In 2012 the Education Directorate established a special taskforce to look at ways to better support public school students with learning difficulties. Council was lucky enough to be given a seat at the table and, as a member of the taskforce, was able to provide the parent perspective on this issue.

“The most pleasing thing about being involved in the taskforce is watching the recommendations being implemented. There has been real commitment in the Directorate and a lot of hard work to follow through and turn our suggestions into real improvements in schools,” said Viv Pearce, Council’s representative on the committee.

The Taskforce on Students with Learning Difficulties considered students experiencing language disorders, comprehension and processing disorders, dyslexia-related issues and significant difficulties in general numeracy and literacy. It looked at current practices and asked schools, staff, students and parents what could be improved. From their considerations the taskforce recommended three things – building the skills of staff in addressing learning difficulties, partnering with families, and developing a consistent, systemic approach across schools and the Directorate.

The biggest area of activity since has been in providing more support, training, resources and skills for teachers and support staff.

Each school now has a designated learning difficulties representative teacher who is the first point of contact for parents and serves as the school’s expert. The school representatives, plus school psychologists, support staff and Literacy and Numeracy Field Officers (over 1100 staff in all) received specific training, targeted to gaps identified by schools and teachers themselves, such as how to identify students with problems, evidence-based interventions and current research on teaching for learning difficulties.

A suite of resources has been amassed on the Directorate’s secure ‘Digital Backpack’ website for the representative teachers to share with their school colleagues, including screening testsfor identifying students who may need additional support and videos of these being administered, plus videos of the training the representatives received. The site also allows teachers to share their experiences, and learn and collaborate across schools.

Teachers have reported being more confident in helping students with learning difficulties after receiving the training and having the toolkit available to them. They have also been able to pass their learning on to other teachers at their school, using the online content.

Parents’ knowledge as increased, too, as a result of Directorate-led workshops attended by nearly 150 people.

The workshops for parents were run by an expert in the field who told parents more about learning difficulties, what can be done, and how to support their child both at home and through effective communication with schools.

The workshops were very much appreciated by parents and carers.

“Thank you so much, I am really grateful you have taken the time to help, as I have been trying to find someone like you for years,” said one parent.

“I thought the workshop was great and the time we had with the experts after the workshop was exceptionally valuable,” commented another.

In response to parent requests, the Directorate has also written a range of factsheets on particular learning difficulties, diagnosing problems and using technology to assist students.

The final recommendation of the taskforce – building a consistent systemic approach – is an area of ongoing work.

Last year, one approach was trialled in two primary schools. It involved a whole-school approach for identifying students in Kindergarten to Year Two who aren’t responding to the core classroom program and determining what evidence-based instruction they need to bridge the gaps. If, after six months of this specific intervention, the student does not respond, additional investigations are made and further help provided.

“This is such a fundamentally important part of what schools do – making sure no one is left behind,” said Ms Pearce. “Helping kids with difficulties early stops the problem compounding – losing self-esteem or acting-up in class.”

“Parents have obviously appreciated the Directorate’s focus on this, and they have appreciated having an expert project manager there to contact for advice. But the funding for this project ends this year, and here at Council we are concerned that this jeopardises the excellent work done to date.”

“Council will be monitoring closely what happens next,” she said. “We need to ensure that students with learning difficulties are systematically identified and helped early in their school career, and that parents continue to be provided with quality information as they have been with this project.” ●

Parents concerned about their child’s progress should discuss it with the classroom teacher and the school’s Learning Difficulties Representative Teacher.
See also Directorate factsheets or purchase the excellent booklet ‘Understanding learning difficulties: a practical guide for parents’.

This article appeared in ParentACTion, Term 4, 2015. See other past editions of our quarterly magazine.