Achieving more

• Making sure that people’s experiences match expectations and Government policy. For example, while many schools are very successful at welcoming and supporting all students, attending the local school is still not a real option for all students. Some schools discourage children with special education needs from enrolling and parents and caregivers feel their children are not welcome. Other schools may enrol those same children but not really deliver the outcomes that are needed. In some situations schools may need help to develop their capability to support students with special education needs.
• Moving beyond focusing on funding models to developing services and building professional practice models, and other systems. This includes looking at how to spread good practice to all schools, getting better at tailoring services to recognise the place of Māori as tangāta whenua and to meet the needs of Māori and Pasifika students, up-skilling teachers in regular schools to work effectively with students with special education needs, using the expertise of special schools as wisely as possible, maintaining and building the specialist workforce, and developing systems that measure and report on how well services are working. 
• Managing increasing and changing demands for services. The number of students identified as having particular impairments, such as autism spectrum disorder, has increased. Alongside this, the range of services and support has increased; for example there is an increasing range of technology supports and services that can benefit students.
• Building connections with other parts of the education system, with other agencies, and post-school services and support. Without good connections it is difficult for parents and caregivers, families and whānau to understand what services and supports are available and how they fit with those provided by other government agencies. It can also result in stress and frustration, gaps in service delivery and duplication of effort.