The Department of Education (DoE) provides speech-language therapy services to schools to support the educational outcomes for students with complex communication needs.
Communication is essential for learning, literacy and numeracy development as well as participating in classroom and school activities, interacting with others and positive self-esteem. Our DoE Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) is part of the student support committee and visits 2 to 3 times a week.
The focus of school-based speech-language therapy services is to enhance learning outcomes for students with complex communication needs. These services include supporting students in the areas of speech sound development, understanding and using spoken language, fluency (e.g. stuttering), voice, and swallowing/feeding.
Referral to the SLP is through the student support committee. Once a student is prioritised by the school team for speech-language therapy services and parent permission and consent forms are completed, the SLP will determine the most suitable support for an identified student. This may take the form of one-on-one assessments and therapy, providing programming for small groups with the therapy being delivered by a trained teacher aide or providing support and intervention to support the spoken language and pre-literacy skills of students at a whole class or year level.
If you have a concern about the needs of your child, we encourage you to contact your class teacher.