131A Ridge Rd

Howick 2014
Auckland
New Zealand

3 November 2017

Character Reference for Jessica Szuber

To whom it may concern,

I first met Jessica Szuber at the beginning of 2017 and was her Associate teacher for the first term of the
school year at Bucklands Beach Intermediate. I have observed Jessica in a classroom setting and outside
of school in an outdoor education setting as we attended Camp Motutapu together.

During her time at Bucklands Beach Intermediate school Jessica planned and taught a series of lessons
from Science to Maths to Literacy to P.E. (Physical Education). She has done a fine job of taking the
necessary time to plan her lessons and prepare the equipment she would need. Jessica's own knowledge
of each subject has been significant and if she hasn't known about what she had been teaching she has
gone away and up-skilled or done further reading to assist with her own knowledge on a subject.

Jessica is always fair, inclusive and consistent in all of her instruction and interactions with the students.
She inquires about the students and their welfare and cares about their feelings. Jessica understands that
some of our students are very able and require extending, while other students have significant learning
needs and require one on one assistance with her instruction. Jessica was able to show an inclusive
approach to the many diverse cultures during her time in Room 13. Our cultures included; Indian,
Maori, New Zealanders, British, Sri Lankans, Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Malaysian. Jessica was able to
cater to all of the students variety of special needs and showed open-mindedness in her approach. She
prepared separate sheets for the 2 dyslexic students and slower, clearer, individual instruction in English
for our E.S.O.L students.

During Term One, Jessica managed many different behavioural issues that arose. The students in Room
13 are 11 and 12 years old. She was able to cope with students arguing, students talking during her
instruction, students not listening to her or to each other, students not engaging, students making loud
noises, or students distracting other students from their learning. Throughout her internship she dealt
with all of these difficulties and was able to practise different techniques for gaining and keeping students
attention. Jessica was able to organise her time effectively and took time to prepare creative, interactive,
engaging lessons. Jessica organised materials and worksheets accordingly for her lessons. The students
were highly engaged and motivated throughout the inquiry and internship. Their writing and reflections
attested to their level of interest and enjoyment.

At the beginning of the year the students were required to sit a series of examinations to ascertain their
levels and range of abilities. Jessica was able to mark a variety of tests and use the data to determine
groups and to make comparisons against other students of the same age throughout the country. Jessica
attended about 25 hours of Professional Development meetings during her time at Bucklands Beach
Intermediate. She took part in two meetings in particular which centred around Formative assessment
and how to effectively give feedback, feedforward. Jessica often noticed when students that she was
working with were struggling and she helped them promptly. During her time in the classroom she
observed a number of formative assessments by the students in the area of Student Reflection. Students
in the class were regularly being asked to identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that
needed to work on. They regularly set goals to achieve in areas that they needed to work on. Jessica
also sat in on 8 hours of Student Led Conferences where the students shared about their progress with
their parents. The students shared their goals, next steps and strengths. Jessica spoke to the parents
where necessary, about individual achievements and her personal reflections.

During her practicum, Jessica attended a Water Safety trip to the local pools, focussing on flipping a
kayak, staying afloat in water, snorkelling and giving CPR. As part of our sharing the Planet inquiry,
Jessica attended a day long workshop with 120 students at the Auckland Zoo observing animals, habitats
and endangered species. At our week-long Camp on Motutapu Island, Jessica took part personally and
with the students in her care, in raft-making, hiking, tunneling, canoeing and a survivor course.
Throughout these times, Jessica maintained positive relationships and dealings with all of the students,
parents and other teachers. She was always enthusiastic, cheerful, positive, professional and open
minded about giving new experiences a go. The parents spoke to her as an equal as did the other
teachers in the school. Jessica formed good relationships with all of our Bucklands Beach Intermediate
community.

Jessica listened carefully to the feedback and feedforward that she was given in order to improve her
practise. Her open mindedness and willingness to work hard, will be a winning combination in her future
career as a teacher. Jessica is an engaging, charismatic teacher with a caring, empathetic manner. I would
have no hesitation in recommending her to any teaching position. As a general classroom teacher for
the past 28 years, I know that she would be an asset in any school and her students would flourish
under her guidance.
Please feel free to contact me if you require more information or detail about my recommendation of
Jessica Szuber. My contact details are as follows: gigi@bbi.school.nz or 027 433 9077

Your sincerely

Giselle Milea
Room 13 Classroom Teacher
Bucklands Beach Intermediate School