How does the Return to School Centre (RTSC) panel priortise students to attend the Cessnock Return to School Centre?
Firstly, students need to meet basic guidelines to attend: Suspension Centres are in intervention for students who are on long suspension (5 to 20 days), and have been identified by their school as likely to benefit from a structured program to assist their sucessful return to schooling as soon as possible.
The NSW Guidelines for Suspension Centres state that the target population are students who:
- have been placed on long suspension
- are assessed by the school as having the potential to benefit from an intervention to successfully return them to that school following a long suspension OR there is an organised next step to another high school upon referral
- it is generally understood that students who are within the process of being referred to a specialist behaviour school (e.g. Maitland Tutorial, Woodberry Learning Centre, Margaret Jurd, DALE) have supervision needs outside that which can be offered at a Suspension Centre.
Once students have met these guidlines, other factors may be taken into consideration to prioritise:
- student mix regarding behaviour – it may not be appropriate to accept students who have been aggressive to each other into the Centre at the same time
- student mix regarding age, as the Cessnock Return to School Centre accepts students from Year 5 – it may be more appropriate at times for much older and larger students to start their intervention at the Centre once the younger student/s have exited the program
- disengagement – students who've attended the Centre previously and haven't made any improvement and/or have failed to take advantage of the opportunity offered.
- aggressive behaviour – it may not be appropriate to accept a student who has a history of physical violence at their home school, or at the Return to School Centre.