School: Holland Street School
Partner: National Disability Coordination Officer Program
Holland Street School is located in the centre of a regional town in Western Australia and has 28 students ranging from four to 18 years of age. The students at the school all share a common diagnosis of an identified intellectual disability. The school is dedicated to providing each of the students with the opportunity to develop their potential, and to use innovative ways to improve student outcomes in the areas of self-care, social skills, communication, emotional development, academic advancement and preparing for employment.
The school has combined with various stakeholders to form a committee called the ‘Geraldton Transition Pathways Group’, committed to assisting in the transition of young people with disability and creating clear pathways for individuals to make their mark in the wider community. The group includes representatives from the National Disability Coordination Officer Program, DEEWR; Geraldton Regional Community Education Centre; Disability Services Commission; Central West TAFE; Geraldton Personnel Inc – Disability Employment Network; and the Department of Education and Training of Western Australia – Participation Team.
The committee has identified that the transition process through school and beyond for individuals with disabilities in Geraldton can be disorganised and lacking in structure, focus and continuity. In response to this, the proposed project aims to provide professionals from each of the partnership organisations (as well as other stakeholders)with training that focuses on creating a collaborative approach, and through this, creates a consistent facilitation of individual transition plans for students with disabilities in Geraldton.
The program is designed so that students and families recognise and understand a student’s needs themselves, and all parties work towards the creation of a learning plan based on the unique goals, dreams, skills and experiences of each individual student. Service providers will then collaborate to meet individual needs, and thereby improve the quality and frequency of the information sharing that takes place among organisations and services. Training of service providers will also facilitate service continuity for individuals as they work through the program.
The program shows strong links among many community partners and a great deal of potential for the ongoing use of skills created, which will benefit those with special needs beyond the initial stages of the program as they fulfil roles in the broader community.
Funding from the Schools First Awards will be used to organise necessary resources and to continue to develop links between organisations and services.
