Trinity Education Support Services (TESS)

Trinity Education Support Services (TESS) provides integrated support to students with additional needs across Preparatory, Junior, Middle and Senior Schools. The faculty is structured to integrate the work of specialists in academic support and specialists in child and adolescent psychological services. The PreK – 12 structure promotes an inclusive and comprehensive approach for students and is built upon common principles.

The TESS team is comprised of:

> Director of TESS (Academic) – Ms Renee Culgan
> Director of Counselling and Psychological Services – Ms Jessica Staniland
> Registered Psychologists
> Specialist teachers in learning support, teaching high potential learners, English as an Additional Language/Dialect
> Special project personnel such as Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and Teacher’s Aides.

Supporting the social, emotional and academic needs of students:

The School works to identify students’ individual learning needs early in their School life and implement plans, programmes and strategies to meet these additional needs. Additional needs include:

> physical disabilities
> social and emotional challenges
> learning needs requiring additional support to succeed within the mainstream curriculum
> learning needs requiring modification of the mainstream curriculum
> high potential learning capacities requiring challenge beyond the mainstream curriculum
> language needs due to English learned as an Additional Language / Dialect

The School strategises to support students with additional needs by:

> Establishing a culture that is supportive and responsive to individual needs and differences
> Promoting enhanced learning outcomes through students’ access to and engagement with the curriculum
> Working within a culture of teaching, learning and assessment adjustments, for both support and extension, to ensure all students are provided with authentic learning opportunities and individualised points of challenge
> Providing Disability Provisions for students in Senior School pursuing the HSC or IBDP
> Facilitating professional learning opportunities for teachers
> Encouraging collaborative communication and consistent support across the School through TESS Case Management and
> Working with a diverse repertoire of evidence-based practices for students with additional needs for support and / or extension, including:

• In class support for individual students
• Co-teaching with a subject specialist and TESS specialist
• Small group and individual withdrawal programmes
• Curriculum differentiation in the mainstream classroom
• Transition classes for English and Mathematics
• Adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment
• Disability Provisions for students pursuing the HSC or IBDP
• Homework Support through the after-school Study Support programme
• Mentoring
• Individual Plans
• Flexible grouping
• Acceleration programmes
• Modifying outcomes
• Life Skills programmes