Additional Needs

St Joseph’s Laurieton is a fully inclusive school catering for students of all abilities. Students who require additional academic and social support are identified by our teachers through observation and learning assessments. The teachers at St Joseph’s are experienced in making program adjustments and writing Personalised Plans in consultation with families and other professionals to cater for individual needs. We are also privileged to employ a number of Co Teachers and Teacher Assistants to offer Intervention Programs to support students in achieving academic growth. As a team we take ownership of all our students and endeavour to work with families to provide a positive and productive learning experience for everyone.

Teacher Assistants: Classes are supported by Teaching Assistants who can provide support in a 1:1 or small group setting within the classroom as required. If your child is experiencing difficulty in understanding a particular set of instructions or topic area, our high adult to child ratios ensure there is always someone available to assist them.

Speech Therapy: Our Speech Therapist is available to conduct Speech and Language Assessments and short term therapy for students needing assistance in this area.

Well Being and Counselling: A Well Being Team has been established at St Joseph’s to support students experiencing social and emotional difficulties. In consultation with parents, our School Councillor is available to run individual and small group short term therapy sessions for students if they require assistance in this area.

Intervention Programs: At St Joseph's we understand that children learn in different ways. In order to provide high quality education for all,  St Joseph's provides follows a Response to Intervention model.  The Response to Intervention (RTI) model is designed to meet individual needs to ensure high quality inclusive teaching for all.

Tier One	Focuses on high quality, inclusive teaching using proven instructional methods.
Tier Two	Provides small group, targeted, evidence based instruction with increased intensity to support mastery of a concept.
Tier Three	Includes one to one, high intensity and frequency support to achieve a pre-determined goal.

St Joseph's Primary School provides a range of research-based interventions including Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU), Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI), MiniLit, MacqLit, Support a Talker, and Reading Our Way to meet the learning needs of the students in our care. 

If you have any questions regarding your child’s learning, your best starting point is your classroom teacher. As the person who works with your child every day, they are best placed to answer any questions. Your class teacher will then work in conjunction with our Additional Needs Teacher, to liaise with the Catholic Schools Office Inclusion Team, to implement support strategies that will enable your child to reach their full potential.