Students Support System DelayThursday, June 10, 2010 Members StatementsMS WOOLDRIDGE -- I rise to express concern that children who need extra assistance at school are being forced to wait for an unreasonable time. Ashley Ryan, the highly respected principal at Birralee Primary School in my electorate, has contacted me regarding the new student support services saying: I am extremely disappointed and angry with the new system -- it is a retrograde step. The new system is unwieldy, time-consuming and of lower quality than that we previously had. As a result of this new regime, parents with a child in need are kept waiting to see a therapist, sometimes over a month longer than would have happened previously. This can affect a child's performance and attitude at school. Failures in the new system include a highly bureaucratic process; long waits to even begin the process; multiple covering letters, consent forms, school referral forms and family information forms; and more waiting and administration before the application is finally considered for allocation of support staff to deal with the referral. Mr Ryan has told me he has had to resort to using the school's money to hire speech therapy that was once provided by department support staff. The education department officer has admitted there remains work to be done. However, all the officer could suggest was to refer the principal back to the eastern metropolitan office, which is where he unsuccessfully started in the first place. I call on the Minister for Education to ensure that, rather than principals and teachers getting bogged down in a bureaucratic minefield, we have a system that can respond to the needs of children in an appropriate, timely and flexible manner.
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