Dear Parents,

As the term draws to a close, I thank each of you for your patience, understanding and support during this term with all of its opportunities, challenges and experiences. We completed all of our sacraments, had camps, sports days, a very successful Fun Run and food drive, a Walk to School Day with a healthy breakfast, Mother’s Day celebrations and many incursions and excursions. Considering the restrictions, we have done an amazing amount of experiences, all while focusing on providing your children with the best learning we possibly can in a supportive, fun and engaging environment. I think we can all agree that this term has been a great success!

I am including in my letter to you the NCCD information from CECV. This is important information for our school community and represents the enormous amount of work our staff do to collect the information and respond to the needs of many of our students. This work could not have the impact it does if it was not for the dedication, resourcefulness and support of our Learning Adjustment Leader, Carrie Schembri, along with Julian Blackford, who together with me, form our Learning Adjustment Team. With the impressive commitment from our entire staff through tracking the students, collecting data, identifying needs and providing consistent, high quality support to our students, the work they put in enables us to provide the support that many of our students require to enable them to reach their potential and to thrive in our school community.

For those of you who are interested in the latest information from CECV regarding the NCCD data collection and funding, please read the information below.

I hope and pray that you all have a safe, happy and relaxing holiday and look forward to seeing you all next term.

 

Kind regards

Lisa Broeren

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) On School Students with Disability

What is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data?

Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability.

Who is counted in the data collection?

To count a student in the NCCD, schools must think through some key questions:

1. Is the student getting help at school so that they can take part in education on the same basis as other students?

2. Is the help given because of a disability? The word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and it can include many students.

3. Has the school talked to you or your child about the help that they provide?

4. Has the school kept records about the help they provide, the student needs and the reasons that the student needs this help? The school will need to keep copies of tests, student work, assessments, records of meetings, medical reports or other paperwork and information about how the student’s learning is moving along over time.

Once the school decides that the student should be counted in the NCCD, they then choose a disability group and one of four levels of help that has been given to the student.

What does the word ‘disability’ mean in the NCCD?

In the NCCD the word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). There are four types of disability that the school can choose from: sensory, cognitive, social-emotional and physical.

Many students that need help at school can be counted in the NCCD. For example, students with learning problems, e.g. specific learning disability or reading difficulty (sometimes called dyslexia), health problems (e.g. epilepsy or diabetes), physical disability (e.g. cerebral palsy), vision/hearing loss and social-emotional problems (e.g. selective mutism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety).

Letters from doctors or specialists can be very helpful for schools as they plan how to support students with their learning. Schools do not need to have these letters before they can count a

student in NCCD. Teachers can use all that they know about the student’s learning and the records that they have collected over time to decide if a student can be counted in the NCCD.

What sort of help does the school give students?

Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes while other students need a lot of help nearly all the time. The type of help given depends on the needs of the student. The help can include changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g. ramps or things like special desks or chairs), extra teacher help in classes, special learning programs, changes to the work they give the student or extra adult help.

How will the NCCD be different this year?

All schools have been counting students in the NCCD since 2015. The government will use the NCCD data as part of the funding to schools.

What will the school need to know about my child for the NCCD?

Schools work together with families to understand the needs of each child. It is helpful if families give their child’s teacher a copy of any letters or reports they have. The letters or reports will help the school understand the child and the help that they might need. Letters from doctors, psychologists, speech pathologists, doctor, and occupational therapists etc. can be very helpful for schools. These reports along with information that the teacher has (i.e. school based tests, your child’s work and learning plans) helps the school to understand and meet your child’s needs.

What happens to the NCCD data? Who will have the NCCD information?

Each school principal must check the NCCD data in August of each year. The school will give the information to the Catholic Education Office. The school will work with the Catholic Education Office to make sure that the NCCD data is OK before they give the data to the government. The government will not be given the names of any students or any letters or records. Please ask your school for their privacy policy if you need to know more.

Does the school need me to agree with them about counting my child in the NCCD?

Amendments were made to the Australian Education Act 2013 and Australian Education Regulation 2013). Schools do not need you to agree to let them count a child in the NCCD. You cannot ask the school not to count your child.