When Maria Carrasco got a letter that outlined the changes to disability support at her son Daniel's school, she feared the worst.
Daniel, 7, a year 2 pupil at Our Lady of Fatima Primary School, Kingsgrove, has hearing loss in both ears and receives personalised one-on-one support for 1½ hours, twice a week.
"We are concerned because it's not much time to adapt to the change," Mrs Carrasco said.
"When I asked 'why?', I was told they needed to prioritise other things.
"They said they did a survey, but I was never contacted."
She said Daniel would struggle in and out of the classroom.
"The specialist has done so much for him," she said. "A noisy classroom is hard to manage on his own, especially when his teacher is dealing with 30 or so kids.
"And my son won't tell his teacher what he needs — he tries to work it out for himself, so it's important to have the personalised support."
She said Daniel's social skills on the playground had also improved.
"When he started school he was very shy — he wouldn't socialise with anyone," she said. "She helped him with the transition by monitoring his interaction."
Mrs Carrasco has organised private speech therapy in the school holidays.
Support teachers' ranks to be thinned
A TOTAL of 130 parents have received notification from Sydney's Catholic Education Office that the availability of specialised support teachers would be reduced from next year.
They will be replaced by Sensory Impairment Program consultants who will train teachers and teachers' aides.
But representatives for student disability organisations said the proposed model of support was not enough.
National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf president Trudy Smith said the expertise and skills provided by a qualified sensory support teacher was being under-valued.
"Each time a new curriculum program is developed, or a student in their classroom acquires a new piece of audiological technology, or they gain a new student with hearing loss, then a series of individualised needs and requirements arise," she said.
"Only a hands-on teacher with a specialist qualification is able to support this diversity."
There are the equivalent of 19 full-time itinerant support teachers across Sydney Catholic schools. In 2015, there will be about 16.
But Catholic schools say these positions will have greater "primary responsibility" and there will also be support from other special educators in regional teams.
Catholic Education Office director of teaching and learning Michael Bezzina acknowledged parents' anxiety about the new approach, but said it was not slashing funding or services.
"[This] is a restructure to improve support," Dr Bezzina said. "It is about doing everything possible to ensure that every student with a hearing or vision impairment has access to the best support services that they need in every lesson, in every classroom, every day."
Dr Bezzina said the move was based on international standards of best practice and feedback from parents, teachers and students.
He said teachers would also be given structured professional development to enhance the quality of teaching and learning.
"We remain deeply committed in ensuring the best support to children whose learning is impacted upon by problems with hearing or vision," he said.
"This new model will ensure more services in an integrated and inclusive classroom environment.
"We are here to transform classrooms into environments that foster confidence, independence and the highest expectations, while removing those barriers that are presented to children with special needs."
Catholic schools will work with principals to develop learning plans designed to meets pupils' needs.
Should schools provide more specialist support?