The Student Support Services Department is focused on supporting all students in particular, special education and learning support students enrolled in the school. The team that works here includes both specialist teachers and teacher aides.
The philosophy of the program is to provide academic and social learning as well as supporting students in the mainstream setting, allowing our students to gain life experiences appropriate to the development of each individual. At Park Ridge State High School, all students are accessing the Australian Curriculum and assisted to work towards Australian National standards. A small number of students accessing the Australian Curriculum perform substantially below year level expectations, despite receiving support. In these cases, teachers and support staff work together to generate and analyse student performance data to determine an appropriate instructional level for individual students in various subjects formulating an Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP).
This Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) documents the curriculum year level that a child is working towards in each subject. It outlines his/her intended curriculum and level of achievement that will be assessed and reported against. The identified children will work towards the year levels listed for the duration of the current semester. Student instructional levels will be assessed each 6 months.The team also run other programs such as Social Skills programming, Literacy intervention, Play Program, Timeout Program, Health and Sexual Education, Transition programming, Certificate Courses and Internal and External Work Experience programs.
Students with a disability who enrol in the school have an assigned SSS teacher as their case manager. This teacher is responsible for developing an Individualised Education Plan (IEP) and/or equivalent and student profile for the students, and sharing this with the students, teachers and other relevant staff in the school. Students may also receive support in their classes from teachers and teacher aides and may be offered tutorials to support their learning when required. Once a student reaches Year 10 the case manager will support the student to complete their SET plan and also their own Futures Transition Plan that encompasses schooling and beyond, these plans replace the IEP.
An educational adjustment profile (EAP) is also completed for SSS students. The profile assists in focusing on the type and extent of teaching adjustments necessary for students to achieve their goals within our school setting. We endeavour to maintain an open and positive relationship with our parents, students and teachers and provide regular feedback concerning all areas of learning at school.
School reports are delivered twice a year reporting on academic outcomes. Student Support Services IEP reports are also discussed once a year and goals revised if required.
Students who have other special needs related to learning are identified by the learning support team. The teachers in this team conduct assessments and collate information on students and their learning needs and circulate this information to all relevant teachers. They also offer advice to teachers about how to support the students’ learning needs in the regular classroom. Some in-class support may also be provided by teachers and teacher aides from this team.
Students with a disability or special learning needs wanting to enrol at the school should apply through the regular enrolment procedures.