a project, an applicant may also collect further evidence from their own ‘everyday’ teaching practice that is not related to the project to demonstrate other aspects of their practice against the Standards.

If a project is implemented over an extended period of time, the evidence used for Experienced Teacher accreditation needs to be evidence that has been implemented within the relevant evidence timeframe.

Annotations should explain the context of the project and how any further documentary evidence that is included demonstrates the applicant’s practice to address each of the Experienced Teacher Standards. It is recommended that the annotations focus on the applicant’s role in the project and their impact, either direct or indirect, on their colleagues’ practice and/or on student learning outcomes.

While there is no prescribed list of projects, some illustrative examples of projects may include: initiatives, e.g.

-Deep Learning

-leading the implementation of research-based strategies for students with diverse learning needs

-explicit teaching of critical thinking skills in Year 7 English classes to improve media literacy.

-catering for the gifted student Priorities, e.g.

-strategic project to improve specific outcomes for students (e.g. literacy and numeracy)

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

-leading schoolwide implementation of new curriculum

-implementing schoolwide strategies for the use of artificial intelligence in teaching

-instructional leadership for improved teaching and learning inquiry based projects, for example:

-What impact does the explicit teaching of editing skills have on student writing outcomes?

-How does student self-reflection and evaluation impact performance skills stage 5 elective Music students?

-How does the explicit teaching of terminology using vocabulary lists improve the quality of Stage 5 Visual Arts short answer written responses?

-What impact does using thinking routines have on the enhancement of Year 3 students verbal communication?

20.Annotations

Explanation of Evidence – Annotations are a mandatory component of an applicant’s overall evidence to support the documentary evidence submitted in their Portfolio of Evidence.

Annotations are required to support each set of documentary evidence submitted in the applicant’s Portfolio of Evidence, except for the Observation of Practice Record and the Principal Attestation.

Annotations provide the link between an applicant’s sets/items of documentary evidence and how the documentation demonstrates that their practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher. Annotations are supplementary to the documentary evidence and provide a means for the applicant to analyse, evaluate or reflect on their practice to further support their documentary evidence.

For each of the applicant’s sets of evidence (or stand-alone items of evidence), the annotation should explain how the evidence demonstrates the applicant’s practice aligns with the Experienced Teacher Standards.

Annotations should explain the impact of the applicant’s practice on student learning and achievement.

Annotations typically:

1.Explain the link between the documentary evidence and the Standards.

2.Include clear examples from the applicant’s evidence.

3.Reference particular Standards and relevant Descriptor coding to highlight aspects/features of the applicant’s practice.

4.Analyse and evaluate the impact on student learning outcomes.

Applicants can determine the most appropriate way to approach the writing of their annotations for each set of evidence. An applicant may structure their annotation to focus on a particular Standard, a theme, a project or another approach that enables the applicant to best articulate the relationship between the set of evidence and how it demonstrates that their teaching practice aligns with the Standards of Experienced Teacher. Applicants may approach their annotations differently for each set of evidence.

Only one Explanation of Evidence – Annotation document is required for each set of evidence. The annotation should clearly identify features of the identified Standard Descriptors and explain the applicant’s impact on student learning.

Generally, each evidence set would address no more than 5 Standard Descriptors. While a separate annotation is not required for each individual Standard Descriptor identified within a set of evidence, it is important that an applicant includes the language of the identified Standard Descriptors and examples from the evidence of how their practice aligns with these Standard Descriptors as well as their impact on student learning within the annotation.

Part 6 – Glossary

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Term

Adjustments

Analyse

Explanation

Adjustments are the changes, supports or actions that are implemented to enable students to access and participate in learning and to demonstrate what they know and can do. Adjustments can be made across all aspects of school life: planning; teaching and learning; assessment; reporting; environment and resources.

Adjustments refer to helping a student with a speciﬁc disability or learning need. The purpose of adjustments is to reduce or eliminate the barrier of a student’s disability or learning need.

The key difference between adjustments and differentiation is that adjustments refer to supporting a student with a speciﬁc disability or learning need, and differentiated instruction is a broader instructional strategy designed to tailor teaching and learning for all students in a class according to their learning proﬁles.

Also see: Differentiation, Intervention

To examine (something) methodically and in detail, typically to explain and interpret it by identifying the components and clarifying the relationship between them.

Annotate In the context of accreditation, to ‘annotate’ is to write descriptive and precise notes that explain how the evidence demonstrates the applicant has met the identiﬁed descriptor(s).

Annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a bibliography in which each source of information has a brief summary of how the source is useful to an author in constructing a program, unit of work or sequence of teaching and learning activities.

Apply To make use of as relevant.

Assessment –diagnostic Diagnostic assessment is usually conducted at the start of the program, unit of work or sequence of teaching and learning activities, prior to new content or skills being taught. It is used to identify (diagnose) strengths and areas of need in students and involves gathering and evaluating data about students’ prior knowledge, understanding and skills to inform the planning of future teaching and student learning. It may involve both formal and informal assessment activities and the information gathered may enable the teacher to target misconceptions, skills and content outcomes.

Assessment –formative

Assessmentsummative

Formative assessment involves assessing students over time in a series of activities and/or tasks to ensure that they are progressing towards the achievement of syllabus outcomes and/or learning goals. Formative assessment tasks should be focused on providing feedback to students at regular intervals to assist them to identify areas of strength and areas requiring development as they progress towards the outcomes and/or learning goals.

Summative assessment is usually completed at the end of the program, unit of work or sequence of teaching and learning activities. Summative assessment tasks should be developed with a clear description, explicit criteria and a marking scheme that students can understand. Summative assessment involves maintaining comprehensive records of the extent to which students have met the syllabus outcomes and/or learning goals.

Benchmark Benchmarks in education occur when measurable standards are set for learning. For example, benchmarks might be set for a task that is to be completed by all students in a year group. Teachers use the rubric and the task they have created and through discussion decide on how marks and grades will be allocated to students work.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Bibliography The description and identiﬁcation of the editions, dates of issue, authorship, and typography of books or other written material used or considered by an author in preparing a particular work.

Coherence Coherence refers to the degree of alignment between the curriculum, student learning goals or expectations for student learning, content and activities.

Collaboration An approach that involves joint intellectual effort by two or more people working together sharing ideas and thinking to achieve an identiﬁed goal or purpose. It is a form of teamwork that includes a strong sense of purpose, equal participation, thinking and brainstorming that draws on different perspectives and expertise and which often produces a better outcome than if people worked alone.

Colleague Colleague refers to other teachers or other professionals either in school or in the wider educational community.

Context The range of personal, social, historical, cultural and workplace conditions which inﬂuence the way teachers engage with and demonstrate the professional knowledge, practice and engagement Descriptors.

Contextually relevant

Contextually relevant information is presented in a way that brings meaning to students based on their own experiences. Contextually relevant learning helps students to engage with the learning and make it meaningful to the world in which they live.

Creative thinking Involves providing students with opportunities to use original and imaginative ideas to view or perceive things in new ways and to ﬁnd unusual patterns, connect things that seem unrelated and use this thinking to generate solutions. Creative thinking is important in developing new understanding and enables students to explain ideas that are contested or not well understood.

Also refer to Australian Curriculum General Capabilities – Critical and Creative Thinking

Critical thinking Involves organising one’s thoughts, when making a decision, by examining an idea, issue, opinion or problem from several different perspectives. It often involves assessing the advantages, and disadvantages, the way an issue is presented in terms of the intended audience or purposes, questioning the source, interpreting past ideas, assessing the reliability of information gathered and developing an argument using such evidence. It is demonstrated in activities that require reasoning, logical thinking and focused thinking and can be adopted for a range of different purposes.

Also refer to Australian Curriculum General Capabilities – Critical and Creative Thinking

Demonstrate Give a practical exhibition and clearly show or illustrate by examples; to clearly show the existence or truth of (something) by giving proof or evidence.

Design In teaching, design involves the way particular elements are selected, organised and used in the process of constructing a lesson, program, teaching activity or lesson sequence. Design may involve the selection and ordering of teaching strategies, resources or organisational structures to achieve the student learning outcomes.

Develop To create or design something.

Development To bring out the capabilities or possibilities of; bring to a more advanced or effective state; to cause to grow, elaborate, expand in detail, generate or evolve.

Diagnostic Assessment See Assessment – diagnostic

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

Term Explanation

Differentiation

Disability

Differentiation is for all students in the class to be supported and challenged according to their learning proﬁles. It refers to a wide variety of strategies and approaches that teachers implement to instruct students with diverse learning needs, in the same course, classroom or learning environment. Differentiated instruction is used to plan the approaches to content, process, and product according to the needs of all student differences in readiness, interests and learning needs. It includes students identiﬁed as gifted and talented, students who have specialised learning needs and students with disabilities.

The key difference between differentiation and adjustments is that differentiated instruction is broader instructional strategy designed to tailor teaching and learning for all students in a class according to their learning proﬁles, and adjustments refer to supporting a student with a speciﬁc disability or learning need.

Refer to: http://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/support-materials/differentiated-programming/

Also see: Adjustments; Intervention

The deﬁnition of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is broad. It includes physical, intellectual, sensory, neurological, social/emotional and learning disabilities. Disability can be permanent or temporary.

Disability, in relation to a person, means:

•total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions; or

•total or partial loss of a part of the body; or

•the presence in the body or organisms causing disease or illness; or

•the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or

•the malfunction, malformation or disﬁgurement of a part of the person’s body; or

•a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or

•a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgement or that results in disturbed behaviour;

and includes a disability that;

•presently exists; or

•previously existed but no longer exists; or

•may exist in the future (including because of a genetic predisposition to that disability); or

•is imputed to a person.

To avoid doubt, a disability that is otherwise covered by this deﬁnition includes behaviour that is a symptom or manifestation of the disability.

A disability can be a permanent or a temporary condition. A disability does not necessarily require formal recognition or diagnosis of the disability, or targeted specialist education services and support.

The broad categories of disability under the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) include physical, sensory, cognitive and social/emotional.

Engagement Attention, involvement, curiosity, interest, motivation and persistence that students demonstrate when they are learning or being taught.

Establish To set up, bring about or generate.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Ethical use (of ICT)

Ethical use: being in accordance with principles of conduct, rules and standards that are considered correct. Ethics is concerned with values and social responsibilities.

Computer ethics is a set of principles that regulate the use of computers.

Cyber ethics refers to the code of responsible behaviour on the internet and can be explained in terms of copyright and privacy laws - not taking what does not belong to you (e.g. plagiarism, piracy, hacking, cheating,) and in terms of not harming others (e.g. cyberbullying).

Digital Ethics refers to how to manage oneself ethically when using online and digital media and students should be encouraged to ask themselves what people can ﬁnd out about them online, relating this to safety and stolen identities.

Evaluate To judge or determine the signiﬁcance, quality or value of; to determine how good, useful, signiﬁcant or successful something is, often resulting from some degree of analysis and involving the use of success criteria to make the judgement.

Evaluation Systematic critique to determine strengths, worth, areas for improvement and coherence of a teaching program, unit of work or sequence of activities using speciﬁed criteria based on syllabus outcomes and school goals for student learning and improvement. The evaluation process also includes a judgement about the variety, appropriateness and ability of the selected resources and materials to engage students, and the suitability and effectiveness of assessment tools in assessing student achievement.

Feedback Information about a person’s performance of a task to reach a goal, used as the basis for improvement. Teachers receive feedback from students and colleagues and use this to improve their knowledge, practice and/or engagement. Teachers provide feedback to students to assist them to achieve their goals. Feedback can be provided verbally or communicated in other media.

Formal/informal assessment strategies

Formal and informal assessment strategies can both be used to collect assessment information on the achievement of each student.

Formal assessment strategies are planned, structured activities such as written question and answer knowledge tests, essays, oral performances, individual and group assignments, and artworks.

Informal assessment strategies can include, for example stopping during instruction to observe or to discuss with the students how learning is progressing and observing students’ engagement in an individual or group learning activity. Informal assessment can be made more formal by specifying guidelines for what and how the assessment is to be conducted.

Formative assessment See Assessment – formative

Forum Traditionally a forum is a place that is made available for general use by the public for speech-related purposes.

Educational forums give the opportunity for teachers, school leaders and other education professionals to ask questions, discuss ideas, and share experiences about teaching practice, school leadership and education in general.

An internet forum is an online discussion site where people can communicate via posted messages. Forums require the reader to visit the website and check for new posts, although some have email notiﬁcations and web feeds to alert members to new posts of interest.

Hybrid MEA Independent Schools NSW Teachers (Hybrid Model) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021,

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

Term Explanation

ICT

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is an umbrella term for a variety of computer and communications equipment and software used to create, design, store, transmit, interpret and manipulate information in its various forms.

Also see: Ethical use of ICT.

Implement Put (a decision, plan, agreement etc.) into effect.

Individual Plans

Individual plans are the documented evidence of the collaborative planning process which outlines the student’s interests, strengths, goals and learning needs.

Supports and/or adjustments are agreed upon in partnership with the student, family and school representatives including executive members, teachers and learning support personnel where appropriate. These adjustments are then recorded for implementation.

Individual Plans are not teaching plans; however, the adjustments and strategies in an Individual Plan should be evident and reﬂected clearly in the programs, units of work or learning and teaching activities.

Individual Plans are inclusive of learning plans, behaviour plans, health care plans and transition plans.

Inquiry Research designed and conducted by the applicant, involving the implementation of pedagogical strategies or resources with the aim of improving student learning. An inquiry approach involves measuring the impact of the actions implemented through the inquiry on student learning. It is intended as a way for teachers to better understand the learning needs of their students and to take steps to customise the learning to promote the best outcomes for their students.

Integrate Combine one thing with another to form a whole; amalgamate, join, fuse, incorporate.

Intervention An intervention refers to a specific program, strategy, or set of activities designed to improve outcomes for students who are identified as requiring extra support to address specific social, emotional, behavioural or learning needs. Interventions may be applied at a universal (Tier 1), targeted (Tier 2) and intensive (Tier 3) level depending on student need.

Universal interventions are applied to all students within a classroom or school. The goal is to address the needs of most students through high-quality instruction and universal supports. Targeted interventions are designed for students who do not make sufficient progress with Tier 1 supports alone. These interventions are more focused and may be delivered in small groups. Intensive, individualised interventions are provided to students who are not thriving despite receiving supports at Tiers 1 and 2. These interventions are highly tailored to meet the speciﬁc needs of the student.

The effectiveness of an intervention is closely monitored to determine if the intervention is improving outcomes for students. Decisions about continuing, adjusting or concluding an intervention are based on data.

Also see: Adjustments; Differentiation

Lead To initiate or inspire and guide colleagues to improve educational outcomes for students. Teachers articulate and implement a vision of education to their students, peers, the profession and wider community.

Learning activities Activities designed by teachers to create conditions for learning for students (or colleagues).

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Learning goals

Learning goals are speciﬁc statements that describe the concepts and skills that are intended students will attain. Learning goals outline what the teacher wants students to learn and be able to do at the end of a lesson or unit of work. Learning goals need to be identiﬁed and understood at the planning stage. They inform programming, lesson planning and assessment. When setting learning goals, it is important to consider both the content and skills you want your students to achieve from the course.

Learning goals refer to the intended learning outcomes, which may be speciﬁed in curriculum frameworks such as syllabus documents.

Lesson plan A detailed description of the intended teaching and learning activities developed by a teacher to guide class instruction during a lesson; it may include objectives, student learning outcomes, sequenced activities, assessment, follow up, evaluation.

Lesson sequence An organised series of lessons that will be taught consecutively so that related concepts follow each other to meet the objectives of programs or units of work and to achieve optimal learning outcomes for students.

Literacy Students become literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language conﬁdently for learning and communicating in and out of school and for participating effectively in society.

Literacy involves students listening to, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating oral, print, visual and digital texts, and using and modifying language for different purposes in a range of contexts.

Literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond school. Success in any learning area depends on being able to use the signiﬁcant, identiﬁable and distinctive literacy that is important for learning and representative of the content of that learning area.

Refer to: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/generalcapabilities/literacy/

Maintain To cause or enable a condition or situation to continue.

Model To display to other persons a process, concept or system.

In education, modelling may involve a teacher demonstrating a task, concept or approach to others (usually students) to promote learning by students initially observing how to perform an action or conduct a process in an approved manner. This type of modelling serves as a guide for actions that others will be expected to do on their own.

Moderation

Moderation is a process for developing consistency of assessment judgements across different assessors and sometimes across different programs and schools. It involves different assessors marking different examples of student work. As it is not possible for all assessors to mark the work of all students, sampling is required.

Moderation in a school setting involves teachers working together to assess student samples of work to make a consistent and comparable judgement of student learning. Moderation involves discussion, the use of an assessment rubric or benchmarked examples of levels of achievement to make consistent and comparable judgements.

Monitoring To observe and check the progress or quality of something over a period of time.

Negotiate To try to reach an agreement or compromise by discussion with others; to confer with another or others to come to terms or reach an agreement.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Network

Non-verbal communication

A group of interconnected people who exchange information, develop professional or social contacts, share experiences and learn from peers.

In education, teacher networks allow teachers to share knowledge and skills to improve teaching quality and student learning. Professional teacher networks exist on many levels, including both online and face-to-face communication and involve colleagues within a school and across-schools.

Community networks may involve the local community, specialised interest groups or groups sharing common attitudes and interests. They are wider than in-school networks.

Sending and receiving messages in a variety of ways without the use of verbal codes (words). It includes touch, glance, eye contact (gaze), proximity, gestures, facial expression, pause (silence), dress, posture and sounds (paralanguage).

Numeracy Numeracy encompasses the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that students need to use mathematics in a wide range of situations. The Numeracy learning continuum identiﬁes the related mathematical knowledge and skills and contextualises these through learning area examples.

When teachers identify numeracy demands across the curriculum, students have opportunities to transfer their mathematical knowledge and skills to contexts outside the mathematics classroom. These opportunities assist students to recognise the interconnected nature of mathematical knowledge, learning areas and the wider world, and encourage them to use their mathematical skills broadly.

Refer to: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/generalcapabilities/numeracy/

Observation of practice

An observation of practice may be formal or informal and occurs while the practice takes place.

Observation provides the opportunity to monitor or assess a process or situation and document evidence of what is seen and heard. Seeing actions and behaviours within a natural context, or as they usually occur, provides knowledge and understanding of teaching strategies and insights into student learning.

The discussion of feedback from observation can lead to valuable reciprocal professional learning conversations.

Usually, the observation of practice will be an observation of the applicant teaching a lesson to their class. However, applicants in non-teaching roles have the ﬂexibility to have their practice observed in a context that that is more relevant to their role, for example a demonstration lesson.

Refer to: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/lead-develop/develop-others/classroom-observation

Organise To prepare for an activity or to arrange in a systematic order.

Pedagogy Teaching pedagogy involves the learning activities and experiences – the ‘what you do’ and ‘how you do it.’

Plan

Decide on and make arrangements for in advance, organise, arrange prepare.

Policies Policies are principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organisation to reach its long-term goals and typically published in a form that is widely accessible. Policies and procedures are designed to inﬂuence and determine all major decisions and actions, and all activities take place within the boundaries set by them.

Procedures Procedures are the speciﬁc methods employed to implement or action policies in dayto-day operations of the organisation. Together, policies and procedures ensure that a point of view held by the governing body of an organisation is translated into steps that result in an outcome compatible with that view.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Processes Processes are a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end.

Problem solving

Professional learning plan

A type of thinking using generic or improvised methods, applied in an orderly manner, to ﬁnd solutions to problems. It usually involves an ability to understand what the problem is and a logical approach in deciding what rules could be applied as a key to solving the problem. It may also involve abstract thinking and producing a creative solution.

A professional learning plan is a proposal for professional learning that a teacher intends to undertake to develop their teaching practice and improve student learning. It is based on learning needs identiﬁed by a teacher, school priorities and the needs of their students. This plan can include proposed courses, observations of colleagues, reading of educational journals and articles and participation in communities of practice.

Program See – Teaching and learning program; Well-structured program.

Promote To help or encourage to ﬂourish, especially through speaking or writing in favour of, supporting or urging by argument; to recommend to others (the school ideals, practices etc.).

Provide To make available for use; supply.

Range/Variety

Rationale

Some Descriptors include the word “range”, for example a broad range of strategies. Some Descriptors include the word “variety”. In the context of teacher accreditation, range and variety mean three examples.

A set of logical reasons for a course of action or belief; an explanation of why a particular choice was made, outlining the basis of its selection, information or assumptions that were relied on and why the conclusion can be accepted as valid.

Record Keep track of information, facts and data in written, photographic or other permanent form.

Record of communication

Record of communication includes such methods as diary notes, emails, meeting notes, electronic discussion forums or notes made as the result of participation in professional learning activities such as school-based professional learning or a conference.

Reflect To reflect involves conscious, active and careful consideration of a belief, practice, event or supposed form of knowledge. In education, this may be evaluating the processes of teaching and learning, and questioning why we do something rather than how, looking at supporting evidence and further conclusions that can be made. Reflective practice involves learning from this process and initiating change when and where required.

Research An active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry into a subject to collect information and thereby increase one’s understanding, or to interpret or revise facts, theories, applications or make discoveries to establish new facts or principles.

Resources Materials used by the teacher or created by teachers, to enhance student learning and/or to develop teachers’ practice. Examples include websites, journals, data bases, journals, worksheets, models, graphic organisers.

Review To think or talk about something again to update it or make a decision about it.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION MANUAL

Term Explanation

Routine ‘A routine (aka habit) is essentially a chain of actions that gets executed on a cue (or prompt), all of which happens with minimal cognitive effort or conscious control.’

Classroom routines help settle students for learning, reduce students having to think about the process of learning and allow them to engage more quickly and effectively in the substance and content of the learning.

Instructional routines involve activities such as whole-class discussion or independent practice. These make the most of the time available for learning.

Behavioural routines involve activities such as classroom entry or resource management. These free up more time and space for learning.

(Source: Routines Redeploy Attention by Peps Mccrea.)

Select

Carefully choose as being the most suitable or best in preference to another or others. Sequence of teaching and learning activities

A sequence of teaching and learning activities are a series of at least two actions in which students participate to meet the syllabus outcomes. The activities need to be arranged in a logical order to build on a particular concept, idea or content, e.g. the teaching and learning activities in the second and third lessons are a logical progression from the ﬁrst. Lessons may be spaced over time but still follow on and build on prior learning.

Standards MEA Independent Schools NSW/ACT Standards Model (Teachers) Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2021

Student wellbeing See Wellbeing (in students)

Summative assessment See Assessment – summative

Teaching and learning program

Teaching/learning activity

An organised and sequenced plan and record of teaching activities and strategies, assessment strategies and resources that inform teaching, including adjustments to suit the needs of speciﬁc learners so that they too can work towards achieving curriculum outcomes.

Teaching programs are usually made up of units of work and include information about teaching and learning over a period of time such as a year or Stage.

A task or exercise set by the teacher and undertaken by the learner, which has an intended learning outcome. Its aim is to actively engage students in learning. The activity enables students to work on task(s) to use and/or develop their knowledge and skills. Learning activities are varied and may be designed to stimulate experiential learning, develop conceptual thinking, or to prompt students to ask questions, engage in analytical discussion, practice skills or apply knowledge.

Teaching strategies Actions that teachers take (teaching techniques that teachers use) to assist students’ progress towards and achievement of learning outcomes. Examples of teaching strategies include direct instruction, co-operative learning, debate, use of graphic organisers, scaffolding text types, strategic group work, student-led group work, jigsaw group strategy, ﬂipped classroom, individual work, practical work/hands-on learning, modelling, multi-modal teaching for different learning styles, using analogies, role play, discovery-based/inquiry-based learning, questioning techniques, etc.

Unit of work

A unit of work is a signiﬁcant portion of a teaching program that is usually based around one theme or speciﬁc part of the syllabus.

Use To deploy or operate something as a means of accomplishing something.

2025 EXPERIENCED TEACHER ACCREDITATION

Term Explanation

Wellbeing (in students)

Well sequenced (content)

Well-structured teaching and learning program

Wellbeing may relate to successful, adaptive and positive social and emotional functioning that enables a student to achieve their goals, whether they be academic, social or personal in nature.

Refer to: AISNSW Wellbeing Literature Review

Content that shows a logical progression, where information is organised from simple to complex and/or from existing knowledge and skills to new knowledge and skills and/or from facts to concepts and/or in chronological order of occurrence.

A well-structured teaching and learning program is one that provides a clear sequence of activities, includes appropriate scaffolding for all students, is differentiated to meet the needs of students and demonstrates that the learning is built on student prior knowledge.

Work sample Work samples are artefacts created by students resulting from the completion of learning activities including creative displays, videos of student performances, experiments and use of tools and machinery, completed documents and assessment tasks.

Part 7 – Tools and resources

ADVICE

Important Dates 2025

Experienced Teacher Introduction – Part 1

Experienced Teacher Policy – Part 2

Experienced Teacher Procedures – Part 3

Professional Teaching Standards for Experienced Teacher – Part 4

Guide to Evidence – Part 5

Glossary – Part 6

Information about Deferrals and Withdrawals

TEMPLATES

Please note: For each template, please download the file first, then complete and save as relevant.

Principal Attestation

Declaration of Authenticity

Explanation of Evidence - Annotations

Observation of Practice Record

Experienced Teacher Employment History Spreadsheet

Experienced Teacher Eligibility Calculator Worksheet

Notification of Deferral

Notification of Withdrawal

RESOURCES

Experienced Teacher Accreditation Portal – includes explanatory information and a range of examples (e.g. sample annotation and observation of practice record) and illustrative videos.

COURSES AND EVENTS

Am I ready for Experienced Teacher accreditation online module

2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation Information Sessions

AISNSW professional learning

Experienced Teacher Accreditation

Explanation of Evidence - Annotation

Complete one Explanation of Evidence – Annotation document per evidence set

Evidence details

Applicant’s name:

Standard Descriptor(s) demonstrated:

Items of Evidence

School(s) from which evidence in evidence set is drawn

Is any of the evidence in the evidence colleagues No

Yes – If yes, development of the evidence.

[Insert here]

ExperiencedTeacher Portfolio EvidencePresentation Guidelines

When choosing and formatting evidence consider the presentation of these documents as a portfolio/curriculum vitae of your classroom practice.All evidence will be assessedby AISNSW ISTAA.

All evidence should be the original document, or a screen shot, so it clearly looks like authentic evidence.

All evidence should be evenly formatted, centered and high resolution.

This box is called a flag. All evidence should be flagged with the descriptor number and abrief commentstating its relevance to the descriptor.

NB: You can also ‘Insert Comment’ in word documents to create flags.

Experienced Teacher LessonObservationRecord

Pre-observationInformation

Nameofapplicant

Aaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbb

Nameofobserver Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Observer’sposition DirectorofAccreditation

Observer’s professional relationship totheapplicant Colleague

Classbeingobserved Year7English

Date,timeandlocation 22ndAugust

Syllabus outcomes and content beingaddressed

Relationship between this lesson and previous lesson(s)

Lesson outline including teaching strategies,student activities and resources including ICT

EN4-3B

EN4-1A

This lesson is continuing on from previous lessons on how to unpack an extendedresponsequestion, how to select appropriate example evidence for the question and how to synthesise and analyse their previous written work.

Teaching Strategies: direct instruction, modelling, prior taught vocabulary, differentiation and formative feedback.

Student Activities: a warm-up in pairs to revise previouslylearnt work, a class collaborative disc ussion on ‘breaking down a question’and individual implementation as students ‘reshape their paragraphs’

Information about students that will be relevant to the lessonand thedemonstration of the ET descriptors

ET Descriptors being demonstrated (upto 5 descriptors maximum)

Observer’ssignature

Applicant’ssignature

Some students require a deeper level of scaffolding and differentiation than others.

1.1, 2.6,3.3

Date 22/08

ObservationofteachingpracticetodemonstrateDescriptors

Descriptordemonstrated or Not demonstrated

Description of student participation

Students: actively listenedand responded to questions related to the content throughoutthe lesson imitatedteacher modelling to complete their tasks recordedpreviously learned vocabulary into OneNote for their writing task engaged intheworkthat was adjustedbased on their learning needs during the lesson. e.g.,a group of students moved to the ‘word wall’ with their activity sheets listenedtoteacherfeedbackand madespecific changes to improve their writing demonstrated

Students: actively engaged with the ICT and responded to questionspresented visually willingly sharedthinkingto the whole class tocollaboratively break down the practice questions placed on screen into smaller components usedtheir own devices to reshape their differentiated paragraphs in OneNote followed specific instructions about using devices to effectively engage with the content selected demonstrated

Descriptionofteachingpractice

Teacher: provided ongoing verbaland written feedback throughout the lesson to students regarding their writing explainedcontent to studentsso that it was delivered clearly and accurately to support student understanding supportedstudents to recall previously learned terminologyand concepts selected and used a varietyof strategies such as using activity cards and a word wallto supportstudents to complete their comprehension tasks at different levels modelled ways to complete the practical aspects of the task.

Descriptor

1.1

Teacher: projectedthescreen using Viviso that students could interact and engage with instructions and the content recorded students’ ideas and answers to questionsvisually on the screen as a class activity accessed students’ OneNote pages and sharedto support reshaping of student responseparagraphs typed and sharedfeedback dynamicallyviaaccessingstudents’ individual work in OneNote reminded students to access their own previously written paragraphin OneNoteto complete the reshaping taskso they could use this in future lessons as well

2.6

ObservationofteachingpracticetodemonstrateDescriptors

Descriptordemonstrated or Not demonstrated

Description of student participation

Students: Demonstrated a range of skillspracticed duringthe small group warm up tasks Participated in class discussions and provided answers to Problem questions posed about reshaping paragraphs Collaborated with each other in small groups during warm up tasks and differentiated activitiesto respond critically to possible answers as well as create new versions of their own writing Showcased their knowledge in various ways across the lesson duration e.g.,active participation, verbal discussion, asking questions for clarification demonstrated

Descriptionofteachingpractice

Teacher: Provided specific instructions for the practical warm up tasks (Skill development) Posed questions then broke down practice questions placed on IWB with the class (Problem solving) Worked with groups of students to model and think out answers aloud when reshaping paragraphs via Onenote. The paragraphswere differentiated to suit varying abilities (Critical and creative thinking) Provided opportunities for individual written workthat harnessed development of and showcasedstudent knowledge

Descriptor

3.3

ObserverFeedback: The impact of the teaching strategies that you selected based on your assessment of students’ social and intellectual developme nt and characteristicswere effective in the way in which these can have a direct bearing on improving student’s learning. As this was a mixed ability Yr 7 class, the impact of the range of t eaching activities and ICT that you designed and implemented I could observe were effective in meeting studentlearning needs, particularly in meeting learning needs that supported students’ litera cy achievement. The writing activities that I observed clearly met this aim. Similarly, the range of teaching strategies that you selectedand implemented wasobserved to develop a range of studen tskills. Consider havingsimilar strategies in play to ensure that engagement and understanding are visible in future lessons.

Applicant’sFeedback: The lesson ran as planned and I felt it showed all relevant aspects of each descriptor. Whilst continuing to teach this unit,I will aim to implement the above observer feedback in relation to sustaining student engagement in similar tasks in the future.

Experienced Teacher Accreditation Notiﬁcation of Deferral Form

Applicant’s name

Current school

Reason for Requesting Deferral

Acknowledgement of Deferral by Principal

Principal

I have been informed of the applicant’s request to defer Experienced Teacher accreditation.

I understand that AISNSW will automatically transfer the applicant to the next year’s Experienced Teacher accreditation cohort.

Name of Principal (please print)

Signature of Principal

Date

Acknowledgement of Deferral by Applicant

I acknowledge I will advise AISNSW of any change of school or contact details and that failure to do so may result in my application being automatically withdrawn.

If you have been provided access to your AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder this access will be withdrawn, so that you can reactivate your application in the following year.

If you have started collating evidence in your AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder, you will need to make your own copy of this evidence as you will no longer be able to access the folder once this deferral is processed.

Please tick the box to conﬁrm you are aware that you will no longer have access to your current AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder and you have taken a copy of any evidence you may have uploaded.

Applicant’s signature

Date

Prior to submitting, please refer to the Deferral and Withdrawal section of the 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation Manual.

Please send this form to Felicity Jagavkar: istaa@aisnsw.edu.au

Experienced Teacher Accreditation

Notiﬁcation of Withdrawal Form

Applicant’s name

Current school

Reason for Requesting Withdrawal

Acknowledgement of Withdrawal by Principal

Principal

I have been informed of the applicant’s request to withdraw from Experienced Teacher accreditation.

I understand that if the applicant reapplies for accreditation at Experienced Teacher, a new application fee will be required.

Name of Principal (please print)

Signature of Principal

Date

Acknowledgement of Withdrawal by Applicant

If you have been provided access to your AISNSW OneDrive Portfolio of Evidence folder this access will be withdrawn.

Applicant’s signature

Date

Prior to submitting, please refer to the Deferral and Withdrawal section of the 2025 Experienced Teacher accreditation Manual.

Please send this form to Felicity Jagavkar: istaa@aisnsw.edu.au

Experienced Teacher Accreditation Declaration of Authenticity

This Experienced Teacher Accreditation Declaration of Authenticity is to be signed by both the applicant and the Principal of the applicant’s current school.

If an applicant selects evidence from multiple schools, they must provide a separate Declaration of Authenticity from the Principal of each school.

Experienced Teacher Accreditation D De cla r a t io n o f A u t h e n t icit y provides a declaration from the applicant and the Principal that the evidence they submit for Experienced Teacher accreditation is genuine and created by the applicant independently or collaboratively in the normal course of their professional work as a teacher.

If any of the applicant’s evidence was developed in collaboration with colleagues, this must be declared by the applicant and the option on collaborative evidence must be completed and signed by the applicant’s Principal.

Where the Principal is not able to endorse the Declaration of Authenticity for an applicant, the Principal should contact the AISNSW Head of Regulation and Accreditation

A pplica n t de t a ils

Name of Applicant:

Name of School:

Name of Principal:

I ______________________________________ declare that the evidence included in my submission of [Name of Applicant] evidence for Experienced Teacher accreditation:

has been compiled by me and [select option for independent/collaborative evidence]

is a true and accurate record of my practice in all aspects of the Experienced Teacher Standards has been developed in the normal course of my work at __________________________________ [Name of School]

has been de-identiﬁed of all personal details to protect the privacy of students and parents.

I declare that I have submitted all required evidence for all Standards in my submission.

I permission for AISNSW to use my evidence and annotations for training purposes.

onlyincludesevidencethathasbeendevelopedindependentlybyme give

Signed: ________________________________________________ Date: _______________________ [Applicant’s signature] [Date signed]

A pplica n t De cla ra t io n o f Au t h e n t icit y

P r in cipa l De cla ra t io n o f Au

icit y

I _______________________________________ declare that the evidence presented for Experienced Teacher [Name of Principal]

accreditation by _______________________________________ has been compiled by the applicant [Name of Applicant] in the normal course of his/her work at __________________________________ and is a true and accurate [Name of School]

reﬂection of his/her practice against all aspects of the Experienced Teacher Standards.

I hereby state that the applicant has included some documentary evidence in their submission that has been developed in collaboration with colleagues at _____________________________________. [Name of School].

I conﬁrm that the applicant personally contributed to the development and implementation of the collaborative evidence.

I conﬁrm that the evidence developed in collaboration with colleagues is representative of the applicant’s personal practice against the relevant Standards.

I permission for AISNSW to use the applicant’s evidence and annotations developed in the course of their work at my school for training purposes.

Signed: ________________________________________________ Date: _______________________ [Principal’s signature] [Date signed] give

Experienced Teacher Accreditation Principal Attestation

This Experienced Teacher Accreditation Principal Attestation is to be signed the Principal of the applicant’s current school.

To be accredited at the level of Experienced Teacher, an applicant must demonstrate to AISNSW that their practice consistently aligns all 7 of the Experienced Teacher Standards.

The Principal Attestation provide confirmation from the applicant’s current Principal that the applicant’s practice aligns with Standards 4, 6 and 7 for Experienced Teacher Accreditation, as detailed in this document.

The Principal Attestation is the only evidence required for these three Standards. No annotation is required to support the Principal Attestation.

Where the Principal is not able to endorse the Principal Attestation for an applicant, the Principal should contact the AISNSW Head of Regulation and Accreditation

A pplica n t de t a ils

Name of Applicant:

Name of School:

Name of Principal:

attest that _________________________________________ consistently demonstrated that his/her practice [Applicant’s name]

aligns with each of the following three Standards at the Level of Experienced Teacher (as described on the following pages). The applicant consistently demonstrated

The applicant consistently demonstrated

Signed: ________________________________________________ Date: _______________________ [Principal’s signature] [Date signed] has has has

PRINCIPAL ATTESTATION

Use the list of Descriptors for each Standard below as a guide to determine whether the applicant’s practice consistently aligns to the Standards for Experienced Teacher accreditation.

Demonstrate inclusive and positive interactions to engage and support all students in classroom activities.

Develop with students, orderly and workable routines that create an environment where the use of classroom time for learning is maximised.

Negotiate and establish with students clear expectations for appropriate behaviour and consequences for challenging behaviour.

Develop and implement strategies that ensure students’ wellbeing and safety based on school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements.

Model for students and implement strategies to promote the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in teaching and learning.

Opt io n a

e n t describing how the applicant demonstrates Standard 4

Use the Professional Standards for Experienced Teachers to reﬂect on current practice and identify and plan professional learning needs.

Evaluate professional learning undertaken to enhance knowledge and practice, targeted to professional needs and school priorities.

Work with colleagues, giving and receiving constructive feedback to improve professional knowledge and practice.

Apply professional learning that is designed to address identiﬁed student learning needs.

Optional c o m m e n t describing how the applicant demonstrates Standard

PRINCIPAL ATTESTATION

Maintain high ethical standards by meeting codes of ethics and conduct established by regulation authorities and schools.

Demonstrate ongoing compliance with relevant legislative, administrative, organisational and professional requirements, policies and processes.

Develop and build active, ongoing, respectful, collaborative relationships with parents/carers regarding their children’s learning or wellbeing.

Make an active contribution in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice.

Optional c o m m e n t describing how the applicant demonstrates Standard