Special Education Services

Information for families and whānau about special education services from birth through to the end of secondary school.

This booklet tells you what special education is and what to do if you are concerned about your child. It also talks about the range of special education support available for:

• children from birth to six years of age and their families and whānau
• children and young people at primary or secondary school and their families and whānau.

You will also find information about:

• special education funding
• how to find further information
• contact details for Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE) offices.

What special education is

Your child may require special education services if they:

• have a physical impairment
• have a learning disability
• have hearing or vision difficulties (a sensory impairment)
• struggle with learning, communicating, or getting along with others
• have an emotional or behavioural difficulty.

An everyday learning environment or classroom, by itself, may not be enough for your child to learn to the best of their ability. They may need extra help such as: an individual education programme, a behaviour plan or programme, specialist teaching, a therapist to help with movement, or speech and language, or special equipment to help them learn.

If you think your child needs extra support and you would like to know what's available there is a range of people you can talk to.

If your child isn't at school yet you can talk to your family doctor, Plunket, Parents as First Teachers educator, Iwi Health Authority or staff at the early childhood education centre your child attends. You can also go directly to an education specialist at the Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE) office nearest to where you live and ask them for advice.

If you are concerned about your child's learning and they are at primary or secondary school you should talk to your child's classroom or form teacher, or the school principal. These people can discuss what the school can provide and if there is a need to bring in other services.

If you have talked with these people and you still feel concerned, you can talk to a local GSE service manager, or your local Ministry of Education, National Operations student support manager. (Ring your local GSE office to get their contact details.)

What services are provided?

Before your child goes to school

There are qualified, experienced staff who work with young children with special education needs from birth through to the time they start school. They provide a range of early intervention services. These people are available to visit you at home or in your child's early childhood education setting.

If you have concerns about your child you can contact your local GSE office yourself. Usually someone, like your doctor, will refer you to GSE.

Early intervention services are mainly provided by GSE but in some areas there are also other service providers (who are GSE-accredited) that provide a complementary range of early intervention services. To find out about these options in your local area contact GSE - they will provide you with information.

Early intervention services may include:

an assessment of your child's skills and education needs

planning, such as helping put in place an individual plan for your child, outlining relevant teaching practices, any specialised equipment required, short-term and long-term social and learning goals, timeframes, and at-home follow-up activities

general information and support to families, educators and other professionals. Your early intervention key worker will tell you about the range of services available to your child, give you advice on finding an early childhood education setting and help with the transition to school

expertise and knowledge-sharing, such as designing ways to improve socialisation, learning, communication and behaviour management

specialist services, such as speech-language therapy and specialist teaching

education support workers, who support specialists and early childhood educators and work with your child.

When your child goes to primary or secondary school

If your child has special education needs the school or college they attend provides support and services. This assistance may include access to:

• specially trained teachers who work with students with learning and/or behaviour difficulties, for example, Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs) and Learning Support Teachers (LSTs)
• specially trained teachers for students with vision impairments (called Resource Teachers: Vision)
• teachers who work with children who have hearing impairments (called Resource Teachers: Deaf).

Most children receive special education support at the school they attend. But if your child has special education needs that are defined as high, staff at their school or early childhood education centre will coordinate extra services from GSE, or another fundholder of government money, such as a special school.

Only three percent of children are defined as having high needs and qualify for these extra services.

This extra support may include:

therapists who provide assistance to students with high speech and language needs. They are able to assist families and teachers and provide programmes to meet students' needs (speech-language therapists)

therapists who provide assistance to students with physical impairments. They are also able to provide advice to teachers and families (occupational therapists and physiotherapists)

psychologists who work with those who need assistance to learn, and with behaviour, social and emotional development. They provide appropriate psychological and educational assessments and interventions

advisors who work with children with behavioural and learning needs. These advisors also work with teachers to help adapt their programmes (special education advisors)

advisors who work with children who are deaf or have hearing impairments (advisors on deaf children)

teacher aides who provide support under the direction of classroom teachers

support workers who work with children with behavioural and communication needs, and provide one-on-one support for children within schools under the direction of therapists, psychologists or advisors.

GSE has 16 district offices around the country. As well as the specialists listed above, GSE also employs managers, and District Māori Advisors (Pouārahi-ā-Takiwā ) to help ensure you and your child receive a good service.

In some situations the following support may be available:

• a subsidy or allowance for transport assistance so your child can travel between home and the nearest school
• alterations or additions to school property to enable your child to enter and carry out regular activities within state schools
• a wide range of resources and equipment to help your child learn.

If the service you are receiving is not meeting your needs and expectations you should talk to your key worker. If you need information about the GSE complaints procedure talk to a service manager at your local GSE office.

Special schools

There are also different types of schools to cater for students who have high special education needs. They all have enrolment criteria. If you need information about this criteria ring your local GSE office.

• There are 28 special day schools.
• Regional hospital/health schools provide a national service for students with high health needs from bases in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
• There are two residential special schools to support students who have hearing impairments and one to support students who have vision impairments. These schools also provide teachers who support students in their local schools.
• There are also five residential special schools for students who have a variety of educational and social needs.

Special education funding

All funding for special education services comes from government and all services provided are free.

You don't need to apply for funding for your child or young person's special education needs. Money from government goes directly to GSE, other GSE-accredited early intervention service providers, and schools to pay for the services your child may receive.

You may be asked to provide information to help your child's teacher make an application for the following two types of funding.

Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS)

If school-age students have high special education needs and they meet certain criteria, they are eligible for ORRS funding.

This funding is paid to the organisation that will provide services to the student. This could be GSE, a special school or other schools (usually with a large number of ORRS students). The school the student is enrolled in also gets extra teacher time.

High Health Needs Funding for schools

High Health Needs Funding is for school-age students who have high health needs, require care and supervision, and who wouldn't be able to attend school safely unless funding for a teacher aide was made available.

If you have any questions about funding you can ring your local GSE office, talk to staff at your early childhood education centre, your child's class or form teacher, or the principal of the school your child attends.

For further information

The information in this booklet is also available in Tongan, Samoan, Cook Island Māori, Niuean and Tokelauan.

Other information includes:

• a booklet for Māori whānau about special education services and GSE staff called Special Education - Information for whānau. This booklet is available in English and Māori
• an introduction to special education services for Pasifika families called You and Your Child and available in English, Tongan, Samoan, Cook Island Māori, Niuean and Tokelauan.

To get copies of these resources, or any other information you require, please ring your local GSE office.

Information about special education is also available on the Ministry of Education website: www.minedu.govt.nz.

Contact details for the Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE)

GSE provides special education services for children from birth to six years of age (early intervention services).

GSE also provides services for children and young people who go to primary and secondary school and have high special education needs.

For further information, please ring your local GSE office.