Since the 1970s, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been providing support

for ordinary schools in catering for students with special educational needs (SEN). From September 1997, we promoted the Whole School Approach to Integrated Education as advocated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to enhance the quality of local integrated education. The Education Bureau (EDB) prepares this Operation Guide to provide guiding principles and practicable strategies for schools It aims to empower all ordinary schools to provide high quality educational services through catering for student diversity and SEN. The objective is to develop the potentials of every student, to promote mutual respect of individual differences among teachers and students and to cultivate an inclusive school culture. =Accepting Differences & Removing Barriers to Learning 1) Differentiated Teaching : Diversified teaching techniques and assistive equipment to cater for students diverse learning needs; 2) Peer Support : Learning groups, peer tutoring and circles of friends are strategically organized; 3) Teacher Collaboration : Teachers work together and support each other; 4) Classroom Support : Specialists collaborate withteachers in improving the learning environment, e.g.arrange team teaching for the benefit of all students; and School (1) Management & Organizat ion (2) Learning & Teaching (3) Student Support & School Ethos (4) Student Performance

TIER Enhancement of a students learning motivation starts with the development of the students positive self-image. The most effective way of boosting a students self-esteem is to encourage him/her to develop their potentials and recognize their strengths and capabilities in different areas like sports and practical skills; Teachers may employ a wide range of resources (such as magazines, characters, computers) in teaching rather than solely focusing on teaching with textbooks. Teachers can also help the student acquire wide learning experience so as to develop the students multiple intelligence and potentials (particularly of those academic low achievers); Schools may apply different modes of assessment to identify students strengths, and devise suitable curriculum and teaching strategies for students based on the assessment results. If there are wide differences among students, the school should not apply standard assessment exercises to all. This is because frequent failures and lack of due recognition of personal efforts will adversely affect the students morale; and Effective learning and teaching strategies may include Modifying the teaching approaches from the learnersperspective, cross-grade grouping, adjustment of the pace of learning, teaching in accordance with students capabilities, and differentiated homework arrangements.

Small Group Learning Some schools may group together students with similar learning needs and those sharing at least one common learning target. The common learning targets and strategies may be recorded in the education plans of these small groups;

Collaborative Teaching Collaborative teaching involves a teaching team formed by two or more teachers who prepare the lessons as well as teach the students together. This approach enables teachers to provide students with prompt support tailored to their needs. Co-operative Learning Co-operative learning is to achieve group success throughmutual support in each group. Competent students may act as peer tutors, so that they may develop leadership skills and sharpen their sensitivity to others needs. Peer Tutoring Teachers may collaborate with guidance personnel inorganizing learning groups or peer circles, so that students with different abilities may better understand each other, learn together, and help each other;

Intensive Individualized Support The focus may include behavioural/social skills, or basic language and mathematics learning; therefore, it can take the form of individual behavior management plans to help students with autism spectrum disorders or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders Long-term / short-term plans Long-term / Annual Plan establish long-term education goals, having regard to the expectations of parents, students and schools, and post-education options; and Short-term Plan including short-term learning objectives, relevant teaching strategies, success criteria, and dates of review. Home-School Co-operation 8.1 Regular communication mechanism between schools and parents

RESOURCES

Tier-1

Schools can use the screening tools developed by EDB for early identification of students learning difficulties. Basic resources such as the Capacity Enhancement Grant,additional teachers for language teaching, curriculum development and student guidance personnel/social worker may be deployed. Teachers should also pursue continuing professional development for quality teaching in the classroom and early intervention of learning difficulties. Tier-2 support The resources for primary schools include Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme, Learning Support Grantand Enhanced Speech Therapy Grant. Schools can flexibly and strategically deploy these additional resources for supporting students with persistent learning difficulties in classroom learning through, for example, curriculum adaptation and tailored exercises, assessment accommodation, small group learning, pull-out remedial programmes or study skills training etc. Schools should assign a Student Support Team to plan and co-ordinate the implementation of the Whole School Approach to student support. Tier-3 support It targets at a relatively small number of students who need highly intensive support. The support measures for both primary and secondary schools include the Whole School Approach to Integrated Education Programme and the Learning Support Grant (basic provision of $120,000 for the first 1-6 students requiring intensive individual support, and $20,000 per student for the seventh and more students)