Transcript for Special Needs interview

Mathew Jennings: What provisions do you make for students with

additional needs?
Supervising Teacher: To be honest, the provisions depend on what the need is.
Take Student A for example, (Student A is an EaLD student who ST believes to
potentially have a processing disorder. He has not been diagnosed.) He at times
has to be pulled aside and have the task scaffolded for him so as to understand
the task better. I also try to position myself nearby so if he needs any questions
or instructions explained to him. In the past with other students, I have used a
sticker chart as well as a personalised behaviour plan. It has been commonplace
with students with special needs that they have required an Individual Education
Plan (IEP) in the past.
MJ: How many students in your class have additional needs?
ST: at the moment, I have about 9 students in my class that have additional
needs, varying from motor and verbal dyspraxia, students who are on the autism
spectrum but havent been diagnosed and degenerative eye disorders. I also
have students who require simpler things such as glasses and social and
behavioural issues. A number of these students do not require additional help
from me most of the time.
MJ: what support options are available made available to you if you
were to have a child with substantial needs?
ST: Again its all dependent on what the students needs are. The most important
thing is that the students that need additional support are diagnosed. When they
are diagnosed, we can apply for funding and with that funding we can get things
that help both the student and the classroom teacher. You saw today when you
went to the other class when a student is diagnosed and a student is not,
Student L is medically diagnosed and the classroom teacher receives additional
support through the use of a LaST (Learning and Support Teacher). Student S on
the other hand, although the staff here acknowledges that there is an issue as he
has concentration issues and is developmentally delayed, he has not officially
been diagnosed and as such cannot receiving funding for support.
MJ: How would you adjust the curriculum for a student with additional
needs?
ST: Again its all dependent on what the student requires. In the past, when I
have had students with special needs I have generally altered the expectations
required of them. You have seen today when you were observing student L and S
in the other class you went to, that their activities were not the same as the rest
of the class (While the rest of the class did maths, students L and S worked on
spelling words). Other things I have done in the past are grouped activities as I
find that is particularly beneficial to place them with other students. I also find
that the learning intention that we use at the start of every class helpful as it

helps give clear direction as to where the class is headed and what they are
meant to be doing.
MJ: Have you ever taught a student with substantial needs and how did
you go about adjusting the rest of the class to the situation.
ST: You have seen a couple of examples so far in my classroom with student A as
well as with Student O (Student O has both Verbal and Motor Dyspraxia). They
both fit in relatively well in the class and have only had to make slight
adjustments for them such as the scaffolded learning I mentioned earlier.
Student O also received special provisions for the recent NAPLAN tests so that he
could satisfactorily complete them and receives regular support from
occupational and speech therapists.
I also previously had a child that had a severe developmental delay as well as
behaviour issues. As well as adjusting the curriculum for him appropriately, I also
prepared for him a special sticker chart. This student in particular loved
basketball and every time he displayed good behaviours he would receive a
sticker. After 5 stickers, the sticker chart would perform a slam dunk and the
student was rewarded, usually with computer time.
MJ: In an ideal situation, how would you give support to a student who
has additional needs?
ST: Again, it would be solely dependent on the childs needs. Personally I am not
a fan of withdrawal from the classroom as I find it detrimental to assimilating a
child into the classroom. I believe there are benefits to having peer support in
these regards as I feel there are benefits of using the resources of other students
to help within a classroom environment.