At St Dominic’s we celebrate diversity and inclusion for all students. Some students require additional support with their learning. In partnership with families, this additional support can be accessed in a range of different ways through our Learning Diversity Leader, Our Wellbeing Leader, our Literacy and Mathematics Intervention Teachers, our EAL support staff, our Speech Pathologists and our School Counsellor etc.
Classroom Support:
St Dominic’s is fortunate to have a number of different support staff who are called LSOs. LSOs may work in the classroom with a small group of students or individually, at times, with a student needing additional support.
Intervention Specialists: We are very fortunate to have access to intervention teachers who will support the teachers with additional programming, mentoring and/or team-teaching in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
Student Services
- The Learning Diversity Leader (LDL) will be available to meet with families who have a child who is receiving additional supports.
- Students are identified as having additional supports in a range of different ways. Some students might have a formal diagnosis whilst others might be demonstrating learning difficulties. School-based data and teacher observations are used to determine which students need support across a range of different areas. Supports will vary and might be in the classroom, in the playground, in small groups or through further assessment. Any additional support being provided for students is discussed with the family.
- Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs) are required for every student receiving additional support, as part of the NCCD requirements. The PLP outlines the goals being worked on and the types of supports and adjustments the student is receiving to reach these goals. These goals are written in partnership with your family and progress is discussed at a regular Program Support Group (PSG) meeting.
- St Dominic’s also has Speech Pathology services at school to support students who have language delays, articulation difficulties, and social/play skills concerns too. This is a short term service. Any students identified as having ongoing or complex speech and language needs will be referred for more appropriate community-based supports.
Student Wellbeing
- The Wellbeing Leader will support staff and students with general proactive wellbeing approaches, as well as those requiring additional support in this area. Teachers and families can discuss their concerns with the Wellbeing Leader who will work in partnership with the teacher, student and family to develop supports to address the presenting concerns.
- St Dominic’s also has an experienced Counsellor on Thursdays and Fridays, who works with individual students, their family and staff to support wellbeing initiatives that are targeted to the individual need. This is a short term service. Any students identified as having ongoing or complex counselling needs will be referred for more appropriate community-based supports.
New Arrivals/EAL support
- Students who are New Arrivals or EAL can benefit from the support of small group learning opportunities with our specialist EAL Teacher. In these small groups they will be explicitly taught the English language, with a focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Literacy Intervention
- St Dominic’s uses the Sounds-Write synthetic-phonics program both in the junior classrooms and to provide small group support for students to develop their early literacy skills. Additional targeted literacy support is also provided by our Intervention Specialist teachers
Maths Intervention
- St Dominic’s provides small group intervention support for students to develop their numeracy skills. Extension groups are also provided for students who excel in the area of Maths and require further challenge. Additional targeted maths support is also provided by our Intervention Specialist teachers