Every Student, Every School Learning And Support

Hello, I’m Brian Smyth King, Director of Disability Programs. Today I want to introduce you to Every Student, Every School, an initiative that will progress the way we support the additional learning needs of students with disabilities in our schools. As you know, our public schooling system here in New South Wales is large and complex. In 2012 we have over 740,000 students enrolled in more than 2,240 schools. On any given day more than 50,000 classrooms operate in public schools across New South Wales, and within these classrooms more than 90,000 students or 12 percent of K-12 population will at some time require adjustments in their learning through disability, learning difficulties, or behaviour. Nearly 80 percent of all students requiring adjusted learning access their education in regular classes. The learning profiles of our students are changing, as are the obligations we have in providing high quality educational services to every student accessing a New South Wales public school. We have two challenges from the changing nature of our students and our obligations. These are: the day to day quality of the learning experience each student receives, and the knowledge and skills of each teacher and support person to recognise and respond to the additional learning and support needs that our students may bring to our classrooms. Over the next two years we will work to implement a learning and support framework in every school through Every student, Every School initiative. This initiative will complement and extend the already world class services we provide for students with disability. This initiative is being made possible by a national partnership called More Support for Students with Disabilities. This partnership will provide more than $47 million to New South Wales over 2012 and 2013. This national partnership seeks to: build the capacity of schools to better cater for students with disabilities; enhance professional learning about students with additional learning needs because of disability; and strengthen the knowledge and skills we all have around the National Disability Standards for Education. The Learning and Support Framework comprises five elements. These are: Curriculum – providing high quality learning experiences with students with a focus on being rigorous, meaningful and dignified. Teaching and learning – having high expectations for every student and providing adjustments to support their additional learning needs. Collaboration – working with parents, colleagues and other professionals to develop and implement personalised learning and support for those students with adjusted learning needs. Professional Learning – for teachers and support staff, skilling our workforce to better understand and address the diverse learning needs of our students. Being accountable – meeting our obligations under the National Disability Standards for Education. How will we implement the Learning and Support Framework in our New South Wales schools? Well over the next two years we will undertake a range of projects that will focus on all elements of the framework. These projects will be grouped into five clusters: professional learning; support for students with disabilities in regular classes; special schools as centres of expertise; new tools for functional assessment and planning for personalised learning and support; and enhanced web access to information and trialling of new technologies supporting students with very complex or highly specialised support needs. Over the two years Every Student, Every School will enhance and extend our achievements in online learning. It will build on the already 9,000 courses that have been undertaken since it was introduced in 2009. We will add to the suite of materials already available with high quality modules in disability standards for education and implementation of personalised learning. We’ll provide over 300 scholarships for teachers to undertake postgraduate training in special education. This will be through a range of Australian universities. Teachers taking up scholarships will also be eligible for one off bonus payments when they complete their qualifications. In addition, we will fast-track the development of the functional assessment tool. It will profile the learning and support needs of students and it will be done so in consultation with parents. We’ll develop materials to assist teachers to prepare and implement personalised learning plans for their students. We also support the establishment of a specialist teacher, learning and support in every regular school. Our special schools will become centres of expertise so that they can share their professional knowledge and skills with other schools, and when we trial new technologies it will strengthen the support for students with complex disabilities who have high support needs. Each region has established a dedicated team to support Every Student, Every School. Your region’s team will work with you over coming months to plan the way Every Student, Every School will be implemented. Different projects will be implemented progressively over the 2012 and 2013 school years. I encourage you to refer to our intranet where you will find our information packages. I also look forward to working with you over the next two years as we build the foundations for learning and support to benefit every student, including those who at some time in their schooling will require adjusted learning.