What we do

At a national level, we:

• assist in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of special education policies, and professional development opportunities for families/whānau, boards of trustees and school staff
• liaise with the sector on national issues related to special education
• assist in the promotion and provision of information about effective practice
• provide advice to the Government on all aspects of special education.
• provide information and referrals to specialist support through district offices, the Special Education Information Line 0800 622 222, the Special Education email mailbox, publications and the Ministry of Education website
• advise on the allocation and distribution of funding and staffing for all special education initiatives
• conduct research on special education
• assess the eligibility of students for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) and the School High Health Needs Fund (SHHNF) through an independent panel of verifiers
• accredit early childhood and school service providers
• develop service contracts with residential special schools and other providers.

At a regional level, we:

• at a regional level, provide oversight and advice on the network of services and facilities within the wider education sector, for children and young people with special education needs on behalf of the Ministry of Education
• lead the coordination of special education services and resources in each of the four Ministry regions
• ensure our services and resources are provided in ways that meet the specific needs of district communities, within a national framework
• build and maintain relationships at a district, regional and national level, as well as with other agencies, families/whānau, early childhood services and schools
• manage the allocation of assistive equipment.

At a district level, we:

• provide a range of services to children and young people with special education needs, their families/whānau and educators in both the early childhood and school sectors
• help coordinate services by working with people across the wider Ministry of Education (particularly student support teams, based in the national operations part of the Ministry) and other agencies
• work with school-sector specialist teachers, advisors and providers who support students with special education needs and children "at risk" of non-achievement
• advise on the allocation of support (funding and services) to assist schools and early childhood centres to build confidence and expertise in supporting children and young people with special education needs
• manage and allocate a range of teacher aide and support worker services
• provide oversight and advice on the network of services and facilities within the wider education sector, for children and young people with special education needs, on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

How we work

Most of us work from offices located throughout New Zelaand, in teams providing services to either the early childhood or schooling sector. For example, our specialist staff may:

• be the first point of contact for local schools
• provide services to an individual child or young person, or to a small group of children and young people
• collaborate with other specialist team members, teachers, parents and whānau to develop programmes for an individual, groups of children or young people, or clusters of schools or early childhood services
• collaborate with specialists from other fundholder schools or agencies, parents and teachers to provide coordinated services for individuals, schools and early childhood services
• advise and provide support to schools, such as professional development for teachers, to help them identify and develop programmes for students with special education needs. For example, a school may want to set up a whole school approach to managing behaviour, or a system for managing a traumatic incident, or access professional development to help teachers to identify students with moderate communication needs
• work with a local school, iwi, resource teachers: learning and behaviour (RTLB) and kaitakawaenga (our Māori advisors), to provide integrated services to Māori
• work with a group of specialist teachers, such as Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) teachers and Learning Support Teachers, to help meet students' learning needs.