Services - in schools
When a child starts school, they move to a new environment where they will remain involved for at least the next 12 years.
At this time, Novita services concentrate on helping the school to get to know the child so that they can meet the child’s needs.
Also, services usually change from providing the child with individual therapy, to providing training and support within the educational setting. Services become less intensive compared to the early years, with the number of visits usually reducing.
Support can be provided to the school, home or relevant community environment.
On this page
How Novita staff help children in schools
Novita provides support through the child’s school as well as at home, relying heavily on parents and school staff to let Novita know when assistance is required. Novita staff are 'guests' in a school and therefore only provide help as discussed and agreed with the school. Novita staff help the child fully join in with school life by:
helping school staff understand a child’s abilities and needs- working out with school staff how therapy ideas can be included in the educational program
- training school staff in:
- providing therapy for a short time to achieve a particular goal
- advising on special equipment or changes to the school
- assessing and providing advice on learning, behaviour, social and emotional difficulties and giving advice to families and school staff, if requested.
Read about support for Ryan at school
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The child’s school record details of the educational program for children with disabilities in a:
Novita therapists are often asked to attend and participate in planning meetings organised to develop the plans.
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In response to feedback received from families, staff and schools the Special School Team Pilot Program was developed to improve services to clients with complex needs attending some special schools and mainstream schools.
Clients and their school will have an allocated team that will work with them to provide services and plan ahead for future needs.
As this is a new program, it is being trialed in 2009 with the following special schools:
- Elizabeth Special School
- Regency Park School
- Kidman Park Primary School Conductive Education Unit
- Regency Park School Link Program located at the Ross Smith Secondary School
Three clients attending mainstream schools are also included in the initial trial.
Following the trial, we will seek feedback from those involved and based on that feedback will consider expanding the service to more metropolitan clients and special schools.
Who makes up the Special School Team?
The Special School Team includes physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, psychologists and family service coordinators - along with a service area manager, team leader and administration staff.
Clients of the special school will be able to request the same sorts of services as before, and they may still access services from the Physical Rehabilitation Program.
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Where is the Special School Team?
The Special School Team is based at Parafield Gardens and is a service of the Child and Adolescent Service.
Who can receive support from the Special School Team?
Support from the Special School team is available to Novita clients attending the four target special schools included in the trial (Regency Park School, Elizabeth Special Schools, Kidman Park Primary School Conductive Education Unit, Regency Park School Link Program located at the Ross Smith Secondary School).
Clients attending other special schools or mainstream schools will not receive services from the Special Schools Team.
The expansion of the service to more clients will depend on the outcome the evaluation of the pilot program.
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Where can I receive support from the Special School Team?
Services may be provided at a variety of locations – such as private homes, schools, and Novita offices.
Further information
You can obtain further information about Novita’s Special School Team from the Team Leader by contacting:
Telephone: (08) 8182 1000
Email: child&adolescent@novita.org.au
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Physiotherapists provide information and training to school staff regarding mobility and physical issues. Some of examples include:
providing suggestions to ensure that the child can move about during play at lunch and recess breaks - providing Occupational Health and Safety suggestions for staff when lifting and transferring children. This may be recorded in a Transfer and Positioning care plan. Read more details in the fact sheet
Transfer and Positioning Care Plans (PDF - 45Kb)
- providing information on how to use mobility equipment, such as walkers and wheelchairs
- providing information on how to use other equipment, such as standing frames and Ankle Foot Orthoses
- providing advice for issue with sport and physical education
- providing advice about mobility and equipment related to school excursions or outings.
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Occupational Therapists provide support for a wide variety of activities that occur at school. The occupational therapist’s goal is help the child become as independent as possible with tasks at school. This may take the form of simple suggestions or providing equipment to help improve independence. Some of the areas in which occupational therapists can help include:
- hand skills - cutting, pasting, drawing, handwriting
computer use - toileting and using toilet equipment - this may include the provision of a continence care plan
- technology use
- play
- mealtimes
- accessing the school buildings safely.
Read more about how occupational therapists work.
Disclaimer: This information is for general use and you should talk to the relevant therapist before using it with a particular child.
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Public schools
Novita speech pathologists provide assistance for students in public schools, but not in all circumstances. To receive assistance, students must be registered with Novita, and the difficulty they are experiencing must be due to their physical disability. This includes things such as:
If students in public schools have the following difficulties, speech pathologists from Department for Education and Children's Services (DECS) (see the Related External Links list - this page) can provide services:
Novita does NOT provide speech pathology services to these students.
Children who have difficulties with stuttering or how they use their voice for speaking may be referred to a hospital or community health service that has special training in the treatment of these difficulties.
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Private schools (Catholic Education and Independent schools)
Students registered with Novita who go to private schools (see the Related External Links list - this page) may receive:
- Full services for those areas within which Novita speech pathologists have special training (see public schools information above)
- Consultative Novita speech pathology services for areas where support would be provided by the Department of Education and Children's Services (see public schools information above )
Students not registered with Novita
Novita may be able to provide some speech pathology services to the following groups of children even if they are not registered with Novita:
- Students who do not have an intellectual disability and are included in a typical school situation who may benefit from the use of a voice output communication device
- Students who are registered with Intellectually Disabled Services Council (see the Related External Links list - this page) and who may benefit from the use of a voice output communication aid or device
These children are registered with Novita for limited speech pathology services only.
Novita provides augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment, prescribes any special equipment required and develops a program to support the child, for people not registered with Novita, on a fee for service basis.
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Novita speech pathologists help children and teachers to think about how they can encourage a child who has difficulty with understanding or communicating to join in and be a full part of the school life. This can take the form of:
- training staff about the childs communication system
- helping the child improve their communication skills
- mealtime Assessments and providing Oral Eating and Drinking Care Plans. View the fact sheet Oral Eating and Drinking Care Plan (PDF - 54Kb)
- training staff about how to implement an Oral Eating and Drinking Care Plans
- helping identify opportunities for communication at school
- identifying and helping to overcome barriers to successful communication
Novita speech pathologists base their input on the Participation Model of communication intervention. Read the fact sheet The Participation Model for Assessment of AAC (PDF - 41Kb)
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Frequently asked questions
I'm not sure if my child will cope at our local school - can you help?
The Novita team can help you to work out what your child's needs will be at school. They will look at the school surroundings and help you to come up with ways to solve the problems that concern you. They can also talk to the school staff to help your child get the most out of the school day and give advice about any equipment needs that may arise.
I'm not sure that my child is able to cope with moving about the school at lunchtimes - how can I be sure that her teacher is aware of the issues around her disability?
The child's therapists can meet with the teacher to talk about her needs and what she is able to do for herself. They can talk to her teacher about the many things that may effect the way she copes with her school day. This may be to do with things such as moving around the school, using play equipment, using computers or communicating with teachers or friends.
View the Services to School Aged Children factsheet (PDF - 40Kb)
The following video clips feature a special education teacher and several parents talking about children with disability and schools.
View video clip about children with disability in mainstream school (this link loads a page that commences streaming of a 11Mb MOV file of 3 minutes, 18 seconds duration - a text description and transcript of the video is provided).
View video clip about school choices for children with disability (this link loads a page that commences streaming of a 7.9Mb MOV file of 2 minutes, 22 seconds duration - a text description and transcript of the video is provided).
Disclaimer Detail: The information on this website is of a general nature only and does not constitute advice. Novita Children's Services makes no representations as to the accuracy, usefulness, suitability or application of the information to a child's particular circumstances. You should seek professional advice before acting or relying on the information. In using this site, you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions of Use for the site.