When Qibla College was given a month to close down, two IEU early career teacher members were facing the possibility of trying to find new work, but without their Proficient accreditation.
The IEU acted quickly to offer accreditation assistance to the two members. Their principal, also an IEU member, was supportive of their accreditation, but getting the paperwork completed even as the school commenced closing down was an uphill battle.
Both members had been at Qibla College for a while, and they had demonstrated their proficiency in their practice. It was just a matter of gathering their evidence together, making their annotations and submitting the paperwork. This is a task that many teachers feel is daunting, and often it is put off.
The IEU’s accreditation team visited Qibla College to explain accreditation, and demonstrate the ease with which their evidence could be collated, and annotations made. They were able to access Matt Esterman and Amy Cotton, IEU’s Professional Officers, for feedback and assistance as they put their documents together. The principal was also able to seek clarity about her tasks as Teacher Accreditation Authority.
“I can’t thank Amy and Matt enough for all their help and support in gaining my Proficiency in teaching. I didn’t think it could be done so quickly and easily!” one grateful member said.
The good news is that even though the school was announced for closure, with assistance from the Union, these members were better placed for Proficient accreditation.
If you need help understanding accreditation, either as a beginning teacher or a supervisor or mentor, IEU members can access our Professional Officer team at accreditation@ieu.asn.au. We’re here for you.
*It was recently announced that Qibla College will now stay open until the end of 2016.