How the Ministry's learning support works
If your child has learning support needs you will want to make sure you're talking to the right people and getting all the support that's available to you. The Ministry of Education's learning support team can help you with this.
If your child is assessed as needing some extra learning support the Ministry's learning support team will work with your child from birth through to when they leave school.
When your child is very young they are often your first point of contact and provide an early intervention service that supports your child, your family and whānau, and your child's ECE service or kōhanga reo. They can also help with the transition to school or kura.
Once your child is at school or kura, they will support the school, kura, teachers, kaiako, you and your family and whānau to work with your child. The majority of children with learning support needs have low or moderate needs and schools and kura provide the support required for these children.
If your child is one of the small number of children with high needs, Learning Support might provide specialist help to support your child's teacher or kaiako or to work directly with your child.
The government funds the Ministry of Education, schools and kura to provide this support so you don't have to pay any fees for this learning support.
What do mild, moderate and high mean in relation to learning support needs?
Your child can be assessed to find out if there's a difficulty in some area of their development, and whether they have mild, moderate or high learning support needs. These are learning support terms that describe how much help your child will need to join in and learn alongside the children in their class. The need may be a physical disability, a sensory impairment, a learning or communication delay, a social, emotional or behavioural difficulty, or a combination of these.
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Highest level needs 3% of school-aged children (around 20,000 children) |
Early Intervention Service Ongoing Resourcing Scheme School High Health Needs Fund Severe Behaviour Service Communication Service |
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Moderate to high-level needs
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Early Intervention Service Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour Special Education Grant Regional Health Schools Moderate support for Physical, Hearing, Vision |
| Mild needs |
Early Intervention Service Special Education Grant |
Whānau and community support
It's important to form a circle of supporters and friends around your child. Specialists are not your only support.
The combined energies of a group of people can become a powerful force in your child's life, and can help you to stay connected and supported within your whānau and community.
Supporters can be anyone who cares enough about your child to give their time and energy, and who wants to help them achieve their dreams and potential.
They could be family, whānau, friends, neighbours, community members, people from local clubs, or support workers. They may be able to provide practical help, problem-solving, information gathering, listening, giving advice or sharing knowledge, being allies or advocates.
To connect with local organisations in your community check out Community support groups.
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