Manor Lakes P-12 College includes a Support Centre for students with additional learning needs. Our first learning house, Eildon, opened in 2009 and has a capacity of 44 students. Eildon has 6 purpose built classrooms each with a shared kitchen and bathroom facility. Eildon is our early years learning house and includes a developmental playroom and a sensory room. Students access a range of specialist programs including physical education, art, library and performing arts. In 2011, two of our early years classrooms were located in another learning house amongst other like-aged peers, creating increased opportunities for inclusion and aided in creating a strong sense of community across the school.
In 2012 we will begin utilising our middle years Support Centre building named Dalaroo. This building features similar classroom features to that of Eildon; however, has a canteen styled kitchen with four mini kitchens. Students in the middle years Support Centre will increase their focus on functional academics and independent living skills programs. Students will continue to participate in specialist programs and will also begin to access focused ‘discovery’ (elective) subjects.
All students who attend the Support Centre have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that outlines their goals for the year. These goals are set through a collaborative Student Support Group (SSG) meeting at the beginning of the year with parents, families, teachers and other relevant allied health professionals. The IEP guides the curriculum delivery, assessment and reporting for students in the Support Centre and allows for the modification of all curriculum areas. This document is different to an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that is more common in the regular school and involves modifications to only some identified curriculum areas.
The Support Centre curriculum is based on the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). A functional and integrated approach is taken in relation to student learning with language and communication a key focus. The development of communication, oral language and conversational skills, which encourage social interaction and independence are fundamental to each child’s learning. Alongside speech we use a range of augmentative communication systems including signing, picture symbols and photographs in order to cater for students with a variety of communicative needs. Each Support Centre has a safe and secure playground for those students requiring clearly defined boundaries and alternative to the main playground. These playgrounds allow for outside play and gross motor activities and are easily accessible from classrooms within the Support Centre learning houses.
Running alongside the Support Centre model is the Alliance model. This is Manor Lakes College unique inclusive education model where Support Centre classes and regular classes are aligned with each other creating important inclusive learning opportunities. The Alliance model enables a positive, safe and flexible learning environment that allows all students to feel accepted and valued regardless of their ability. Teachers work in partnership and collaborate to create purposeful and diverse learning opportunities for all students. For further information about Manor Lakes College and the Support Centre, please
contact us.