Final-year teacher education student Anita Fitzgerald (pictured right) is getting her day in the sun via an internship at Sunshine Beach State School.

She is among 36 students - the first teacher education cohort from Central Queensland University\'s Noosa Hub (Pomona) - to begin their internship in schools last month (August).

These pioneering students have elected to fast-track their four-year Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) degree in three years.

CQU Noosa Hub coordinator David Lynch said, “the internship culminates their degree as a full-time teaching experience ensuring they are ready for the demands and challenges of teaching from day one of employment”.

“The BLM, as a partnership with local schools, has allowed students to have contact with schools throughout their degree,” he said.

“This contact has given them the confidence and capacity to make a difference and has been a bonus for the 168 classrooms which have hosted them.

“The internship is an opportunity for final-year student teachers to make the transition from novice to expert practitioner.

Anita Fitzgerald completed Year 12 at Burnside State High School on the Sunshine Coast in 2000 and is now positioned to take up her chosen career as a teacher in 2004.

“Being in a classroom from week one of my degree has enable me to see the theory being put into practice, constantly increasing my awareness and understanding of teaching and learning. The internship has enabled me to grow from a student teacher to a developing professional teacher,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

Sunshine Beach State School is a designated Noosa Hub ‘teaching school’. Principal Sue Pearce (pictured left) said teaching required an understanding of learning and the learner as well as an in-depth knowledge of curriculum.

“The increased time that student teachers spend in schools in this program has enhanced this understanding. I have been impressed with the quality of this first intake of student teachers as they near completion,” Ms Pearce said.

Final-year students from the Noosa Hub will conclude their degree program at conclusion of this current school term and will be eligible for employment from January 2004.

People interested in undertaking teacher training at Noosa Hub can visit www.cqunoosa.org for details.