Reimagining School — Customising Education Strategies That Actually Work
Welcome to May — and to Term 2, which is often where the real picture of the year begins to emerge. The honeymoon of a new class is over, the routines are established, and you may be starting to see clearly what is working for your student and what is not.
This month we are looking at school itself — not as a fixed system your learner must adapt to, but as something that can and should flex to meet your young person’s learning needs. That is not a radical idea. And it is something we can help families navigate.
Ask their teacher one powerful question this term
Ask your student’s teacher: what does learning look like for my young person on their best day? The answer tells you exactly what environment and conditions your learner needs more of.
Most school conversations focus on what a student cannot do yet. This question flips that. It invites the teacher to recall a moment of genuine success — and from that moment, you can reverse-engineer the conditions that made it possible.
Once you know what a best day looks like, you can advocate for more of those conditions. Not as a special favour — but as a reasonable adjustment that the evidence supports. You are not asking for less. You are asking for different.
R — Reimagine Learning: Education On Student Terms
The R in T.H.R.I.V.E. stands for Reimagine Learning — and it is about expanding what we accept as valid learning. Traditional schooling is built for a particular type of student. Many neurodiverse learners are simply not that student — and that is not a deficit.
Reimagining learning means asking bigger questions about how your student learns best, and then working with schools and systems to create more of those conditions. Start here:
- Does my young person learn better through doing, watching, discussing, or reading?
- What classroom adjustments have made the biggest difference — and are they still in place?
- What would learning look like if my learner could design it themselves?
“The school keeps telling me my student is fine. But at home I see how exhausted and anxious they are. Who do I believe?”
Believe yourself — and believe your learner. What you are describing is called masking: the enormous effort some neurodiverse learners put into appearing fine at school, which leaves them completely depleted by the time they get home.
This is important information, not an exaggeration. Document what you are observing at home — times, triggers, behaviours — and bring that to the school conversation. Ask them to look beyond surface compliance to your student’s genuine wellbeing.
Have a win to share? Email admin@targetingtomorrow.com.au — your story may help another family in the future.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION QUEENSLAND
Queensland Government resources explaining your child’s rights to curriculum adjustments, reasonable modifications, and inclusive education practices. Essential reading before any school support meeting.
Search inclusive education at education.qld.gov.au
Targeting Tomorrow information links and student service resources are being updated all the time. Keep up with these at targetingtomorrow.com.au