Transition ILP Goals in the ACT: Supporting Students with Disability Through School Transitions

Transitions are the most dangerous moments in a disabled student's school journey. When a child moves from primary to high school — or from high school to college — the support networks, established routines, and painstakingly negotiated adjustments can evaporate overnight. Without intentional planning, students regress, develop school refusal, or lose years of academic progress as a new school starts from scratch.

In the ACT, transition planning is formally recognised as a high-priority area in the 2024–2034 Inclusive Education Strategy. But knowing what the strategy promises, and knowing how to make the school actually implement it, are different things.

Why Transitions Are High-Risk for ACT Students with Disability

The ACT's specific context amplifies transition risk in ways other jurisdictions don't face as severely:

ADF families: The ACT has a disproportionately high concentration of Australian Defence Force families. ADF postings create frequent interstate relocations, meaning some students must transition not just between year levels but between entirely different state-based systems — bringing an ILP from Victoria into the ACT's ILP framework, for instance, or a Queensland learning plan into the ACT's SCAN-based resourcing model. Receiving ACT schools sometimes treat this as a reason to restart all support from scratch, abandoning previously agreed adjustments during a "reassessment" period that can last a full term.

The Year 6 to Year 7 gap: Moving from primary school to a separate high school campus is consistently identified in ACT parent research as the highest-risk transition. The highly structured, teacher-directed primary classroom gives way to subject-based learning with 6–8 different teachers who may never communicate with each other about a student's ILP. Adjustments that were seamlessly implemented by one primary teacher become logistically fragmented across a high school timetable.

The high school to college transition: ACT students moving from Year 10 into ACT Colleges (Years 11–12) encounter a fundamental shift in the model of support — from a school-managed system to a self-advocacy model.

Primary to High School: What the ILP Must Do

For students transitioning from primary to high school, the ILP should begin incorporating transition-specific goals at least 12 months before the move — not in the final term.

Effective transition ILP goals for primary to high school:

"By end of Term 4 this year, [student] will independently manage a visual timetable covering 6 different subject areas, locating their correct classroom without adult prompting on 4 out of 5 school days, as measured by teacher observation log."

"During transition orientation visits (minimum 3 visits to the receiving school), [student] will identify the location of 5 key school areas (classroom, toilet, canteen, administration, safe space), as confirmed by the transition coordinator."

"In preparation for high school, [student] will initiate a conversation with a new adult (teacher or support staff) to request assistance with at least one task per week across Term 3 and Term 4, as measured by teacher observation records."

Transition planning requirements:

• The sending school must provide the receiving school with a full copy of the ILP, all relevant assessment reports, and a transition summary — before the student arrives
• Parents should request a joint meeting with staff from both the sending and receiving school before the end of Term 3
• The receiving school must convene an ILP meeting within the first four weeks of the student's arrival — not by the end of Term 1

If the receiving school is not initiating an ILP meeting promptly, contact the principal in writing within the first two weeks and formally request one.

The ACT's Inclusion Transition and Careers Coaches (ITACC)

The ACT's First Action Plan (2024–2026) introduces Inclusion Transition and Careers Coaches (ITACC), being piloted in the Tuggeranong region. These coaches are specifically designed to help students navigate the high school to college and post-school transition — supporting connections to TAFE, vocational training, and employment.

If you are in the Tuggeranong region, ask your child's school whether an ITACC is accessible for your child's transition planning. Outside the pilot region, availability is limited, but the role and scope is worth asking about as the rollout expands.

High School to College: The Legal Shift

The transition from Years 10 to 11 (into an ACT college) involves a fundamental legal and philosophical shift that many families are not prepared for.

In primary and high school, the burden of support falls almost entirely on the institution. The school initiates ILP meetings, tracks adjustments, and actively manages the student's support needs. Parents advocate; the school is responsible for implementation.

In ACT colleges (governed by the Board of Senior Secondary Studies, BSSS), this model inverts. The college provides accommodations (how learning is accessed) but no longer modifies the curriculum (what is learned). The student must:

• Proactively self-identify their disability to college inclusion staff
• Independently request accommodations each year
• Manage their own documentation and follow-up

For the ACT Scaling Test (AST), special provisions require a formal application months in advance with comprehensive medical evidence. This is not automatic — students who relied on teacher-initiated adjustments throughout high school and never developed self-advocacy skills are systematically disadvantaged.

Transition goals for the high school to college shift should begin in Year 9:

"By end of Term 2, Year 9, [student] will independently request an extension on a written assignment by completing the school's standard extension request form without parent prompting, on 2 separate occasions, as measured by teacher record."

"During Term 3, [student] will describe their disability and its educational impact to an unfamiliar adult (simulated or real), using their own words, in a structured role-play exercise facilitated by the school psychologist, assessed formatively."

"By end of Year 10, [student] will be able to identify all accommodation types relevant to their disability and explain when and how to request each one at a college, assessed through a student self-assessment reviewed with the school transition coordinator."

NDIS School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES)

For students with disability who are approaching post-school life, the NDIS's School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) funding stream provides capacity-building supports specifically targeted at the transition from school to employment. The ACT's First Action Plan specifically prioritises building structural partnerships between schools and NDIS Local Area Coordinators to integrate SLES planning into the ILP years before graduation — not in the final term of Year 12.

If your child is in Year 9 or above and has an NDIS plan, begin conversations with your Local Area Coordinator about SLES eligibility now. The BSSS is also developing work-related curricula aligned with Pathways to Work and Learning for students who are not pursuing an ATAR.

What to Request From the School

For any upcoming transition, request the following in writing:

1. A transition-focused ILP review at least 12 months before the move
2. Confirmation that transition goals have been incorporated into the current ILP
3. Written confirmation that all relevant documentation will be transferred to the receiving school or college before the student arrives
4. A joint ILP planning meeting with the receiving institution before the end of the current school year

If the school's transition planning is inadequate, the ACT Parent's Tactical Playbook includes transition-specific goal templates, documentation transfer checklists, and scripts for requesting joint meetings between sending and receiving schools. It also covers the self-advocacy preparation goals that should be embedded in Year 9–10 ILPs to prepare students for the college model.

Transition planning done well protects years of educational progress. Transition planning done poorly can undo them in a single term.

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