Disability Education Reference Group
Tuesday 4 November 2014
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Hedley Beare Centre for Teaching and Learning, Stirling
Meeting Room 5-6
In Attendance:
Mr Iain Barr, Education & Training Directorate, Senior Manager, Disability Education (Chair)
Ms Jo Monteith, Education and Training Directorate, Manager, Disability Education
Ms Kristen Laurent, Education and Training Directorate, NDIS Project team
Ms Rosemary Butt, Australian Association of Special Education
Ms Karen McLoughlin, ACT P&C Council
Mr Rajen Amirthalingam, Parent Group – Children with vision impairment
Ms Sowchan Power, Education and Training Directorate (secretariat)
Apologies:
Ms Beth Mitchell, Education and Training Directorate, Director, Student Engagement
Ms Lindy Abbott, Education & Training Directorate, Senior Manager, NDIS Project Team
Ms Jean Walker, Education and Training Directorate
Ms Jan Kruger, ACT Down Syndrome Association
Ms Jacinta Evans, Senior Manager, Therapy ACT, Community Services Directorate
Mr Peter Brady, CEO, Autism Asperger ACT
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Record of Meeting
1. Welcome and apologies
Mr Barr noted apologies and welcomed the group.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting
The Minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record.
3. National Disability Insurance Scheme update
Ms Laurent from NDIS Project team gave an update on NDIS
(Attachments A & B)
Transition of Early Intervention (EI) Services to community providers in2015
 On 28 October 2014 Minister Burch announced in the Assembly the outcomes of the NDIA tender for
EI services in 2015 and the establishment of the Child Development Service
 There were nine compliant tenders and six successful tenders:
 Noah’s Ark Victoria
 Northcott
 Autism Spectrum Australia (ASPECT)
 Each
 Cerebal Palsy Alliance
 SDN Child and Family Services
 These providers will cater for the needs of all children currently accessing EI programs through the
provisions of evidence-based, child-focused and family-centred services
 The NDIA is currently finalising contracts with these providers
 This information was communicated to families, principals and EI staff last week
Open Day
 Monday 17 November 2014, 1-6 pm, venue – Hedley Beare Centre for Teaching and Learning
 Opportunity for families to meet the new providers
 Flyer was sent to families last week along with information about the successful tenderers
 Other Organisations registered with NDIA to provide EI services will be invited to attend
 NDIA will be on hand to answer questions and planners can assist families to complete the Access
Request Forms
Child Development Service
 Establishment announced by Minister Burch
 Currently in development with involvement from Health, Education, Child and Family Centres and
Therapy ACT. Further information to come.
 An amalgamation of existing health and therapy services to support children not eligible for the NDIS
 Target group are children with developmental delay or at risk of developing delay
 Service will provide centralised assessment and information and support through group program and
parental supports with referrals from multiple sources including parents, GPs, Paediatricians, Care &
Protection, teachers, children and family centres.
 Service will be co-located at Holder with Therapy ACT
 Stage 1 will be up and running at the beginning of 2015 to ensure continuity of support for non-eligible
children
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
Therapy ACT intake, referral and assessment services will be available beyond the end of 2016 through
Child Development Service
Transition Support
 Early intervention teachers are preparing child profiles and seeking parent consent to share with new
providers. This information will be stored and managed centrally
 Families have the option for someone from ETD to attend a transition meeting with new providers to
support them
Information Sessions
 ETD has facilitated parent information sessions across schools that currently host an EI program.
NDIA planners were there to advise families about the eligibility process and help them to complete
their Access Request Forms
Phasing of school leavers and school aged children
 2014 school leavers phasing between October-December 2014
 Information sessions have been conducted at Lake Tuggeranong College, Canberra College and Woden
School
 School aged children start phasing in 2015: Years 7-12 from Jan – March and Primary students from
April-June
 NDIA now contacting families with children in Year 7-12 to explain the process and follow up with
Access Request Forms
 This information has been communicated to schools
 ETD will be working closely with schools in the New Year ensuring they are well informed and are able
to support the families who are phasing into the scheme
NDIS Awareness Package – The ACT Government has commissioned a local company Synergy to develop
 Materials and resources to build NDIS awareness of frontline workers in the ACT Government
including teachers and LSAs
 Once resources have been finalised ETD will work with schools to deploy the resources
4. Professional Learning update
Mr Barr gave an update:
Disability Standard Education Framework Modules (DSE)
 1010 Teachers have accessed the DSE online professional learning modules
 Next year a module will be provided for parents and the community
Online Learning Training Modules (OLT)
 PL opportunities for teachers, relief teachers and LSAs
 Currently run 4 OLT courses
o Speech language and communication needs
o Dyslexia
o Understanding hearing loss
o Motor coordination difficulties
 All 4 OLT courses have been TQI accredited for 6 hours
 918 registered for OLT since 2011, 640 in 2014
 Feedback has been very positive
 Two new courses, ASD and ‘Understanding and Managing Behavior’ are also TQI accredited, will be
rolled out in 2015.
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
Tutors for the ASD course are currently being trained
5. Group membership 2015
Mr Barr gave an update:
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Terms of Reference (TOR) needs updating
DERG Membership for 2015
Ms McLoughlin informed committee that this will be her last DERG meeting
Dwindling DERG membership attendance, suggestion to change meeting time to 9:30 - 11:00 am as a
more suitable time
Mr Amirthalingam informed committee that he will encourage members from his group to be involved
in the reference group
To get other organisations involved in DERG
Action: Mr Barr will look at updating DERG Administration and invite new members
6. Forward work plan 2015 and meeting dates
Mr Barr discussed on Future Work Plan proposals
Topics
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How peer support is being nurtured in schools and how parents can assist
Parental engagement
Gonski and school resourcing
Engaging School Framework
Consistency in SCAN process across all schools
How ETD and schools can support parents to engage and ask the right questions
Mr Amirthalingam mentioned that there are duplicate resources for vision curriculum
Committee agreed on 2015 new meeting time: - 9:30 - 11:00 am
Meeting Dates for 2015 - 3 March, 26 May, 18 August and 10 November
Action: All the above topics for further discussion at the next meeting
Next Meeting Tuesday 3 March 2015
Venue: Hedley Beare Centre for Teaching and Learning, 51 Fremantle Drive, STIRLING ACT 2611
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