diversity and inclusion profile

I have a few days till my teaching placement which starts on Monday. My stress levels have gone down as I think I have prepared enough for the first week. I am still unwell but I have all of tomorrow to do more organizing and to finish my History assignment. I have prepared a menu sheet for the first week of school about the Peramangk people of the Adelaide hills. I am organizing the groups from a pre-assessment I am giving on Monday.

PROFILE OF THE SCHOOL:

This is a reflection on HPS from my initial observations in term 1.
 HPS is a level 7 primary school in the Adelaide Hills. The school has 59 students with 3 classes; R-2, 3-5 and 6-7. The school also takes students from the Inverbrackie detention centre. They take 20 R-2 detention centre students who are accommodated into two classes with two TESOL teachers as well as 4-6 SSO at all times.The Inverbrackie program is included into all extra activities at the school and their students participate with the other classes as much as possible. Students in the Inverbrackie program often host and present at whole school assemblies. HPS also has one student in the main stream class with English as a Second language. This student spends time with the Inverbrackie SSO's to aid her in her English studies.
The school also has a specialist teacher in Science and Art as well as other extra-curriculum programs such as music classes, choir, gardening, sustainability and Volleyball.
HPS has 10 students with identified disabilities ranging from ASD, Dyslexia, to hearing impairments. There are no students in the school with physical disabilities that require assistance in mobility.
No students in the school are receiving finacial assistance due to economical circumstances and only one student in year 5 is identified as above average (not gifted) in maths.

Within my 3/4/5 class the teacher had to commonly address students will dyslexia, hearing impairments, behaviour management problems as well as other undiagnosed learning disabilities. Within this composite class, students were often grouped depending on which class was being taught. I found that the teacher did not group by year level and often had year threes with year fives depending on their readiness.
The teacher also used school SSO's to aid in spelling and any other work that needed aid at the time. The SSO's and volunteers were there to help the three students in the class with dyslexia during spelling classes but they were only there for 1/3 of the day.
The school also has a Quicksmart Maths program for those students identified at needing help in maths. Students from all year levels would go to an SSO twice a week in pairs to work on different math strategies. This program is run by a permanent SSO who also runs other extra-curriculum programs at the school. Students found Quicksmart to help them in the classroom math lessons and they also enjoyed attending Quicksmart. Students felt they became more confident in them self during these sessions and felt they were better prepared to learn with the other students in their class.

During the first few days at the school I noticed that Staff were constantly encouraged to attend PD days to help with special needs children at the school. My classroom teacher has informed me that the school is planning on hiring a dyslexia specialist to come into to school to train teachers and support students. In comparison to my last placement, this school is proactively attending to students needs through staff learning and providing support to students.

My mentor teacher also informed me of the number students on IEplans. Teachers and parents would often have discussions about the students progress and learning in class. Meetings with parents would be twice every term to inform of their child's progress. My mentor teacher had 4 students on an IEP and the Principal informed that 10 students in total were on IEP in the school.

The school followed the Play is the Way philosophy. Each classroom had a wall chart of the practices follow to aid in their personal, social and educational well-being. Teachers at the school actively used Play is the Way language in class and also used activities from Play is the Way in the classroom. Students were also given certificates supported by Play is the Way key philosophies during assemblies. These certificates focused on the "golden rule", "being brave", "doing your best", "saying the things you mean to say".