Student support
At Norman Park State School,
the ‘Individual Student Needs Committee’
under the direction of the Principal, are responsible for managing the
development and implementation of policies and strategic initiatives related to
child safety, students with disabilities, student inclusion and learning
support. This committee meets each Friday morning with school support staff and
Guidance Officer to discuss progress and development of students’ identified by
class teachers or parents.
Students with disabilities
Students who have been identified
as having a disability are supported by Support teachers, Classroom teachers,
teacher aides and Advisory Visiting teachers to deliver programs to students
with verified disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual
Disability, Speech and Language Impairment, Vision Impairment, Physical
Impairment, and Hearing Impairment.
Some students may have require an adjusted program. An adjusted program
is the same as the mainstream program but with adjustments that allow more
equitable access to the mainstream teaching and assessment. All processes and
plans are completed in consultation with parents.
Intervention programs
We
provide support for a small number of students who require extra support with
their learning. Intervention programs are created to meet the learning needs of
the students. These programs are implemented frequently and with explicit
instruction by teacher aides, to develop mastery of basic concepts such as
reading and sight words.
Advancing student learning
Gifted and talented students may require enrichment
and extension opportunities to develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding
on a topic. Many students at Norman Park SS achieve high results in their
classroom and NAPLAN reports, not all students are classified as ‘gifted and
talented’ but many are known as high performing. It is through the teaching and
learning of the classroom that extension opportunities are available for
students to excel. There are many external opportunities for high performing
students to be extended, for example Science Masterclasses at Balmoral State
High School, STEM Challenge Competition, and Mathematics Tournaments.
Health
and wellbeing
The
well-being of our students is paramount. At Norman Park SS, we pride ourselves
on teaching our students to learn strategies to help themselves. As a PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) School
we have a strong focus on students helping other students through a Peer
Support program (Year 1- 6), and developing resilience with lessons from the
‘Bounce Back’ program (Prep- Year 6) which is enhanced with school-developed
videos shown each week that clearly identify and resolve issues.
Advisory visiting teachers
Access to
these services begins at the Norman Park State School Individual Students Needs
meeting through a referral process but often have other processes that also
need to be followed.
Guidance Officer
Access to
the Guidance Officer is through the individual students needs meeting through a
referral process.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Therapy is
provided to a small group of students identified with high level speech and
language needs.
School chaplain
Within our
school our chaplain helps students to engage in social development activities
and can provided one-on-one support with written parental permission.