SSG – Student Support Group Meetings






I don’t know how others cope with SSG’s but I really don’t like them.

So much so that the only advice I can truly give you is DO NOT ENTER ALONE!!!!!!

It is called a student support GROUP, which is anyone that you feel provides a support service to your child and will have valuable input into your child’s Individual Learning Plan (ILP). In one of our SSG meetings I had our support coordinator, speech therapist, occupational therapist, teacher, aide, vice principal, principle and me (WOW that was a mouthful!). Sometimes this can be necessary to make sure that everyone is working together to meet the same goals. This is in extreme cases I think but I believe you should do what you think is best for your child. I can honestly say I will not attend an SSG without another support person again!

It’s also important to make sure that you have a discussion with the support person that is coming with you prior to the meeting to make sure you are on the same page and that there are no surprises during the meeting. It’s also a good chance for you to discuss things you’d like in the plan, things you want to work on in the future and also what outcomes to follow up on.

In our SSG’s I now start with my input along with the support person with me otherwise the things we wanted to contribute get rushed through in the last 5 minutes of the meeting and you run out of time to discuss them.  A mum knows her child the best and is her child’s biggest and best support person.

If you are going over a previous Individual Learning Plan (ILP) there is nothing better than ticking off an accomplished outcome, make sure you celebrate the outcomes (insert pat on the back). This means you get to establish new goals and move forward toward even better outcomes.

It’s important to make sure you have a good minute taker in your meeting. In the minutes there should be all actions discussed and who is responsible for them. This can be part of the discussion you have prior to your meeting to make sure that the people responsible for dedicated actions have actioned them and any outcomes can be discussed. Also if things haven’t been done you have an opportunity to ask why. Make sure you hold them accountable.

If you’d like more specific details about SSG’s have a look at the Victorian Department of Education website below

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/health/Pages/oohcstusupp.aspx#link16

If you have something that helps with your SSG’s please share I’d love to hear your story.

Thanks for reading
Jess xx

Comments