Special Education

The Special Education Faculty at J J Cahill MHS currently supports 45 students with special needs. The Special Education staff includes five Special Education Teachers and five School Learning Support Officers who are highly committed to providing all students with the best possible learning opportunities.

Through the development and implementation of specific teaching and learning programs, students are able to access the Life Skills curriculum, elective classes taught by mainstream teachers as well as a number of post-school options which will allow them to make a successful transition into adulthood and the world of further education, training or work.

Explore NESA's Special Education page

Curriculum Overview

All students in the faculty must complete courses of study within the core subject areas of the Life Skills curriculum which is divided into different Key Learning Areas for Years 7 -12.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching programs are developed in accordance with the  Life Skills Syllabus stages 4, 5 and 6.

The planning, preparation and implementation of teaching programs is an involved and necessary process designed to ensure that all students are given every opportunity to access the Life Skills Curriculum and therefore learn alongside each other.

Programming, teaching and learning are viewed as a shared responsibility and as a partnership between students, teachers, parents and support agencies where necessary.

A collaborative approach to teaching and learning also ensures that individual students' needs are being addressed and met through the development of Individual Education Plans and Transition Planning.

Teaching and learning programs reflect:

• Clear and specific learning outcomes as prescribed in the Life Skills Syllabus.
• Long, medium and short term planning.
• Teacher and student expectations for learning and the opportunity for extensions.
• Assessment schedules and formative assessment data.
• Teaching strategies to address different learning styles and levels of ability.
• Key subject vocabulary.
• Whole class involvement in learning as well as individual and group learning
  opportunities.
• Cross-curricular programming in literacy, numeracy and I.C.T.
• Community Access Programs which allow students to access community venues and services
• Sequencing, progression and continuity of learning experiences for whole class, group or individual students.
• Ongoing individual revision and assessment strategies.
• Efficient and accurate registration.
• Regular refinement, modification and improvement of teaching and learning contents.
• Teacher self- assessment opportunities.

 Explore Transition Planning at J J Cahill MHS