Content and Context

This is where you will learn a little about the school, the area and the specific learners in the class.

1A - The Learning Context

Officer Specialist School is is a co-educational, specialist school for for students aged five to eighteen years. There are 312 students currently enrolled at the school across both the primary and secondary departments. I teach in the primary department, as one of 24 primary classroom teachers, who work with a range of Educational Support Staff and paraprofessionals to support the learning of students aged five to twelve.

The school is located in Officer and services the Casey and Cardinia council areas, with many students arriving via the school's bus service.

All students have an intellectual disability presenting with an intelligence quotient below 70 and are supported by over 100 members of staff. These staff members not only include dedicated special education teachers and education support staff, but also a range of paraprofessionals including; speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapist, social worker and a school nurse.

Students are offered a variety of specialist subjects where they learn, food technology, media arts, performing arts, physical education, cultural studies and a tutoring program.

1B - The Cohort of Learners

My class is comprised of seven male students who range between six and eight years old. All students are diagnosed with an Intellectual disability presenting with an Intelligence Quotient below 70. One student is commencing his third year at the school and another is completing his first year at the school after attending a mainstream school in 2020, all other students are entering into their second year with us. Five of the students were classmates in 2020 and are in the same classroom though I am new as their teacher. Two students present with frequent behaviors of concern including violence towards staff and peers, highly inappropriate language and destruction of property, with one transitioning from an Independent Program and shortened attendance due to behaviors observed in 2020. The class is comprised of students from diverse linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds.

Focus Learners

1C - The Focus Learners

Student A

Student A is 7 years old and will turn 8 in December, he enjoys listening to music and watching videos. Student A has functional echolalic verbal communication and improving functional speech, His communication is supported by the use of the LAMP Words for life application that he carries with him on a personal i-pad.

Student A does not tend to seek out his peers, he works best when supported one-on-one with a staff member to support his engagement. He is very capable, with a high skill level, though can be difficult to motivate.

Student A has a diagnosis of autism.

Student B

Student B is 6 years old and will turn 7 in December, he enjoys spending time with familiar adults and is very eager to please those that he has built a relationship with.

Student B has a behavior support plan and is transitioning away from the use of an individual program in favor of spending more time within the classroom with his peers, as he demonstrates his ability to use safe behavior.

Student B is very capable and his strength lies in mathematics though he demonstrates splintered skills in this subject.

Student B has been diagnosed with an Intellectual disability, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Trichotillomania.

Student C

Student C is six years old and will turn seven in September. He is highly verbal and enjoys talking to adults and peers alike.

His strength lies with his strong letter knowledge and he is able to read and spell words with increasing phonemic accuracy. He enjoys reading and

Student C is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asthma.

Student D

Student D is seven years old and will turn eight in September. He is very quiet and can be quite shy, enjoys playing with puppets and plush toys and will occasionally give character a voice rather than using his own.

Student D began attending the school at the beginning of 2021 after attending a mainstream school in 2020.

Student D comes from a large family where he is supported by both his mother and father.

He typically requires instructions to be repeated individually particularly when asked to transition from one position to another as he can be distracted by the movement of others.

Student D is diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability.

I have selected these specific learners based on a number of factors including their previous academic assessments in mathematics, their communication needs and their behavior within the classroom. I have attempted to select a wide range of students, that will allow me to develop my ability to differentiate to reach a broad range of needs. We were also transitioning in and out of different stages of lockdown, due to the COVID-19 pandemic so this also played a role in my decision making depending on student engagement and the level of contact I was able to maintain with the students and their families.

Initially I looked at the students most recent Ability Based Learning and Education Support (ABLES) Assessments. Student A had previously been assessed at a Level D in the Term 4 of 2020 (Appendix 1) and Student C was assessed at a Foundation level in this same period (Appendix 2), as there was no ABLES Assessment data available for Student B or Student C it was necessary to carry out further testing to determine the prior knowledge of these students. As the school was introducing the Top Ten program at the time, I decided to use the Top Ten 1 to 1 interview assessment. This assessment was carried out for each student and gives qualitative data to show what skills each student has mastered, is developing or has no understanding of yet (Appendices 3-6). I also took into account what I had observed in the classroom prior to the undertaking the inquiry.

Communication mode and frequency was also a factor as this was an area of differentiation that I felt I needed to improve upon. Student A uses Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to supplement his verbal language skills through the use of an i-pad with the LAMP Words For Life application, as shown in his communication profile (Appendix 7). This was also a consideration for Student D as he can be quite shy and my present as non-verbal to those he is unfamiliar with (Appendix 8). Student C on the other hand has fantastic expressive communication though sometimes needs additional support to understand instruction as his receptive language skills do not match his expressive language skills (Appendix 9).

I also needed to take into account the behavior patterns of some of the students as this can effect their ability to access the content of each lesson. Student A and student B were my main focus when looking at this area of their learning. Student A remains at each task for only a short amount of time, he requires movement and does not remain seated for periods of more that five to ten minutes, though is highly motivated by the use of an i-pad or laptop. Student B is transitioning back into the classroom after working from an individual program and shortened attendance due to behavioral concerns throughout 2020. Student B is very reliant on the relationships he forms with familiar staff members and his behavior reflects this, he can have violent outbursts and is currently supported by a Behavior Support Plan (BSP) (Appendix 10).

Finally I used the 2021 Semester One reports to ensure that my focus learner selection was providing me with a wide range of learners that would allow me to develop my skills in differentiation over a range of areas (Appendices 11-14).

1D - Content For The Program Of Learning

The content for the learning program is created based primarily on the Victorian Curriculum, specifically focusing on levels B to Foundation in mathematics. My primary focus was on number and algebra, while also ensuring that I was teaching to the full curriculum.

I used the student goals as the basis for my planning, these were created with the support of the leading teachers, paraprofessionals, including speech and occupational therapist, and the families of each student. This was done through Student Support Group (SSG) meetings and Professional Learning Team (PLT) meeting earlier in the year and reviewed at the completion of Semester One.

Through my understanding of the students in my class I also knew it was vital to keep a structured and routine learning program where students could practice and develop their skills and understanding in a familiar context before extending asking them to apply their knowledge in new ways.

During the 6 Weeks of this inquiry the state of Victoria was also in lockdown due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this played a major role in the determining the program for learning as I needed to adapt the planners and method of delivery to be completed remotely.

I have attached and annotated the planner I used and adapted during the inquiry process (Appendices 15-20), which show the differentiation used to ensure all students could access the program through the use of ICT.

1E - My Evidence Of Prior Knowledge Of Learners

Prior to planning the content for learning in Mathematics it was important for me to have a clear understanding of the students' prior knowledge. This began at the beginning of the year when I engaged in professional conversations with their teachers from 2020 in which we discussed each student individually to pass on information relating to their strengths, interests, behaviours, home lives and any areas in which they require additional support. I met with each family in an SSG at the beginning of the year to introduce myself, discuss the families hopes for the year and the proposed goals.

I was also able to access the students past assessment documents including their previous school reports, goal trackers, student profiles and any BSP's or assessments that were available to me on the shared drive. I then used these to form an initial understanding of the students within my class and from there was able to use observation and informal assessment strategies to create the individual student goals at the beginning of the year.

I completed assessments and wrote reports for each student upon the completion of Semester One, within which I was able to comment on each students level of achievement, their behaviour and the areas they needed further support in.

1F - Learning Outcomes for the Program of Learning

Student A

In a structured setting, with visual and verbal prompts, Student A will use materials to complete single digit addition and subtraction tasks to find one more or one less.

Student B

In a structured setting, with visual and verbal prompts, Student B will identify numerals from one to ten and make collections to match.

Student C

In a structured setting, with visual and verbal prompts, Student C will consistently use materials to solve addition and subtraction problems with collections up to 10.

Student D

In a structured setting, with visual and verbal prompts, Student D will consistently count collections up to five using one-to-one correspondence.

Differentiated Curriculum.
Individualised goals.
Frequent feedback via the Seesaw App.
High expectations for all students.
Consistently reflecting on learning outcomes and teaching practice.
Celebrating Successes.
Conversations with students and families to understand and modify level of prompting.
Conversations with students to discuss their perceived level of success.
Adaptation of activities and instruction.
Adaptation or extension of goals.

Additional Support

Differentiated Curriculum.
Individualised goals.
Frequent feedback via the Seesaw App.
Point of need teaching.
Consistently reflecting on learning outcomes and teaching practice.
Celebrating Successes.
Conversations with students and families to understand and modify level of prompting.
Adapting instruction to meet individual need.
Consistent communication with families.
Breaking down goals into smaller achievable parts.
Making sure sensory and other needs are met to best allow students to access the content.

My plan for students who need:

Extending

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers addressed in this section:

Standard 1.1

Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students.

Standard 1.2

Understand how students learn.

Standard 1.5

Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.

Standard 1.6

Strategies to support full participation of students with disability.

Standard 1.3

Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Standard 2.1

Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area.

Standard 2.3

Curriculum, assessment and reporting.

Standard 2.6

Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Standard 3.1

Establish challenging learning goals.

Standard 3.7

Engage parents / carers in the educative process

Standard 4.1

Support student participation.

Standard 5.1

Assess student learning.

Standard 5.2

Provide feedback to students on their learning.

Standard 5.4

Interpret student data.

Standard 5.5

Report on student achievement.

Standard 6.1

Engage with colleagues and improve practice.

Standard 7.3

Engage with the parents/carers.