Report released:Australian Senate inquiry report into education of students with a disability

You might have seen reference to the release the report of a Senate inquiry into the education of students with a disability in the mainstream press over the weekend. While it is still the long school holidays (here in NSW at least), it might an ideal time to look at what the report could mean for our children, and issues to look out for,  and to seek solutions:

Australian Senate inquiry report into education of students with a disability - a brief review

Catia Malaquias,  Starting with Julius, 17 January 2016

... In my view a noteworthy recommendation is that the Commonwealth government should work with the States to establish a national strategy that recognises all students with disability as learners and to “drive the cultural change required to achieve this, particularly at school leadership level”. The importance of school culture to the effectiveness of inclusive education and inclusive strategies is often under-appreciated – but the Committee clearly recognised the adverse isolated and combined effect of numerous cultural limitations ...... (The) Committee in acknowledging “the question of which sort of education produces the best outcomes for students: inclusion in ‘mainstream’ schools or classes or via special-purposes schools” also acknowledged that “the weight of evidence is firmly on the side of mainstream inclusion” ...

Government must address barriers that hurt students with disability: ReportSenator Rachel Siewert (Greens, WA), 15 January 2016

Inadequate support and numerous barriers are impacting levels of access and attainment for students with disability in Australian schools, a Senate Committee report has revealed today ...

Australian schools failing children with disabilities, Senate report finds

Louise Milligan, 7:30 (ABC TV), 15 January 2016

Students with disabilities are being shut out and denied a future by school systems that assume they have nothing to contribute, a Senate report into education and disability has found ... video 8m 13s

Added 19 January 2016:

NSW Council for Intellectual Disability reponse to Senate inquiry into the education of students with a disability

Down Syndrome NSW Education Conference 2016:

EMBRACING SUCCESS - Realising the Potential

17 - 18 March 2016

Registration is now open