4 August 2016

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training

Supporting Students with Disabilities

The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to ensuring every Tasmanian student can thrive in an inclusive learning environment and this has been a priority since we came to Government.

Significant work is already being undertaken and is driving positive change. While we still have a long way to go, I have every confidence that together with educators, families and support services we can continue to improve.

Already, over the past two years, I have established the Ministerial Taskforce and acted on their recommendations for Education for Students with Disabilities.

This includes investing $12 million over four years for reforms from the Ministerial Taskforce to help schools be disability ready and responsive, with $3 million will be spent in 2016‑17.

This is in addition to the $1 million allocation made in 2016 to progress these reforms by implementing the three recommendations in relation to:

• Family Partnership Training – The training program is underway with two programs complete and five more to be conducted by the end of Term 1 2017. It is anticipated that 90 school/Child and Family Centre staff will undertake the program during this time. There are two components to the program: five days training and an Action project that supports the translation of learnings into practice. There is a comprehensive evaluation strategy of the program and results to date are showing changes in practice and improved working in partnership with families.
•  Incentives for teachers and teacher assistants to gain qualifications in special/inclusive education
• Development of a networked professional support staff model for schools and support staff to work more closely together.

To help guide this work, we have a new Inclusion Advisory Panel – Disability Focus, which had its inaugural meeting on June 8. The panel is overseeing the implementation of the Ministerial Taskforce recommendations across all education sectors within the context of the national and state agenda for students with disability.

In addition, there is extra support in each Tasmanian school community. Every school has a Support Teacher allocation. Professional learning is provided to these staff to build their skills and knowledge in both addressing student need and managing behaviour. And, specialist staff, including social workers, speech pathologists and school psychologists, support students with special needs in schools. The total budget for this support is $14.8 million.

More Media Releases from Jeremy Rockliff

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