Therapy in Schools 2026

Aberfeldie Primary School is currently undertaking a review of our Child Safe practices in line with Child Safe Standard 10: Regular review and improvement of policies, procedures and practices. As part of this process, we have examined our current approach to allowing allied health therapists (including privately funded and NDIS-funded providers) to work with students on school grounds during school hours.

This review focused specifically on Child Safe Standards, duty of care, and our responsibility to ensure that all students are supported appropriately while at school. It also required us to consider the Department of Education’s policy on NDIS-funded therapy in schools.

Key Policy Requirements

The Department’s policy states that:

• Schools are not required to provide space for therapy, and must prioritise teaching and learning spaces.
• Schools must be able to supervise students at all times during therapy sessions to uphold duty of care.
• NDIS-funded therapy delivered during school hours should only occur when it is directly related to school educational outcomes and cannot reasonably take place outside of school hours.
• Therapists must follow all visitor, contractor, and child safety requirements, including Working with Children Check verification and sign-in procedures.
• Therapy must not interfere with the student’s core learning program unless absolutely necessary and in the student’s best interests.

These requirements, combined with our own Child Safe review, have guided our decision-making.

Challenges Identified at Aberfeldie Primary School

Through our review, several factors have emerged:

1. Supervision and Duty of Care

For therapy to occur on-site, school staff must be able to supervise students at all times. This is not always possible with external providers who operate independently. Ensuring an adult with appropriate duty-of-care responsibility is available during sessions is essential and is a current limiting factor.

2. Limited Space for Therapy Sessions

Our school has very limited room availability, particularly as we continue to expand our own intervention programs across the school. The Department’s policy is clear that student learning spaces must be prioritised over private therapy.

3. Minimising Disruption to Student Learning

We must consider whether it is in a child’s best interest to be removed from their class and learning program for therapy that could reasonably occur outside school hours. The policy emphasises that therapy should not disrupt core learning unless it is directly linked to supporting a student’s participation at school.

Changes for 2026

After careful consideration, Aberfeldie Primary School has decided that from the beginning of the 2026 school year, we will significantly reduce the number of allied health therapy sessions conducted on school grounds during school hours.

We will only consider approving therapy sessions that meet all the following criteria:

Therapy that MAY be approved for 2026:

• The therapy is NDIS-funded.
• The therapy is directly related to the student’s educational access or school-specific developmental needs, such as
  • Behaviour therapists supporting behaviour management plans used at school.
  • Occupational therapists supporting school-specific toileting or self-care plans.
• The therapy cannot reasonably take place outside of school hours.
• The therapy minimises disruption to the student's classroom program.
• The session can occur in a space that is available, appropriate, and can be supervised in line with duty-of-care obligations.

Approval Requirement

All therapy delivered onsite from 2026 onwards must be approved by a Principal Class Officer before it can commence. This includes all existing therapy already occurring in 2025 that will still require approval to continue in 2026.

What Will Continue

Classroom-Based Observations

We will continue to support allied health practitioners conducting classroom observations of students, where appropriate. These observations:

• allow therapists to better understand the student’s learning environment
• provide valuable insight into classroom behaviours, routines, and challenges
• directly inform recommendations, reports, and school-based support plans
• Classroom observations are preferred because they do not remove the child from their learning program, can be fully supervised, and help ensure that any strategies recommended by therapists are practical and relevant within the school setting.

 Consultation With Teachers and School Staff

Aberfeldie Primary School remains committed to strong collaboration with external therapists. We encourage and support:

• consultation meetings with teachers and school leaders
• sharing of strategies to support learning, behaviour, communication, and wellbeing
• professional discussions about student needs and adjustments
• participation in Student Support Group (SSG) meetings, where families can invite their child’s allied health professionals

These collaborative approaches ensure that school staff and external therapists are working in alignment to best support each student.

Once-Off Assessments

We will continue to support one-off assessments that require a therapist to visit the school eg cognitive assessment/language assessment.

Next Steps

If your child currently receives therapy at school, or you are considering this arrangement for 2026, please speak with the school leadership team so we can discuss whether the request meets the Department’s policy and our revised capacity.

Our priority remains ensuring that every child is safe, supported, and able to fully participate in their learning at Aberfeldie Primary School. We thank you for your understanding as we make necessary adjustments to align with both Child Safe Standards and Department of Education requirements.