Learning Diversity
Vira Pirrotta
Learning Diversity
Vira Pirrotta
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards), Australian students with disability must be able to access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers. To ensure this, students with disability may receive adjustments to access education based on teachers' professional judgement in consultation with the student and their parents, guardians or carers.
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) gives Australian schools, parents, guardians, carers, education authorities, and the community information about the number of students with disability in schools and the adjustments they receive. The Australian Education Regulation 2013 requires all schools to report the data collected for the NCCD to the Australian Government annually.
The NCCD collects data about school students with disability who are receiving adjustments across Australia consistently, reliably and systematically. It enables schools, education authorities and governments to understand better the needs of students with disability and how they can be best supported at school.
From 2018, the student with disability loading provided by the Australian Government is based on the NCCD; schools will continue to manage their total resources to meet the learning needs of their students.
Data from the NCCD is used:
High-level, de-identified information from the NCCD is used in national reporting to inform policy and program planning to support students with disability.
Student information provided to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training for the NCCD does not explicitly identify individual students. For example, student names or student identifiers are not provided.
The NCCD prompts schools to identify students with disabilities and review their processes and practices. It records the adjustments already undertaken in schools to support students with disabilities in accessing and participating in education on the same basis as their peers.
Reviewing learning and support systems: The NCCD allows schools better to understand the functional needs of their students with disabilities. It captures the work of schools in providing personalised learning and support for students with disabilities who require adjustments due to their disability's functional impact.
Providing greater understanding: The NCCD helps schools better understand their students with disability and identify areas of need for students and staff.
Developing professional judgement: The professional learning available to support the NCCD process helps build the professional judgement of school teams who are required to provide educational adjustments for students with disability without relying on a medical or clinical diagnosis alone.
Recognising support and adjustments provided: The NCCD helps to formally and consistently recognise the support and adjustments provided to students with disabilities as defined in the DDA.
As a school, we are conducting parent support groups to determine the support needed for our students, which will be included in our NCCD count for August 2024. This process allows us to determine the support needed for each student at St. Fidelis.
Please see the PDFs for further information.
What is the NCCD? (PDF)
NCCD Information Sheet parents.pdf
https://www.nccd.edu.au/sites/default/files/links_nccd_dda_dse.pdf