Services work with parents and carers of children with additional needs to develop a program that supports their individual needs and learning goals.
This includes looking at what supports and adjustments are needed for children to feel happy, safe and included to fully participate in the program. In some instances, assistance will be provided through a program called Kindergarten Inclusion Support.
Support may also involve services working around any regular appointments children have, for example, with occupational and speech therapists. At some services this may include facilitating appointments onsite.
A service may set up a group to support a child’s inclusion in kindergarten. This group will bring together key people, such as therapists and other health professionals as well as family members and the child’s kindergarten teacher, to plan for how to best support a child to participate and learn at kinder. This is referred to as a ‘Program Support Group’.
Pre-School Field Officers can work with services to build the capacity of early childhood teachers to make sure children’s needs are met at kinder. They can help services to link families to supports and services.
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