Creating inclusive school communities

The department has partnered with Monash University’s AllPlay Learn team to create Inclusive School Communities. This website includes new guidance and resources for schools on creating inclusive school communities for students with disability.

The resources provide simple, practical tools and guides for applying evidence-based approaches to building inclusive cultures, including: 

• what an inclusive school looks like
• the benefits of inclusion for teachers, students and families
• building successful partnerships between school and home
• inclusive language to strengthen inclusive school communities
• access to resources you can share with students and families.

What are inclusive school communities?

Inclusive school communities are places where all students and their families feel safe, welcome, valued and a part of the school community.

In inclusive schools, every member of the school community:

• is valued
• can fully participate and be involved
• develops and succeeds.

Disability Inclusion  

The Victorian Government is committed to inclusive education. It has invested nearly $1.6 billion in Disability Inclusion to boost support for students with disability in Victoria’s government schools. The aim is to ensure all students of every ability thrive at school and in life. 

The Autism Education Strategy is part of Disability Inclusion and will build inclusive school communities that welcome and value autistic students and their families.

The Diverse Learners Hub is the flagship initiative of the Autism Education Strategy and a key initiative of Disability Inclusion. It provides evidence-based advice, information and resources for teachers on inclusive practices for meeting the learning and wellbeing needs of diverse learners. This includes autistic students and those with learning difficulties and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

More resources to support inclusion

The department partners with disability organisations such as Amaze, Yellow Ladybugs, I CAN Network and Auspeld to develop and deliver new resources for teachers to support students with disability and diverse learning needs. 

New resources now available for teachers include:

• Supporting autistic girls at school – the Yellow Ladybugs webpage provides a helpful overview of autism and how to support autistic girls
• Supporting the mental health of autistic girls – this Yellow Ladybugs guide delves into the complexities of the mental health and wellbeing of autistic girls and gender-diverse students and provides practical strategies on how teachers can help
• Inclusive education: supporting school communities to thrive – this resource from Amaze highlights how inclusion benefits everyone
• Understanding Executive Functioning – these videos and tip sheets by Amaze provide practical strategies young people can use to build their executive functioning skills. Teachers can use these resources to support autistic students
• Executive functioning: Flexible thinking, self-monitoring and managing distractions – more  tips and videos from the perspectives of a student, teacher and speech pathologist
• Online tools and resources for learning difficulties – to assist teachers to support students with learning difficulties, including SPELD SA’s new suite of decodable readers.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

• AllPlay Learn Inclusive School Communities
• Autism Education Strategy
• Diverse Learners Hub.

For further enquiries, contact Lia Castorina, senior policy officer, Disability and Additional Needs, Inclusive Education Division:

• phone: 03 9084 8504 
• email: lia.castorina@education.vic.gov.au