The Moura Special Education Program (SEP) is based at Moura State School. We are the umbrella that covers the students with disabilities in six schools and one 'Early Education' program. The schools that make up the Moura SEP Cluster are: Moura State School, Moura State High School, Early Childhood Development Program (ECDP), Banana State School, Baralaba State School, Bauhinia State School and Theodore State School. With the inclusion of the ECDP in our cluster, we cater for students from 0-18 years of age.
The range of disabilities across the cluster include:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Speech language impairment (SLI)
Intellectual impairment (II)
Hearing impairment (HI)
Physical impairment (PI)
Support from external agencies
Heads of Curriculum (HOC) and therapists make trips to the cluster schools based on a referral process. Support is usually in the form of assisting with diagnosis of students, assessing diagnosed students, writing reports based on assessment of students, writing programs for students, teaching SEP staff how to deliver the programs and liaising with classroom teachers, SEP staff and a head of special education services (HOSES), on a regular basis. We are grateful for the support of the many therapists that we work with in our cluster schools.
Autism Queensland (AQ) – provides an outreach program that we can apply to connect with. For our students on the Autism spectrum, we sometimes need a little extra support in meeting their needs, and call on AQ to come and visit our school. AQ personnel observe the student(s), talk to classroom and SEP teachers, and then write a report that will help us to deliver a more thorough and individualised program.
What do we do?
The Moura SEP Cluster is administered by a HOSES, who is based at Moura State School and visits the cluster schools on a regular basis. The HOSES role is to support SEP teachers across the cluster, liaise with Principals and Administration staff in the cluster schools, liaise with classroom teachers across the cluster, liaise with Therapists across the cluster, manage the Education Adjustment Program (EAP) across the cluster, liaise with officers of the Education Department, both regionally and centrally, support students at the base school, manage student data across the cluster, and liaise with parents of students with disabilities across the cluster.
The role of SEP teachers is to support students in the regular classroom, provide small group and individual instruction when necessary, support classroom teachers in making the necessary adjustments to their classroom programs to enable the students with disabilities to access the regular curriculum, case manage a number of SEP students which includes writing programs, Individual Education Plans, and reports, and liaise with parents.
Teacher aides also play a vital role in the smooth running of the SEP. They are often the unsung heroes in education because they are at times overlooked as they work tirelessly in the background. The role of teacher aides is to support SEP students in classrooms, support SEP teachers, and manage SEP resources. Our teacher aides are our most valuable resource and we couldn’t make this work without their wonderful support and dedication.