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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 2 Hansard (6 March) . . Page.. 695 ..

Central office is:

providing behaviour management consultancy services to support schools with programs and strategies for teaching and managing students who are experiencing behavioural, emotional or social problems.

supporting teacher professional learning in child and adolescent development and behaviour

providing appropriate training in whole school approaches to issues such as flexibility of teaching practice, behaviour management and gender equity and inclusivity

Three examples of specific programs and their structures are:

The Ginninderra Alternative Program (GAP) at Ginninderra District High School. GAP is a flexible educational program for 15-18 year old students with issues such as learning difficulties or difficult family circumstances and who have not completed their year 10 certificates.

The Flex program at Calwell High School. Twelve students are involved in this offline program. The program is for students who are not successfully engaging in mainstream programs and focuses on three functional key learning areas and pre-vocational courses.

The Northside and Southside High School Student Support Centres provide short term intervention for students who are experiencing significant difficulties in engaging in education programs. These centres are located at Belconnen and Tuggeranong Youth Centres and provide more flexible, supportive environments. Programs aim at developing personal and social skills, such as anger management, conflict resolution and communication skills as well as an educational focus on literacy, numeracy and IT skills. Referrals to the centre are initiated by schools.

(3) Students who are experiencing behavioural, emotional, educational or social problems of such a serious nature that they require intensive intervention are able to be withdrawn from their school and placed in specialist programs. The aim of these programs is to encourage and support behaviour change in students and to improve their capacity to manage their behaviour in mainstream schools. The department has a referral process in place that provides procedural guidelines for schools seeking to withdraw a student from their mainstream programs. Extensive consultation is required with parents or carers, the school counsellor, and any other agencies or professionals involved in the welfare of the student.

(4) As outlined in (1) and (2) above, professional learning is a priority to assist teachers in managing students at risk. Teachers are supported to attend a range of professional development activities including workshops, seminars and conferences.

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