Schools regularly track and monitor student progress and engagement both formally and informally, right throughout the educative process. So most schools have got universal practices that they adopt for all students. It usually starts as part of the enrolment process where the school seeks information with regards to the health, progress and development of students in consultation with the parents, carer or their associate. They usually start that process of documenting at that initial stage to get to know and understand the student, and also to seek to establish a positive rapport with the family, which is really important. Sometimes the family might informally discuss through the enrolment process, their own concerns about the child. So a child starting school might have experienced shyness and a parent might say, look, they had difficulty separating from me at kinder or they might say, I'm a little bit worried about their language development. The kinder mentioned something about it but I wasn't sure what I should do. I thought I'd just wait till they got to school. Parents will sometimes mention things at secondary school as well but it can be less likely. Schools also generally collect information during that transition process from previous school settings. So from preschools or from a primary school. Careful transition processes are really important in getting to know and understand the student. So schools will have universal assessment practices and teachers may begin to have concerns about the student's rate of progress over time, or they might notice that some students require additional support in getting started with the task, or need the task broken down into component steps, or the student might exhibit difficulties in relating to others. Teachers will consider the academic progress, health, wellbeing, social interaction and behaviour of students. And they generally start to note these down, particularly where there are areas of concern or additional strategies and supports that need to be provided. Teachers will note the impact of any adjustments that they're making for students, as part of their regular quality differentiated teaching practice. And they might discuss their adjustments or their observations with a parent or carer. Most schools will have a process for bringing these observations to a school team, particularly where the difficulties persist, even with provision of support within the general learning context or where the difficulties escalate. The school team will discuss the observed needs of the student, examine the assessment observational data that's been collected, and any strategies that may have been employed to support the student to date. Membership of the school team will generally vary across primary and secondary school contexts and special assistance schools. But it'll generally consist of members of the school leadership team, wellbeing or diversity and inclusion staff and teachers. Where the school has access to allied health staff, they'll often be included in the consultation process. The team will meet to consider the holistic needs of the student together with other known factors, such as if the student is learning English as an additional language, or if the student has a record of poor attendance. They'll also consider if the presenting issues have persisted over time, or if they've only just recently been noted. In gathering and documenting this holistic view of the student, the school team will consider if the functional impact for the student arises from a disability in one of the four broad NCCD categories, physical, cognitive, sensory, and social emotional. This can be a tricky process. And the team may decide that they need further information in order to reach consensus. The school may seek input from specialist advisors provided through their education authority, where these are available. Information will be really important, not only to decide if the DDA definition of disability is applicable, but also the degree of functional impact for the student and the types of adjustments required so that the student can actively engage and participate in the educational programs of the school. The adjustments will be documented in consultation notes, program, or student support group meetings, personalised learning plans, behaviour support plans, and teacher records. The school team will often have differing views, and it will be really important for them to carefully examine and moderate the evidence in order to test their assumptions and then reach consensus. So that process may lead the team to determine that based on their collective judgement and all of the evidence that they've gathered and observations that they've made, that they do have sufficient information to impute a disability. It's important to remember that the school team is seeking to act in the student's best interests. And in reaching consensus through moderation, should feel really confident that if they were challenged, they could explain their decision and present the documentation to support their judgment.