Students with Diverse Needs - Professional Learning

The AISNSW Student Services team provides support for students with additional needs via a range of different modes:

• Face-to-face and Virtual Professional Learning (school-based, calendar courses, Zoom, webinars)
• Online Learning Experiences
• Consultancy Support
• Planning Tools and Resources

These modes of support may be integrated as part of a blended learning experience (e.g face-to-face and online)

Professional learning is offered in the following areas:

• Anti-discrimination legislation – Disability Discrimination Act and Disability Standards for Education
• Curriculum and assessment guidance
• Effective teaching and learning
• Autism Spectrum Disorder – fundamentals and practicalities
• Strategies and approaches to support behaviour
• Interventions to support students with mental health challenges in the school setting.

Sessions are tailored to the school’s context and needs. Delivery may include face-to-face, or virtually (e.g. Zoom or webinar). Sessions may be distributed over time to allow for implementation and reflection in between sessions, or they may be stand-alone offerings.

AISNSW offers a suite of online learning experiences aimed at building your skills and knowledge around specific focus areas including:

• Disability Legislation and the Collaborative Planning Process
• Autism
• Mental Health
• Behaviour

There is no right or wrong place to start with this professional learning. The flexible structure of the online learning experiences allows you to dip in and out.

You set the pace. You decide where to start and which modules are most meaningful and relevant for you.

Consultants from the AISNSW Student Services team, provide specialised consultancy support to key staff to develop effective collaborative planning.  The focus of the consultancies is on quality teaching and learning, implementation of adjustments, monitoring student learning and behaviour and proactive involvement of all key staff across the school setting.

Proactive Planning for Individual Student Matters
Proactive advice and support with the collaborative planning process includes, but is not limited to individual planning associated with areas of:

• curriculum
• behaviour
• key transition points
• health care needs.

Responding to Complex Student Needs and Situations
AISNSW Student Services consultants also support member schools to plan appropriate responses to  critical incidents and/or emerging complex situations. Advice and support are related to planning around more complex matters associated with:

• behaviour
• mental health care
• health care
• risk assessment
• attendance.

Additional tools and resources to support you are also available.

Fact Sheets
Fact Sheets provide information about a range of topics and issues connected to the collaborative planning process – individual planning, behaviour support planning, risk assessment and health care planning. Think of them as quick reference resources, with up to date information about a particular issue. The fact sheets are a great starting point to find answers to a particular question or issue. They’re also a valuable resource to share with staff and others in your learning community.

Planning Proformas
Our suite of proformas will help in documenting the agreed actions and outcomes throughout the collaborative planning process.

Case Studies
A series of student case studies, with accompanying sample plans, provide practical examples of how the planning documents are used throughout the collaborative planning process. Samples have been developed for both the primary and secondary context.