Parents and carers of students with disability were invited to attend the Disability Policy & Programs November 18th 2021 Parent Forum
Hosted by the Department for Education, the Parent Forums are to inform and engage with parents or carers about the services and supports available for children and young people with disability.
Due to feedback, the format for this forum changed slightly to include 4 consecutive presentations and commenced with a Keynote by Kate Strohm, Siblings Australia. Kate’s presentation was well received and provided participants with insight into the challenges for siblings and strategies to support them. Kate’s presentation can be viewed at SERU; please contact us to make arrangements.
Ian May, Director Inclusive Teaching and Learning, then provided a quick update about Department directions and as always, made himself available throughout the day. Stuart Kitto followed, exploring participants perspectives on inclusion and what being an inclusive school community could look like in South Australia. The session highlighted current research into inclusive approaches to schooling, and clarified the department’s response to some of this research.
Nathan Bailey & Kate Hubl introduced the Department’s Self-Regulation Service and how it will support educators as well as an introduction to Regulation; the neuroscience behind it and the developmental stages.
The final presentation, by Katie Sciberras and Emily Parker, showcased the Behaviour Support Toolkit, designed for staff in education, early childhood and care services to support positive behaviour for children and young people. The toolkit will help these staff to identify, assess and understand behaviours of concern as well as aiding the development of behaviour support plans and to review and monitor interventions.
All workshops were highly regarded by participants. Overall comments by the participants indicated they gained a great deal from the forum and again the opportunity to network and share their stories was appreciated.
Planning will soon be underway for 2023.
