Episode 25: Supporting students with diverse learning needs

All ākonga deserve the opportunity to flourish and succeed in their education, and making sure your students have this opportunity is your most important priority as principal. This means providing them with any learning support they need to reach their potential. But how easy is it to find the support your students need, and what can you do if you can’t access it? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

 

My guests are:

• John Bangma, tumuaki of Mariehau Primary School and one of the leaders of the national RTLB (Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour) lead school network
• Saane Faaofo-Oldehaver, former principal and leadership advisor, former special education need coordinator in two schools, member of Highest Needs Review Advisory Group
• Jane Corcoran, principal Brunswick School in Whanganui and executive member of NZRSLA.

 

This podcast was produced for the Ministry of Education as part of Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals.

 

You can learn more about this topic by accessing Te Ara Tīmatanga mō ngā Tumuaki - The Beginning Pathway for Principals e-learning modules on the Education LMS: https://training.education.govt.nz

 

Show notes

Episode themes:

• What inclusive information is.
• The more that you know the tamariki in your own school, the more diversity you recognise, the more needs that you see, the more you’ll want to find ways to help them.
• There will never be enough resource to meet all the needs out there – but it’s important that you are doing the best you can do, making every effort to support every child with those needs in any way you can.
• In small schools you may be the teacher, the SENCO and the principal, so you’ll be able to notice needs yourself.
• Understanding the pathways to getting support, including your RTLB (Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour service).
• Using parents to help with their own kids may not be the best choice!
• Challenges of sourcing support in rural and other areas, as well as the opportunities small schools offer diverse learners.

 

Additional information

RTLB online https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/learning-support/resource-teachers-learning-and-behaviour#what-is-the-rtlb-service-1

Learning support for literacy and communication https://www.education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/learning-support/learning-support-literacy-and-communication

 

Learning support needs https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/managing-students/stand-downs-suspensions-exclusions-and-expulsions-guidelines-part-2/section-2-creating-procedures-and-processes/learning-support-needs

 

Questions

2:07 [All] As tumuaki, what is inclusive education for you? What does it mean?

3:20 [John] What does it mean to provide adequate support for a child with learning challenges?

5:53 [All] If a child's starting in your school and the teacher notices that they're not keeping up, where do you start, and what are the steps to getting them what they need?

12:22 [John] You talked about the RTLB. Can you tell me about that, please?

15:26 [John] Where do new principals go to get information about RTLB?

16:04 [All] There’s a really wide spectrum of learning need in kura. What kinds of learning challenges have you all seen? What are the most common - if there is such a thing? 

23:36 [Jane] What are the challenges facing rural schools around getting support for the kids who need it?

25:30 [All] Parents must be keen to support their kids if you can’t find that help elsewhere?

29:44 [All] Is there anything that we haven't talked about that we should discuss?