Individual Learning Plans

An Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is a document that may be developed in early childhood settings to support any child with a diagnosed disability or high support needs. The NSW Department of Education requires an ILP to be in place for any child attending preschool whose inclusion is supported by High Learning Support Needs (HLSN) funding.

Here is a downloadable guide for developing ILPs.

Information from the family and any external professionals should be incorporated into an ILP. An ILP document that encompasses agreed goals, based on the collective knowledge and understandings of the child from these key perspectives, will be most beneficial to the child's inclusion. An ILP should target goals and objectives that are relevant to the social/group context of preschool, whereas there may be other areas that are more appropriate to work on in the home or other settings. Inclusion Together is a resource that may provide support to determine common ground for a child's team to focus on.

Ideally, a meeting involving all parties in the child's support team would take place. Email, phone or other correspondence such as the Getting to know your child and family document may provide other means of gathering different perspectives to help inform the ILP.

An ILP meeting agenda could discuss:

• relevant elements of the child's family situation
• the child's interests, strengths, needs and transition planning
• any existing goals (for example in a NDIS plan)
• ILP long term goals/short term objectives
• strategies to implement
• how ongoing communication between parties will be maintained

These resources may assist in gathering information in preparation for an ILP meeting:

• Getting to know your child and family
• Consent to communicate with external professionals

The HLSN funding guidelines stipulate that ILPs must address the following:

• summary of the child's strengths, interests and needs
• assessment information reports
• information about the child's disability and additional needs
• long term goals
• specific short-term objectives
• teaching strategies
• roles and responsibilities of team members and other services that may work with the child at the community preschool (for example, early childhood early intervention providers under the NDIS)
• ongoing evaluation
• documentation of the processes of transitions and continuities (either transition within the preschool, or from preschool to school)

Access a sample ILP template here.

ILPs will include long-term goals (ideally achieved by the end of the ILP implementation period), as well as short-term objectives designed to support the child's development toward achieving long term goals. To measure progress and be continually working within the child's zone of proximal development, short-term objectives need to be clear, realistic and observable.

Short-term objectives are most effective when they follow the SMART goal framework:

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Agreed

R - Relevant

T - Time-bound

For example:

By the end of term 2: J will independently follow a visual sequence to wash and dry hands after using the toilet, with 1 verbal prompt, 80% of the time.

Versus: J will wash hands independently after using the toilet.

An ILP is most impactful when all educators working with the child are aware of the goals and what strategies will be implemented to support the child. Some ways to support a team approach:

• ensure educators are aware of where ILPs are located and are encouraged to regularly revisit them
• encourage all educators to contribute to documentation in ways they are comfortable with (for example through written anecdotal observations, contributing to team observation documents such as time samples or antecedent behaviour consequence (ABC) charts or verbally sharing information)
• have ILPs as a standing item in staff meetings to encourage team reflection and sharing
• maintain communication with all stakeholders, with an emphasis on regular reciprocal exchanges with parents/guardians, to inform practice

A Whole Team Approach to Inclusion fact sheet can be found here.

An ILP should be reviewed at least every 6 months and updated regularly to monitor progress. Utilising a range of observations documenting children’s learning (such as time samples, ABC charts, anecdotal and running records, photos, frequency charts) enables ongoing tracking of progress toward short-term objectives, and of any emerging priority needs. It is important for a range of educators to be involved in documentation, to provide more comprehensive evaluation of the child’s learning.

Regular reflection on the ILP, with the input of all educators, ensures the ILP is a living document and that the whole team are familiar with the plan. Having ILPs as a standing item on the agenda of staff meetings is one way of embedding this reflection in team conversations, however the important thing is that intentional opportunities for this are planned.

Some reflective ILP questions to consider:

• Are identified strategies implemented consistently?
• Is progress toward the short-term goals evident?

If not, how can the short-term goal and/or teaching strategies be adjusted to improve outcomes?

• Have any short-term objectives been achieved?

If so, what should be the next short-term objective set to meet the long-term goal (or a different long-term goal if this has been achieved)?

• What other input has been shared (from family and/or other professionals involved) that may inform the ILP moving forward?

Further guidance on evaluation and ongoing planning may be found here.

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