For this assessment you are required to submit two consecutive therapy plans for a paediatric client you see at the CQUniversity Health Clinic. These session plans must pertain to the first two therapy sessions you run in the clinic. Your therapy plans must clearly detail:

• Long-term and short-term goals for the client
• A description of each activity to be completed including the time frame
• The resources required for each activity
• The scaffolding/prompting you intend to provide to the client
• How you plan to collect data (you may attach any data recording forms used as an appendix)
• How you intend to set up the environment
• The therapy approach/es you intend to use

Therapy plan one and two must also clearly outline a justification for the following aspects of the plan:

• Therapy goals selected
• Therapy approach chosen

These justifications should be written with reference to evidence based practice (e.g., literature, your Clinical Educator’s guidance, client priorities) and your assessment results (which may be attached as an appendix). A template for this assessment task will be provided for you on Moodle.

Criterion one assesses your ability to develop a clear, appropriate and comprehensive therapy plan which is clinically justified.

Criterion two assesses your writing style and conventions and use of APA-7th referencing.

To complete this reflective practice assignment, you need to do the following:

1. Choose two of the four Generic Professional Competencies. For each of the two competencies, you need to identify and reflect upon one area of strength and one area for improvement, specifically indicating the applicable element/s. Your strength and area for improvement may fall within the the same element of a competency area, or in two separate elements. Your assignment should include reflections for two areas of strength and two areas for improvement, a total of four reflections. 

2. For each strength and area of improvement, provide explicit examples by following the "Description- Interpretation-Outcome" framework. Your example may relate to your work-integrated-learning experiences or your academic learning experiences in SPCH12007.  When describing your example, you need to consider and compare your understanding and performance for that competency at the beginning of term compared to the end of term.

3. For each area of improvement that you identify, write a SMART behavioral goal to describe how you will progress your competency. Discuss one strategy you can apply to assist you in meeting that objective.

Criterion 1 assesses your ability to identify and reflect upon one area of strength and one area for improvement for one of the four Generic Professional Competencies. You are also required to identify a SMART behavioural objective and a strategy to meet this objective.

Criterion 2 assesses your ability to identify and reflect upon one area of strength and one area for improvement for one of the four Generic Professional Competencies (this must be a different GPC to criterion 1). You are also required to identify a SMART behavioural objective and a strategy to meet this objective.

Criterion 3 assesses your ability to apply appropriate writing, grammar and formatting conventions including the use of APA 7th Edition referencing and formatting.

You will be required to attend and participate in a 12 week sessional placement, one partial day per week (for 12 weeks) during Term 2, 2022 (or Term 3 2022/3 if mutually agreed upon).  Information regarding these dates, as well as the duration and nature of the placement, will be provided to you by your Clinical Education Coordinator and/or Unit Coordinator at least two weeks prior to the commencement of your placement.

Your paediatric sessional placement will provide you with an opportunity to develop your competence as a Speech Pathologist under the supervision of a Clinical Educator (CE), in a clinical setting (e.g., typically the CQU Health Clinic). This particular placement will be focused on paediatric clinical practice.

Further details regarding learning agreements can all be found in the 2022 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook, which is available on Moodle. In addition, the handbook describes the expectations of students who are completing placements, including information regarding dress code, professional conduct, confidentiality, and managing a range of issues during placements. You should ensure that you are familiar with the contents of the 2022 Clinical Education Handbook prior to commencing any placement.

This assessment item has a pass/fail criteria and must be passed in order to achieve a pass grade for this unit.

Note that in order to commence this sessional placement, you must have met all pre-clinical requirements (i.e., mandatory checks) and these must remain current for the duration of your placement. Information regarding pre-clinical requirements can be obtained from the Work-Integrated Learning Office via email: smas-clinicalplacements@cqu.edu.au. Different workplaces may also have additional pre-clinical requirements that relate to their particular workplace/facility/organisation, such as training related to the use of telepractice or infection control, or specific vaccinations such as the influenza vaccination (this is particularly the case when working with vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals). It is up to you as the student to ensure that you have met all of these requirements, otherwise you may not be able to attend a placement and complete this assessment task.

During your placement, your CE, a qualified Speech Pathologist, will assess your competence by use of the assessment rubric provided on Moodle. To pass your professional placement, you must meet each of the following requirements:

• A pass mark on the placement assessment using all the criterion of the SPCH12007 clinical placement rubric at the end of placement.
• Completion of a learning contract at the beginning of your placement, this is a learning agreement that is reached between you and your CE , within the first two weeks of placement.
• You must also complete and submit any additional documentation that is required by the CE or placement organisation, such as written reports and information for client files.

You will be assessed under the three domains of Speech Pathology Australia's Professional Standards for Speech Pathologists in Australia (Professional Standards).

• professional conduct
• reflective practice and life-long learning
• speech pathology practice.

Your competence will be assessed assessed by behavioural descriptors that align with the "novice" level in Speech Pathology Australia's Compass (R) assessment tool.

The novice-level student:

• requires a high degree of supervisory support
• recalls some aspects of relevant theory

Needs support to:

• draw conclusions about a client
• develop a plan for action
• understand the total clinical situation
• apply problem-solving strategies, principles and theory
• spends a high degree of time and effort in meeting clinical responsibilities
• is highly focused on own performance, rather than on the client

The Clinical Education Coordinator will determine if the student has met the above criteria.

This assessment has two parts, Part 1 Learning Agreement and Part 2 Record of WIL hours and Experience.

Part 1 Learning Agreement

At the start of your paediatric clinical placement you will be required to prepare a learning agreement, using the Learning Agreement document provided to you on Moodle. This is a learning agreement that is reached between you and your CE, this must be completed and signed within the first two weeks of placement and reviewed at the end of your placement. Your learning goals must be written in the SMART format, i.e, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. The completed Learning Agreement is submitted at the end of the clinical placement signed by the student and clinical educator. Further details regarding learning contracts can all be found in the 2022 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook which is available on Moodle.

Part 2 Record of WIL Hours and Experience

As you complete your sessional placement as part of this unit, you are required to track and record your work-integrated learning experiences by logging your hours on the "Work Integrated Learning Log" provided to you on Moodle. The instructions required to complete this process can be found in the 2022 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook as well as on Moodle. To help ensure the accuracy of this hours record, it is strongly recommended that you record your time after each clinic.

It should be noted that Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) does not specify the number of clinical hours that students must complete during the course of any Australian university’s Speech Pathology program. SPA instead places the focus on the minimum level of competence, skills and knowledge required for entry into the workforce as a qualified and competent speech pathologist (The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited, 2005). CQUniversity's approach is consistent with SPA’s philosophy and therefore does not have a specific requirement regarding the minimum number of clinical hours each student must complete by the end of the Speech Pathology course. Submission of the record form for this unit is therefore a pass/fail assessment requirement. You should be aware however that you are also expected to track this data and keep copies for your own records, as evidence of clinical hours may be required if you are requested to provide evidence of clinical experience when applying for work as a speech pathologist overseas.

In order to pass this assessment task you must:

• complete and submit an electronic copy of your signed Learning Agreement outlining your SMART goals for the placement, within one week of completing your paediatric clinical sessional placement. 
• complete and submit an electronic copy of the Speech Pathology Work-Integrated Learning Log, within one week of completing your paediatric clinical sessional placement. Instructions for completion can be found in the 2022 Speech Pathology Clinical Education Handbook as well as on Moodle.