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| Inclusion Support Program
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Engaging children in conversation is essential for optimal language and social-emotional development. In early childhood settings where the atmosphere can be noisy and hectic it's important to remember to stop and talk with children and not at them. Below you'll find some reminders on how to communicate effectively with the children in your service:
Inclusion support aims to make it easier for early childhood education and care providers to offer education and care services to children with additional needs, including those with high support needs, through additional funding, boosting the knowledge and skills of educators and capacity building in services.
According to the government the differences between the original IPSP program and the new ISP are all good:
- Increased funding support: 25 per cent increase in programme funds including the subsidy rate to engage a qualified additional educator increasing from around $17 per hour to $23 per hour and a new funding option for innovative inclusion solutions.
- Increased flexibility: this includes allowing services to claim the additional educator subsidy for up to 25 hours per week for 52 weeks a year with daily limits being removed.
- Service inclusion self-reliance: a stronger focus on building child care services' ability and confidence to include children with additional needs and relying less on ISP funding support.
- Administrative streamlining: significant streamlining and administrative efficiencies through a reduced number of ISP service preferred providers (from 67 IPSP regions to one organisation per state under ISP) and a more efficient IT based funding application process.
- Closure of professional development element of the old program is in line with the Productivity Commission recommendation.
- Continued bicultural support, (accessed via a different delivery model) at least at the level that has been available for bicultural support under the old program.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham announced the preferred providers who will deliver the ISP in the 2016/17 Budget and said there will be no gap in service delivery.
An important component of the revamped ISP is the Inclusion Support Portal, an online application designed to make it easier for early childhood education and care providers to access the ISP. The portal includes instructions for services on how to complete a Strategic Inclusion Plan and access funding.
Under the transition arrangements, support to eligible services that were approved for the Inclusion Support Subsidy (ISS) on 30 June 2016 will continue and The ISP will honour active ISS cases approved under the IPSP according to original approval arrangements (up to 52 weeks).
For more information including FAQs click here.
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