Special education

After her double win at the National Excellence in Teaching Awards for her work helping teachers and schools in New Zealand implement structured literacy into their practice, Amie Roberts speaks to Teacher about how this approach empowers all students.

‘Successful learning is built on people recognising your abilities and strengths and helping you to build on them.’ We speak to Sue Lowry, winner of the Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award, about how she is delivering quality music education to students with special needs, and how they’re smashing expectations.

Our guest for today’s School Improvement episode is Ruth Rogers, Principal of Karonga School in New South Wales. Ruth joins us today to talk about her school’s immersive classroom, and how it allows students – all of whom have an intellectual disability – to access a world beyond the classroom and practice skills that they can take with them when they are out in the community.

Learning Specialist Angela Myler says an understanding of the complexities of twice-exceptional students is paramount to be able to cater to their diverse learning needs, so that both disability and gifts are given the attention they deserve.

‘Best literacy practices in specialist schools look very different to best practice in regular classrooms.’ New research published in the Australian Journal of Education explores the different observational tools needed to understand effective literacy environments in specialist schools.

Equal education involves many things – equal representation, participation, access to resources, and more. There’s a lot to explore around equal education in the Teacher archives, and in this edition of Teacher Staffroom, we bring you some recent examples.

Preparing students for experiences beyond school can be difficult to simulate in a classroom environment. Here, we speak with Clarke Road School Principal Rebecca Saunders about how a new mini supermarket at the school is used to support student learning.

Additional Needs Coordinator Sue Pickett shares a task slip which she created with her team at Eltham High School in Victoria to support teachers in assisting students with additional needs.

‘As the world faced a global pandemic, the spotlight shone on our wonderful Auslan interpreters in the media, and more and more schools began to show interest in including Auslan in their curriculum.’ In today’s reader submission, Auslan educator Kerrie Taylor shares how schools can bring Auslan into the classroom in a way that embraces the richness of the language, and respects and honours the Deaf community.

Additional Needs Coordinator Sue Pickett shares a modified program worksheet she created with her team at Eltham High School in Victoria called ‘How we will work with…’ to support teachers in assisting students with additional needs.