Student Support Plan (SSP) Development

Realising the full potential of the Student Support Plan

Course Overview

A Student Support Plan (SSP) is a written, individualised plan within the NEPS Continuum of Support. It documents a student’s strengths and needs, agreed goals, the strategies and accommodations to be employed, the persons responsible, and the arrangements for reviewing progress.

When an SSP is combined with consistent data collection, strategic goal setting and a structured prompting hierarchy, it becomes a robust framework for fostering independence and recognising each student’s progress. This course provides a comprehensive grounding in SSP development, from foundational principles to applied practice for students with severe to profound needs.

Intended Audience

This course is designed for class teachers, special education teachers, Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and teaching assistants, school leaders and coordinators, and all professionals who contribute to or implement student support plans.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define the Student Support Plan and identify its principal components
• Draft clear, individualised accommodations that remain consistent across settings, educators and school years
• Establish a sound basis for planning through informal observation, baseline skills and family input
• Apply Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development to the formulation of purposeful and achievable goals
• Guide an SSP through each stage of its development, from team formation to ongoing review
• Write measurable goals in a consistent format that specifies the level of prompting required
• Collect meaningful progress data and communicate outcomes effectively to families
• Engage families and SNAs as active partners in the planning and implementation process

Course Structure

Module 1: Understanding Student Support Plans

• Definition and purpose of the SSP within the NEPS Continuum of Support
• Equivalent plans in other jurisdictions (IEP, IPP, EHCP, IDP, Additional Support Plan)
• Key components: present levels of performance; measurable goals and objectives; services and supports; special education time allocation; participation in integrative learning; assessment and progress monitoring; transition planning
• Accommodations: their purpose, their inclusion in the SSP, and illustrative examples across a range of needs
• The importance of consistency in supporting equity and stability

Module 2: Effective SSP Creation

• Foundations for planning: informal observation, baseline skills, family context and goals, and consistency
• Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as the rationale for goal setting, data collection and consistent monitoring
• Self-directed activity: development of a mini SSP incorporating ZPD-focused goals, scaffolding strategies and a plan for gradual independence

Module 3: The SSP Development Process

• Team formation
• The initial SSP meeting
• Development of the SSP document
• Implementation
• Monitoring and review: quarterly progress reporting, annual review and triennial re-evaluation

Module 4: Applied Practice for Students with Severe to Profound Needs

• Collaboration with families and the development of shared home and school goals
• Writing goals in a consistent style: the anatomy of a goal, with a worked example
• The prompting hierarchy and the systematic fading of prompts towards independence
• Measuring progress: task analysis, prompting-level data, and frequency, duration and qualitative records
• Accommodations by domain: sensory, communication, motor, access and pacing
• Play-based strategies and the development of autonomy and confidence
• Engaging SNAs in the plan, and avoiding over- and under-prompting
• Communicating progress to families

Supplementary Resources

• Recommended reading and podcasts

Course Facilitator

Sinéad Caulfield, Achieve Health and Wellbeing
Promoting Health and Wellness in Special Education