Hon Heather Roy speech to the Joint New Zealand and Australia Special Education Conference; Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington; Wednesday, September 16 2009.

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou, katoa.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and thank you Fay for your warm welcome.

As a Wellington-based MP it's my pleasure to welcome you all to our capital city.  I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge our overseas delegates - particularly Associate Professor John Visser and her Majesty's Inspector Eileen Visser from the UK.

A warm welcome also to keynote speakers Fiona Forbes and James le Marquand, to the delegates from Australia - and, of course, those of you from around New Zealand.

I've been Minister responsible for Special Education since March.  I'm not telling you anything you don't already know when I say that, while filled with challenges, Special Education is an area of great rewards.

This isn't my first foray into the world of special needs: as a graduate physiotherapist in the mid-1980s, I witnessed the face of special education every day through working with children with neurological conditions.

It's hard to believe now that, at that time, children with special needs weren't part of the State education system.  That - as you know - changed in January 1990 and, today, children with special education needs have the same rights as all other children to enrol and receive education in State schools.

Looking at special education now, I see that a seismic shift has occurred.  Children with special needs are no longer isolated and tucked away; they're part of local communities.  Instead of the child having to fit the education environment, the goal today is to ensure the education environment fits the child.  Added to that, families have a right to choose which school their child attends.

We've done reasonably well, but there's still plenty more to be done - that's why we're currently reviewing the way special education operates in New Zealand.  The Review of Special education, which I am responsible for, is looking at whether the $450 million currently allocated to this area is being spent wisely and if we are getting value for money and reaching our children with vulnerabilities in education.  I'll speak more on the Review later.

In my time as Associate Minister of Education, I have seen the multiple approaches to supporting children and young people with disabilities.  I am impressed with the support that schools are providing to these students, and the ongoing commitment to enhancing education outcomes for all.  I want to ensure that there is support available to enhance the provision of this and the commitment of those involved, not reduce it.

Innovative Thinking
I'm determined that, in these tough economic times, these principles won't be compromised.  Innovation is vital in ensuring this.

With the tough economic backdrop, you'll be aware we've had to make some tough choices this year, and education is no exception.  But the Government has committed to making its largest investment in special education in more than a decade: an additional $51 million for the Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Schemes (ORRS), and nearly $11 million for High Health Needs funding will be invested over the next four years.

This will help address areas where students are just missing out by frustratingly narrow margins, and takes the total investment in students accessing ORRS to approximately $187 million over four years - an increase of almost 16 percent.

In the current environment we have a clear choice: lament what is unlikely to ever be enough funding, or get on and use the extra money wisely.

Businesses are being encouraged to look at innovative ideas and solutions in order to get through the economic downturn.  The same applies to schools - those that show leadership and innovation, who think broadly and outside the square, are those that come up with new innovative ideas and move steadfastly into the future for the benefit of their students.  I say this to the independent school sector all the time and expect it to rise to the challenge.

I'm sure you'd rather make headlines because you've taken the lead by looking at a challenge differently than for complaining any lack of funding.  I encourage you to take stock of what you have and make it your goal to turn your students' lives around.  The best innovations occur when people really start thinking creatively, to sometimes take a few risks and to forge partnerships to help advance outcomes for children.
 
I have seen some excellent examples of this in action.  Last month I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the new Transition Service for disabled secondary-aged students in Christchurch.  It's a great example of a community identifying a need and working together with Government to ensure that that need is met.  It's also a great example of schools making a difference for their students by working together and maximising their resources - and it was developed without a request for additional funding.  Allenvale School has taken the lead in this project.

Some schools have refreshed their thinking about special education and participated in the Special Education Itinerating Service initiative.  This is the epitome of a service that fits the needs of the child rather than the other way around.  If the child wants to be enrolled at a mainstream school, specialist teacher support can still be accessed.  I know that Auckland's Kelston Deaf Education Centre has moved a very long way in a short space of time to provide for students in a range of settings in their neighbourhood.

Leadership and Challenges
You are the leaders in your field and I know that, to become so, you've probably had to overcome some major challenges in the past.  The process of overcoming those challenges would have built on or enhanced some excellent skills.  I'd like to see the sector pull its skills together and meet the challenges we face now.  Education is not 'one size fits all'.  A range of choices so that all students can be matched with the school that best suits their needs and aspirations is my goal.

One area where there's a chance to show leadership is in the upskilling of teacher graduates in special education.  Your schools have the potential to act as centres of excellence in this area.

Special schools that have embraced challenges and turned them into opportunities include Halswell and Salisbury special schools.  In a partnership with Hillmorton High School, special needs students that have spent time in these special schools are re-integrated back into a mainstream school at their own pace.  They attend Hillmorton with the support of peers until they are ready to go back to their home school environment.

One area that some schools may be seeing as a challenge is the introduction of National Standards in literacy and numeracy for Years 1-8.  Assessing students who have very high cognitive impairments against standards they have little - or no - chance of achieving would undervalue the progress that they do achieve.  This could potentially disengage the students, their families and schools - and that's not something we want to see.

While we should expect high standards of children with special education needs, we want to set them achievable goals.  For some specifically defined groups of children, individualised standards will be set through their individual education plans.  This doesn't mean these students will be excluded from achieving National Standards if that's something that's identified in their plan.  For some students it could be that finer-grained descriptions of progress towards the National Standards are developed.  You'll hear more about this as plans develop.

Special education is leading the way with Individual Education Plans.  Ideally, I'd like to see every Kiwi student with an IEP.  Setting goals with a plan to achieve realistic but challenging objectives is something we should all do.

Trans-Tasman Links
Of course, it's just not New Zealand where all the work is happening.  We need only look across the Tasman for many great examples.  Australia and New Zealand face similar challenges - a growing group of special needs students, working with finite resources and upskilling teacher graduates faced with students of increasingly diverse needs.

I'm pleased to see that Australian and New Zealand special school principals have developed a trans-Tasman partnership that allows the exchange of information and ideas on curriculum, leadership and policy.  Perhaps now, more than ever, you will need to work together.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently outlined his government's priorities in improving outcomes in schools.  He recognised that children with disabilities are often failed by schools and he's committed to improving this.  I also see that the Australian Federal Government has the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs Programme which provides additional targeted funding for students with disabilities.  The Australian Special Education Principals' Association (ASEPA) is encouraging an inclusive national curriculum that 'builds in' rather than 'bolts on' special needs teaching.

I'm sure this conference will be the catalyst for even more collaborative work, and I look forward to hearing of the results of your time together.

Review
Now, more than ever, we need to know what works in special education.  The Review we are currently conducting in New Zealand is an opportunity to determine whether the money in the system is being spent well; an opportunity to really explore what the best options are and to make quality decisions based on national and international evidence that shows us what works.

We are looking broadly, but underpinning the review of special education are some well thought-out principles:

Reaching potential.  Fair and consistent access to resources and services.  Value for money.  The right to high quality education and professional services.  Choice and parental involvement, and shared responsibility for working for the best outcomes.

The review of special education consists of two phases:

Phase one is looking at access to, and allocation of, special education funding and services; and how to implement the additional $51 million allocated in this year's Budget.

Phase two will start later this year.  It will examine issues relating to workforce, transitions, service development, integration and collaboration.
I'm confident that can make real progress in doing more within the current fiscal parameters by working smarter.  For those who haven't seen the Terms of Reference of the Review, you can find them at www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/Consultation/ReviewOfSpecialEducation/Ter... A public consultation document will be released in November and I'd encourage you to consider making a submission - those of you in this room are experts in this field and I want to hear your views, suggestions and innovative ideas.

Choice
Before I finish, I'd like to briefly discuss choice in special education.  Choice is important to parents, children and society on every front.  As I said earlier, choice has improved markedly for parents of children with special needs.

But the Government wants to provide parents with even greater freedom to enrol their children at the school of their choice based on educational quality, school ethos, and the needs of their children - not based on central planning or a particular ideology.  Education should be a network of provision that strives for excellence in all sectors - whether that is mainstream or special schooling.

I believe that the role of Government should be to encourage choice, and nurture an environment where the best outcomes for students are paramount; an environment with a level playing field that encourages every student to reach their potential.  A strong, vibrant and healthy school sector is critical to the success of this goal.

Closing Remarks
In conclusion, I want to remind you of what I said earlier about exercising your innovative muscle.  You have the ability to use it, and I encourage you to do so.  We have much to be proud of in our sector, let's build on that and make it even better.

Thank you again for the invitation to address you today.  I wish you all the best for the rest of your conference.