CHILD SPECIALIST LEARNING TEAM
At Mount Sinai College, we offer an inclusive experience where your child is identified, supported and encouraged to excel. The ‘team’ is very experienced, and our approach is caring, thoughtful and proactive. The team includes the Principal, College Psychologist, Curriculum Development Coordinator - Behaviour and Learning Culture, Enrichment (Gifted and Talented) Coordinator, Learning Enhancement Coordinator, Infants and Jewish Studies Coordinator, Well-being Coordinator and others who may have a positive impact on your child.
Special Ed Programs
- Minilit- small group work
- Multilit- 1:1 reading intervention
- Phonemic Awareness -Early intervention Kindergarten
Assessment Tools
- SPAT- Sutherland Phonemic Awareness Test
- The Minilit Placement Test
- Multilit Word Attack Skills placement Test
- YARC- York Assessment for Reading Comprehension
Available for ELC - Year 6
- Individual therapy with students
- Parenting/family support
- Consultation with class teachers
- PALS - social skills program in Prep
- Therapeutic or Story Writing
Identification Processes and Assessment:
- Parent and teacher nomination forms
- Variety of standardised ACER tests
- Off-level testing
- External educational assessments e.g. IQ tests
- In-class data, including teacher observations, work samples, reports, portfolios, performance-based assessments
- CoGAT
- Enrichematics tests
External Opportunities
- Maths Olympiad
- Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition (CAT)
- Australian Mathematics Competition
- Writing, science, creative arts, technology-related competitions
- Tournament of the Minds
- Da Vinci Decathlon
OUR BELIEF
Mount Sinai College specialist learning team takes a dynamic approach to assessment and learning. As Dr Reuven Feuerstein said, "Intelligence is not a static structure, but an open, dynamic system that can continue to develop throughout life!" By working collaboratively to develop the best learning outcomes for your child, we can foster and meet the needs of a diverse classroom and promote inclusive practice.
THE WAY WE SEE IT
It is often wrongly assumed that children will do well if they want. We believe children will do well if they can.
Our view, shaped by the extensive research of Dr Ross Green, is that some children lack the essential skills or live with unmet expectations. We aim to solve problems (social and academic) collaboratively as something we do with the child, not something we do to the child. Our school culture, climate, and discipline are based on more compassionate and effective approaches. As part of our approach, we structure teaching around effective differentiation and personalisation of learning.
We will know and support your child as much as you do! We are always searching for areas of ‘learning potential’ in contrast to the ‘static measurement’ of current performance alone.
We look forward to working with you to support your child(ren).
