Sharing the curriculum meal: Bringing it all together

1. Sharing the curriculum meal:Bringing it all together

2. Every learner: • is created in the image and likeness of God and inspired by the spirit; • seeks to find meaning in life and learning; • desires the truth and what is right; • achieves success in learning where diversity is valued; • is in some respects like all others, like some others, like no others; • contributes uniquely to a community empowered by the Spirit to be at the service of others Who is invited?

3. Daily 5 course meal with all the trimmings • Veges only, no meat, entrée or desert • Desert only – tastes good – leads to health problems • ‘Watered down” curriculum Curriculum menu options: http://www.ldonline.org/article/5743/

4. Teaching that supports access to learning Access to age cohort standards Learningcheckpoints Curriculum Access Access to assessment methods and practices Reporting

5. In planning a unit of work which will include students with a disability, teachers must start with curriculum appropriate to a student’s year level expectations Inclusive Practice Principle: Access and participation on the same basis as a student without a disability Obligations: Unit planning

6. Common sense • It is unreasonable to expect a teacher to start planning a unit of work from the needs of each student in the class. • It is more sensible to start with what the teacher MUST teach (content descriptors designed to lead students to achievement standards) and get that well established first • In so doing, teachers often discover the many things that their students with adjustment rights can actually do at year level expectations • It is at the level of designing learning experiences and assessment opportunities that teachers make decisions about how to be inclusive for every student

7. Teachers must: • make reasonable adjustments where required; • in consultation with the student and his/her parents; • to enable students with a disability to access, and participate on the same basis as non-disabled peers Obligations: Developing learning sequences Inclusive Practice Principle: a student with disability has opportunities and choices, which are comparable with those offered to students without a disability.

8. Common sense • Planning a variety of learning experiences using a variety of modes (listening, speaking, creating, reading, writing, viewing, doing ) is much more efficient than developing a set of favourites and then having to make adjustments to each one • Dividing learning opportunities into sets of ‘must have and ‘might have’ is an efficient way of providing for the full range of students in the class. • The ‘must have’s cover essentials for all kids and may be compacted for students who need extending in the ‘might haves’ • The ‘must haves’ also provide the teacher with clarity about what must be focussed on and bridged to for students who require more intensive teaching to reach standards

9. What are adjustments? An adjustment is a measure taken by an education provider to enhance the access and participation that leads to achievement for a student with a disability. In plain language, it is something that MUST be done to remove a barrier to access, participation and/or achievement. E.g. provision of learning materials in braille or technology MUST be made for a person who is blind.

10. Reasonable adjustment?

11. Common sense • It is often most efficient to explain to students what they have to know and be able to do, and then to ask them for ideas about how they might be able to go about doing it • Our students as we know are at home in the world of technology. It is their world and they can often imagine things we haven’t even thought of to make sense of particular topics and demonstrate their understanding and application of same • Our students have information available at their fingertips in a way that many of us never had, but our students need teachers to provide them with the skills to sort and sift this information.

12. In developing a set of assessment opportunities, teachers must ensure that these provide opportunities for all students in their class to demonstrate what they know and what they can do with what they know Obligations: Assessment Inclusive Practice Principle: Same race, same rules, same training, same effort, but access to the latest up-to-date technology to remove the barrier to participation and achievement

13. Common sense • Assessment opportunities Key inclusive principle: • What strengths does this student have that s/he can use to demonstrate and apply new learning? • E.g. Yr 5 Geography: Students demonstrate an understanding of The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and how people can respond Brainstorm

14. Judgement of achievement for students with a disability is made: • against the achievement standards of the age cohort expectation; • unless the student has a diagnosis of Intellectual Impairment, or, • the consultation processes in initial parent teacher interviews agreed that the student would be assessed against the standards of a different year level. Inclusive Practice Principle: Formal reporting for students with a disability is made on the same basis as non-disabled peers Obligations: Reporting

15. Formal Reporting Student A

16. Formal Reporting Student B

17. Formal Reporting Student C

18. Progress Map Student B Yellow- Yr level Standard, Red – 12 months ago, Green – current position

19. Common sense • Inclusive Practice Formal Reports: • Formal report looks the same (SRS) • There are no ‘Inserts” • There is no mention of adjustments accessed • Results reflect year level achievement standards for most students with a disability • For students working to different achievement standards (intellectually impaired) results are left blank and comments section details what has been learned using language of targeted achievement standards

20. Common sense • Inclusive Practice Other Reporting: • The further the student is from working at expected level, the greater the communication and consultation required with parents • Parent teacher interviews should focus on what the student has learned and be very clear about which achievement standards these judgements have been made against • There should be no surprises at reporting junctures for parents; as soon as a student starts to fall behind, contact must be made with parents and agreed actions put in place to address the underachievement

21. Success criteria How have we gone? How confident would you be if you were asked to explain to a teacher: • the main principles of inclusive practice at the unit planning stage? • the main principles for developing an inclusive set of learning sequences and assessment opportunities? • how to report achievement when students are accessing adjustment? • their obligations for students with disabilities in the teaching and learning cycle?

22. Table Quiz: True or False? The most important thing to get right at the beginning stages of planning is the consideration of the adjustment needs of each student in your class. It is possible to adjust the achievement standard as a reasonable adjustment. Teachers can design learning experiences in ways that all students can participate, or, teachers must make adjustments to those that are not accessible to some students. A quality adjustment is reasonable, provides opportunity for students to achieve at A and B levels, does not interfere with their social inclusion, and supports the development of long term independence for the student.