Special Needs Report - 16 September 2015

The Principal is required to:

• • Identify students at risk of not achieving and students who are gifted and talented and implement teaching and learning strategies to address needs.

Identified Students

• • Each fortnight at Senior Management Hui, Kaz shares with team an update on children with special rights, any new enrolments, teacher aides and funding.

  • Teachers have been asked to identify in their planning a group of target children also that may include children with special rights in their room depending on the level of need and support.

  • We also discuss at meetings which children may need extra support over and above their classroom programmes. Kaz’s role is flexible to be able to be on hand for learning and behaviour and to coordinate all the different agencies and people that are involved with our behaviour and special rights children. Her timetable needs to be flexible and specific to the needs of who she is working with.

  • We rely on class teachers to ensure they know their learner therefore their planning should reflect specific needs of children who are at risk of not achieving a National Standard.

  • Planning checks, walkthroughs, viewing of children’s books, regular assessment all contribute towards ensuring we are clear about children requiring extra support.

  • Kaz is currently updating the Etap support register and transferring special rights register data to this. Also, staff have been notified of a simple way to request support to SENCO through Etap so it can be actioned asap.

  • Services we can access are PHN (Public health nurse), SWIS (Social worker in Schools), GSE (Group Special Ed), RDA (Riding for the Disabled), IRF (Interim Response Fund), BEH (Behaviour Hours, GSE), RTLB (Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour), RTLit (Resource Teacher of Literacy), SLT (Speech Language Therapist)

  • Each syndicate has an identified group of children that they are targeting to raise achievement in literacy and numeracy.This is monitored by the Syndicate leaders and reported back to Senior management on a regular basis.

  • We are also aware of children who have been identified as achieving well above their peers and these children are also monitored through Syndicate hui and at Senior management hui.

Children with a high level of Special Needs

• • The Ministry of Education’s Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding contributes towards covering the cost of a teacher aide for the children that have high needs. Each child also comes with a small amount for resources and consumables. Funding is allocated to employ a teacher aide but also measured to ensure other costs are covered such as holiday pay and overtime for camps, Individual Education Plan meetings and other school excursions or meetings that a teacher aide may be required to attend.

  • High funded children come with .1 Specialist teacher time and Very high .2. This funding ensures we have a full time SENCO who can cater for needs by keep regular contact with agencies, fund providers, whanau, teachers and support staff.

  • We currently have six ORS funded children, two high health needs students and a child funded by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). Some children are also funded through other avenues such as Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), Child Youth and Family Services (CYFS), Interim Response Fund (IRF), RTLB Learning Support Fund (LSF), English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) and the Ministry of Education’s Group Special Education. These are usually short term funding solutions while a child transitions or they are assessed further. All children continue to be mainstreamed with Kaz (Special Educational Needs Coordinator)(SENCO) supporting teacher aides and teachers. The Ministry of Education in Kaikohe provides support with Individual Education Plans, applications and development of learning programmes.

  • We currently have 19 teacher aides, 3 who are fulltime permanent and 16 who are employed as additional TA support for classrooms, behaviour needs and ORs children.

  • Kaz meets with all support staff once a fortnight.

  • Ongoing professional development is a challenge to source for our teacher aides and teachers with regards to behaviour and special rights children, however, we endeavour to source PLD opportunities and have recently hosted a TA day and after school hui with Jenny Tebbutt, an Educational Consultant. In a few weeks time we will also host a Kiwichat Day provided through Talklink and SLT services.

  • While our school manages well with all students our dealings with MOE/RTLB can often be very frustrating particularly when we are seeking better funding and outcomes for ORRS funded children and children with high end behavioural needs.  Increased funding can ensure more, better and targeted support for those children who need it. We are very appreciative of all the work and effort Kaz puts into meetings that are necessary to ensure we are heard and successful in supporting classrooms.

Data

• • At the beginning of the year we identified the children at risk of not reaching the National Standard by the end of the year:

Reading

Writing

Maths

What teaching and learning strategies are being implemented to address their needs?

Writing

• • because we have a specific school goal around writing, the teaching and learning strategies being implemented are reported in that report.

  • samples are moderated at syndicate level

  • also at every second syndicate level, teachers take a sample of writing from a child whose progress is of concern and next steps are identified and strategies discussed

  • Vera has been very involved in PD with all staff around writing

Reading

• • Most teachers organise to have support staff time during the literacy block.

  • Some support staff, in the juniors, have received PD from Joan on running records

  • The RTLit has two pupils she works with most days

  • 6 year nets have been carried out more regularly and the results collated to find out where our younger readers are falling down. What specifically is the area we need to strengthen?

Maths

• • Walk throughs by Elaine and Donna show that in every class grouping is based on data

  • Next steps based on data from I can.., Gloss or JaM