Support a teacher applying for Proficient Teacher accreditation
Principals and Teacher Accreditation Delegates (TA Delegates) can follow a structured, workplace-based process to support teachers applying for Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Steps to support your teachers
Principals and TA Delegates can follow these steps to support teachers who are applying for Proficient Teacher accreditation and their Accreditation Supervisors.
Allocate an Accreditation Supervisor
Allocate an Accreditation Supervisor in your NESA online account (eTAMS) to support the Provisional or Conditional teacher. Do this as soon as possible after the teacher is employed at your school or service, regardless of whether they are full time, part time or casual.
An Accreditation Supervisor must:
- be accredited at Proficient Teacher or above
- have sound knowledge of the teacher’s daily practice in relation to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards)
- provide ongoing support, guidance and feedback to the teacher, addressing their practice throughout the accreditation period.
In eTAMS, the Accreditation Supervisor will see a 'Supervisor’ dashboard and a task asking them to accept the allocation. The teacher is notified when the Accreditation Supervisor accepts the task.
Review your employer’s internal procedures
Make sure you and your Accreditation Supervisors are familiar with your employer’s internal procedures relating to our requirements for gaining Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Support teachers to develop their practice
As part of any induction program you have at your school or service, encourage provisionally or conditionally accredited teachers to complete our mandatory online Proficient Teacher Orientation Course in NESA Learning.
Teachers must complete the Orientation Course before they can submit their application for Proficient teacher accreditation.
You should encourage your teachers to read and understand the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the Proficient Teacher career stage.
Support Accreditation Supervisors in their role
Encourage your Accreditation Supervisors to complete our NESA Learning courses:
- Accreditation Supervisor Orientation Course
- Making Consistent Proficient Teacher Accreditation Decisions.
These courses:
- provide information about their role and responsibilities as an Accreditation Supervisor
- will help them understand the characteristics of effective documentary evidence when supporting teachers through their accreditation process
- show Accreditation Supervisors where to find NESA guides and resources.
We strongly recommend provisionally and conditionally accredited teachers review the Proficient Teacher Evidence Guide to help them collect and annotate effective documentary evidence of their teaching practice.
Support your teachers to engage in professional activities across the 3 domains of teaching
Support your teachers to develop their practice through engaging in a range of professional activities across the 3 domains of teaching:
- Professional Knowledge
- Professional Practice
- Professional Engagement
Encourage reflection and seeking guidance and feedback from colleagues as part of your support.
Your teachers will be well supported when you offer avenues of ongoing guidance and feedback about their practice in relation to the Standards for Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Process to follow when addressing concerns
Work with your Accreditation Supervisor if they have questions about the readiness of any teacher or about their declaration.
If they advise you of issues with the teacher’s practice, support them to have ongoing discussions with the teacher to:
- give feedback
- develop a plan to address the Standard Descriptors the teacher cannot demonstrate.
If a significant issue arises that may impact your accreditation recommendation, the Accreditation Supervisor must advise you and the teacher in writing within 28 days of becoming aware of the issue. Written notices cannot be sent in eTAMS. See your employer’s internal procedures for how to do this.
When you receive a written notice:
- determine if the issues will impact your recommendation
- discuss a plan with the Accreditation Supervisor to continue supporting the teacher to meet requirements.
NESA-allocated Accreditation Supervisors to early childhood teachers can contact NESA at ECTaccreditation@nesa.nsw.edu.au if they have questions about the readiness of a teacher to submit.
Make your recommendation
When the Accreditation Supervisor makes a judgement on whether the teacher’s practice aligns to all 37 Standard Descriptors at Proficient Teacher level, they make a declaration. You will be notified in eTAMS.
Make your recommendation in eTAMS within 28 days of the Accreditation Supervisor’s declaration. Base your recommendation on the:
- annotated documentary evidence
- observation report
- Accreditation Supervisor’s declaration.
Early childhood
In an early childhood service where the TA Delegate is also the Accreditation Supervisor for other teachers, the TA Delegate will make the declaration and a recommendation for their teacher.
You may seek advice from a teacher with appropriate expertise at your school/service or another school/service or who is employed by a third party to assist you to make a valid and reliable judgement.
How to request revisions
Before you make your recommendation, you may ask for revisions (more than once, if necessary) to the application through eTAMS. This notifies the Accreditation Supervisor. They should:
- continue to support the teacher to meet requirements
- address the revisions you requested
- make a new declaration before you make your recommendation.
You have 28 days from that new declaration to make your recommendation.
The accreditation decision
The final part of the process is the accreditation decision. This is made by NESA within 28 days of a recommendation.
The teacher is notified of the decision by email. You and your employer also receive an email and you can view the teacher's accreditation status in eTAMS.
If NESA accredits the teacher at Proficient Teacher:
- the teacher starts their first maintenance period on the day the accreditation decision is made
- NESA issues them a certificate.
When principals or TA Delegates do not recommend accreditation
There may be some situations where you do not recommend accreditation.
If the Accreditation Supervisor declares the teacher’s practice does not demonstrate the Standards, they must provide evaluative comments in eTAMS outlining the:
- issues
- Standard Descriptors not yet demonstrated
- feedback and support offered to the teacher
- teacher’s response to the feedback and support.
You should review the:
- Accreditation Supervisor’s declaration, including the evaluative comments
- teacher’s annotated documentary evidence
- observation report.
Within 28 days of receiving the declaration, you may:
- ask for revisions through eTAMS
- make a recommendation to accredit
- make a recommendation to not accredit
- record that you are unable to make an accreditation recommendation.
If you ask for revisions, the Accreditation Supervisor needs to make a new declaration. You have 28 days from the new declaration to make a recommendation.
If you determine the teacher’s practice does not meet the Standards, you may recommend to not accredit them. You can only make this recommendation if:
- the teacher has completed at least 160 days of teaching
- the Accreditation Supervisor has fulfilled their responsibilities
- you contacted the teacher’s previous employer or school/service, where relevant and with consent
- you gave the teacher the opportunity to revise their evidence and meet the requirements and they failed to do so.
Give the teacher written notice
Within 28 days of the Accreditation Supervisor making their declaration, you must give the teacher written notice of your intention to make a recommendation to not accredit. Written notices cannot be sent in eTAMS. See your employer’s internal procedures for how to do this.
Your notice must include:
- specific reasons for the recommendation
- the Standard Descriptors they did not meet
- their right to respond to the notice.
Allow the teacher 28 days to respond
If the teacher has responded to your written notice, you must:
- consider their response
- determine if there is reason to change your recommendation
- make your recommendation in eTAMS within 28 days from the teacher’s response.
If you still recommend to not accredit
If your recommendation is still to not accredit:
- include reasons for your recommendation in your email or letter
- provide evidence to NESA that you followed your employer’s internal procedures in line with the TA Manual.
If the teacher has not responded within 28 days after sending your written notice, make your recommendation in eTAMS.
The Proficient Teacher’s application will be closed and they:
- will continue to be provisionally or conditionally accredited
- can submit a new application at a later date if they are still within their accreditation timeframe.
Teachers who are close to, or have reached, the end of their maximum timeframe can apply for an extension by submitting the Application for extension of accreditation timeframe (PDF 223.05KB).
If they reach the end of their timeframe without achieving Proficient Teacher, they risk their accreditation being ceased by NESA.
If NESA considers making a different decision
Before NESA makes a decision that does not align with the recommendation, we will discuss with you, their employer and, if necessary, the teacher.
Teachers whose accreditation has ceased may apply for re-accreditation after ceasing to re-enter the teaching profession.
The teacher can apply to NESA for an internal review of a decision to not accredit.
If the teacher is not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, they can apply to NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a review of NESA’s decision to not accredit.
You can record in eTAMS that you are unable to make a recommendation only if:
- the teacher has not completed at least 160 days of teaching during their accreditation period
- the teacher has not worked in your school/service or with your employer long enough to allow you to confidently make a judgement about their practice
- you contacted the teacher’s previous school/service/employer (with their consent) and this has not helped you to make a valid and reliable judgement.
You need to record that you are unable to make a recommendation within 28 days of the Accreditation Supervisor’s declaration.
The teacher’s application will be reopened. They can respond to the reasons why you cannot make a recommendation or seek support to finalise their accreditation with the school or another school.
In specific circumstances, principals may delegate responsibility for making accreditation recommendations to a teacher in the school who is accredited at Proficient Teacher or above. They cannot delegate to a third party outside the school.
Advise NESA of the delegation by emailing tsaprincipalenquiry@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
Your employer will have internal procedures about whether this function can be delegated by principals who are accredited at Proficient Teacher or above.