Individual plans are worked out between school staff, specialist educators, medical or psychological specialists and your caregivers to meet your needs. Individual plans work best when everyone is working together. For this reasons, your parents may like to suggest that these people to get together in a ‘case conference’ before the plan is written down.

Students do not usually go to these meetings but you would be allowed to if you wished and were mature enough to understand what was going on. You can also ask questions about what was decided if you didn’t attend.

The law supports having individual plans to help you get the best out of your education. These plans are common practice in schools, and a very good way of making sure there is a strategy in place to address your individual needs. If you change schools, the plan may need to be changed slightly, but the focus is still you and your needs, rather than those of your new school[10].

Individual plans are often called by names such as:
IEP (individual educational plan), IDP (individual development plan – for preschoolers) or IBP (individual behaviour plan). If you don’t know what the plan is about, ask someone to explain it to you. [10] Clause 2, National Education Goals; Clauses 1(iii) and 1(iv) National Administration Guidelines, pursuant to Section 60A Education Act 1989