Academic Tailored

Learn more about the range of Tailored Academic opportunities available at Maryborough Education Centre.

EAL Supports & Mentors

Students who have English as an Additional Language (EAL) are supported by the EAL Coordinator

The EAL coordinator:

Identifies EAL students within the school and keep an up to date register
Completes any necessary DET processes pertaining to EAL students

Forms and leads the EAL committee and set a regular meeting schedule
Supports Teachers and Teacher Assistants to work with EAL students
Ensures that MEC is following the correct EAL curriculum and assessment processes as per DET requirements
Provides specialist EAL teaching that increases students’ capacity to participate successfully in mainstream classroom activities and to achieve the goals of the mainstream curriculum
Keeps abreast of the latest information in the EAL field, e.g. through professional learning opportunities and shares this with staff as appropriate

Works with teachers in curriculum areas to identify the language and literacy demands of the content and identify specific EAL-informed teaching approaches to address learner needs
Assists the classroom teacher in assessing EAL learners’ competence in English, formulating practical goals and objectives for EAL learners and planning a program that caters for the needs of all EAL learners
Establishes relationships with neighbouring schools and participates in EAL networks
Works with the leadership team to analyse school data related to EAL learners and its implications for whole school provision
Works with curriculum and professional learning leaders to implement appropriate staff development in EAL assessment and reporting

Collaborates with other staff on EAL relevant initiatives such as career development and refugee support initiatives.

IEP Goals, SSG Minutes and Student Support Plan Reflection

Educators who are investigating ways to support are new student can reflect on Students’ IEP Goals, SSG Minutes and Student Support Plans, by asking the following questions.

What are the student’s learning goals? How can I differentiate my lessons to meet these goals?
Does the student have any functional goals? How can I support the student to meet these goals?
What educational adjustments need to be put in place for this student? What else could assist?
What feedback and parents or carers shared in the Student Support Group (SSG) meetings?
Does the student have a Student Support Plan? If so, how can I support the student to remain in a calm and engaged state? How do I support the student if they are feeling escalated?

Individual Education Plan

An IEP is developed in partnership between schools, parents/carers, the student and relevant agencies. The group works together to plan and support the educational, health, social, cultural and emotional wellbeing of students with diverse learning needs. This may include students:

with a disability or diverse learning needs, including, but not limited to, students supported by the PSD
in OoHC
who are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
with a behaviour support plan
from refugee or migrant backgrounds
on youth justice orders or having transitioned from the youth justice system

Schools must establish an IEP:
for students supported by the PSD
for every child and young person in OoHC
Schools must provide support for students at risk of attendance or behaviour related issues. An IEP may assist a school in providing appropriate and effective support.
An IEP is strongly encouraged for any student with diverse learning needs, including those with Autism.
IEPs assist students who require a range of supports with their education.
An IEP is a written statement that describes the adjustments, goals and strategies to meet a student’s individual educational needs so they can reach their full potential. An IEP is essential as it helps you plan and monitor a student’s unique learning needs.
IEPs are also known as individual learning plans, individual learning improvement plans and Koorie education learning plans.

An IEP:

outlines clear educational goals for the student
encourages student voice to allow the student to engage and take part in their own learning
is strengths-based with a focus on the student’s potential to achieve positive educational outcomes
is age-appropriate, holistic in its approach, supports cultural needs and safety, and is flexible and future-orientated
includes short-term goals that will lead to the achievement of long-term goals
is developed in consultation with the student and their parent/carer/guardian (where appropriate). A Student Support Group (SSG) is required for students supported under the PSD and
those in OOHC, and strongly encouraged for any students with additional learning needs
communicates individual and shared responsibilities
includes a record of important decisions, actions and student progress
is supported and informed by other relevant plans such as a cultural plan or behaviour support plan
is reviewed regularly in accordance with the timeline as agreed by all members of the SSG (or at least once per term for students supported under the PSD and those in OOHC)
acknowledges and celebrates the achievement of student progress.

Teachers already undertake many activities that personalise learning experiences for students. Research has shown that when schools use a planning approach that supports personalised learning, the academic achievement of all students improves.

Koorie Education Programs and Support

Maryborough Education Centre (MEC) acknowledges the Djaara People of the Dja Dja Wurrung., the traditional custodians of the land on which our school stands. We would like to pay our respects to their elders past, present and future. MEC extends this acknowledgement to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are part of the school community. We acknowledge and support the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We are proud to acknowledge all of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students and their families within the MEC community. We want all students and families, to feel celebrated and safe. We seek and create opportunities to celebrate the strength and the potential of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and our students becoming emerging young leaders within the First Nations Peoples.
Our vision is to provide an engaging educational setting for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and to raise awareness and ensure learning opportunities are provided to all our students. To meet this vision, we aim to develop a curriculum the explores intercultural capability to develop knowledge, skills and understandings to reflect on how cultural beliefs and practices contribute to individual, group and national identities. We aim to continue working in partnership so that students, families, staff and the wider community have a voice.
Recent Initiatives:

Smoking Ceremony to open the MEC Student Induction
Koorie student leadership positions
Koorie student scholarships
Koorie Cultural Space
Koorie Kids Shine Program
Deadly Attendance Awards
Nulderung Youth Mentor Program
Nulderung Youth Camp
MEC Koorie Teams Portal

Future Initiatives:

Possum Cloak Incursion
Interactive Cultural Garden Space
Wominjeka Mural and Yarning Circle

MEC is supported by Koorie Engagement Support Officer (KESO) Danni Speak who is a highly respected member of our school community. Danni is a proud member of the local Aboriginal community and holds a deep understanding of Aboriginal culture and the history of the community. Danni provides advice to schools about culturally inclusive learning environments, coordination of services to support engagement and improved outcomes for Koorie children and young people.

Aboriginal dates of significance:
26 January: Survival Day / Australia Day
13 February: Anniversary of the National Apology
20 March: National Close the Gap Day
26 May: National Sorry Day
27 May – 3 June: National Reconciliation Week
3 June: Mabo Day
1st Sunday in July until the following Sunday: NAIDOC week
4 August: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
9 August: International Day of World’s Indigenous People
10 December: Human Rights Day

Koorie Education Support Officer

A KESO facilitates engagement in communities between school, children, families, key stakeholders and organisations. KESO’s support Koorie children and their families with assistance to make the journey through primary and secondary school as seamless as possible.
The KESO helps schools and Early Childhood Centres to build capacity to better engage students and their families, working collaboratively to build cultural engagement and awareness into daily plans and activities. The KESO is a point of reference for expert advice to the schools and ECH services. KESO’s support parents and families in the learning process of the child throughout the school journey. KESO’s will help build capacity of the school to engage with families, local Aboriginal communities and organisations.

Koorie Learning Programs

Early Years Koorie Literacy and Numeracy Program
This program provides funding to Victorian government schools to assist Koorie students in prep to year 3 who are achieving below expected levels in literacy and/or numeracy according to teacher assessment.
It supports the Government’s commitment to reducing the achievement gap between Koorie and non-Koorie students.
Schools use this funding to implement or strengthen practices that address the needs of Koorie students who require extra support with literacy and numeracy.
Funding is determined using centrally collected data:
In primary schools, funding is based on teacher assessment of prep-year 3 Koorie students.
In special schools, funding is based on the ages of Koorie students.
Data collection and analysis starts each year after completion of the English Online Interview in term 1 of the school year. Schools are informed of when the program starts via the School Update newsletter.

Koorie Kids Shine

The Koorie Kids Shine program brings Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students together within their own cultural space within the school. The program is open to all year levels and held fortnightly. The Koorie Kids Shine Coordinator:

Supports students to investigate cultural pride initiatives that recognise the wealth of knowledge held by Indigenous communities.
Provides students with the opportunity to take part in leadership development to support them in leading future school, community and cultural roles
Invites the family of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to celebrate and teach students about Indigenous culture
Organises and support camps and excursions that provide learning and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Liaises with the Koorie Education Support Officer, Nulderun and other Elders to enhance students’ learning and connection to culture
Runs the fortnightly Koorie Kids Shine program.

Student Support Group Meeting

An SSG is a partnership between schools, parents/carers, the student and relevant agencies. The group works together to plan and support the educational, health, social, cultural and emotional wellbeing of students with diverse learning needs. This may include students:

with a disability or diverse learning needs, including, but not limited to, students supported by the PSD
in Out of Home Care (OoHC)
who are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
with a behaviour support plan
from refugee or migrant backgrounds
on youth justice orders or having transitioned from the youth justice system

Schools must establish an SSG:

for students supported by the PSD
for every child and young person in OoHC.

Schools must provide support for students at risk of attendance or behaviour related issues. An SSG may assist a school in providing appropriate and effective support.
An SSG is strongly encouraged for any student with diverse learning needs, including those with Autism.

Please see here for further information.

Care Team Meeting

A care team is the network of professionals, parents, caregivers and any other significant adults that have been gathered around the child and charged with the responsibility of providing quality nurturing care and the coordination of service delivery. The care team is responsible for setting the direction of the child’s treatment, delivering the intervention, managing the ecological impacts and overseeing any statutory requirements.
Care teams can be convened for any child whose particular vulnerabilities and needs are complex and for whom care is delivered by multiple professionals or across a number of agencies and systems. However, the most vulnerable children are frequently engaged in the child protection system and therefore care teams are most commonly set up to support the needs of children under child protective orders and in out-of-home care. The composition of a care team will vary depending on the issues and needs of the individual child and his or her family, however, it will always include the child protection practitioner, the child’s case manager, the placement agency caseworker, caregiver(s) or residential staff and, where appropriate, the parents. The care team may also be extended to include personnel from any other agencies involved in the child’s treatment, such as drug, disability and mental health services.
For care teams that are convened around children in the out-of-home care system the foundation, principles are “the things ‘any good parent’ would naturally consider when caring for their own child” (DHS, 2011). The purpose of any care team is to ensure that services work in an integrated fashion to meet the needs of vulnerable children. Central to this intent for all care teams is the philosophy of collaborative practice and working together in the best interests of the child. The role of the care team is to meet the goals of the statutory case plan and promote the child’s safety, stability and development via direction and management of the range of professionals that comprise its membership. A care team needs to be flexible and responsive to the ever-changing needs of the child and should work together in a dynamic way to assess, plan and implement holistic care.

Leading a care team
The child protection worker or delegated community services organisation case manager is responsible for coordinating the care team. Given the statutory nature of the lead agency and the fact that the other services involved are typically those which are publicly funded, additional funding is not provided for the operation of a care team. Costs are absorbed from within the services and cooperation is driven by the shared commitment to, and recognition of, the need to work collaboratively in the best interests of the child.

Requirements of a care team
The care team is required to make decisions regarding who will undertake specific tasks to ensure that the needs of the child are being met whilst in out-of-home care. According to child protection principles (DHS, 2011), in carrying out this task the care team is obliged to:
Respond to the needs of the child and ensure the placement is providing for the child’s safety, wellbeing and stability.

Work collaboratively and contribute towards the development and implementation of the statutory case plan and looking after children framework, which specifies seven life domains important to the healthy development of a child, and ensure that communication is maintained so that all relevant parties are kept up to date with important information.

Maintain confidentiality and privacy and not disclose personal and confidential information that is not relevant to the provision of good care to the child.

Support the child’s relationship with his or her family where appropriate.

Share the responsibility for specific tasks such as transport of children for contact visits, medical appointments, educational or therapeutic services and supervising contact visits where possible and appropriate.

Key considerations for care teams
To ensure that the philosophy of collaborative practice and the child’s best interests is achieved, due consideration needs to be given to the organisation of the care team and the processes that govern it. Mutual co-operation and decision-making based on the combined knowledge and expertise of all members of the care team are the foundations of its effectiveness. When working as part of a care team it is important to be mindful of the broader roles and responsibilities of the other professionals and agencies who comprise the membership of the team, and the team must engage in a robust dialogue as to how they will work in collaboration to be effectual for the child at the centre of the process. As statutory services are involved, certain governance structures, roles and responsibilities can be pre-determined such as the participation of the care team in the statutory case plan and the frequency of meetings for the care team. While these things may seem straightforward, the nature of service systems, the individual considerations of agencies, differing organisational philosophies and professionals’ individually-held frameworks and risk management concerns can all too often lead to systemic conflict that detracts from the central client needs and renders a care team dysfunctional.

A care team in action.
A functional and effective care team should demonstrate the following.
A care team should have transparent expectations around communication, decision making and attendance. Roles and responsibilities for all members of the care team should be clearly defined. Such role clarification is important to avoid duplication and working at cross-purposes or outside the scope of practice. Goals need to be clearly defined and prioritised with all members of the team having a shared understanding of, and commitment to, these goals. Goal setting should include how the needs of the child will be responded to, when these responses will occur and by whom, and what the review dates will be. Dispute resolution processes need to be clearly articulated. Timely information sharing processes that allow for collaborative work but do not breach other codes for confidentiality need to be determined. Meeting frequency and location should be planned and regular.

Visiting Teachers for Students with Diverse Needs

Visiting Teachers are specialist teachers with expertise and experience in specific disabilities and impairments. They give schools and teachers guidance in supporting the engagement and participation of students with disabilities and/or additional needs.
They work in the areas of:

physical disability
health impairment
hearing loss
vision impairment
medical vulnerability
autism.

The role of visiting teachers
Visiting Teachers work to:

promote and support inclusion in schools
build capacity of teachers to provide for their students with disabilities and additional needs
help teachers make adjustments to the curriculum and learning environment, including special provision for VCE.
help teachers create individual plans and recognise the unique needs of each student
monitor and report on student progress
provide information and professional learning about disability and how disabilities may affect a student’s learning
participate in student support group meeting if requested
give advice and reports for applications, if necessary.

Eligibility for the visiting teacher service
For a school to be eligible for the support of a Visiting Teacher, there is a range of criteria relating to the student’s disability that must be met.
Physical disability or health impairment

The disability or health care needs must:

significantly impact the students’ academic, physical, social or emotional development
require more than four weeks of hospitalisation and convalescence. These students receive an automatic allocation upon request for service
be confirmed by a recent medical report from a specialist physician.

Hearing loss
The hearing loss must be confirmed by a current audiogram and audiologist report. Some additional factors may affect the level of support provided. These include:
degree and type of hearing loss
age of the student at diagnosis
effect of the hearing loss on the student’s acquisition of speech and language, academic performance and social/emotional wellbeing
requirements and success of audiological management.

Vision loss
The vision impairment must be confirmed by the Educational Vision Assessment Clinic (EVAC) to determine eligibility and provide information about vision impairment.
Referrals to the Visiting Teacher Service
Referrals to the service are made, by the school, through the Student Online Cases System (SOCS). The student’s parent/carer(s) must give consent and fill out the consent form. The form can be found on the Student Online Cases System and must be submitted with the referral.

Who to contact
In most cases, your local regional office is your first point of contact for help, questions or feedback if your school, early childhood service or training service cannot help.