A Quick Guide for Boards of Trustees

These pages are a brief summary of the Ministry of Education publication Meeting Special Education Needs At School: Information for Boards of Trustees.

Updated 2008.

This is an updated version of the 2002 edition and is not available as a print publication.

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Legal Framework

Every child has the right to learn, to reach their potential.

The aim of the Government's special education policy is to improve learning outcomes for all students with special education needs - at their local school or wherever they attend school. Special education is about providing these students with the support they need to access learning - whether it is therapy, transport, changes to the learning programme or environment, specific teaching strategies, and/or specialised equipment or materials.

The policy affirms the right of every student to learn in accordance with the principles and values of the:

• National Education Guidelines, which include the National Education Goals, Foundation Curriculum Policy Statements, National Curriculum Statements, National Administration Guidelines
• Special Education Policy Guidelines.

The Education Act 1989 states that all children from five years old are able to attend their local school full-time (when the school is open) until the end of the year in which they turn 19. Students with a Section 9 Agreement or who are in the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS) can stay at school to the age of 21.

Families and whänau have a right to choose which school their child attends, unless your school has an enrolment scheme in place, approved by the Secretary for Education. (Note: that an enrolment scheme cannot be used to exclude children by virtue of their special education needs alone. If a school refuses to enrol a student on this basis, it is breaking the law.)

Section 8 of the Education Act 1989 specifies equal rights to primary and secondary education - "People who have special educational needs (whether because of disability or otherwise) have the same rights to enrol and receive education in state schools as people who do not".

Partnership

Effective partnerships between boards of trustees, school personnel, specialists and particularly parents, caregivers and families, whänau will provide a strong platform for meeting special education needs, and for readily resolving any issues as they arise.

It is important that you are fully up-to-date with the special education resourcing and support available, and how it is allocated and reviewed within your school. As a trustee your role is to:

• Acknowledge and promote opportunities for parent, caregiver and family, whänau involvement in the development, review and implementation of all learning programmes and strategies related to their child
• Promote the elements, and short and long-term benefits, of building and maintaining successful partnerships
• Encourage open consultation and communication with and between staff, specialists, parents and caregivers and families, whänau, agencies and the community
• Create an environment where everyone listens to and respects others' point-of-view
• Ask questions and seek information from boards of other schools and outside expertise to find answers.

Policies and Procedures

Ensure all of the policies, procedures and practices that relate to students with special education needs are in place in your school and are applied without discrimination ie, that they are:

• Objective, value diversity and are integrated with the school curriculum
• Regularly re-evaluated and developed to enhance effectiveness
• Well communicated to all staff and the families, whänau of students and consistently applied
• In compliance with all New Zealand legal and education policy requirements.

Professional Development

Teaching skills and strategies relating to special education will often provide creative solutions that benefit all students. Take every opportunity to:

• Ensure there is adequate resourcing to enable the principal to promote professional development as a staff requirement
• Encourage frequent reporting to the board on special education
• Support the process of full staff appraisals, the identification and filling of any gaps in professional development in relation to special education
• Seek opportunities for professional development for yourself to enhance your understanding of students with special education needs
• Request presentations by special education specialists.

Special Education Resourcing

Early Childhood Education

Young Children with Moderate and High or Very High Needs:

• Early Intervention - support for young children from birth, or the time that they are identified as having special education needs and throughout a successful transition to school. Support is also available to families and early childhood centres.

School

Students with Moderate Needs:

• Special Education Grant (SEG) - funding for all schools as part of their operational funding to be used for special education programmes.
• Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) - specially trained teachers who provide support and guidance to classroom teachers in designing and implementing programmes for students with moderate to high learning and behaviour difficulties. These positions are managed by a cluster of schools.
• Resource Teachers: Literacy (RT:Lit) - teachers who work with staff in schools to assist students with reading and writing difficulties. This initiative is not specifically a special education initiative, it is part of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
• Specialised Services - occupational therapy and/or physiotherapy. Advisors on Deaf Children/Itinerant Teachers of the Deaf (AODC/ITOD) and Itinerant Teachers of the Visually Impaired provide an itinerant service to students with moderate vision and hearing impairments.
• Learning Support Funding - funding for clusters of schools, that is used in conjunction with RTLB, RT:Lit and specialised services.
• Enhanced Programme Fund (EPF) - schools that have a disproportionate number of students with moderate special education needs are eligible to apply for a supplementary grant called EPF.

Students with High and Very High Special Education Needs:

• Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS) - funding for extra specialist programmes, therapy, consumables.
• Speech-Language Initiative - therapy for students with high communication needs. This initiative is for students with communication difficulties who are not funded under ORRS.
• Severe Behaviour Initiative - advice and specialist support for students with severe behaviour difficulties, their schools, families.
• High Health Needs - special education support through Regional Hospital Health Schools and the School High Health Needs Fund (SHHNF).
• Supplementary Learning Support - provides individual students with significant - and ongoing - special education needs with access to a learning support teacher as well as some additional one-on-one specialist support.

Other support may include:

• Transport assistance
• Property modifications
• Assistive equipment.

Your school has more information on all of these initiatives and application procedures.

For Further Information 

Ministry of Education

The Ministry's role includes developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating special education policy; providing advice to the Government on all aspects of special education; resolving issues in schools through local offices; and developing and promoting training and professional development opportunities, as well as effective practice. The Ministry also allocates and distributes funding and staffing for all special education initiatives and conducts special education research.

Special Education group

The Ministry's Special Education group provides specialist services to students with complex learning, physical, sensory communication and behaviour needs, and to their schools, special schools and parents, caregivers and families, whänau.

The Special Education group and other early intervention providers such as NZCCS and Early Intervention and Conductive Education Trusts also provide support to young children with special education needs.

Other Support

• Parent Groups eg, Parent to Parent
• Disability Organisations eg, New Zealand CCS, IHC
• Specific Disability Groups eg, Autism New Zealand
• Talk to a Student Support Development Officer or Special Education Facilitator in your Ministry of Education Local Office.
• Call the Special Education Information Line: 0800 622 222