Students with additional needs

Abstract

Not long ago, I had the opportunity of visiting several Victorian government schools that had been identified by the state education department as having student outcomes below expected levels. The schools included both primary and secondary and covered metropolitan and country areas. Many features of these schools were similar to those I had seen in other struggling primary and secondary schools I had visited over previous years in my role as an external reviewer for Victorian schools, or as a part of other school-based projects with which I had been involved. Although such schools were relatively few in number, their situations left a lasting impression. My experiences in these schools always prompted the question as to whether the students had the opportunity to gain an effective, relevant and high-quality education - an opportunity equal to that of other children in the state and the nation and appropriate for the children of a wealthy First World country.