Special Needs Meetings

Children who may be experiencing difficulties with learning, behaviour and / or social and emotional problems, may be referred to the Special Needs Committee by their teacher or parent / caregiver.

The Special Needs Committee may then involve the following personnel:

• Learning Support Teacher,

• Family Support Worker,

• Students With Difficulties Teacher,

• Guidance Officer,

• Speech Language Pathologist etc.

These specialists are based at the school and work as a team with children, families and teachers in helping to address the needs of the child.

 

Guidance Officer

Lillian Lomonaco is our guidance officer. She plays a vital role in ensuring teachers, parents and students receive useful support in the classroom and beyond.

include:

Appraisement

Appraisement is an Educational Queensland initiative for students with learning difficulties and learning disabilities in Education Queensland schools.

The Appraisement process must be followed when a student is believed to have a learning difficulty or learning disability and to require special needs support from Education Queensland.

The Appraisement process occurs when there is a concern about how a student is coping with one or more of the following:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Learning how to learn

The Appraisement process is used when the student’s learning difficulties are not the result of hearing, vision, physical or intellectual impairment, speech-language impairment or autistic spectrum disorder.

Support-a-Reader, Writer and Number

This support is available to students who have been caught in the Year 2 Net in either reading, writing and number. Students may require support in all three of the areas, or just one or two. Students spend sessions with a teacher aide to develop skills in the area in which they are experiencing difficulty.

 

Learning Support Audits

We conduct a Learning Support Audit annually and design Individual Support Plans for all students accordingly.

 

English as a Second Language (ESL) Class

Innisfail Sate School promotes and celebrates Multiculturalism in a very realistic way, based on the concept of inclusion, highlighted in the school philosophy.

 

A large number of students who recently migrated to Australia, whose parents work in Australia, as well as children who are born in families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLAD) backgrounds, come to our school.

 

Our ESL Unit is managed by an Advisory Visiting Teacher who is based at the school and provides services to other schools across the Tablelands / Johnstone District.

 

Our school employs a Hmong bi-lingual teacher aide. We provide an Intensive English Class for new arrivals who have no English speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. Classes are conducted daily for a period of 2 to 3 hours, after which students go back to their normal classes so that they are involved in general class activities.

 

We encourage the Buddy System, where ESL students are supported by peers in the class so that they are able to move into social groups and make friends quickly.

 

Innisfail State School is unique because it promotes children speaking their first language by all ESL students and this gives the children the confidence that their diverse background is appreciated in their school environment by both students and teachers.