Special Education and Gifted Students
“SPECIAL EDUCATION is the provision of extra help, adapted programmes, learning environments or specialised equipment or materials to support children and young people with their learning and help them participate in education” (Ministry of Education, 2006)
It is UnitedFuture policy to:
- Increase funding to the Ongoing Reviewable Resourcing Scheme (ORRS). Currently 1% of students receive some ORRS funding even though we know that one in five New Zealander’s have some sort of disability.
- Review the guidelines used to determine if a student still qualifies for ORRS funding to ensure that future progress isn’t hampered by a reduction in allocation based on current progress made by a student
- Increase funding for Specialist Vision Teachers so that the internationally accepted ratio for teachers to pupil (1:12) is realised. Currently in NZ the ration is 1:37 which is totally unacceptable.
- Ensure that the professional development of teachers and staff working with special needs students is funded separately rather than having to come out of the Special Needs Grant and thus reducing the amount available for directly supporting students.
- Review the work programme of Special Education staff within the Ministry of Education and out-of school offices to ensure teachers and students are being appropriately supported.
- Include mandatory course content on teaching children and adults with disabilities in all teacher education.
- Promote an increase of funding for early identification of children with special needs and disabilities with targeted systematic, intensive and high quality interventions.
- Fund support staff such as teacher aides centrally rather than from operational grants.
UnitedFuture acknowledges that Gifted children are among some of the most neglected due perceptions that they are fortunate rather than the truth which is that they are poorly catered for.
- Better educate student teachers and current classroom teachers on how to identify and respond to the needs of gifted children
- Due to the small number of gifted children ensure that funding and resources are regionally managed in collaboration with schools in that region that have gifted students on their role.
- Fund full-day withdrawal programmes, such as The Gifted Education Centre's One Day School, for children assessed as requiring such provision.
- Provide regional resource teachers to support the learning of gifted students and their classroom teachers
See also the Disabilities Policy