Learning and Support 

Specialists Coming into the School for Appointments

Dear parents/carers,

Some of our students require sessions with specialists such as Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists or Behavioural Therapists to support the development of their skills. These therapists may offer for their appointments to be during school hours. It is important for you to consider if it is in the best interests of your child, for these appointments to occur during school time.

Please be advised that if you decide specialist appointments during school hours are the best option, an application form needs to be filled in. This form is ‘Parent Application Request of External Provider Services During School Hours’ and can be collected from our school office or it can be emailed to you. Please return it back to the office or email it back to the school when it is completed.

The Learning and Support Team will consider the need for specialists conducting services during school hours on a case-by-case basis. Whilst we support students receiving the services that they need, it is vital for LPS staff to ensure that learning is not impacted greatly. This is in line with our vision ‘A School Community Striving For Excellence’. Specialist should not contact the school on your behalf (Department of Education Policy).

If the Learning and Support Team support the application, we will contact you to advise you, and then we will contact the specialist to organise a suitable time and to prepare the paperwork (an External Provider Agreement). Times which are available for specialists to conduct their appointments during school hours will be limited to 12:30- 1:30pm or 2:00- 2:45pm.

When parents are considering if specialist appointments might be during school hours, please consider the following:

· Specialists usually give parents/carers feedback at the conclusion of an appointment. This is vital to ensure that strategies are followed up at home and that your child has regular practice of skills. This makes the therapy more effective and impactful. It is also important that parents have regular updates about their child’s progress which can be facilitated easily if parents/carers attend appointments.

· Your child will be missing learning during these appointments. Often, they will be returning to class whilst the class are in the middle of tasks, and your child will have missed explicit teaching and instructions'

If you decide to apply for Request of External Provider Services During School Hours please also fill in a Permission to Release and Obtain Information form. This can also be collected from the office. This form grants the staff at LPS to have contact with the specialist. Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Behavioural Therapists are experts in their fields and have valuable knowledge and a repertoire of strategies which can often be implemented easily in a classroom. It is to the benefit of your child if the specialist granted permission to share their expertise with the classroom teacher.

If you have any inquiries about this application process, please contact either Mrs Farmer for students K-2 or Miss Roach for students 3-6.

Yours sincerely, 

Mrs Farmer                                                                      Miss Roach

Learning and Support Assistant Principal             Learning and Support Assistant Principal

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