Working Together - Cultural Awareness is a module offered within the Department for Education online professional learning system. The module briefly describes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, engagement and cultures (2.4, 6.2).

The Murraylands Reading Student Free Day was designed to progress the partnership's goals in literacy improvement. I attended as part of my third professional placement with Mannum Community College (6.2).

The morning session comprised a series of presentations and activities looking at the current state of reading literacy in the Murraylands, and the perspectives of our students. The local Education Director, Stan Hagias, addressed the partnership to explain the direction for progress for the whole partnership.

The first elective workshop I attended explored the use of inclusive technologies to support students, including those with disabilities, to process, comprehend and create written text more easily. A range of tools were presented, including the built-in accessibility features of standard software such as Microsoft Word. This workshop was presented by Jim Spiralis of the Special Education Resource Unit (SERU) (1.5, 1.6, 2.5, 2.6, 3.4, 4.1, 7.4).

The second session was presented by a group of staff and students from Mypolonga Primary School, and focused on co-designing reading learning with students and sharing the processed used and students' insights. The key message was around strategies to create high levels of student engagement in reading (2.5, 3.3, 4.1).

My final session was a workshop on creating carefully designed questions to guide student reading and learning, presented by teachers from Murray Bridge High School. We explored the command terms commonly used and held academic conversations in which we analysed and gave critical feedback on each other's practice (2.5, 3.6, 6.3, 6.4, 7.4).

While on professional placement at Coomandook Area School I attended a full day of professional development. The morning session, presented by Jan Webber, focused on understanding the different personalities present in a workplace and how to work together effectively. In the afternoon, staff analysed trends in Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) and National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results to identify problems of practice and inform the site improvement plan (5.4, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2).

During my placement at Coomandook Area School I attended the Mathematical Association of South Australia Student Quiz Night as a student supervisor and quiz marker. I was able to network with colleagues from schools in the district and help to create a safe and supportive environment for students to participate in the quiz (4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 7.1, 7.2, 7.4).

While employed at Murray Bridge High School I attended a teacher professional development workshop presented by Lee Watanabe Crockett. The workshop focused on engaging critical thinking and problem solving skills using a student-centred curriculum and models such as Solution Fluency and Information Fluency. Staff from several schools in the local partnership collaborated in collegial discussions to apply the ideas presented to real classroom situations (1.2, 1.5, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, 6.2, 6.3).

As a student support officer at Murray Bridge High School I completed the “Code of ethics awareness for the South Australian public sector” online training module. This module described how the Code of Ethics is applied by those in different roles, the four foundations of public service (democracy, impartiality, accountability and diversity), the public sector values (service, professionalism, trust, respect, collaboration and engagement, honesty and integrity, courage and tenacity, and sustainability), and the professional conduct standards (6.2, 7.1, 7.2).