Rozica Barker is revolutionising the curriculum and teaching of senior secondary school students at Hervey Bay Special School.

Her work to develop the curriculum in a systematic way began in 2016 with developing multilevel units of work in Citizenship and Health, complete with resources for teachers to use, that could be linked to individual Senior Education and Training SET plan goals.

These units have led to consistency in delivery and ensured the best outcomes for students, resulting in high-quality Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA) statements reflecting the individual abilities of students.

The need to share the huge amount of new information led her to create a OneNote platform to collaborate with staff. This has allowed her to document processes for teaching and learning including units of work, planning, timetabling and a two-year curriculum overview.

learning including units of work, planning, timetabling and a two-year curriculum overview.

Rozica also formalised all QCIA, SET plan and transition planning processes with references to departmental policies and guidelines.

She has also used OneNote to collect evidence for the senior secondary student goals and statements of achievement.  Until then there were no clearly defined processes around evidence for the QCIA.

“It is easy to access, easy to use and able to be used for both internal and external moderation,” principal Reno Tieppo said.

Rozica’s latest innovation has been a ‘how to’ guide to setting the most appropriate goals for senior secondary students to enable them to achieve the highest quality QCIA statements befitting their unique abilities.

“None of these processes had been created or recorded in a consistent, formalised way prior to the development of this senior secondary OneNote which has become a “one stop shop” for all teachers working in this juncture,” Reno said.

Last year after identifying a need for a transition officer to manage work experience placements and liaise with parents regarding transitions and post-school options, Rozica became the obvious choice for the role.

“Rozica has excelled in this new position, building strong partnerships with the community, including potential employers, work experience providers and other lifestyle agencies. She has also built strong partnerships with parents and has been a point of contact to assist parents around requirements for application for NDIS packages,” Reno said.

​Congratulations Rozica on your nomination.