Skip to main content

CASE STUDY James, Supplementary, Cognitive

Year level
Primary
Educational setting
Mainstream school

Level of adjustment
Supplementary
Category of disability
Cognitive
Included in data collection
Yes

James's story

James is a Year 1 student at a large primary school. Following literacy and numeracy testing at the start of the year, it became apparent to his teacher that James is performing at least 12 months behind his peer group. Teachers in the school noted that James is often slow to respond to questions and can be difficult to understand due to an apparent articulation difficulty. His Foundation year (or ‘Prep’) teacher also raised some concerns regarding his progress during transition discussions at the end of the previous year.

As a result of these discussions, James's Year 1 teacher approached the coordinator of the school’s additional needs program to request assistance in consulting with James's parents to understand and plan for his needs. An initial Student Support Group (SSG) meeting was scheduled to review the teacher’s testing results and observations of James’s speech, language and learning. The family was also requested to bring information that might assist the school in understanding and catering for James’s needs.

Following the meeting, it was decided that the school would implement a range of educational adjustments to further evaluate James's learning and communication difficulties, and to support his access to, and participation in, education during Term 1.

The school’s additional needs coordinator worked with James's teacher to develop adjustments to accommodate his needs in the classroom, to enable him to participate on the same basis as his peers.

The agreed adjustments included:

  • referring James to the Student Support Services speech pathology team for an assessment of his speech and language abilities
  • initiating a personalised learning plan
  • providing differentiated curriculum materials to suit James's learning needs
  • introducing visual schedules and task boards to complement teacher instruction
  • delivering instruction to James at a slower pace to allow him time to process the information
  • recommending James for inclusion in the school’s Reading Recovery program
  • providing increased daily, targeted small-group and one-on-one direct teacher instruction for literacy
  • providing additional home-based activities targeting Foundation literacy and numeracy skills
  • introducing a homeschool communication book to ensure appropriate work can be shared and James's progress can be reported and monitored.

Finally, the Student Support Group arranged to meet with the speech pathologist to discuss James's speech and language assessment results, when available. This would enable the school Student Support Group to further understand James's needs and inform the development of his personalised learning plan.

Information that supports inclusion in the NCCD What's this?

  • Step 1. Is there an adjustment to address disability? Yes

    • Yes, adjustments are provided to enable a student with disability to access education on the same basis as other students.
    • As defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, James has a disorder or malfunction that results in him learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction.
  • Do you have evidence? Yes

    • Personalised learning plan
    • Classroom curriculum-based assessment 
    • Teacher observations of James’s speech, language and learning
    • Notes of meetings between school staff and James’s parents
    • Notes from SSG meeting/s and from meetings between the SSG and speech pathologist
    • Information/documentation from James’s family
  • Step 2. What is the level of adjustment? Supplementary

    • Referral to the Student Support Services speech pathology team 
    • adjustments to instruction in terms of content (differentiated curriculum materials)
    • Use of learning aids to provide content in accessible forms (eg visual schedules and task boards) 
    • Adjustments to teaching strategies (eg delivering instruction to James at a slower pace, increased targeted small-group and one-on-one instruction) 
    • Provision of intermittent specialist teacher support (eg Reading Recovery teacher, additional needs coordinator)
  • Step 3. What is the category of disability? Cognitive

    • James has a cognitive disability in the form of an imputed learning disability.
  • Step 4. Record and submit the data Yes (Student is included)

We use cookies on our website to support technical features that enhance your user experience.

We also use analytics & advertising services. To opt-out click for more information.