Problem
William Buckland is a student in grade five. He has very strong verbal skills and an advanced vocabulary. He is very interested in dinosaurs and can remember detailed information about over 150 different dinosaurs including their scientific names, the countries in which their bones were found and the geological eras in which they lived. He has said that he would like to be a palaeontologist when he leaves school.
However, while his recall of information is very good, he finds it difficult to order his thoughts and arguments about dinosaur-related issues, preferring to dot-point information rather than writing essays.
His reading is very advanced for his age, but he dislikes reading fiction and finds it difficult discussing characters and their motivations or feelings in novels discussed in class. He can be very focussed on subjects that interest him but seems to zone out in class when there is a discussion of things in which he sees no point in learning. He therefore performs poorly in history (where the curriculum is the development of Australian as a nation), art, music and many activities in English. However, he is strong in science, mathematics (except word-based problems) and enjoys working on the computer.
In class he is very polite to teachers and is generally not disruptive in class. In early years he often had meltdown triggered by the noise in classrooms, but now wears noise cancelling headphones while completing activities in class.
He gets along well with fellow students but has formed few friendships and does not mix with anyone outside of school hours. Some of the reasons for this are that his only area of interest is dinosaurs, so he finds it difficult to find other topics to talk about. He prefers working on his own, rather than doing group projects.
He often needs to be reminded to bring things to school or hand in homework. He prefers to stick to regular routines and can become anxious with unexpected change.
His co-ordination skills are poor, including his handwriting. He also he finds many sporting activities difficult, and he is not often picked to partner others in PE. He also finds it difficult to look at people and follow the flow of the game and anticipate action. He also dislikes swimming because of the noise in indoor pools and the smell of the chlorine. His reactions to these environmental triggers are so strong that they can cause a meltdown. For this reason, his parents have refused permission for him to take part in school swimming lessons.
The school is concerned by his uneven academic performance and him not completing all his homework tasks (particularly in subjects that do not interest him). They have therefore called a meeting of teachers to discuss how best to prepare him for transition to secondary school.
Select and then justify two strategies/approaches for each educational priority (4 in total). Part of your justification will comment on how the approaches will link student learning to the regular curriculum or how the teacher will use the approach to differentiate the curriculum. Strategies or approaches may include a resource, a program, a strategy, use of technology, software or other
Finally identify and justify one whole school approach that would be helpful for the student. Avoid using product marketing information from the internet as you are trying to make a convincing case for the approaches and their relevance to the student's educational priorities and the educational contexts described in the case study.