Meeting

Well we had our meeting with the new principal today. It went for just over an hour - so I can't say he isn't interested in hearing what we have to say and in making adjustments for Hannah - he wanted to talk about what a mainstream school could deliver... He has a logical approach - took notes and at the end ran through the things that he was going to follow up on. Whilst being supportive of the classroom teacher he has clearly recognised that she is floundering - and has said that he will work with her on this area. He also made it clear that it won't happen overnight.

Things that were discussed:

Physical environment. The classroom is small and the furniture mismatched etc - new furniture will be bought that hopefully will create a more functional environment. (One where the ridiculous rows of desks goes I hope and sets of group activity stations will be set up instead)
The use of a peer buddy will be investigated a bit further. - I gather that means he will find out how she is being used at the moment and see if that is the best model.
Strategies for the teacher - he will be discussing being more firm with her - she is too lenient at the moment. Also involving Hannah more in the class activities - eg pointing to pictures or words in the story book, using the 'green mat' etc. Using rewards system for compliance (we did stress that Hannah is actually a very compliant little girl - for a 6 year old!lol)
He has worked a lot with kids with autism and schools with satellite classes etc and has a really positive attitude towards disability. He is going to look at helping the teacher use visuals similar to what he is used to with the kids with ASD - pics as palmcards.
He is concerned about Hannah's timetable in the afternoons where there is no aid time and she is given a lot of free (and sometimes unsupervised) playtime. Will discuss with librarian ways of getting her included in the library wordprocessing sessions. I mentioned the colourful stickers we could trial on the keyboard to allow her to log in - and maybe then let her go to a website where she can work self sufficiently or modify what the others are doing so she can be included.
We discussed using the ipad as a tool - that is being more directive in HOW and WHEN she can use it. I showed him a couple of the 'best apps' and mentioned how they could be used to facilitate group sessions.
The communication book - the teacher is going to be reminded to make use of this - and he will be looking at it to see the history from kindy through to the present time.
I reiterated that my preference was for aid time to be used IN the class alongside her typical peers.
He asked our attitude about the twins being separated - to which we made it clear that we did not think they needed to be specifically separated.
He also said that the special needs teacher at the HS they are a feeder for is very good... nice to hear! I hope she stays. He also mentioned that he is planning to be there when Hannah has finished year 6 so hopefully he will be able to continue to see her about. So he is planning to be there for the long term which is great.
So lots of food for thought. I think we are on the same page - and now it is about building up that partnership and getting results for Hannah and by default some of the other weaker kids in that class...