Roles and Responsibilities

Your Role as a Trustee

Policies, Procedures and Practices

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, whānau of students and consistently applied.
• In compliance with the Education Act 1989 (Section 8) and the Human Rights Act 1993 (Sections 21 and 57), the National Education Guidelines, which include the National Education Goals, the Foundation Curriculum Policy Statements, the National Curriculum Statements and the National Administration Guidelines, and the Special Education Guidelines.

Partnership

Effective partnerships between boards of trustees, school personnel, specialists and particularly parents, caregivers and families, whānau 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 that parents, caregivers and families, whānau must be involved with the development, review and implementation of 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, whānau, 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.

Effective Learning

All students can benefit when teachers apply the new skills and strategies that they have learned for meeting special education needs in their general classroom programmes. As a trustee your role is to:

Encourage and support knowledge sharing, professional effective practice.

Actively support the introduction of innovative teaching programmes and systems management, creating opportunities that will enable learning, reflection and adaptation of teaching strategies.

Encourage your principal to work closely with parents and caregivers - they know their child best and can reinforce the learning strategies at home.

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 yourself to enhance your understanding of the students with special education needs.
• Request presentations by special education specialists.

the Ministry provides, or is developing, professional development opportunities for:

• Early childhood educators.
• School principals and teachers.
• Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB).

Community

Acknowledge the community as a valuable resource for student development and support for schools. As a trustee:

• Celebrate and promote the diversity of the culture of your school.
• Incorporate the cultures and values of the local community into all board policies.
• Be proactive in providing information on your school's activities and requirements and encourage participation.
• Support and assist families, whānau through the governance role including promoting their rights to advocacy.
• Communicate the school's policies and procedures widely.
• Act on complaints quickly and effectively, in accordance with the school's procedures and appropriate legislation.

The Role of the School

The principal's management responsibility is to:

• Welcome and enrol students with special education needs as they would all other students, unless there is an enrolment scheme in place approved by the Secretary for Education. (Note: An enrolment scheme cannot to be used to exclude students by virtue of their special education needs alone.)
• Provide a safe place for learning.
• Establish a comprehensive special education policy with clear priorities based on the National Education Guidelines, which include the National Education Goals, the Foundation Curriculum Policy Statements, the National Curriculum Statements and the National Administration Guidelines, and the Special Education Policy Guidelines. (See Special Education Policy Guidelines.)
• Provide programmes and teaching resources for students with special education needs through special education resourcing and operational funding.
• Support teachers and other staff including teacher aides in their professional development in such areas as assessment and meeting special education needs.
• Encourage working with families, whānau, specialists and other agencies to assess students' special education needs.
• Ensure parents, caregivers and family, whānau and specialists work together to develop an Individual Education Programme (IEP) for each student with special education needs and review it at least twice yearly with the same support team where possible.
• Provide, support and supervise staff to teach students with special education needs for each school day. For example, a student must not be sent home because a staff member, such as a teacher aide, is absent.
• Provide frequent reports about individual student progress to parents, caregivers and family, whānau.
• Provide frequent reports to the board about special education within the school including the allocation and use of resources.
• Regularly report, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of learning outcomes.

The Role of the Parent and Caregiver

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to work in partnership with the school and to contribute to their student's learning programme. Many parents and caregivers may not be used to this type of relationship and will need the support and encouragement of the board and the school. This partnership is needed because it brings together all those who know the student and can make the most informed decisions regarding their education.

This will require:

• Mutual trust and understanding.
• Everyone involved accepting responsibility for meeting the special education needs of the student.
• A willingness for everyone to work with all those individuals, groups, specialists and agencies involved with the student.
• Working together to integrate different perspectives, cultural needs and diversity into teaching strategies and programmes.
• In-depth understanding of the implication of the disability/ies in emotional, social, intellectual, educational, physical and sensory terms, and student support needs.
• Making sure the child is in a safe learning environment, safe with themselves, and others.
• A close working relationship between the school and home environment to identify and meet the student's special education needs, and to monitor and review their progress.

Student Enrolment, Changing Schools, Leaving School

Student Enrolment

Parents and caregivers are advised to contact the school they would like their child to attend, where possible, well before the student is due to start. The aim is to ensure wherever possible that the resources are in place before the student starts at the new school.

On approaching your school parents and caregivers should be encouraged to discuss:

• The school's policy on meeting special education needs and how those needs are met.
• The staff who are likely to be teaching the child and who they should regularly talk to about their child's progress.
• The student's needs and the best options for meeting those needs drawing from the full range of specialist support that may be available.
• How the school works with other agencies in supporting students with special education needs.

Schools have an obligation to ensure the needs of students are met. If this involves modifying property or making specialist services available, the school works with the Ministry or other agencies to meet these needs. Schools also work with parents and caregivers to develop a plan and timeframe outlining when the support will be in place.

Changing Schools

If the student is changing school it is important that a plan is developed to ensure the student is supported in the new school. If they are in the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS), the funding and specialist time will go with them to the new school. The level of specialist and paraprofessional support will need to be worked out between the new school, fundholders and relevant specialists.

If they have moderate special education requirements, resources to meet these needs will need to be provided by the new school under the Special Education Grant (SEG) and one or more of the following:

• Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB)
• Physiotherapy or occupational therapy
• Assistive technology
• Resource Teachers: Literacy (RT:Lit)
• Resource Teachers: Deaf
• Resource Teachers: Vision
• Advisers on Deaf Children (AODC)
• Learning Support Funding.

Leaving School

If the student is leaving the compulsory school system, it is important to develop a plan with agencies, services, potential employers and, or tertiary providers to identify and put in place ongoing support.