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Certification

National certification is a voluntary, portable process, and is managed and assessed by the Queensland College of Teachers – the certifying authority for Queensland Catholic Education. The benefits of certification are far-reaching and have a positive influence on the school community.

Certification provides an opportunity for school leaders to promote quality teaching and participate in the professional learning of their teachers. Through their involvement in this process, school leaders are well placed to promote certification and support their teachers to become recognised as effective instructional leaders.

The role of the school leader in national teacher certification

School leaders are involved at each stage of the certification process. The school leader plays a vital role in supporting the applicant at each of the following stages:

Pre-assessment

  • Recognise highly effective teachers in your school and encourage them to take part in the process.
  • Support Assessors in their school to undertake the training and to participate in the assessment processes required.
  • Have a professional discussion with the prospective applicant regarding their readiness to apply based on the Teacher Standards.

Stage 1

  • Support the applicant to compile their portfolio of evidence
  • Provide feedback to the applicant through recent observations of classroom practice
  • Provide a written referee statement for the application with reference to the Teacher Standards

Stage 2

  • Have a professional discussion (with reference to the Teacher Standards) with the external assessor during the Stage 2 virtual site visit.

Classroom Observation Reports

Classroom observation reports may be compiled using existing observation tools and templates in an applicant’s school/system. If the existing observation frameworks, tools or templates don’t reference the Standards, the applicant must annotate the observation report to refer to and show links to the Standard(s)/Descriptor(s). A template is available for applicant’s consideration. Please note this is not a mandated template.

QCEC Classroom Observation template

For further information about how to promote and support the process for certification in your school, please refer to the following AITSL guide, Getting the best from your teachers – A principals’ guide to national teacher certification

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