LEARNING DIVERSITY NEWS

I am so proud of all students for their continued commitment to learning at our college. It has been evident in Term1 that students are keen to improve and are seeking support in order to enable them to do this. 

We are very proud of the support we offer to our students at St Joseph’s College and our inclusive and collaborative processes. A few reminders for parents in case Term 1 reports have highlighted a need for new or more support for your child in the classroom:

• We offer after-school tutoring in the library Monday to Thursday from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Please contact me to organise this.
• We have the after-school Flourish Program which can assist your child in organisation and study skills.
• We can complete baseline assessments and offer referral support for children who may need additional support in their learning program.
• We have speech therapy sessions on a weekly basis for students who need language support.
• We can support parents to seek information and support through behavioural assessment processes such as autism diagnosis or ADHD through their Doctor and Paediatrician.

PROGRAM SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS  

Program Support Group Meetings have occurred in Term 1. I was able to meet with most parents of students with Individual Support Plans and this is very valuable to their continued development. If you were not able to attend these meetings and you would like to meet and discuss your student’s needs, please contact me.

Q16

The Q16 learning space has flourished in Term 1 with a number of students finding social connections and safety. New plants have been a fresh addition and students continue to communicate how we can improve this space. It has been lovely to see everyone playing chess, card games, and more.

NATIONALLY CONSISTENT COLLECTION OF DATA (NCCD)

As some parents may well be aware, the way students with disabilities are funded is through the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for students with disabilities (NCCD for SWD). The NCCD asks schools to list students for whom they make adjustments in their learning programs to accommodate a much wider range of disability than has been previously captured. 

The NCCD information tells the Government how many students in a school are being offered additional support to improve their learning, from extensive adjustments such as having a 1:1 Learning Support Officer to having a supplementary adjustment such as a small and highly structured literacy support or essential mathematics class. The Federal Government then provides additional funding to the school for resource management and staffing. 

There are also some students who have required adjustments due to a medical condition. These students are included in the count due to the criteria of the information guidelines, such as anaphylaxis. This funding creates opportunities for a wider range of students who have in the past missed out on the opportunity to receive support. It has also enabled whole-school training and opportunities for all staff to learn more about students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. The NCCD Team have been working hard to ensure all students receiving adjustments to their learning program will continue to be supported in 2021.

For further Information about the NCCD please visit the website.

Please also see the attached letter to parents explaining our legal obligations under the NCCD and the information that will be shared. The Data collection is in August 2021. 

Ms Melanie Saleta

Head of Learning Diversity