What is a personalised plan for learning and support?
A personalised plan for learning and support is also known as an Individual Education Plan (IEP), and an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). It’s developed for a student with disabilities or complex learning needs. The plan is about access and equity in education and outlines the “reasonable adjustments” that need to be made to provide students with access to teaching, learning and the general education experience. The provision of reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities is mandated by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education which apply across Australia.
In this section:
What's included in a personalised plan for learning and support?
Where does assistive technology fit into a personalised plan for learning and support?
What’s included in a personalised plan for learning and support?
A personalised plan for learning and support is likely to focus on some or all of the following, as well as any support and adjustments needed:
- academic strategies and progress
- communication strategies and progress
- physical health and needs
- independence skills, including building capacity to study and self-care independently
- socialisation skills and peer connection issues
- general emotional well being
- self-regulation and behaviour skills.
Other things that might be included in a personalised plan for learning and support could include:
Curriculum adjustments
For children with intellectual or cognitive impairment, adjustments could be critical to their participation in the classroom and their academic progress.
Curriculum adjustments are not an alternative program and must not result in students being left in a corner of the class, doing their own separate lesson disengaged from the rest of the class. Instead they are physical adjustments, or interventions which mean the student can learn alongside their peers. Universal Design for Learning is a great framework for including every student in active learning.
Education assistant support
It’s important to ask specific questions about your child’s support.
How often and when is support being provided? If an education or teacher assistant is included, it’s important that the student is included. The relationship between assistant and student is crucial to the plan’s success. Will there be an education or teacher assistant and if so how many and when? Where possible, when exploring aide support it is important that the student be consulted.
Where does assistive technology fit into a personalised plan for learning and support?
The adjustments outlined in the plan may include some forms of assistive technology (AT). It’s important to keep in mind that AT’s role is to assist a student’s learning. It doesn’t replace good teaching, but it can be used in addition to well-designed instruction. AT has been proven to help students with their self-confidence, and independent study. It’s also been shown to help students to:
- Work more quickly and more accurately
- Navigate classroom routines
- Organise their timetables
- Work on areas of weakness. For example, a student has reading issues but has good listening skills, text-to-speech tools might be useful.
You can read more about choosing the right tools for your child on our dedicated page.