1105 Special Needs Report - 10 May 2011

Report to the BOT re Care and Education of Special Needs Children at Kaikohe East Primary School

Prepared By: Kaz Chamberlain  Date: May 2011

UPDATE

In 2011 we currently have 7 ORRS funded children and 1 High Health Needs child. All children continue to be mainstreamed with Room 10 set up as a room to provide a place for additional learning programmes to support each child’s individual learning goals. GSE in Kaikohe provide support with IEP’s, applications and development of learning programmes. Clare Lilley continues to be our main contact at GSE, Kaikohe. Recently, a new Speech Language Therapist has come on board, however, we have a high overturn of SLT’s in our area and this service has not been as consistent as in the past.

FUNDING

The ORRS funding contributes towards covering the cost of a teacher aide for the children that have ORRS or High Health Needs funding. The number of hours they are covered for is dependent on the needs of the child and the funding that has been allocated. Each child also comes with a small amount for resources and consumables. In addition we have some children who also have TA help that is funded through RTLB and is a short term avenue for children to get a ‘boost’ towards their learning but whom don’t qualify for ORRS. Children are funded for a maximum of 25 hours a week. A full school week for a child is 30 hours. Hours are reviewed at the end of each year and nearly always drop, reducing vital TA hours. In 2011 this has meant 3 children now go home at 1pm as for Health and Safety reasons it is not possible to keep them at school without a fulltime teacher aide.

A major concern continues to be the funding of teacher aide hours. Kaz and Chicky have had many conversations with GSE regarding this and it remains an ongoing battle to ensure our Children with Special needs get the funding for the care and education they deserve.

OTHER

·      Riding for the Disabled every Thursday for six children.

·      Every second Thursday NZ sign language lessons at KES from 9 – 11

·      Mattime in Room 10 every Wednesday from 11 – 1pm

·      Correspondence school

·      Toy library

·      Room 10 officially opened in April and name ‘Aniwaniwa’

·      We were on Maori TV and in local papers recently showing our school, children and Aniwaniwa opening.

·      The whole school supported this occasion with particular mention to our bi-lingual classes for their outstanding powhiri.

·      IEP’s continue to happen throughout the year for children and are beginning again this term.

·      Room 10 (Aniwaniwa) is our new room. This has also included a room for the multi-sensory room equipment and we now have an exciting and relaxing place for the whole school to use.

·      Tiaho Trust and their CEO Jonny Wilkinson have given the organisation of their community van over to the school and Kaz.

·      The van is kept at our school and is insured, warranted, registered and serviced by Tiaho. Our costs are diesel and mileage and keeping the van clean and tidy.

·      Kaz is co-ordinating the use of the van community wide with the main focus at this stage on schools using the van for special needs or school excursions.

·      Tiaho Van timetable is on our school website.

·      We have a good relationship with Tiaho Trust and appreciate the opportunity to run the van in our community.

Our staff at Kaikohe East are very accommodating and supportive of children with Special Needs. We have a positive approach and all children at Kaikohe East are very accepting of others with differences and just include them in everything we do with no problem. Our children with Special Needs are a valued part of our school.

BUDGET

Our budget as set at the end of last year is subject to changes as we have new staff and hours that come from RTLB funding, IRF and new GSE funding throughout the year.

 Code 3431  - Annual Budget is not fixed as new funding has been sourced since budget was first predicted. This will adjust accordingly as income in balances what is outgoing.