Student With Additional Needs (SWAN) team
Nundah State School strives for the provision of equitable
educational opportunities to ensure that all students have access to,
participate in and gain positive learning outcomes from schooling. The SWAN
team plays a vital role in achieving this goal.
The SWAN team has the responsibility of coordinating the specialist
intervention and services within the school in order to maximize the
effectiveness of the school’s response in better meeting the individual needs
of students, including those:
who are gifted/talented
who are learning the
English language
who require behaviour
support
with learning
difficulties/disabilities
diagnosed with low
incidence disabilities (hearing impairment, speech language impairment,
intellectual disability, autistic spectrum disorder).
with school attendance
challenges
The SWAN team comprises the Principal, the Deputy principal, the
Guidance Officer (GO), the SWAN Intensive teachers, English as an Additional
Language Teacher (EAL/D), Chaplain and as appropriate Advisory Visiting
Teachers (AVT) and External agency personnel.
Student With Additional Needs (SWAN) referral process
Nundah teachers are dedicated to monitoring the progress and
development of students. When teachers have concerns regarding a student's
development they observe, collate work samples and complete various assessments.
These help build a picture around the areas of concern they have for the
student. Additionally, they may contact parents to discuss their concerns and
gain further information.
From all of this information, teachers will then be able to draw
from their repertoire of teaching strategies to scaffold learning for students,
manage behaviour and support social and emotional development. If students
don't respond to these strategies, teachers will want to investigate further.
After consulting parents again, teachers fill in a two-page referral (four
questions) outlining their concerns and submit this with their observations,
work samples, assessments to the SWAN team.
At times, parents initiate the referral process by sharing concerns
or information with the class teacher.
The SWAN team assesses each case individually, identifying
appropriate actions such as - to determine further assessments necessary,
support that needs to be provided, advise the teacher of additional strategies
to try and suggest possible outside agency involvement to parents.
The classroom teacher or the SWAN team member will communicate these
actions to parents. Any documentation is placed in the individual student
portfolios so future class teachers have information to make a difference for
your child.