Katrina:
I wanted to do a regional placement for the experience of a different setting. I've grown up in suburban Melbourne my entire life, so when the opportunity came up I thought, why not?
David:
I've always wanted to work regionally, but the partnership made it a lot more accessible. They funded the accommodation, they made our introductions, they ensured that we had all the paperwork that we needed beforehand. So, just the things that we would have had to source, and spend a lot of time doing on our own.
Brianna:
From the minute we got there, the principals were unbelievably supportive of us. They were so interested in what we were doing and really wanted us to enjoy the experience.
David Armstrong:
For an up-and-coming teacher, being in a regional school, it's really good for them in terms of their professional practise. Most people have done some time in an urban setting, some time overseas, and time in a regional setting. They're the best teachers that I meet. It's going to make them a better teacher.
Karen Mascas:
Get out and explore. Get out and explore the environment. Find out what the whole area has to offer. There's great restaurants. There's all the wineries. There's the rivers. The Warby Ranges is only 10 minutes drive where you get to see the native wildlife.
David:
The best thing was when you would travel around small towns, you would get recommendations from people of where to go next. Oh, there's a pie shop down in this street you've got to go to. There's a brewery up here you've got to go. The cheese here is fantastic. You can't possibly leave before you've tried it.
Katrina:
It was lovely having all the space and having cows just outside our house, and a cow having calves right outside our front door was such a good experience.
Brianna:
I definitely loved learning how a community can shape a student and how that really impacts the way that they learn. That for me was something really valuable, and something that I'm going to take into my teaching moving forward.
Taya Tracey:
Personally, I found it really rewarding as in being able to share my own knowledge of teaching. It's also a really good reflective practise I think as a teacher to be able to stop and think about exactly how you would teach somebody to teach.
Sheri Parkhouse:
They bring energy, they bring new ideas, and particularly if they really buy in, they become really part of the school community. It's different, your community is more part of the school. You get to mix with kids in the school setting, but so many more opportunities to do things with them outside of the school community as well.
Katrina:
By doing this country placement you can get experience in a new setting that you've probably never seen before. You can be exposed to new challenges, new ideas, new ways of doing things.
Taya Tracey:
I think it just gives you longer to try out different strategies, or approaches that you might like to take because sometimes you need to try them before you can decide if that's who you are as a teacher.
Sheri Parkhouse:
So, when they go back to university and they finish their assessment tasks, and finally their university degree, the confidence is there to really walk into a school and be the teacher that they want to be.
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