'It takes a Village'
There are many key people involved in our Student Care and Management and as we continue to grow the number of people invested in the care of our tamariki ensures that all of our children's varied and great needs are addressed.
We currently have 189 children on our Special Needs Register.
Along with Toni Nua, Angela Moala has continued a Home Visiting role which maintains the crucial link between home and school while building those critical relationships.
Many of our visits continue to be in direct response to events occurring at school which have required an immediate response. We have continued to encourage whanau to come in to school to meet and work through these issues and we have worked hard to respond and plan collaboratively with whanau to ensure better outcomes for our tamariki. We have actively encouraged classroom teachers to be the initial point of contact with whanau when issues around absenteeism/lateness or as behaviour begins to emerge and this needs to continue. It has been great to see our Team Leaders to continue being more proactive in this respect and we need to continue to encourage our classroom teachers to make and maintain contact over time.
2018 Home Visits have been conducted for a variety of issues and needs, including:
Our teachers are committed to keeping good records and data on our highest needs children and the digitalisation of this has meant that we have great cumulative data around the behaviour, care and management of our children. We have continued to build on our programme of daily reporting for our children who are struggling to engage in the classroom. This maintains regular contact with them and the SMT and has done much to contribute to a settled school and classrooms.
We have as always had a small number of students who have required a great deal of time and support to help them to stay on track. Keeping with our guiding principles, a significant proportion of this role requires ongoing communication and planning with whanau to develop and implement action plans. We still have one child who has Intensive Wraparound Service and throughout the year. We started the year with two children who were receiving ORS. One of these children has since left and gone to a Special School Satellite Unit at the choice of his Whanau. During the year we were successful in gaining ORS for another one of our highest needs students and Mrs Chris Bush is to be thanked for her huge effort in these applications.
We have had two Teachers go through Incredible Years Training and we will continue to ensure that our Staff have access to this PD.
In 2018, staff participated in ongoing UBRS (Understanding Behaviour and Responding Safely) Training. This training has provided a deeper understanding of the proper teacher response techniques and strategies for dealing with some of our toughest behaviour needs.
Critical to the success of school-wide student care is the shared approach. In the past we have had our SWIS as part of our Care Team however we have at present been unable to fill this vacancy. The Student Care role continues to include liaising with key people within school and agencies such as the Public Health Nurse (Kayla Seaton), RTLB, OT representatives, STAND (formerly Pakuranga Health Camp), Police, GI Family Centre, and Tamaki Community Trust, MOE - SLT. Roz and/or Leigh have continued to liaise closely with ACES around Truancy and a local Police initiative has emerged during the year which is a Team of Youth Engagement Officers that our monitoring and supporting our kids who are at risk.
Our SMT Meeting has continued to monitor and discuss on a weekly basis our highest needs tamariki and all Senior Management Staff are aware of issues and/or interventions that are in place for them.
In 2018 we have continued a Pastoral Care Meeting that convenes monthly. This includes members of the SMT, Sally, the Office Staff, Chris Bush (RTLB). This meeting continues to look at at how we can support our highest needs whanau and the nature of this meeting is a problem solving approach to try and ensure that there is equity for our kids and no stress due to unpaid debt. Out Office Staff do a fantastic job monitoring and tracking all of this.
Late in 2018 we have had Staff and Children complete the Wellbeing Surveys and this will help us to set goals for 2019 in terms of how we best meet the Pastoral Needs of our Learners.
Recommendations/Goals for 2019
- To have another visiting Teacher who will help to monitor and plan for the many needs across our school and assist with the SENCO workload.
- To continue to have a Team/Village approach to Student Care and Management and be guided by 'Te Whare Tapa Wha'
- To have some Staff attend the Restraints Training.
- To ensure our new staff are aware of the importance of connecting with our whanau and encouraging and empowering them to be the first point of contact walking alongside them with this as necessary.
- Continue to ensure that the ‘highest needs’ children are monitored effectively and early contact is made with whanau to involve them in the partnership.
- To ensure our new SWIS is fully involved in all aspects of school and the wellbeing of our tamariki.
- To continue to be proactive rather than reactive.
As part of our ongoing PLD the Student Care and Management is a regular focus of our Staff Meetings to ensure that all Staff, but especially our new and less experienced staff, understand 'The Pt England Way' and the various layers and systems that ensure that our students are well managed. The URBS training we have received this year has been a vital part of this.
It is evident that our needs continue to be significant and varied and we must continue to invest in the resourcing of this. Our Support Staff in classrooms are an integral part of ensuring that our tamariki are fully engaged and appropriately supported in our classrooms.
Toni Nua and Angela Moala
December 2018