EDU60054 : Child Play with Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics

Rationale

This assignment aims to develop your skills as a reflective practitioner and provide you with the opportunity to
critically reflect upon the skills and knowledge you have acquired throughout your recent practicum experience.
Being able to critically reflect upon your teaching and learning experiences, as well as those of your students, is
an important aspect of the educator’s role.
The purpose of this assignment is to create an authentic portfolio. Throughout each professional experience unit,
you will be required to demonstrate your competency in the seven Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers (Graduate) with different focus areas being scaffolded in the respective units.

This assignment task will lay the foundation for your Professional Portfolio: a document demonstrating your ongoing growth and development as a teacher. It can be used for many professional activities, including supporting teacher registration, applications for employment and promotion.

The reflective aspects of this assignment are for you to think about contexts such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and your practice and development as a pre-service teacher towards these standards. Therefore, this reflection needs to have a strong academic underpinning (this is not a debrief or avenue to vent frustrations or negative experiences).

Assignment details

In this assignment, you will reflect extensively upon your experiences from your professional placement. It is up to you to determine the sufficiency of the evidence you collect by making a professional judgement on how much evidence is enough. Make sure to stay within the word limit and show clarity and relevance. Your selection of what to include and what to exclude can say a lot about your values and beliefs; make sure your judgements reflect what you care about most. Select the best samples demonstrating your competence in the standards and focus areas.

The 15 NQS descriptors that you are required to demonstrate are outlined in the following table:

NQS Standards Assessment Criteria Table

QA1 – Educational program and practice

• 1.1.2 Child-centred
  Each child’s current knowledge, strengths, ideas, culture, abilities, and interests are the foundation of the program.

• 1.2.1 Intentional teaching
  Educators are deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful in their decisions and actions.

• 1.2.3 Child-directed learning
  Each child’s agency is promoted, enabling them to make choices and decisions that influence events and their world.

• 1.3.3 Information for families
  Families are informed about the program and their child’s progress.

QA2 – Children’s health and safety

• 2.2.2 Incident and emergency management
  Plans to effectively manage incidents and emergencies are developed in consultation with relevant authorities, practised, and implemented.

QA3 – Physical environment

• 3.1.1 Fit for purpose
  Outdoor and indoor spaces, buildings, fixtures, and fittings are suitable for their purpose, including supporting the access of every child.

• 3.2.1 Inclusive environment
  Outdoor and indoor spaces are organised and adapted to support every child’s participation and to engage every child in quality experiences in both built and natural environments.

• 3.2.3 Environmentally responsible
  The service cares for the environment and supports children to become environmentally responsible.

QA4 – Staffing arrangements

• 4.1.2 Continuity of staff
  Every effort is made for children to experience continuity of educators at the service.

QA5 – Relationships with children

• 5.1.1 Positive educator to child interactions
  Responsive and meaningful interactions build trusting relationships which engage and support each child to feel secure, confident, and included.

• 5.2.1 Collaborative learning
  Children are supported to collaborate, learn from, and help each other.

• 5.2.2 Self-regulation
  Each child is supported to regulate their own behaviour, respond appropriately to the behaviour of others, and communicate effectively to resolve conflicts.

QA6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

• 6.1.2 Parent views are respected
  The expertise, culture, values, and beliefs of families are respected and families share in decision-making about their child’s learning and wellbeing.

• 6.2.1 Transitions
  Continuity of learning and transitions for each child are supported by sharing information and clarifying responsibilities.

• 6.2.3 Community engagement
  The service builds relationships and engages with its community.

Assignment Requirements

For each of the 15 NQS descriptors, you are required to provide the following:

1. Evidence from Professional Experience

• One piece of annotated artefact (1–2 sentences only) that best demonstrates your achievement of each NQS descriptor.

• Evidence may include:

  • Images/screenshots of children’s work samples

  • Curriculum planning documents

  • Videos, podcasts, photos, cards

  • Feedback from children, families, or mentors

• Important: No faces of children should be shown in chosen artefacts.

• At least 5 STEM-related annotations must be included across your 15 NQS elements.

2. Annotated Lesson Plan

• Include one annotated lesson plan you developed and received feedback on from your mentor during professional experience.

• This lesson plan must be different from Assignment 1.

• Evaluation and self-reflection should focus on 3 children identified together with your mentor.

3. Reflective Statement

• For each descriptor, provide a reflective statement explaining:

  • Why you chose the particular evidence.

  • How it develops your understanding of the relevant NQS quality area.

• Each statement should be approximately 150 words.

• Include academic references to support your reflection.

Instructions for completing the assignment

NQS Standards Assessment Criteria table (2024) adapted from ACECQA.

For each of the 15 NQS descriptors, you are required to provide the following:

1. Evidence from your professional experience (one piece of evidence/artefact – 1 or 2 sentences only) that shows how the artefact demonstrates achievement of each of the 15 NQS descriptors listed. Your evidence can include photos of images (redacted to de-identify images with names, curriculum planning documents, observation documents, student work samples, feedback sheets). Ensure photos are presented in appendices and not included in the word count. Note: You need to have evidence that there are at least 5 different artefacts across all 15 NQS descriptors.

2. Professional judgement – Provide a clear rationale as to why you selected the evidence as an appropriate demonstration of the descriptor. This professional judgement is included as an appendix. This lesson allows you to reflect on what you value and believe as a pre-service teacher and how these values and beliefs impact your choice of evidence. Approximately 100–150 words per descriptor.

3. A reflective account for each descriptor demonstrating why you have chosen that particular evidence and how it demonstrates your understanding of NQS quality areas. Each statement should include approximately 150 words for each descriptor, with references to scholarly literature to support your judgement.

4. Final requirement: Each descriptor discussion will require the use of multiple modes and amounts of evidence but overall is equivalent to 2500 words.

Other details

You are expected to draw upon the unit learning materials and scholarly literature to support your reflective account as well as scholarly literature found beyond the unit. One reference list is to be included at the end of your assignment with approximately 8–10 references.

• You can use the first person when referring to your personal views and the third person when referring to the literature.

• To receive maximum marks for this reflection task, you must demonstrate your ability to reflect critically and deeply upon the knowledge and experiences that you gained throughout your practicum.

• For this assignment task, it is recommended that you make use of headings to streamline the organisation of your reflection.

For each of the 15 NQS descriptors, you are required to provide the following:

1. Evidence from your professional experience (one piece of annotated artefact - 1 or 2 sentences only) that you believe best demonstrates your achievement of each of the 15 NQS descriptors listed.
   Note: You need to ensure that there are at least 5 STEM-related annotations added in your 15 NQS elements description.
2. A reflective statement for each descriptor demonstrates why you have chosen the particular evidence and how it develops your understanding of the relevant NQS quality area. Each statement should be approximately 100 words in length. Make sure you include academic references to support your reflection.
3. Please ensure you have included one annotated lesson plan that you developed and have received feedback on from your mentor during your professional experience is included as an appendix. Your evaluation and self-reflection should be focused on 3 children that you might identify together with your mentor.

Rationale:

Why did you choose this particular experience? (Community event, child/teacher/family interest, identified as missing from curriculum etc)

Child/Children’s Background Knowledge

What is your starting point – what does the child/children already know, what have they done before, and how does this experience connect to or build on their existing knowledge and interests?

Learning Objectives

What will the child/children learn?

Teacher Focus / Intentionality

What areas will you concentrate on (e.g., teaching strategies, EYLF practice principles, interests, equity)?

Environment and Resources

What resources and materials will you need to collect?
Where will the experience take place?
Considerations for time, space, and teacher support?
How will the environment be prepared?

Assessment Strategies

How will you identify what the child/children have learnt, and how will you record this?

Stage Plan for the Experience

Stage 1 – Introduction
How will you introduce the experience or concept(s) and engage the interest of the child/children?

Stage 2 – Main Body
Describe the experience; what will children be doing?
How will concepts or issues be explored?
List at least three focus questions relating your learning objectives to be asked of the children.

Stage 3 – Conclusion
How will you conclude the experience?
How will you reflect on learning with children?
How will you encourage a smooth transition to the next experience?

Evaluation and Self-Reflection

Did your experience meet your learning objectives? Why or why not?
What aspects of the experience worked most effectively?
What aspects could be improved and how could they be improved (e.g., flow, resources, teaching strategies, environment, assessment of learning)?

Follow-up

Are there any areas you would like to follow up on?
What emerging interests or concepts could be explored further?

• Mentor Teacher Comments
• Pre-service Teacher Final Reflection

Assessment Requirements – Brief Summary

This assessment focuses on developing reflective practice and compiling an authentic professional portfolio aligned with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate).

The key requirements include:

• Evidence Collection: One annotated artefact per 15 NQS descriptors, with at least 5 STEM-related artefacts included. Evidence may be curriculum documents, student work samples, feedback, or photographs (with de-identified information).

• Annotated Lesson Plan: One lesson plan designed and taught during professional placement, with mentor feedback and self-reflection focusing on three children.

• Reflective Statements: Around 100–150 words per descriptor, explaining:

  • Why that artefact was chosen.

  • How it demonstrates competence in the relevant NQS descriptor.

  • How it links to teaching values, beliefs, and professional growth.

  • Supported by scholarly references (8–10 across the portfolio).

• Organisation: Reflection structured under NQS descriptors, with headings for clarity.

• Word Count: Approximately 2500 words.

• Academic Rationale: Not a personal debrief, but critical, evidence-based reflection on practicum experience.

Process – How the Academic Mentor Guided the Student

The Academic Mentor used a step-by-step approach to ensure the student met all requirements and engaged in genuine reflective practice:

Step 1 – Understanding the Task

• The mentor began by unpacking the rationale: developing reflective practitioner skills and building evidence for future professional portfolios.

• Together, the student and mentor reviewed the 15 NQS descriptors and discussed examples of possible artefacts.

• Mentor emphasized: “Think about quality over quantity — choose evidence that best reflects your values and competencies.”

Step 2 – Selecting and Annotating Evidence

• The mentor guided the student to map their practicum experiences against each NQS standard.

• For each descriptor, the student was asked to:

  1. Recall a classroom event or artefact.

  2. Explain why it matched the descriptor.

  3. Draft a short annotation (1–2 sentences).

• The mentor checked for balance, ensuring at least 5 STEM artefacts were distributed across the 15 descriptors.

Step 3 – Developing Reflective Statements

• The mentor introduced a reflective model (e.g., Gibbs’ Cycle) to structure reflections.

• Each reflection followed this pattern:

  • What happened? (Evidence)

  • Why does it matter? (Connection to NQS)

  • What did you learn? (Professional growth)

  • How will you apply this in the future?

• Mentor stressed the importance of scholarly references, encouraging the student to cite readings on pedagogy, reflective practice, and child development.

Step 4 – Annotated Lesson Plan

• The student selected one lesson plan from placement with mentor feedback.

• Academic Mentor guided them to:

  • Include rationale (why the lesson was chosen).

  • Analyse background knowledge and learning objectives.

  • Document intentional teaching strategies.

  • Reflect on the impact on three children, noting differentiation and equity.

• The mentor showed how to link the lesson plan evaluation back to NQS descriptors (e.g., 1.2.1 Intentional teaching, 5.2.2 Self-regulation).

Step 5 – Structuring the Portfolio

• Mentor recommended organising the portfolio by NQS areas, using clear headings for each descriptor.

• Appendices included artefacts and images, while main text contained reflections and analysis.

• A final reference list was added to meet academic standards.

Step 6 – Reviewing and Refining

• Student shared drafts for feedback.

• Mentor ensured the reflection was critical, not descriptive, avoiding phrases like “It went well” without deeper analysis.

• Mentor highlighted strengths (e.g., strong STEM artefacts) and flagged areas to improve (e.g., linking to community engagement descriptors).

Final Outcome and Learning Objectives Achieved

By following the above process, the student successfully produced a 2500-word reflective portfolio demonstrating:

• Achievement of 15 NQS descriptors with annotated evidence.

• Inclusion of 5 STEM artefacts showing competency in integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into teaching.

• One annotated lesson plan with mentor feedback and targeted self-reflection on three children.

• Critical reflection skills supported by scholarly literature, moving beyond description to thoughtful analysis.

• Professional judgement development, as the student had to justify why each piece of evidence was selected.

• Link to Professional Standards, demonstrating progress towards becoming a graduate teacher.

Learning Objectives Covered

• Understanding and applying the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate) .

• Building capacity to reflect critically and academically on teaching practice.

• Strengthening skills in evidence collection, annotation, and professional judgement .

• Developing the ability to integrate intentional teaching and child-centred approaches into lesson planning.

• Enhancing professional identity through reflective writing and portfolio creation.

Final Brief:
The assessment required the creation of a professional portfolio with annotated evidence, a reflective lesson plan, and critical reflections on NQS descriptors. With the academic mentor’s structured guidance, the student navigated each stage — from evidence selection, reflection writing, lesson planning, and portfolio organisation — to produce a comprehensive outcome. The process not only addressed the assessment requirements but also nurtured essential reflective practitioner skills and advanced the student’s readiness for teaching practice.

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