A Resource for Teachers and School Learning Support Officers

Student Services Riverina Region
Rationale
“At the heart of the school as a learning community, lies a total commitment to the value of
learning for all members. This commitment is underpinned by beliefs that learning is
inherently enjoyable and exhilarating, that all members have the capacity to learn and that
each person brings to the organisation unique abilities which must be acknowledged and
utilised.”
School as Learning Communities
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 that is formulated under the Commonwealth
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (the Act), requires reasonable steps to be undertaken to
ensure that a student with a disability is able to participate, on the same basis as a student
without a disability.
In a school community, the role undertaken by a School Learning Support Officer (SLSO)
will play a vital role to support the implementation of reasonable adjustments, as identified in
the student’s support plan.
Every school and every teacher has obligations to students with disability under
international, national and state legislation. These include:
• the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006,
• Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992) and the Disability Standards
for Education (2005) and
• a range of State legislation in NSW, including
• the Education Act 1990 - sets out the education rights of every child in New
South Wales and provisions for education services
• Anti Discrimination Act 1977
• Workplace, Health and Safety 2011 - sets out obligations for ensuring health
and safety for students, school staff and others.
• Disability Services Act 1993 - requires that services are provided so that they
enable people with disabilities to participate and achieve their full potential.
Riverina SLSO Guidelines 2012. Adapted from Illawarra and South Region J.Agzarian 3