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Advice for teachers about what you can do when situations arise as you work towards Proficient Teacher accreditation.
The school that supports you needs to know you and your practice, so you should approach a school where you work regularly.
If they can’t support you now, discuss a timeline that might be possible for future support.
If you are a casual teacher working in more than one school:
If the school you approached is not able to support you, reach out to another school who you have established a relationship with to support you in your accreditation. A teaching block of 6-10 weeks may assist casual teachers to seek the support of a school.
If your Accreditation Supervisor tells you there is an issue with your practice, act on all their feedback to address the issue(s).
If your Accreditation Supervisor thinks that the issue(s) may impact the accreditation recommendation from your principal, they will write to you advising of the issue(s). They will also notify your principal within 28 days of becoming aware of the issue(s).
Read the written notice from the Accreditation Supervisor and talk to them about the Standard Descriptor(s) you have not yet met, and how to further develop your practice to meet those Standard Descriptors.
Your Accreditation Supervisor has to give reasons for this kind of declaration. You should read their evaluative comments in your NESA online account (eTAMS).
Your principal will review your whole application, including the declaration, and can:
If the principal asks for revisions, discuss them with your Accreditation Supervisor. Review which Standard Descriptors you haven’t met and what you need to do to fully demonstrate them. Reach an agreement with your Accreditation Supervisor when you are ready to resubmit.
If you move school before your principal has made a recommendation, subject to your consent, your new principal can contact your previous principal to help inform their recommendation.
You and your employer will receive 28 days’ written notice from your principal of their intention to recommend to not accredit you at Proficient Teacher and the reasons why. After reading the written notice from the principal you should respond to the reasons provided and any requests made.
If you respond to the written notice, your principal will consider your response before making a recommendation to NESA.
If you do not respond, your principal must make a recommendation to NESA within 28 days of the notice.
NESA will make a decision to accredit or not accredit you within 28 days of receiving the recommendation and will email you their decision.
In limited circumstances your principal will advise NESA that they are unable to make a recommendation about your accreditation. These circumstances include:
If the principal is unable to make an accreditation recommendation, they will send you a written notice about this.
Your application will be reopened.
You should read the comments and discuss how you can address the reasons the principal has given for being unable to make a recommendation. If you can address the reasons and your principal agrees, you can resubmit.
Alternatively, you can approach another school or employer for support to finalise your accreditation at Proficient Teacher if you are still within your accreditation timeframe.
You are able to submit applications with a school that supports you until the end of your accreditation timeframe.
If you are close to, or have reached, the end of your maximum timeframe you may have grounds to apply to NESA for an extension.
You can contact NESA for further advice.
If NESA considers making a decision that does not align with the recommendation by your principal, NESA will contact the principal and, if necessary, you to discuss the recommendation before making a decision.
Read the written notice from NESA outlining the reasons why the decision was made.
If you are still within your accreditation timeframe, you will stay accredited at Provisional or Conditional level and can continue to teach until the end of the timeframe. Your Proficient Teacher application will be closed. You will need to start a new application and can resubmit at a later date as long as you are within your timeframe.
You can approach another school or employer for support with a new application if you are still within your accreditation timeframe.
You may have grounds to apply to NESA for an extension to your timeframe to achieve Proficient Teacher if you are running out of time. If you can’t achieve Proficient Teacher accreditation by the end of your maximum timeframe your accreditation may be ceased.
You can apply to NESA for an internal review of a decision to not accredit you.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a review of NESA’s decision to not accredit you.
You can apply to NESA for an extension to your timeframe in certain circumstances.
In the final six months before your due date you can apply to NESA, providing evidence of the grounds for your extension request.
Grounds for an extension of a teacher’s accreditation timeframe include:
If you do not gain Proficient Teacher accreditation by the end of your maximum accreditation timeframe (or extended timeframe, if applicable) your accreditation will cease.
A teacher whose accreditation ceases is no longer accredited and is not eligible for employment as a teacher in any NSW school.
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