Support
All children have the right to access the curriculum. We acknowledge that all students develop at varying rates, possess an individual profile of relative strengths and weaknesses and have different learning styles and capacities. Considering this, all students should be given opportunities to maximise their potential and experience ongoing success.
The Academic Support Team provides educational support to those students in Pre-Primary to Year 5 who are identified as achieving academic levels significantly above or below the expected benchmarks and/ or have specific learning difficulties. The Academic Support Team is responsible for monitoring, tracking and communicating academic progress of all students as they proceed through the Junior School.
What you can expect
- Pre-intervention or baseline diagnostic assessment.
- A period of intervention which may involve individual or small group instruction depending on student needs.
- An intensive intervention programme (LLI or EMU) for a period of 20 weeks for students identified below benchmark.
- A documented plan may be constructed for a student who requires an academic programme that differs significantly from the normal classroom programme.
- Timetabled weekly meetings between support and classroom teachers to plan for differentiation and, where necessary, construct a modified programme to address student needs.
- Regular communication with other specialists, where necessary, and parents throughout this process.
- Standardised testing (YARC, SA Spelling, MAI, Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark, reading assessments), and pre- and post-intervention assessments are conducted, and recommendations are made to classroom teachers based on assessment results.
- Longitudinal tracking of all students’ progress via a regularly updated academic database. Analysis of students’ progress to monitor attainment of annual benchmarks.
- As part of year level team, support staff participate in parent meetings as required.
- Support staff collaborate with classroom teachers and provide relevant academic information for reports.
- Support staff liaise with the Junior School Psychologist and ensure the implementation of suggested psychologist management strategies.
- A comprehensive handover at the end of each year communicating the student’s academic profile and ongoing learning needs.
How students are identified for support
- Background information and questionnaires are collected at the interview with parents and new students.
- Information gathered by visiting the Pre-School prior to the boy entering either the Early Learning Centre (ELC), i.e. Pre-Kindy/Kindergarten and Pre-Primary, or Year 1.
- Concerns raised by parents about their son’s academic progress.
- Reports or assessments from previous schools or external agencies.
- School assessments including standardised tests, screening tests and national assessments (e.g. NAPLAN, Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT), University of New South Wales assessments, Cognitive Abilities Testing: Fourth Edition (CAT4) and teacher-devised tests.
- Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI), and Fountas &Pinnell reading assessment.
If you have any concerns, the first point of contact is always the classroom teacher (as your son’s key pastoral care person and case manager).