Agency Description

William Stimson Public School is located within the Western suburbs of Sydney. The school contains
a support unit within a mainstream setting which aims to help students with a disability integrate into
mainstream classrooms and play ground areas. The support unit at William Stimson consists of 48
students who are divided into 7 classes depending on their individual needs and requirements and are
looked after by 14 staff members. Two of the Staff members have completed Special Education
training and 5 Staff members are untrained but have received their learning through on the job
experiences. In each classroom there is also school learning support officers assisting the teacher
throughout the day.
William Stimson understands the value of diversity in its many forms, this is evident as the support
unit is comprised of 7 classes, based on the students individual needs. The school has 4 multicategorical classes, 1 consisting of students with high support needs (PH2/IN3/V1), 1 class that
caters for students with moderate to high support needs (PH2/IN3/some V1), 1 class consisting of
students with severe Autism and severe intellectual disability (A1/A2/A3/IN3), there are also 2
classes consisting of students with Autism and moderate intellectual disability (A1/A2/A3/IN2).
William Stimson also consists of 2 classes that cater for students with various physical disabilities.
The vision for William Stimsons Support Unit is to ensure that the students welfare and educational
needs are met in an environment that is safe, well equipped and cohesive to learning. The Schools
motto I learn to live reflects the aim of providing all students with learning outcomes that are
relevant to present and future community living.
It is my belief that this placement at William Stimson will open my mind to a greater awareness of
how to cater for every students individual needs. I believe that through this experience, I will be able
to delve into the lives of people with different disabilities and personalities from different
backgrounds and religions to which all are attending the same place as an equal, and all seeking an
equal schooling.

Journal Entries
Day One - Monday 19th November
Today I commenced the Community Engagement Program at William Stimsons support unit. At first
I was nervous as it was my first day and I did not know what to expect. At the beginning of the day
Jim (head of the support unit) talked to us briefly about the triangle of impairment for children with
Autism (behavior, communication and social skills). We were then each assigned to a class. I was
assigned a multi-categorical class consisting of a total of 7 students that includes students with
moderate Autism, Down Syndrome and moderate intellectual disability. The classroom layout is
similar to that of a mainstream class as it consisted of chairs, desks, tubs and a computer however
there is also a kitchen, eating table and bathroom attached to the classroom. As the students were
completing their daily morning routine of putting their bags away and taking out their lunch the
classroom teacher Judy was explaining the importance of students completing this with little
assistance as it teaches the students to develop a sense of independence.
Through observing the children and assisting them with one-on-one tasks throughout the day and
talking to the classroom teacher I realized that when working with students with a disability it is
important to focus on building a students social skills as well as their academic skills. Judy also
taught me a vital lesson today, which I will take with me to help me develop throughout my teaching
career. During a conversation at lunch Judy informed me that one of the students (Student A) initially
would not sit on the table and eat lunch at all and would just wonder around and throw food
everywhere. As a result of this Student As parents simply let her continue her habits as it was too
difficult to get her to sit on the table as she would become violent. Judy along with her aide
eventually taught Student A to sit at the table while having lunch through taking a series of small
steps. I learnt today to never give up on a student as perseverance has the power to change lives and
help out others immensely.

Day Two Tuesday 20th November

Today I assisted my teacher with the day to day activities of the class and also had an opportunity to
work one on one with a few of the students assisting them with writing out their spelling words and
improving their fine motor skills through beading and tracing over various shapes. Today I was also
given an opportunity to follow my teacher onto playground duty. Through this I learnt that observing
and responding to childrens behavior is integral inside as well as outside of the classroom
environment. Playground duty provided me with a positive experience, as I was able to communicate
with the students outside of my class and learn more about the students in my class and how they
interact with others. It was truly amazing to see the students helping each other out on the
playground; one observation I made which I believe was truly amazing was witnessing a student in
my class helping a student in a wheelchair to get out of the grass and onto the concrete path.
During lunch Jim was also speaking to the students and myself about the importance of approaching
a student with your palms out as it is a welcoming gesture for them and also demonstrated how to
collect the kids after the bell rang and take them back to their classrooms. Before going home the
students sing various songs and rhymes all accompanied with sign language. This made me realize
how integral sign language and visual stimulation is when communicating with children with
Autism. As I walked around the classroom I identified various posters and visual stimulations that
are used to help communicate with the students. In doing so, I reflected on the class teacher learning
how to communicate using sign language and concluded that teachers need to adapt, learn, critique
and refine their actions through research, education and experiences to create successful learning
opportunities for all students in the classroom.

Day Three Wednesday 21st November

Today began with the usual routine of having students unpack their bags and take out their lunch,
waiting to be called into the classroom. The day began with morning circle which required students
to mark off their attendance by popping a balloon with their name in it on the Smart Board. This was
interesting as I was able to gain an insight to the ability of most students. Although most students
could identify their name Student B had some difficulties and was given a card by the classroom
teacher with her name on it and instructed to find the word that looked the same (teacher used sign
language for the word same). This was a positive experience as I identified that it is crucial for all
students to feel involved in all classroom activities and should be provided with the right amount of
assistance to help them on their learning journey. I am quickly learning how important expressing
independence with children with disabilities is, as establishing these qualities at a younger age are an
advantage to them in later life.
Today we also had a library lesson where students walked in pairs to the library and all listened to
the librarian while she was reading picture books to the children. The stories were short in length to
keep the students interested. Throughout the books the teacher allowed some of the students to come
up and read some words themselves if they were capable. Other students were invited to turn the
pages of the book while the librarian read, to feel equal to the others in the class. This was a positive
realization for me and I understood the importance of giving students various tasks appropriate to
their ability level to make them feel included in a lesson or activity and not just having them miss out
altogether because a task was too difficult for them.

Day Four Thursday 22nd November

Day Four began with the usual process of getting the students ready for class time. The students
began with deskwork, which included handwriting, completing a dot-to-dot picture and a puzzle. I
was really intrigued about the puzzles and asked the teacher what the reason was for giving them to
the students. The teacher explained to me that the puzzle helps to get the childrens mind working
and thinking logically. I also noticed that some puzzles had parts already put in place while the others
were incomplete. The teacher explained that some of the students need some prompting to help them
get going with the task.
Today I was also provided with the amazing experience of watching one of the teachers aides helps
a child with Lissencephaly vomit as he was chocking and is unable to vomit by himself. The
teachers aide showed me how the excess milk is removed when the child begins to make gagging
noises, the tube attached to the childs stomach is switched in the reverse direction and instead of
feeding the child the excess fluid was extracted from his stomach. This was a truly amazing
experience as I realized just how important of a job it is to work with students with a disability. Not
only are you teaching them academically but you are also ensuring that they are healthy and safe and
are responsible for helping them with everyday actions that we take for granted. As the teacher was
helping the student she was also explaining to me that this student needs to be tube fed every hour of
the day and needs to be under constant surveillance as if the child makes gagging noises and the
vomit is not extracted there could be sever fatal consequences.

Day Five Friday 23rd November

Today began with the usual process of getting students to unpack their lunch and go to the bathroom
before going in to class. However, one of the students had an accident and needed the teachers aides
assistance in the bathroom. As a result of this the classroom teacher needed to shuffle the order of
activities planned for the day as the first lesson required assistance from the teachers aide. The
teacher shuffled around her daily planner and explained to me that it is important to have a planner
that is flexible in all situations as when working with students with disabilities it is hard to predict
what will happen next or what their behavior and mood will be like.
What struck me today in a negative way was that the students were misbehaving a little because of
the disruptive morning. Additionally, Student C is not responding well to me as a teacher, perhaps
because he knows that I am only temporarily there. When I asked him to do something he laughed or
turned his head and did the opposite to what I said. I spoke to the teacher about it and she said that I
just needed to stay strong and to be more forceful. When the teacher noticed how he responded later
to me she asked for him to apologize, which he later did. It was a big learning curb for me as I
realized that not all students are going to respond well to me, but if I am strong and have a loud and
confident voice they will interpret me seriously. The rest of the day seemed to go a little better now
that Student C began to listen to me, and I felt more confident in what I was doing.

Day Six Monday 26th November

Today during morning circle the students were very restless as it was a very hot day. I had to sit
behind student D during this time to make sure that she did not get distracted and run off to the other
side of the room. During this time I had to also regularly make sure that each student was looking to
the front of the class as the teacher showed the students the daily routine. This meant that I had to tap
the students on the shoulder or help them with some of the movements to gain their attention,
because they would frequently zone out. I also had to complement them when they were doing well,
and shout out their name if they werent following so that their attention would be gained again.
After lunch the class next door was invited to our classroom to watch a movie, as it was too hot for
the students to concentrate on doing work. While the students were watching the movie, I noticed
that the teachers were always looking around the room and making sure students were behaving, as
some of them would sometimes stand up or swing on their chairs. It made me think about how the
teachers are constantly making sure that students are behaving and watching changes in behavior to
prevent it from reoccurring. In particular I was told that one of the students from the other class had
developed a habit of using the bathroom every 15 minutes to get out of class. The teachers noticed
this change of behavior and began find ways to occupy his mind and stop it from continuing.

Day Seven Tuesday 27th November

Today I had my first negative experience this far in my community engagement. Upon arrival at
8.15am myself and 2 other student teachers were waiting for the students to arrive to help them off
the bus. However the teachers did not begin their morning duty till 8.30am, the bus arrived 5 minutes
earlier and as the bus driver began to unload the students from the car the teacher walked out and
began to yell at the bus driver for letting the students out of the bus early because she was not due to
start her duty for another 5 minutes. This came as a shock to me as I was unable to understand why
the teacher was unwilling to allow the bus driver to let the students off the bus earlier as it was a very
hot day.
After recess it was time for writing. Three of the students were able to trace my name is (name) and
I am (age) years old, and numbers 1-10. I was asked to aid an infant in doing hand-over-hand
writing as she was not yet familiar with how to do it. In doing this I was advised to sit behind her on
the desk and guide her by holding my hand over her hand has she held the pencil to write. This
ensures that the students dont just sit down and scribble but actually sit down to feel the action of
writing a sentence. I found it a little difficult at first, as this particular student wasnt responding
well, however after a few attempts she began to allow me to aid him. I felt extremely positive that I
was able to do this and that I had achieved something. I then continued to aid those other students
with the same action. Overall I learnt a lot today about class procedures and about the mixture of
ability levels within the classroom.

Day Eight Wednesday 28th November

Something that struck me in a negative way today was that one of the students had been absent for a
few days now, and later the teacher told me that the child is subject to family problems. It made me
aware of the background/family issues and the stress that can constitute with having a disabled child.
It made see how hard it would be for the family to understand the best possible ways to aid their
special needs child in life. Likewise whilst eating at recess, Student B wanted the teacher to take his
plate to the sink after he had finished eating. The teacher later told me that his dad does everything
for him and that is not helpful because the children need to learn how to be independent in their lives.
Therefore the teacher made him take the plate to the sink himself.
This experience has made me realize that parents and teachers need better communication. The
children do take diaries home, however they rarely come back to the class. I believe that if there were
seminars that parents could go to as a way to aid them with special needs children then that would
help a great deal with their lives and their childrens lives, so that both the parents and the teachers
are on the same page in facilitating the special needs children.

Day Nine Thursday 29th November

Today began again with the students being settled in their waiting bay and then being taken to their
classrooms again just like every morning procedure. After puzzles and toileting in the morning the
next activity was exercise where a circle was drawn on the floor with chalk for each student to stay
within as they jumped, skipped, swayed, clicked, and stretched. This allowed the students to move
their muscles and to get their bodies in motion. I had to stay behind Student D during exercises
because she usually runs around and I was advised to hold her while I joined in on the exercises. I
had to regularly make sure that each student was looking to the front at the teacher as she showed the
class the routine. This meant that I had to tap the students on the shoulder or help them with some of
the movements to gain their attention, because they would frequently zone out. I also had to
complement them when they were doing well, and shout out their name if they werent following so
that their attention would be gained again.

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Day Ten Friday 30th November

Today was the last day of my two weeks at the William Stimson Support Unit, and I cannot believe
how fast these two weeks have gone! The start of the day begun with the usual arrangements of
toileting and puzzle work, then gathered for morning circle. As it was a hot day the teacher gave the
students time to play with water which allowed them to cool down a little bit. As it was a very hot
day the teacher allowed the students to participate in calm activities and set up different areas of the
room for play do, quiet time, painting etc. At the end of the day the students held a little party and
individually sang their goodbye song after I gave them their presents.
I felt extremely proud watching the students walk to the bus and at the same time extremely proud of
my whole experience in William Stimson School. This experience has not only taught me so much
about my teaching career and new ways and methods to adapt in my own future classroom, but also
life lessons that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

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Self Report
NSWIT Graduate Teacher Standards
2.1.1 - Demonstrate knowledge, respect and understanding of the social, ethnic, cultural and
religious background of students and how these factors may affect learning.
Through the community engagement, I gained a deeper understanding and knowledge of the students
that I worked with, together with their backgrounds. The school caters for the differing social, ethnic,
cultural and religious beliefs, thus it was imperative that I kept an open mind as an individual and as
a future teacher in approaching this school. In regards to respecting the social nature of the school, I
understood that some students may be verbal, whilst other students do not respond with words, thus
socially they may be impacted adversely and their learning may be affected. I respected the fact that
if a particular student with an intellectual disability does not answer a question posed to them from
me, then this is not a case of disrespect as such, they may simply respond in a different or non-verbal
nature to that of their peers. Many students that I worked with were non-verbal; therefore sign
language is integrated within the school to aid these students. Additionally, some students were more
confident than others and played with their peers, whilst some were shy and lingered on their own.
This was a factor that I respected and had a great understanding for, as I live and grew up in an area
comprising of mixed backgrounds. All these factors may affect learning as each individual comprises
a different character and background that needed to be catered as an equal, whilst still catering for
their different learning needs. Thus I understood the importance of setting each student with the same
task, but at different levels to cater them fairly.
7.1.3 Demonstrate the capacity to work effectively with external professionals, teachers aids
and community-based personnel to enhance student learning opportunities.
At my placement, the personnel were extremely helpful and accommodating to all the students and
myself, as a result I was able to work effectively with them. Through the help of the teacher and the
teachers aid I was able to work collaboratively in a team to enhance student-learning opportunities
and encourage students to contribute their full abilities and potentials to their learning. Through
completing the community engagement I was able to enhance my knowledge of various skills and
strategies that can be implemented in order for students to receive the individual attention they need.
Through this experience I have learnt that as educators, it is our responsibility to provide positive
learning environments where children feel safe and supported and as a result have their learning

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opportunities maximized. Through positive feedback and encouragement students were able to build
their confidence in their abilities to complete tasks themselves.
7.1.6 Demonstrate the capacity to liaise, communicate and interact effectively and
appropriately with parents, caregivers, colleagues, industry and local community.
This teaching standard was demonstrated when the students were taken to the library and I was able
to help the teacher keep an eye on the students and help the librarian keep the students engaged by
reading stories. Also, through spending my lunchtime supervising the playground I was provided
with the opportunity to liaise, communicate and effectively as I had to express any changes in
behaviors or any troubles that I may come across such as a student being aggressive and abusive.
This standard was also demonstrated through talking to parents at the end of the day about what
activities the child has participated in throughout the day and how the children felt throughout the
day. I felt that I maintained positive relationships with staff members as I continually asked a number
of questions to assist me. Communication was very important during the community engagement
period as it allowed me to follow instructions from staff members and gain a deeper knowledge
about the assistance they provide students with special needs.
ACU Graduate Attributes
Open-mindedness and receptiveness to new ideas.
Upon commencement of community engagement I found that it was essential to be open-minded and
receptive to new ideas in order to provide a positive learning environment for the children. Entering
the community engagement with an open mind has allowed me to build a personal relationship with
the students both in my class and across the school. I found it essential that I ensured the children
were engaged with their learning which was achieved by being receptive to new ideas from students.
For example can we please read outside the reading room was suggested by one of the students
due to the lovely weather outside. This therefore allowed him to concentrate on his own reading as
he was then able to complete his worksheet at an excellent level as he was also away from the busy
classroom environment. I was also open- minded as I took on other staff members opinions and
suggestions which therefore assisted me whilst working with the students.
Communication and interpersonal skills in working with clients and colleagues.
When working collaboratively with staff members, I was able to develop my communication and
interpersonal skills, allowing me to maintain positive relationships. When working with learning
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support staff for students with special needs, communication plays a huge role in ensuring the best
opportunities are provided to students to enhance their learning. Communication allowed me to assist
students as a learning support staff member directed me with who to work with and what to do with
individual students. Prior to each lesson I was told of what the lesson will be about and what I was
required to do. I was also able to discuss after each lesson how I felt and any suggestions for the
future with the staff member I was working with. Through this I was then able to work towards
assisting students to the best of my ability to further enhance their educational needs.
Commitment to values and consistent with the universitys mission.
The Mission at Australian Catholic University affirms a fundamental concern for justice and equity,
and the dignity of all human beings. Thus I believe that the Universities values contributed to my
commitment to this community engagement greatly. I treated every student equally, and although
there were mixed levels of abilities, every student was allocated to do the same thing as to not incur
inequality within the classroom. I also acknowledge that every human being has the right to maintain
an education, regardless of disabilities, backgrounds, religions, etc. Thus students were encouraged
to write their name and the numbers 1-10, and if they couldnt, I would inevitably aid them with
hand-over-hand assistance. With reference to the Universitys mission, I felt that I had responsibility
to provide the students with a quality learning environment whereby all students are taught based on
their educational needs.
A spirit of service to the community.
I feel positive that I aided the teachers to a great degree during my two weeks of the community
engagement program. The teacher provided me with positive feedback throughout everyday and
within my student evaluation report. I believe that I overcame many obstacles during this community
engagement and thus I adequately demonstrated I have maintained a spirit of service to the
community. Moreover, seeing changes within the students during my little stay of two weeks enables
me to feel I have made a difference in the lives of the infants that I was placed with. Overcoming
such an obstacle will in turn allow me to keep providing this spirit of service to the community with
great confidence and the knowledge that I can alter an individuals future positively. During the twoweek period I worked towards educating special needs students with their individual learning as they
had an opportunity to receive additional help when needed.

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Commitment to good citizenship, including respect for individuals, empathy with persons of
differing cultural and religious backgrounds, community responsibility and concern for the
environment.
During my two weeks, I believe that I have built a greater respect and empathy for all the students
within the school, demonstrated through my patience for them, especially when the days were
difficult. I showed empathy when the students attention was disrupted, by kindly aiding them to keep
their mind focused. I treated every individual with respect and empathy no matter what differing
backgrounds they characterize, by aiding every student no matter who they were or how severe their
disability. I demonstrated a concern for the environment through assisting with the Environmental
programs, where the teacher, students and I would take 20 minutes out of class everyday to pick up
rubbish in the playground; which in turn manifested community responsibility. I felt achievement for
this particular attribute as I engaged in respectful interactions with persons of different cultural
backgrounds. This was achieved as I valued and appreciated each individuals cultural background
and individual rights.

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