School of Education

Professional Practice 3
102605 Secondary PP Community Engagement
Self Reflection Form

Pre-service Teacher Details

Pre-service Teacher Name: Mustapha Kamel Khalil Pre-service Teacher ID: 98463770

Pre-service Teacher Phone Number: 0416 06 3366 Pre-service Teacher Email Address:
98463770@student.westernsydney.edu.au

Placement Details: If you haven’t complete 60 hours face to face you must provide a
detailed statement of how your experience meets the outcomes for Professional
Practice CE. Attach evidence.

Placement Name: Mathematics Placement Phone Number: (02) 9606 2666

Engagement Program

Placement Address: 29/31 Rossmore Ave, Placement Email Address:

Rossmore, NSW 2557 Alison.galia@bellfield.nsw.edu.au

Contact Person: Alison Galia

My experience at Bellfield College, Rossmore has been an eye opener for me because I was
surprised to see that very intelligent students also needed help in some areas of
mathematics. The reason for this is because they came from non-English speaking
backgrounds, were poor communicators but highly intelligent. This was an obstacle for
them in understanding, learning and developing their mathematics skills. There were a few
students who had a good memory and therefore were very good at memorising formulas
and mathematical procedures for solving problems but lacked the literacy skills to convey
what they needed help with. The one-on-one mentoring program offered by Bellfield
College provided me the opportunity to find out that even in mathematics literacy skills is
important for learning and teaching.

Before attending the school, I was aware of its small size because I had attended its
opening. What I did not realise is how fast it has grown from primary to secondary. My goal
was to teach kids from years 7-10, but also had the opportunity to teach year 12 students in
preparation for the HSC. Because of mentoring students at all ages at secondary school
level, I was able to formulate an opinion about which year has the most behavioural issues.
I did come across some minor behavioural management issues mentoring in group based
sessions. Those behavioural issues existed mostly by students in years 7 and 9. This is
important for my development as a teacher because it will give me knowledge on how to
engage and manage behaviour issues when I take a full class.

One of the goals that I set myself was to be able to engage and make a difference to some of
the students that I am tutoring. Bellfield College is an Independent Islamic School with
majority of the students’ parents classified as first-generation Australians. I wanted to
engage and get them motivated by sharing some of my work experience in the Banking and
Finance industry and provide examples of how mathematics can be useful in the real world
to get a job in Banking and Finance and other fields. I wanted to use myself as a real-life
example to get them motivated to learn mathematics. I had a lot in common with the
students that I tutored. I came from a non-English speaking background who struggled
with English as a second language when I was in secondary school but managed to get to
University and graduated in Applied Finance majoring in Econometrics. To my surprise I
found that majority of students where not interested in mathematics and where it will lead
them in the future. Most of them did not think that far ahead. What I learnt from this
experience was that significance in the Quality Teaching Framework element is of great
importance with those students. If I was to get another chance to teach there I will most
likely focus on their cultural backgrounds to connect with them and find out what is
important to them to motivate and engage with them to improve their literacy and
mathematics skills.