FHS philosophy to student diversity and inclusion
FHS Site Context Statement discusses student diversity in terms of the Volleyball and Music Program as well as VET. There is no mention of inclusion for students with a disability, ESL students or any other type of diversity. However, FHS’s Site Improvement Plan 2018-2020 discusses ‘Leading innovation in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment for the diversity of students’, similarly the moto is “Our commitment to excellence, supporting every student and every teacher to be their best, is the basis of all our work”. In further depth FHS discusses strategies such as termly tracking, reviews of NEPS and focusing on students using language for assessment, students with disabilities, special needs, Aboriginal students and students under the guardianship on the Minister. These are the priorities for FHS reflected in their published information. On the school’s website, there are strict policies on bullying, attendance, uniform, parent interaction with the school, social media and support. These policies are put in place to allow FHS to practice equality and create a peaceful environment where all issues are dealt with a clear producer to minimise issues. The principle explained to me that these policies are put into place to create an inclusive school for all divers students, which in turn creates a positive school philosophy. The content learnt in the education subject Differentiation for Diverse Learners, I believe is on par with the philosophy, principles and practice of inclusion at FHS. The staff and students have created a safe educational space which practices teaching for differentiation and inclusion.
How the philosophy embodied in the vision statement is practiced at FHS
Despite the limited time I spent at FHS, it was obvious that the philosophy about differentiation and inclusion discussed in the Vision Statement is practiced by the students and teachers. Through observation over eight weeks and numerous conversations with different personnel it is clear how much time and staff are dedicated to upholding the philosophy and enact it in practice. More specifically, all year level co-ordinators circulate classrooms at random, working with students and teachers to insure the polices are being positively implemented. With a bullying, attendance, uniform, social media and special need issues or concerns, the year level coordinator deals with it first. The reason for this is to ensure FHS has consistency with practicing inclusion and differentiation, therefore students understand responses will be the same no matter the student or the teacher. SSO’s, councillors and special needs teachers, similar again, work with particular students and teachers regularly to enable each student a fair and equal education, revising the NEP plans in case of need for change and working with using ‘language as assessment’ students. Some of these interactions between staff and students are in the classroom and others are during other scheduled hours in order to uphold FHS’s philosophy of catering for the diversity of all students in an inclusive manner.
The extent of the school practices aligns with the philosophy, principles and practices of differentiation
Like any school there are some teachers that are more passionate and make it a priority to practice the FHS philosophy than other teachers. Overall, I believe the attitudes of the students and staff reflect the philosophy and principles of the schools’ differentiation and inclusion schemes. FHS’s strengths are that almost all teachers practice the philosophy and principles consistently in all subject areas, staff meetings, casual conversations and during moderation with other schools. I believe the philosophy, principles and practices are most implemented towards year 8’s to instil the beliefs as they progress through the school. One area that FHS may want to continue to work towards is assisting new staff and students understand these principles, as it was clear that some new teachers and students were unclear of practices and principles.