Learning Support
National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on school students with disability
What is the NCCD?
Every year all schools are required to complete the NCCD. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments/inclusive arrangements or ‘help’ at school because of a disability. It helps to guide future planning and educational infrastructure around students with disabilities.
Who is counted in the data collection?
To add a student to the NCCD count, our School must process through the following key questions:
Is the student getting support at school so that they can take part in learning on the same basis as their peers?
Is the support being given because of a disability? The word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination (DDA) Act 1992.
The DDA defines disability broadly, including:
- total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions, or
- total or partial loss of a part of the body, or
- the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness, or
- the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness, or
- the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body, or
- a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction, or
- a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour.
The definition also includes a disability that:
- presently exists, or
- previously existed but no longer exists, or
- may exist in the future, or
- is imputed to a person.
Has the School spoken to guardians or to your child about the help they provide?
Does the School have records which show how they have provided help and the reasons the student has needed this help?
Once the School can answer these questions, students identified should be counted on the NCCD.
What does the School need to know about your child for the NCCD?
Teachers and support staff work with families to understand the needs of each child. Letters and reports from allied health professionals are key to supporting our School in understanding best what specific needs require planning and management to access successful learning.
If you have historical reports or are in regular contact with paediatricians, psychologists or therapists, then communication about support plans and guidance can be key in meeting your child’s specific needs. These papers should be forwarded to julia.strentz@preshil.vic.edu.au so that this vital information can be retrieved and embedded into student planning and discussed to ensure inclusivity.
Whilst the School requires this information to include them in the NCCD, this information is managed confidentially by the School and is not submitted within the government data collection.
What happens with the NCCD data? Who will have the information?
Every school has to upload their NCCD data each year in August. No letters, records, confidential files or names are provided to the government. The system requires us to add a list which categorises various disabilities presented and the level of ‘help’ provided. Schools do not require parent/carer permission to submit this data, and therefore you cannot ask us to not count your child.
After submission of this data, the School is provided with funding to support provisions for supporting students for the following year.
Learning support at Preshil
In response to managing the diverse needs of students at Preshil, this funding has been used to employ myself as Learning Support Coordinator. I will be working in close collaboration with Amir Tatai to plan a holistic response to supporting students with diverse needs, who are impacted by disability. Your support for my program and honesty in sharing key insights and professional diagnostic reports about your child will vastly improve the level of support I can tailor for your child, and I look forward to building relationships with families at Preshil over the coming years.
My role at Preshil will include:
- Managing the compliance aspects of NCCD evidence for inclusion for students with a disability, which includes: reviewing documents/reports from external agencies and collating summaries to guide Individual Education Plans, supporting teachers in identifying needs, planning and implementing programs, communicating with parents and developing rigorous systems to record confidential data;
- Coaching and supporting teachers in the learning space to identify needs and design evidence-based strategies to support individual students with diverse disability based needs;
- Working in the classroom with higher needs students who require direct targeted guidance to develop specifically identified skills.
I come to Preshil with years of experience in various settings, including State and Catholic primary and secondary schools, specialist school, remote First Nation community schooling, across many states and territories. In these spaces I have moved from classroom teacher to Leader of Wellbeing and Leader of Learning Support in many schools. I recently completed a Master of Clinical Teaching which focuses on individualised planning and programming to ensure access and growth for students with various needs.
I am driven to connect students with authentic learning experiences, to celebrate their successes, to guide them to realise their potential and to work with key stakeholders to provide a holistic approach to meet the individual needs of the child at their evolving point of need.
I am extremely excited to have joined Preshil and, in the short time here, have witnessed some of the most passionate and enlightened teachers working amid a cohort of exceptional young people. I would like to thank staff for their instant openness and support of me, thank parents for reaching out to me and thank the many students I have moved past who have shared a warm smile and genuinely inquired about how my day is going. What a wonderful place to share my work-life time. I feel truly humbled to have joined this team.
If you have questions regarding the NCCD or how I might support your child in accessing learning at Preshil, I welcome the opportunity to speak with you. I look forward to working with you all.
Julia Strentz
Learning Support Coordinator