Learning from Home - Supporting Students with Additional Needs

Individual 
Planning

Support Staff Providing 
Remote Support to Students

Accessibility 
Options

  Individual Planning

Learning from home opportunities should be based on the regular quality teaching that occurs in the classroom. Adjustments to teaching and assessment that differentiate the learning experience for all students should also be maintained.

Detailed below are some further considerations for reviewing individual planning processes for students with additional needs when learning from home.

Considerations have been organised in a similar format to an Individual Plan. First, a potential barrier to remote learning is acknowledged, appropriate adjustments are identified and then actions are detailed to implement the adjustments.

Resource lists to assist with literacy and numeracy learning from home, as well as considerations for supporting students from English as an Additional Language or Dialect background, are also available.

  Support Staff (Teaching Assistants/Aides) Providing Remote Support to Students

Support provided by Teaching Assistants/Aides may include:

• Assisting in the creation of teaching resources both physical and electronic such as home packs and individualised visual timetables.
• Assisting students to sign up for variety of online programs/apps.
• Sharing, with the teachers, the checking of student progress within online programs/apps.
• Co-hosting virtual classrooms with teachers, to monitor learning, check progress, answer questions and maintain familiar contact.
• Being assigned to break out rooms within virtual classroom to assist small groups to access and complete tasks.
• Providing follow up tutorials to students and parents/carers (phone, video) specially targeting use of technology at home.
• Monitoring student progress.

Intervention Programs

It is important to note that many intervention programs are underpinned by extensive evidence about what constitutes effective instruction. This includes teacher-led instruction and the interchange between the teacher and student. It is the responses from both the teacher and the student, when checking for understanding, that are critical.

Common interventions programs used in schools include MiniLit, MacqLit and the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program. Further guidance on delivering these programs is provided on the MultiLit website here.

  Accessibility Options

For some students with additional needs, technology may provide an alternate format for accessing learning.

Schools use a variety of devices and platforms that in many cases, already include accessibility features. These features can assist students to access the curriculum while working remotely. Some key accessibility features have been identified below with a description of how they may be used to assist learning. Links to various platforms and technologies have been provided. This list is by no means exhaustive.