Accommodations and adjustments:
providing each individual with what’s needed
to succeed alongside others
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) oversees the primary school curriculum with syllabuses that describe the learning expected at each stage of development. The curriculum is structured with increasingly sophisticated content across the school years, from Kindergarten to Year Six. A sequence of learning enables all students to develop their knowledge, understanding, and skills at progressively challenging levels.
It is the role of the school to make decisions about any accommodations or adjustments to the curriculum that are required to support student learning, progress and achievement.
1) Accommodations are changes to how a student learns the material. For example, a group of students with lower reading ages might have a Student Learning Support Officer (SLSO) read the book to them, with unfamiliar vocabulary explained and more complex themes discussed. But it’s still the same book that the rest of the class is reading. Another example is a student who has trouble with sustained focus having a schedule of brain breaks throughout the day to be active and move around, but still being required to do all the regular class activities.
2) Adjustments are changes to what a student is expected to learn. For example, high performing students, students who experience a disability, or who are learning to speak English, may need changes to the content. A group of students in a Maths class could be assigned an enrichment and extension activity while other students focus on developing a specific skill. Similarly, some students might be assigned shorter or easier reading tasks, or homework that’s different from the rest of the class. Students who receive adjustments are not expected to learn the same material as their classmates.
Accommodations and adjustments must be fair and reasonable and not disadvantage the student or deny them access to the curriculum on the same basis of other students. They must account for the student’s assessed learning needs and should be the result of consultation and collaboration with parents and teachers, sometimes professionals such as Occupational Therapists, and typically the school’s Learning Support Team.
Accommodations and adjustments are articulated on an Individual Education Plan and Behaviour Support Plan, and are described as supplementary, substantial or extensive across the broad categories of four broad categories of physical, cognitive, sensory, and social/emotional. Monitoring and reviewing the impact of accommodations and adjustments is ongoing with changes made as required.
An effective school creates the conditions where all students can connect, succeed and thrive. It facilitates and develops quality teaching practices and systems that are responsive to the different needs of students. Accommodations and adjustments to the curriculum according to the ability of the individual are therefore essential if every student is to make significant growth, have high achievement, and be successful.
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/health/nccdlevelofadjustmenttable.pdf
