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Special education refers to teaching practices that meet the individual needs of students with disability.
All students are entitled to participate in and progress through the NSW curriculum. Schools need to provide adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities for some students with disability.
Students with disability
Students with disability have a range of abilities and needs. The Disability Standards for Education 2005 describes the legislative requirements of schools to support students with disability. Schools need to ensure these students have an equitable education.
Read more about students with disability.
Accessing the curriculum
Students with disability can access syllabus outcomes and content in a range of ways. They can do this with or without adjustments as appropriate.
Read more about accessing the curriculum.
Collaborative curriculum planning
Curriculum options for a student with disability should be appropriate for their individual learning needs and priorities. These options include adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment. Make decisions with the student, their parent/carer, teachers and other significant individuals.
Understand the collaborative curriculum planning process.
Supporting students with disability in learning
Teaching strategies to support students to access learning. Inclusive learning enables students to access authentic, relevant and meaningful learning opportunities.
Read more about supporting students with disability in learning.
Adjustments
Adjustments relate to teaching, learning and assessment. They enable a student with disability to access syllabus outcomes and content and show their achievement.
Read more about adjustments.
Assessment and reporting
Students with disability should be provided with a range of opportunities to demonstrate achievement of syllabus outcomes in school-based assessment tasks, including exams.
Understand how to assess and report a student’s achievement.
Case studies
The case studies illustrate adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment for individual students with disability. Each case study shows how a sample unit of work and an assessment activity have been adjusted to suit the needs of the student.
Read the case studies.
Life Skills
Years 7–10 courses based on Life Skills outcomes and content and Years 11–12 Life Skills courses provide options for students with disability who are unable to access the regular course outcomes. Understand:
- eligibility
- course options
- planning and programming
- assessment and reporting
- what credentials a student receives.
Read about Life Skills.
VET
VET courses can be studied by any student, including those with disability.
Read about VET courses and students with disability.
Home schooling
Home schooling is education delivered primarily in a child’s home by a parent or guardian.
Read about home schooling in NSW.
Guides and resources
The following guide provides advice and strategies for teachers to help students who are experiencing difficulties. This includes assessment, planning, programming, strategies and illustrations of practice.
Contact
For support and further information, contact:
Curriculum Standards Directorate
Principal Project Officer, Diversity
Phone: (02) 9367 8036
Senior Project Officer, Special Education
Phone: (02) 9367 8148
At the NSW Department of Education
Disability, Learning and Support Level 11, 105 Phillip Street, Parramatta NSW 2150 Phone: (02) 7814 3879
Email: [email protected]
See information about Disability Support at the NSW Department of Education and Public Schools NSW.
Within the Catholic Education Sector
Manager – Disability Support at Catholic Schools NSW 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 9287 1555
See the contact list of individual dioceses.
At the AIS
Student Services
Association of Independent Schools of NSW Level 4, 99 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 9299 2845
Fax: (02) 9290 2274
In Australia there are both Government and Independent Special Needs Schools for children with disabilities, health related conditions or learning difficulties, providing specialised learning outside the standard Australian school curriculum.
Key points
For children with disability who need a high level of educational and other support there are specialised schooling options
These include specialised classes, units, schools and dual enrolment
Children will likely need to meet eligibility criteria to access these types of schooling
Alongside the individualised options of specialised school settings, therapists and other non-teaching professionals may be arranged to give your child support sessions while they are at school, particularly speech and language therapies or behavioural support sessions.
We’ve put together some information you need to know about specialised schooling options if they seem to be the best fit for your child.
Many private schools, independent schools and public schools offer classes specifically for students with additional learning needs.
These are available both during primary school years and secondary school years.
They have smaller class sizes, enabling the teacher and support staff to spend more time with each student, and may learn according to a different program to what students in the same year level learn in a mainstream class.
Children in specialised classes are able to learn alongside other children with similar needs to themselves, in what can be a more inclusive environment than mainstream classes.
Specialised classes may also have breaks at different times of the day to the rest of the school, so children with sensory difficulties are not overwhelmed in the school yard or so staff can keep a closer eye on children with disability who may need more supervision.
There are also different school inclusion programs run across Australia designed for children with autism spectrum disorder.
Usually the programs involve developing support strategies to help your child engage in their learning and manage their behaviour in the classroom, as well as plans for any school transitions such as from primary to high school.
They may also include professional development of teachers and advice for the school about creating an autism-friendly learning environment.
See the links at the end of this article for information about how to locate a school near you with specialised classes.
Specialised classes for children with disability at some schools may be separated from the rest of the school in a unit - either a separate building or a divided section of a building.
This could be for a range of reasons, including safety of students and to make it easier for staff to provide supervision.
A unit could also have more facilities which suit children with a variety of learning needs than a specialised class in a mainstream section of the school might have - for example a unit may have a sensory room and additional accessible toilets or changing facilities.
However, specialised units are becoming less common in many places around Australia, as the benefits of having specialised classes separated from mainstream classes are debated.
Common specialised units include those for students with mild to moderate intellectual disability, hearing impairments and autism or higher level complex needs and conditions.
Although the unit may be separate from the rest of the school for a majority of the time, some schools encourage inclusivity of students with disability through buddy programs or including them in school events.
It is important to get all the information you can about a specialised unit which your child may be able to attend and compare it to other education options which are available, to make sure it is the best fit for your child’s learning, social and physical needs.
Schools which specialise in one specific disability or just in teaching all children with disability and high support needs can be found across Australia.
Although specialised schools may deliver learning differently they will still use the Australian Curriculum, just as mainstream schools do.
This means while your child may learn at a different rate and adjustments may need to be made to how the Curriculum is taught at a specialised school, children are not in any way missing out.
The focus of specialised schools can be a range of disabilities and some can cater for children with multiple conditions.
Most jurisdictions have schools which specialise in intellectual disability or emotional and behavioural needs, but most States don’t have schools which specialise in physical disabilities.
This is because it is expected children with physical disability can either receive the right learning support through mainstream school or through other specialised school options.
Autism Spectrum Australia also operates schools in New South Wales and South Australia with small classes, a teacher with training in autism-specific schooling, and a teacher’s aide.
These schools can be used to help children with autism transition into more mainstream school settings if it will benefit the student.
There are also autism specialist schools in Victoria which children with high support needs may be eligible to attend.
Schools for the Deaf provide learning in Auslan and English in classes about a third of the size of mainstream school classes so that teachers and support staff can deliver intensive language support programs.
The Australian Schools Directory website provides a search option for schools in Australia which can be filtered by school type and the needs which your child has.
In some jurisdictions in Australia families can choose for a child with disability to attend both a specialised school and a mainstream school, or go to a specialised school for some learning and learn the rest through homeschooling.
This can be a good option for children who will benefit from social engagement and other aspects of mainstream education, but will also benefit from a more individualised support environment, either at a specialised school or at home, to boost their learning.
You can compare schools using the MySchools website under a range of different headings, but it’s also good to go on scheduled tours at your local schools and even ask if it’s possible to set up transition days to try it out.
State and Territory education department information about schooling for students with disability can be found here:
For information on part time school, distance education and homeschooling, read our information guide.
We also have information on the support which children with disability can receive in mainstream school settings.
Are you looking for a specialised school setting for your child to attend? Tell us in the comments below.
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