Pre-placement visit
You will organise a pre-placement visit to your placement setting to meet with the Principal, Student Placement Coordinator (SPC) and supervising teacher(s). During this visit, you will learn about the school or education and care service, including characteristics of students, class organisation, curriculum and learning facilities. You should schedule the visit for no later than the week before your placement commences.
Arranging the pre-placement visit
As a PST, you are responsible for scheduling the pre-placement visit. Once your placement has been confirmed by Placement Partnering and Operations, contact the SPC at your placement setting to organise the visit. The SPC is expecting you to make contact, and you can find their email address and phone number along with other details of your placement in InPlace.
If you email the SPC, introduce yourself as a PST scheduled to undertake placement and request a follow-up phone call or email to understand the school’s induction requirements prior to your first day. Include your phone contact details in the email.
If you phone, introduce yourself as a PST scheduled to undertake placement and ask to speak with the Student Placement Coordinator. If the SPC is not available, leave your name, phone number and email address with the school and a message that you are requesting induction information. SPCs can be difficult to reach during school hours, so it is best to call outside of teaching time.
If you don’t receive a response after a week, make contact again. If you have not heard back from the SPC a week before your placement, contact Placement Partnering and Operations via the Work Based Learning Placement Student Enquiry form. Some schools will not require a pre-placement visit and will be ready to receive you on the first day of placement.
During the pre-placement visit
During your visit, the SPC will induct you into the school or early childhood education and care setting and you will meet your supervising teacher. Use this visit to give the supervising teacher an overview of any placements you have previously undertaken and the expectations for this placement (found in the Placement Structure section of this site). This is also a good time to familiarise yourself with the layout and facilities.
Additional topics you might discuss with your supervising teacher include:
- The goals you have set for the placement
- Timetabling
- Topics/curriculum to be taught
- Facilities within the room/school
- Staff/department meetings
- Regulations/procedures governing pre-service teachers, such as arrival and departure times, parking, work areas, staffroom, etc.
- Any particular dress requirements or standards.
Next step
Once your pre-placement visit is complete, you are ready to start your placement. Read more about what to expect and what’s expected of you in During placement.