Totally Tailored Tuition

20/12/2025

Raiden is making space - for more games of course! Grab yourself a bargain as he takes excellent care of all his games.

13/11/2025

Sage advice.
Don’t know what that means? Just ask! 😊

25/09/2025

I can’t overstate how disastrous this will be. I realise this is a long post but please read.

Currently, NDIS participants supply their own reports from professionals such as speechies, OTs, psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, and others specific to their disabilities such as geneticists and cardiologists. These reports are used to formulate a plan with relevant goals and, theoretically, the funding to meet those goals. Often, these professionals have spent years with the participant and have a deep and thorough understanding of how the individual is impacted. Occasionally, support workers and other people closely involved (such as myself as a learning coach) will also provide a report outlining progress and future support needs.

The new government plan is for all these reports to be completely disregarded and replaced by a NDIS employee who will complete a (up to) three hour interview with a participant to determine their needs. Apparently these new ‘assessors’ will receive training. Yeah, right.

Chances are it will be a ‘tick the box’ exercise with someone who has little to no understanding of the huge variance in disability impact with the results being fed into a software program that uses an algorithm to determine funding and supports. Might as well just hand it all over to AI and be done with it 🙄

e-petitions

20/09/2025

Nailed it! 😂

26/06/2025

Welcome news as both a provider and a nominee for a participant.

Text:
The Albanese and Cook Governments are delivering for Western Australians living with a disability by signing the state's NDIS Full Scheme Bilateral Agreement.

There are over 62,000 NDIS participants in WA who receive life-changing supports.

Under the agreement, WA is committed to paying fixed contributions from the commencement of the full scheme arrangement on 1 July 2025, securing long-term funding arrangements.

Governance will be strengthened through the establishment of a WA Community Advisory Council for the NDIS to advise on improving participants' NDIS experience.

The new landmark agreement reflects the shared responsibility of both governments to deliver a sustainable and effective NDIS. It provides long-term certainty for the scheme and the participants it supports in WA.

Both Governments have also committed to working together to improve access to NDIS supports in regional and remote Western Australia.

It will build on the success of the Alternative Approaches to Commissioning For Remote and First Nations Communities initiative trial site launched in Katanning in 2024, which is helping to develop community-driven solutions to address service gaps in the region.

Since the implementation of the NDIS in WA, the number of people accessing the NDIS has grown rapidly, with a continually increasing number of people with disability receiving support under the scheme.

In the 2023-24 financial year, the total NDIS participant supports costs in WA were $3.6 billion, of which the Australian Government contributed approximately $2.3 billion and the Western Australian Government $1.3 billion as part of our commitment to supporting people who have permanent and significant disability to reach their goals.

This agreement ensures the future of the scheme in WA as all governments progress NDIS reforms, putting people with disability at the centre of the scheme.

Finalisation of the agreement also includes a reimbursement payment to WA for expenditure incurred in relation to the NDIS over the 10-year transition period to 20 June 2024 through the DisabilityCare Australia Fund. This ensures WA participants will continue to receive the services they require.

Reaching enduring arrangements for the NDIS in WA means all jurisdictions now have full scheme agreements in place.

The Albanese and Cook Governments are delivering for Western Australians living with a disability by signing the state's NDIS Full Scheme Bilateral Agreement.

12/06/2025

I used to love MS Readathon as a kid! Fabulous initiative 📖

05/06/2025

A much needed service. Ambulance officers and particularly police can inadvertently escalate a mental health crisis but sometimes people really need help ‘right now’. Emergency rooms are massively overwhelming to not only individuals in crisis but their families/friends/carers too. Anything that can help circumvent this is welcomed wholeheartedly.

The Ambulance Mental Health Co-response Service has expanded its coverage to east, north, and south metropolitan areas.

It continues to offer virtual triage and a mobile response team for Triple Zero (000) callers aged 16 and above, with mental health concerns.

This expansion aims to provide early intervention and help more people experiencing a mental health crisis avoid emergency department admissions.

The service operates through a partnership between the Mental Health Commission, Department of Health, St John WA, North Metropolitan Health Service, South Metropolitan Health Service and East Metropolitan Health Service.

To find out more visit https://brnw.ch/21wT6EB

13/09/2024

The good old ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ sources labels are no longer appropriate in this digital/information age and neither are the standard ‘validity’ markers being taught in HASS. This is a subject that comes up regularly with my older students. Although most of our kids and teens are tech-savvy, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are able to be discerning when it comes to verifying content.

Every time you pick up your phone, you have to decide what's true and what's fake. And it's getting harder.

18/05/2024

I visited a college a few weeks ago. Their buildings were covered with inspiring messages. Be Exceptional was painted on the wall as we entered the science block. The teenager I was with was amused. “That’s not possible”, he said. “Everyone can’t be exceptional, by definition”. We soon realised that it wasn’t just in science we were being told to be exceptional. It was everywhere. Music, drama, English – students have to be exceptional in whatever they do, it seems.

And it made me think about the pressure we put on our young people and what a strange message that is. For it is reality that most of us will not be exceptional. We will not live exceptional lives, we will not achieve exceptional things. That isn’t a defeatist message, it’s just fact. Exceptional means better than everyone else. It is intrinsically competitive.

If we all did exceptional things, then those things would no longer be exceptional. They would just be ordinary. And yet that isn’t something we acknowledge to our young people. We tell them to strive to do better than everyone else, and that it isn’t good enough to be average. We instil competition in them right from the start with Star of the Week certificates and prizes in assembly. We tell them they must be the best, or try harder.

Then we are surprised when many of them say that they aren’t good enough, or start to feel despondent about their prospects. We wring our hands about their low self esteem, or the way that they compare themselves to others. We lament about their lack of motivation when they realise that they will never be the best, that their exam results will not be exceptional, even though they might be good enough to get by. We see them labelling themselves as failures.

How different would it be if we told our children the truth? If we said, there are many different ways to be, and exceptionality isn’t for everyone? We might tell them that finding the things that you enjoy might be more important in the long term than excelling. We could explain that art (or writing, music or drama) might be an important part of their life, even if they never get external validation for it or don’t pass the exam.

Striving for exceptionality looks inspirational on the wall of the building. Yet the result of our relentless focus on achievement is that many young people give up before they’ve even had the chance to try things out. They realise that if exceptionality is the aim, they’ve already failed. They limit their opportunities and therefore their learning.

What we say to our young people has an impact. Even things which seem positive need to be questioned. For most of us will never be exceptional, and we need to make our peace with that.

Words: Dr Naomi Fisher
Image: Missing The Mark

07/05/2024

The WA Student Assistance Payment is now available to claim, until Friday 28 June 2024 through the ServiceWA app.

The payment offers cost of living support to parents and carers of school-age children, with $150 for each kindergarten and primary student, and $250 for each secondary student.

For full instructions on setting up your ServiceWA app and what you'll need to access the WA Student Assistance Payment offer visit 👉https://brnw.ch/21wIOkA

23/04/2024

I support today’s teacher strike 100%!

15/12/2023

Check out the holiday programs run by the lovely Amanda. She is my NOR double! They’re all online and would be fabulous for any students entering high school next year or even those already there 😃.

https://www.facebook.com/cultivatingcuriosity.com.au?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Educational consultancy, mentoring, and small group classes for gifted, 2E, and curious minds.