What the RSS-only pathway is

The RSS-only pathway is for ākonga | students who will benefit from an educational intervention but who don't require Te Kahu Tōī: Intensive Wraparound Service (IWS).

An RSS application takes time and is not a solution for a crisis situation.

For students that need a high level of specialist support at home and in the community, the IWS might be more appropriate than an RSS.

Te Kahu Tōī: Intensive Wraparound Service (IWS)

Who is eligible

Applications for the RSS-only pathway must meet all the following criteria:

1. The young person is aged 8 to 15 years old (in Year 3 to 10).
2. The young person has behaviour, social and/or learning needs that are highly complex and challenging (and may have associated intellectual difficulty) and requires support at school.
3. Local learning support services have been considered or tried. However, RSS intervention is believed to be the best way of meeting the child/young person’s needs.
4. The young person does not need an intervention in the home or community (the child/young person does not need intensive services such as Te Kahu Tōī – Intensive Wraparound Service, Oranga Tamariki or the High and Complex Needs Unit).

How to apply

Only the young person’s learning support provider in their home region can make an application.

This could be a resource teacher of learning and behaviour (RTLB) or learning support qualified specialist.

The learning support provider will work with parents, whānau and the team around the young person to prepare the application.

They will meet to:

• decide if an application for enrolment should be made
• consider which school will best be suited to the young person’s needs
• decide who will complete the application.

Forms

Applications must include the following forms.

Send the completed forms to our RSS mailbox.

Email: [email protected]

Risk assessment

The risk assessment will help clarify if an RSS is the best educational option. An enrolment cannot be supported where the young person:

• exhibits behaviours that may place other students at risk, including but not limited to overt violence
• has a history of sexualised behaviours compromising the safety of others
• is currently, or was recently, in specialised severe behavioural programmes
• is under treatment for, or has been unresponsive to the treatment of any psychiatric illness (including suicidal ideation)
• is under, or has been unresponsive to, treatment for substance abuse.

Application review cycle

The RSS enrolment group considers applications twice during school terms 1 to 3, and once during school term 4.

• Week 2: Applications must be submitted by 5pm Friday (all terms).
• Week 4: RSS enrolment groups will meet to consider applications for their school (all terms).
• Week 6: Applications must be submitted by 5pm Friday (terms 1, 2 and 3 only).
• Week 8: RSS enrolment groups will meet to consider applications for their school (terms 1, 2 and 3 only).

After applying

We contact the learning support provider the week following the RSS enrolment hui | meetings to discuss the enrolment group's recommendation.

If the application is supported the learning support provider will contact the RSS to arrange the young person's transition.

The young person's parent or legal guardian needs to sign a specialist education agreement and return it to us.

A specialist education agreement is a legal requirement that allows students to enrol in a specialist school.