Externally funded service providers

Some children with disability may benefit from allied health and specialist therapies. Examples include physiotherapy, speech pathology and occupational therapy.

In most cases, these therapies can be delivered at home or in a therapist's office. Some therapies may be best delivered in school during school time.

The NSW Department of Education and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) recommend that therapy services funded through a child's NDIS support plan are best delivered outside of school time.

This allows the school to focus on teaching your child and all other students, and ensures your child does not miss out on important learning time.

Schools work with both parents and allied health providers to meet the needs of students and support their learning development. This may include sharing information about the student and what adjustments might work best to support them.

The principal is responsible for deciding when and how therapy services are delivered in the school. The Principal will make decisions that ensure the school is able to run to benefit all students without disrupting learning.

External providers flowchart (PDF 310KB)

How to request services to be provided at school

Process for - External providers KSPS (PDF 170KB)

Your ongoing role when a provider is working in a school

Under your child's NDIS plan, you will have a service agreement with the provider you have chosen for your child's therapy support. This means you will continue to have a role which includes:

• Letting the therapy provider know that the school has agreed to them working with your child at school at the agreed times and any other conditions.
• Telling the therapy provider as soon as possible if your child is absent from school on a day when the provider is scheduled to attend.
• Telling the service provider if other activities at the school mena that therapy cannot take place eg sports carnivals, excursions or special events.
• Meeting or talking regularly with school staff to review your child's personalised learning and support plan (PLSP).

Requests to complete assessment or provide information to external support providers

1. Purpose and Relevance:
   Teachers should only complete assessments or provide information that is relevant to the student’s learning and support needs within the school context.

2. Collaboration and Consent:

   • Collaboration between teachers, allied health providers, parents/carers, and school leadership is important.
   • Ensure appropriate consent has been obtained from parents/carers before sharing student information or completing assessments for external providers.

3. Use of Existing Data:
   Teachers are encouraged to use existing assessment data, observations, and reports rather than conducting additional formal assessments unless specifically trained and required.

4. Time and Workload Considerations:
   Completing assessments for allied health providers should be reasonable and not impose excessive workload on teachers. Requests should be managed through the school leadership team to prioritise and allocate time.

For more information on Externally funded service providers visit the link below

Externally funded service providers

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