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1. What were your first impressions of the Special School or Unit?

Sue started her talk by explaining some essential safely measures, which were slightly confronting,
but she assured us incidents were a rarity, and this was just OHS process.
The safety measures consisted of how to best respond if you were to be bitten, or have your hair
pulled, and asked us to remove anything that dangles; earrings, watches, necklaces, anything that
might be torn from us given the opportunity.
That taken care of Sue began to explain the nature of the school and the students. The main
motivation of the school was to teach the students life skills while simultaneously fulfilling the
Australian curriculum. Belvoir ensures that the education that takes place at their school is beneficial
and students are improving their academic and practical skills.
Sues objective was to further special education, not revert to the old style of special education,
which involved more keeping people busy and entertained, rather than productive and educated

2. Give a general overview of disabilities - gained from observations during your field trip.
Belvoir is a multimode special education school. This means the students who enrol there must have
an IQ under 70. This straight ID (intellectual disability) is the requisite for enrolment, but many
students have additional disabilities. Some students are part time special school, and part time
mainstream school, most are full time special school students.
This school hosts students with learning disabilities; sever learning disabilities, children with autism,
children with physical disabilities, children with social and emotional issues or children with
vision/hearing impairment. Within this, there is a plethora of variety and varying degrees of disability,
and needs. For some of the students, the life inside Belvoir is the only one they will know, some have
degenerative diseases so the school aims to provide positive experiences. For others, their home life,
or night paddock as Sue put it, is unpleasant, so the staff seek to make their day paddock as
enjoyable as possible.
There are many amenities in place to cater for the diverse needs of all of the students attending this
school. Some students will be sensory seeks, others are sensory avoiders, there are resources for
both. There is play equipment in the yard such as trampolines; these are used to trigger senses such
as proprioceptive and vestibular senses. The rocking and pressure on joints created by the trampoline
can help a student calm down and satisfy the need.
The sensory calming room is used for de-stimming, the room is dark and has interactive light
displays, a massage chair for more pressure, things to stroke and touch and listen to.
The gym was another resource for students with specific sensory needs, as well as a part of the life
skills programme.

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Resources such as this pyramid (Visual Supports and

Beyond n.d.), were present in these areas, where
students are likely to be exercising, or working with an
OT.
Somethings that were stressed to us overall on this
visit was that these children should be looked at as
individuals, not as their disease or disability; they are
more the same than they are different.
Secondly, it is easier to change the environment than it
is to change children; if the environment is constructed
right, the children will learn.
3. What were some of the effective teaching strategies observed? Why were they
effective?
There were several strategies put in place to aid the ease of communication between students and
teachers, and students and their environment. Belvoir used the computer programme Blackboard to
create simple, instructional pictures. These pictures
were used to label cupboards and their contents in the
life skills centres of the buildings. They were used to
depict expected behaviour in particular areas, for
example, no hot drinks in some classes, or no holding
the rats without a teacher. These images were also
used to deliver instruction to class, like displaying the
days itinerary on the whiteboard so students knew
what to expect and when. This consistency and visual
representation was very beneficial in assisting many of
the students who had strong visual leaning tendencies.
Sue mentioned that verbal communication is not
enough, as they learn through their eyes.
Across the school, the Makaton sign system was used
to aid teacher and student communication. While a
conversation was carried out between teacher and
student, the teacher would accompany their words with
Makaton sign language (The Makaton Charity, 2015). Many of the students needed this visual
assistance to grasp completely the message the teacher was trying to deliver. Talking with my class
teacher, she said they use this because of the visual preference, long strings of words can be
confusing and the message lost, so the sign insures greater understanding.
Something that was emphasised in our visit to Belvoir and in research is the importance of educating
a person to function in a regular environment (Foreman, 2011, p. 408). This life skills approach can

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be seen in the layout of the school. The buildings are separated into age groups, and each of these
buildings has a central hub dedicated to learning life skills. These include everyday home activities,
such as cooking, cleaning, unpacking the dishwasher and so on. The school also teaches students
how to ride bicycles, so if they are unable to get their licence later they will still be able to travel
independently.
The activities in the classroom were predominately visual and tangible; the students were immersed in
the activity rather than using abstract concepts. Assessment for these students is goal based and
formative. Work examples and photographs of participation are what make up evidence of the
students learning; these would depict milestones of achievement. Students will often independently
work within their zone of proximal development, as this is something they are taught to do when they
arrive at the school. Students know what is too easy for them, what is challenging and progressive,
and what is too hard, they also know they are expected to not to stay in their easy zone, but to
challenge themselves.

4. What strategies were observed with respect of the management of challenging

behaviours?
Belvoir uses a School Wide Positive Behaviour model (Belvoir, 2015). This model is heavily
preventative as opposed to reactionary and involves teaching and rewarding the right behaviour
rather than punish the undesirable behaviour. This process is standard across the school, so no
matter the staff or the class, the expectations remain the same. This consistency is important for
students, and is especially beneficial for students that do not cope well with disruptions to routine. To
keep things manageable and safe, class sizes are kept to a preferable maximum of eight students,
with teachers and aides.
If a student is not complying with the positive behaviour model, there are a few avenues of
management. Belvoir is equipped with quiet rooms. Adjacent to most classrooms there is a dim lit
small room, with plush walls and a variety of furnishings, like beanbags. This is a room where, if
students feel themselves becoming over stimulated or agitated, or are told by the teacher to go to this
room, they can calm down and regain control of their behaviour in a private. These rooms are not
used as punishment, but as a tool for self-regulation, they should not gain negative connotations.
The Belvoir Triangle is a method of behaviour intervention that shows the students if they are
behaving as expected, or misbehaving.
There are 6 colours on the triangle, and where the students behaviour sits on these colours will be
indicated with a little photograph of themselves; the photograph is moved according to their behaviour.
The colour at the top of the triangle is purple, students are only placed here if they are exhibiting the
desired and encouraged behaviour and a staff member notices this. They are also told why they have
been placed in that zone.
The green zone is where the students begin the day, this zone means they are behaving as expected,
and it is the goal to remain there all day.
The next zone is the yellow zone; students are warned they are not exhibiting expected behaviours.

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The orange zone means the student is to sit and be calm for 5 minutes, if
they continue the behaviour that put them in the yellow zone.
The red zone means the student is sent to a different environment in an
effort to correct behaviour, for example, they go outside to the trampolines.
The black zone means office staff, such as the principal, assistant
principal are involved and they come and consult with the student.
This system allows students to see their position and just moving down
the triangle is enough of a deterrent. Students have the opportunity to selfmonitor and self-correct their behaviour by being aware of their position on
the triangle. The staff at Belvoir believe that disruptions to the class are
not intentional, they are just a result of poor socialisation; the student
needs to be taught how to behave, not be punished for behaviour.
Conclusion
This trip was indescribably useful from a professional point of view, considering the push for more
inclusivity in mainstream schools. I gained insight and firsthand experience with special education
students, and even though they were all perfectly behaved and polite while we were there, the staff
provided us with behaviour management strategies and scenarios. The staff and students I met were
kind, welcoming and inspirational, and the school genuinely cares about all of the students enrolled,
and their futures. This excursion showed me a variety of ways to accommodate for diversity and
create a welcoming and inclusive classroom.