Team in Focus: Adriana Pinder – PL Coordinator/Active Schools Technical Lead

Team in Focus: Adriana Pinder – ACHPER Victoria Professional Learning Coordinator/Active Schools Technical Lead

We sat down recently to chat with ACHPER Victoria Professional Learning Coordinator and Active Schools Technical Lead, Adriana Pinder who’ll be commencing parental leave from next month.

Adriana taught PE and Science in primary and secondary schools for nine years, with much of her time spent in Melbourne at Ivanhoe Grammar School (2009-2015), then overseas in the UK and UAE. During her time abroad, Adriana relished the opportunity to teach in environments with cultures and challenges different to that of her own experience.

Looking for a change of scenery but to still be involved in activities that help improve the health, wellbeing and activity levels of children and adolescents, Adriana joined the ACHPER Victoria team in January 2018.

What element of your role do you find most rewarding?

Seeing the growth in teachers’ confidence when providing one on one support. It’s so great to know that they are in a stronger position to have a greater impact on their students’ learning outcomes and lifelong movement habits.

What are your goals for 2022 (professional or otherwise)?

Focus on strategic development and setting up processes for both the Active Schools Expert Support Service and VCE Resources for the next 12 months. Want to provide as much support to the team before I head off in March!

What professional growth have you experienced during your time with ACHPER Victoria?

While my roles have the responsibility of providing support and guiding the professional growth of others, I have loved having the opportunity to learn from so many throughout my four years with ACHPER Victoria, both teachers and key stakeholders across the state and country.

My depth and breadth of knowledge of F-12 curriculum and content areas, as well as best practice pedagogy have certainly increased as I spend almost every day focusing on these areas. What has been most exciting are the areas of professional growth experienced in areas of health promotion, instructional design and eLearning, consulting with key stakeholders and project management – these are areas which I would likely not have had the opportunity to develop in a school setting.

What is one piece of advice you would be lost without?

Get to know your students. If you can keep your student’s interests and needs at the front of your mind, you will be able to plan lessons that keep them engaged, and appropriately challenge them to ensure they continue to develop their knowledge and understanding.

Adriana, we wish you all the very best. We know those within our community who have worked with Adriana will share our excitement for the journey which lies ahead for her, and look forward to sharing the news with you!

To learn more about Active Schools click here and should you need any help to deliver quality HPE, please get in touch.