With two students in every classroom having Developmental Language Disorder, and many more students in each classroom with other forms of communication difficulties, schools are seeking ways they can best support these students within their schools. They are looking for ways to build staff capacity to provide this support, as well as direct support for these students, to ensure that each child is provided access to a learning program that suits their individual needs, within the school environment.
Department of Education Schools in the North Metropolitan region have the opportunity to participate in the Pilot program. Schools participating in the Pilot are provided the opportunity to have a DOE speech pathologist to work on site regularly with staff and / or students according to the School’s need.
The SPiS Program Coordinator works with the participating School to understand the work of a school based speech pathologist, and to determine what services the speech pathologist would provide and how they could be best utilized in each school. A service agreement is developed and regularly reviewed and adjusted to ensure the school is receiving the required service.
All speech pathologists appointed to schools participate in a full induction program including Department online PL, and PL in a range of assessments, programs, curriculum and interpersonal skills to ensure that the school receives a staff member who is ready to work in a school environment. Ongoing training, support, review and performance development is also provided.
Schools select the number of days that they wish to have a speech pathologist in their school, and commit a minimum of one year to the Pilot Program. After the year, the school might select to continue in the Program, take their SP on as part of their staff, or cease participation in the Pilot. Schools might also elect to increase their FTE. Schools are able to commence with the Pilot at any time during the year, although the start of the school is the best time to commense.
The Pilot commenced in 2021 and has grown in size more than 15-fold. Interested schools are able to apply for the Pilot at any point in the year. Schools are appointed a speech pathologist based on suitability, availability and date of request. As demand is very high, schools are advised to apply as early as possible. The pilot program is approved to run until January of 2026 at this stage.
The Pilot Program operates through host schools (like the NEMLDC) under the Office of the North Metro Regional Director.
Key links
- Download the service flyer here
- To view the terms of service of the program, please click here.
- North Metro schools, to register for the pilot program, please click here.
- To hear more about the program and hear schools’ first hand experiences in a recorded information session, please click here.
- To learn more about how speech pathologists can be used most effectively in your school here (16m Speech Pathology Australia video) – recommended before signing up
Are you a speech pathologist who is interested in working in the LDC or as part of this amazing program?
Please see here for more information or email Cindy.Stirling@education.wa.edu.au
Speech Pathologist or Speech Therapist?
This is a very common question, what is the difference?
There is no difference.
The titles speech pathologist and speech therapist are both used to describe the same profession – people who work with communication difficulties and impairments. In Australia the title ‘Speech Pathologist’ is the preferred title, according to Speech Pathology Australia.