David Brown: When the special classes started, we had two classes start, a junior primary class and an upper primary class. The junior primary class presented as a typical special class with similar needs to a lot of the others that you would come across. The upper primary class within the first week we found out was a lot different. The students were exhibiting a lot of violence, aggression, swearing and an inability to self-regulate how they feel all the time.

Tevita Ikahihifo: We had multiple suspensions, take-homes, classroom trashing, running around the school, we had runaways, people refusing to transition from one class to another, stealing other people's properties and things like that.

Sarah Anstey: Student Support Services offers a range of services to preschools and schools. We have multidisciplinary teams, so we have speech pathology, social work, psychology and we have specialist educators, so in special education and behaviour support. They work together as a multidisciplinary team to work closely with preschools and schools in assisting children and young people to engage in their learning and improve their well-being outcomes. We do this both individual one-on-one but we also do this proactively to work with preschools and schools to develop their capacity. It's really important for us to work closely with preschools and schools to ensure our services are really meeting the needs of the children in that school but also that the needs of the teachers are met with what we deliver. We really value collaborating with parents, families and carers and also obviously that we're child centred, so we're really focused on the needs of the individual child.

David Brown: We contacted our special educator initially because that's our first point of contact.

Diane Brownlee: The special educator works with the parents and the families of the children to make sure that the plans are developed and that everyone's happy with it. There are evidence-based practice implemented into their plans. The school's role is to implement those plans into action and the special educator has a role in helping with that as well.

Kari Walsh: The role of the psychologist is to consult with sites in terms of student needs including behaviour, learning and well-being. So I supported the school through developing a, I guess a training, professional development opportunity around understanding trauma in the classroom which specifically targeted the teachers understanding of what those behaviours mean and rather than it being through a behaviour management lens we looked at it through a trauma lens. It was reframing it for them and providing them, I guess permission to almost engage in a more flexible learning approach and it was more about focusing on the relationship and getting these kids to feel safe within a classroom and safe with one another.

Tevita Ikahihifo: That gave us a better knowledge of how to approach trauma kids because initially we were trying to enforce the law, the school rules and values. However after the psychologist taught us not engage with them where their heightened or in fight or flight mode. However giving them play-based things so that way they can calm themselves down.

David Brown: She also provided a training information session to our whole school because these kids spend so much of the time outside of the class as well as inside the class we really needed the school to be on board and this was a completely new approach that we did for these students, something we had never done before. After working with these students over the course of that first year these students are absolutely amazing! They're some of our most fun well-respected students in the school. They are fully engaged back in the classroom. We get reports from outside in the community as well as the staff around the school. They cannot believe how amazing these students are now and we're so proud of what they've been able to achieve from where they started.

Kari Walsh: I know this sounds like it's a cliche but the best thing about working with schools and preschools is the support and developing a really positive and collaborative working relationship with each site. We trust one another and in order to, I guess affect change, we need to have those sorts of relationships with our sites.

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Jen Bratovic: Brandon is a member of the disability unit at Para Hills. He has an intellectual disability, is an Aboriginal student and a child in care. He was very shy, he was hard to make a relationship with, he was reluctant to talk and you know, you might get a one or two word response out of him. But he had a twinkle in his eye and you know, he was appealing and nice to work with.

Emma Ramke: What we provide for students is a very individualised curriculum with a very individual focus around what each student wants and needs. We work with families to establish really clear learning goals and outcomes and are really pivotal in the planning of their post school life and that's where I think that we saw a really significant turnaround for Brandon, is supporting him to make those lifelong decisions from an early age. Brandon's schooling throughout year nine and ten was extremely complex. He was often referred to me through behaviour support, refused to engage in any level of learning.

Jen Bratovic: My role with Brandon was actually more to help and support Emma and his class teachers and support people in the unit and Support Services are invited in and sometimes we do have an active role and you know, conducting observations and so on in the classroom but it was more trying to find a creative way that we could support and engage Brandon.

Teresa Bruno: The role of a behaviour support educator in Support Services is to support schools and sites, students and families around students who are experiencing difficulties, issues with engaging within education and most importantly it's our role to support all of those key providers so that students experience a sense of wellbeing, a sense of engagement so that they can actually experience success in learning.

Frank Macri: For Brandon it was about making sure that we ensured education continued that the we transitioned him back in the school and we maintained our relationships with him to be successful.

Emma Ramke: So what do you remember about Frank and Teresa, the behaviour coaches and Jen as the special educator?

Brandon: They turned me around so I don't get suspended, or exclusion and I didn't and I did the right thing. I listened to them and then did my work and complete.

Emma Ramke: What was your goal that you set yourself?

Brandon: Finishing my work, completing my work, finish year twelve and mum and dad proud of me.

Emma Ramke: Brandon is one of those people that you can be very proud to say that he was your student. He's now completed his year twelve, he has his graduation next week, he has left with his modified SACE, he's met his own personal goal, he's registered with a school leaver employment service, he's independent living and has turned into a young man.

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