“Every school and every teacher needs to ensure that they have made a submission into the NSW parliament inquiry into students with disability, Guildford West Public School assistant principal and Federation executive member Kathryn Bellach says.
“Write a school one together and then encourage every teacher to select a part out of it and use it as the basis for an individual submission — the more the better.”
Submissions close February 26.
The inquiry is looking into the access and provision of resources to students with disability, including the impact of the Department’s Every Student, Every School (ESES) policy. Access and provision face significant barriers in NSW due to the ESES cost-capping mechanism and the federal government’s refusal to deliver the Gonski Students with Disability loading, which has been withheld for two years.
“We all know how much of an impact Gonski money is having in our schools: important programs have been put in place to support the needs of the variety of students enrolled in our public education system. There is one area left in which the Gonski loadings have not been realised and that is for our students with disability,” Ms Bellach said.
More than half of students with disability who need funded support at school are not getting it, recent data released by state and federal governments shows.
Information and resources to develop submissions is available on Federation’s website here.