What ORS, RTLB, SENCO and the other letters mean

People you might come across

SENCO Special Education Needs Coordinator. At many schools, a teacher who coordinates support for children with extra needs, often alongside their own teaching. Not every school uses the title, and some don’t have a dedicated person; in a small school it may be the principal. If your school has one, they are usually the best first contact for questions about support at school.

LSC Learning Support Coordinator. A Ministry-funded role for an experienced teacher who helps children get support earlier and helps families understand what is available. Some schools already share an LSC through a cluster, and the Ministry is rolling the role out to state and state-integrated schools with Years 1 to 8 between 2026 and 2028. Small schools may have an LSC for only part of the week.

Teacher aide A staff member who works alongside the teacher to support one or more children in class. Sometimes called a learning assistant or kaiāwhina. Not every child with extra needs has teacher aide time. Where they do, it is usually funded by the school itself or through a scheme such as ORS, In-Class Support or the School High Health Needs Fund, and the hours depend on what has been applied for, what has been granted and how the school decides to use it.

RTLB Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour. Specialist teachers who travel between a cluster of schools, currently for students in Years 2 to 10, helping teachers and schools meet a wide range of learning, wellbeing and behaviour needs. An RTLB often works with the teacher and the school as much as with the child. Requests usually come from the school, so if you think it could help, you can ask your school whether they would consider a request. Demand is high, and there can be a wait.

SLT Speech-language therapist. Works on communication, which can include speaking, understanding, social communication and sometimes eating and swallowing. Some children see a speech-language therapist through the Ministry of Education, for example through ORS or a Ministry service; some through health services; some privately; many not at all. It is not something every school has or every child is offered.

OT Occupational therapist. Works on the practical skills of daily life, such as handwriting, dressing, managing sensory input and getting through a school day. Like speech-language therapy, it may come through education (mostly for children with the highest needs), through health, privately, or not at all. Many schools will never have an OT visit.

Psychologist The Ministry of Education employs psychologists, often called educational psychologists, who may assess how a child learns and what gets in the way, and advise the school and family. Whether one is involved depends on your child’s needs and on availability. Some families also see a psychologist privately or through health services.

Funding and schemes

ORS Ongoing Resourcing Scheme. Ministry of Education support for a small number of students, around 1 in 100, with the highest ongoing needs. It can provide specialist input, extra teacher time, a contribution towards teacher aide time and a small grant for materials. Applications are usually made by a teacher or the school’s learning support person, together with the family and specialists, and not every application is approved. Once a child is verified, the Ministry says ORS stays with them when they change schools, until they leave school. How much specialist time it brings, and how it is used, varies; it is reasonable to ask the school each year how it is being used for your child.

ICS In-Class Support. Funding that contributes towards teacher aide time for some students in Years 1 to 13 with significant ongoing learning needs who are not in ORS. Schools identify and put forward students; there are limited places, so not every child who might benefit receives it. The Ministry says the funding stays with the student if they change schools.

SHHNF School High Health Needs Fund. A contribution towards a teacher aide or support person for students whose health needs mean they need someone with them at school to be safe, for longer than six weeks. The school applies, and it is often reviewed as a child becomes more independent.

Learning Support The Ministry of Education’s general term for its support for children with extra needs, which used to be called Special Education. If someone says “learning support are involved”, they often mean the Ministry’s regional team rather than the school’s own staff.

Early Intervention Ministry of Education support for young children with high developmental, communication or behaviour needs, usually through an early intervention teacher working with the family and the early learning service. From 2026 the Ministry has been extending it so it can continue to the end of Year 1 at school for some children. Wait times and what is offered can differ between areas.

Other schemes exist for specific needs, and the names and rules change from time to time. If a term comes up that isn’t here, ask what it stands for, who decides and whether your child is likely to be eligible; those answers usually tell you most of what you need.

Documents and meetings

IEP Individual Education Plan. A written plan for a child’s learning, agreed between the school and the family, with goals for the term or year and who is doing what. Not every child with extra needs has one, schools are not required to use one for every child, and there is no single required format. If your child has significant support at school and no plan, it is reasonable to ask whether one would help. The IEP meeting is where it is written or reviewed; you are part of it, not a guest at it.

Transition plan A plan for a move, most often into school or between schools, covering visits, handover and who does what before the first day. Not all schools use the term, but many will put something together if asked.

Behaviour plan, or safety plan A written account of what a child’s hard moments look like, what helps, and what the adults will do. Some schools write one; if yours hasn’t, it can be worth asking, because it is often the document a new teacher aide most needs on their first day.

Two things are true at once about all of this. The people behind these letters are, nearly always, trying to help your child, often with less time than they would like. And you are the one person who sees how all of it fits together, which is a bigger job than it gets credit for. Knowing the words makes that job a little easier, and makes every meeting a little more yours.