Special Education Needs in Sydney Schools: What to Prepare Before You Arrive
Families relocating to Sydney with a neurodiverse child, or a child with other additional needs, often want to know two things before anything else: what support schools are required to provide, and how to find a school that will provide it well. This post explains how support works in Sydney’s government and independent schools, and what to have ready before you arrive.
The same law applies to every school
Government and non-government schools in Australia work under the same national law. The Disability Standards for Education 2005, made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, require every school to make reasonable adjustments for a student with disability, in consultation with the family. The NSW Department of Education summarizes the standards on its inclusive learning support pages.
What differs, Bennett’s Australia consultant May O’Kane explains, is how that support is funded, resourced and delivered from one school to the next.
What support looks like in practice
In both sectors, schools put formal individual plans in place that set out academic and behavioral adjustments. In NSW government schools this is called a Personalised Learning and Support Plan. Both sectors use teacher’s aides, known in NSW public schools as School Learning Support Officers (SLSOs), and both have specialist staff and facilities. Both also require the school’s formal approval before an outside therapist, such as a speech pathologist or occupational therapist, can work with a child during class hours.
May is wary of describing a “typical” picture, because support follows the child’s needs. A classroom might use visual schedules, extra processing time, modified tasks, sensory breaks and sensory tools, or assistive technology such as text-to-speech software. Teachers are also supporting children with physical disabilities and with learning difficulties of many kinds in the same classes, which is part of why preparation helps so much.
The school matters more than the sector
In May’s experience, a school’s real capacity to support a child depends more on the leadership of its principal and its learning support coordinator than on whether the school is public or private. A private school is not a guarantee of better support, and a well-led public school can be an excellent choice.
That makes visiting the school, and speaking with the principal and the learning support coordinator about anything that concerns you, one of the most useful steps a family can take.
The portfolio to prepare before you arrive
May advises families to be open with schools about their child’s needs from the start. When teachers have full information, they spend less time watching and waiting and can help the child sooner. She suggests organizing a portfolio before the move that includes:
- Reports from a pediatrician, and from a clinical psychologist where your child has been assessed (for example, cognitive and achievement testing for ADHD, autism or a specific learning disorder).
- Speech pathology and occupational therapy reports.
- Previous individual education plans, and school reports that show the adjustments made for your child.
- A short personal profile: what helps your child regulate (such as movement breaks, clear step-by-step instructions or sensory tools), their key triggers (such as unexpected changes to routine, noise or unstructured play), and their particular strengths and interests.
Anything else that will help your child and their teacher through the school day belongs in it too.
What tends to surprise families
The most common surprise, May finds, is that a formal diagnosis does not by itself mean a full-time aide. In NSW public schools, most support comes from the school’s own learning and support resources, and additional targeted funding goes to a relatively small number of students with higher needs, so an aide’s time is usually shared.
A happier surprise, now and then, is a teacher who has a child with additional needs of their own, or someone close to them who does. Families often find communication with that teacher especially easy.
Questions to ask each school
- Who leads learning support here, and how will we work together?
- How are individual plans written, reviewed and shared with families?
- How is support staff time allocated across a class?
- Can my child’s therapists visit during the school day, and how is that arranged?
For more on how Bennett approaches special education needs, see our special education needs services.
How a Bennett consultant helps
When placing a neurodiverse child, a Bennett consultant works alongside one of our SEN specialists. We review the reports and evaluations you already have, help you put together the portfolio, and recommend schools whose leadership and resources fit your child’s needs, so that the conversations with each school start well informed.
Our Sydney education consultants do this work every week, and May’s answers on moving to Sydney with kids cover the wider school picture.
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.
