Student Support
Through a documented One Plan, learning support is provided for students identified with special needs, under the Department’s Disability policy. These plans are developed in partnership with the family and reviewed annually.
The Student Review Team (SRT) which includes one of our Assistant Principal’s, Department Psychologist, Speech Pathologist, Behaviour Coach, Special Educator and Attendance officer reviews the progress of these students each term and ensures that these students receive the most effective support.
School Service Officers (SSOs) also support students not qualifying for a One Plans. They work with students in small groups implementing a variety of research-based literacy intervention programs. This includes MiniLit, MacqLit, Spell it and What’s the Buzz for social needs.
Attendance and Behaviour issues are addressed by the SRT and students are allocated support, based on their needs.
Identified students also have the opportunity to work with a Kid’s Hope Mentor for an hour each week.
If you have any concerns about your child’s learning, please contact your child’s class teacher.
E.A.L.D is an acronym for English as an Additional Language or Dialect and is a program in our school which supports students from non-English speaking backgrounds.
EALD funding is available for Year 1 – Year 6 students, by the Department for Education, if the main language spoken in their home, is a language other than English, and they are yet to meet the Learning English Achievement Proficiencies (LEAP) benchmarks.
EALD support in our school, involves eligible students partaking in one 50minute, small-group, lesson per week, which usually takes place in our teaching/learning space, located in the heritage section of our Resource Centre building. (See photo below).
During these lessons, students are supported with their oral language and writing skills. A range of targeted teaching strategies with intended learning outcomes are designed to introduce vocabulary and practice of traditional and functional grammar, so students can be aware of, rehearse and apply these language conventions in context, with greater accuracy and nuance, when engaged in guided/incidental conversations, as well as, reading and writing exercises.
Students explore different genres, via exposure to a variety of texts, and are explicitly taught the language features and aspects, that are particular to each style. Greater capability across each level of language is facilitated by deconstructing and analysing modelled texts and providing scaffolds to assist students to speak and create their own texts – thus systematically increasing their knowledge, confidence, independence and success.
A small, but integral part of our EALD lessons is dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating cultural identity. Students are encouraged to take a turn to prepare at home, and then briefly present to their small group, an aspect of their treasured customs and traditions. Through this process of active participation, they all have an opportunity and the potential to learn more about their own heritage, as well as learn from each other, by sharing, asking questions, making comments and developing an authentic and respectful appreciation of the similarities and differences that exist within and across cultures.
