Is inclusive education worth it? Definitely!

On the advice of professionals, Sethmi began her education in an Autism Unit. But, after a few years, they realised she wasn’t being given the opportunity to reach her potential. They wanted her to connect, build friendships, and learn alongside her same-age peers. So, they enrolled her in a mainstream primary school where she thrived.

Thanks to the strong collaboration between her parents and educators, Sethmi’s transition to a mainstream high school was seamless. Now in Year 12, she is doing well in her studies, exploring employment opportunities through work experience, and looking forward to an exciting life after school.

Video transcript

This transcript was autogenerated and may contain errors

Is Inclusive Education worth it? Definitely!

Erosha Bakmiwewa, Sethmi’s mother: 

Sethmi is my eldest. She is 17 years old. Some of her interests are cooking, and she also loves swimming. She loves going to the beach.

Sethmi has two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, and they really look up to her. She is currently studying at St Clare’s College.

Dr Ann Cleary, Principal, St Clare’s College:

I’m the principal of St Clare’s College. True inclusion for students with disabilities, for me, it’s seeing them being involved in the learning experiences in the classrooms with every other student. But for me, the true depth of the inclusion is that they’re just another member of the community. That may mean there’s a lot of work going on in the background, but for me, that inclusion is they look just like every other kid at school.

Erosha Bakmiwewa: 

So when Sethmi first started school, she was in a unit for autism. And that was after us listening to professionals and thinking that was the best option for her.

But then I realised she needed to be with peers her own age. So we pursued an inclusive school for her and found a fantastic primary school that ended up giving her a wonderful experience.

So when we were looking for a high school, I was feeling very nervous because of how that transition might happen and looking for the right school for Sethmi. But then I approached the Inclusion Coordinator of St Clare’s College.

Belinda Maher, Inclusive Education Coordinator, St Clare’s College: 

Inclusive education is about accepting every child, and it’s really about identifying the strengths and how you can support that child to flourish in that environment. The journey starts long before the child is actually enrolled in the setting. There’s lots of preparation that takes place. And that looks like meetings with the primary school and then the family.

The families are the child’s biggest advocate, and it’s about creating a supportive environment around that child, allowing them to have transition days to the college to feel comfortable in the setting prior to starting. And ultimately, that’s what inclusion is, is about providing adjustments and modifications to allow the child to thrive within the environment alongside their same-age peers.

Sethmi started early transitions to the college. She would attend St Clare’s for half a day to start with, and then we started to build on that, and it was a whole day at the college where she was buddied up with a current year 7 student and really mirrored what a day at St Clare’s would look like. And through that process, I believe Sethmi was more comfortable coming to our environment that following year.

You know, you can’t just place a child in an environment and hope that those practices will evolve. It’s about providing the teachers with research and professional development to provide them with the reasons why and how important and what the impact will be on that child.

Dr Ann Cleary: 

Belinda empowers all of the other faculty leaders to be champions in inclusive education so that each faculty head can work with their teachers so that every classroom is an inclusive environment for students.

Erosha Bakmiwewa: 

Inclusion for Sethmi at St Clare’s looks like being included in the same classroom and accessing a curriculum which is modified and also being part of all the extracurricular excursions and all the events that are happening at the school.

She did a three-day camp in year seven. It was very well planned. It was never about “Is Sethmi able to go to camp?” but it was all about, “So Sethmi’s got a camp coming up. We’ve got these things planned. How else can we make it happen? And how else can we make sure she’s successful?”

Some of the things they did to help Sethmi succeed as a high school student was to have a timetable that was accessible for her, which was colour-coded. And they also had peers that she knew from primary school in her class.

Dr Ann Cleary: 

We know that that partnership with parents, families, is integral to that success so that you’re continually resetting and students always will communicate to families, sometimes things they won’t communicate to school. And so for any student, that conversation with family is important, but particularly when there are students like Sethmi who perhaps have communication potential barriers.

Belinda Maher: 

Nurturing inclusive education in the setting is about upskilling the teachers within the environment, but also the peers. Inclusion’s not about a child having a CSA or an adult glued to them to move around the college and to attend the classes. It’s more about how we educate our other students to be more inclusive and to take on that role. Sethmi transitions to classes with her peers. If she’s lost for whatever reason, her peers are able to redirect her.

Erosha Bakmiwewa: 

When Sethmi moved to high school, I was really concerned how to sort of help Sethmi nurture some of the friendships. So I did talk to the year coordinator about it. And they were really keen to help Sethmi. They really made sure that there were peers around Sethmi that understood Sethmi and really helped them to build those connections.

So once Sethmi was settled in high school, we were looking at employment, and that was part of our vision for Sethmi. We had discussions as to how that can work.

Dr Ann Cleary: 

So all our senior students have opportunities to do work experience, but it’s, I think, particularly important for our students with additional needs to get real experiences in the workforce and potentially in a variety of different workplaces as well. So that they, like every other student, can work out what their interests are, so they’re not pigeonholed into a particular stream of life. I mean, they need to have the opportunity as every other student to explore different careers.

Erosha Bakmiwewa: 

At the beginning, we wanted to help Sethmi find some genuine work experience opportunities within school. So she’s been doing some work in the canteen and in the library and in hospitality.

Dr Ann Cleary: 

It’s wonderful to watch Sethmi around this school. I’ve seen her develop here and grow here over four years. And to know that she’s going out doing work experience and another year she’ll be out there in the workforce.

Belinda Maher: 

Just like all students, it’s working out what they like and what they’re good at, and then trying to find something that really allows them to flourish and demonstrate that. It’s about giving them what they need just the same as everybody else.

Sethmi, from where she started, you know, at the start of year seven to where she is now is her journey has been incredible to watch. It’s a whole school approach and culture that really does make the difference.

Erosha Bakmiwewa: 

Often, the word inclusion is used very broadly and misunderstood, but for Sethmi, inclusion meant being included in everything in the school as well as accessing a modified but the same curriculum.

The journey wasn’t easy. It wasn’t all straightforward. But is it worth it? Definitely. With what Sethmi’s achieved, if anyone told me that when Sethmi was in a unit that she’s going to have this kind of life, I would not have believed it. But it’s been such a worthwhile journey.