Comment and Key Recommendations

The LANE Project has as its focus the improvement of literacy and numeracy achievement. The 2006 Linwood College pilot study focussed specifically on health barriers to learning and the improvements that might be gained in literacy and numeracy by appropriate health interventions.

This is a comprehensive report that gives a wide-ranging overview of the academic and medical snapshot of Year 9 and Year 10 students at Linwood College in 2006 and indicates:

1. Students on entry to Linwood College have significant health issues.
2. Interventions at Year 9 and Year10, especially the provision of glasses at Year 10 improved the performance in literacy and numeracy.

These medical problems identified potential barriers to learning and suggest that students may have been prevented from making the expected academic progress in previous years.

There is a need to ensure that children in early primary school are assessed and receive the appropriate intervention(s) to ensure they can make the appropriate gains in literacy and numeracy.

It is likely that there will be some change in a child's health status as they progress through school and therefore a further health assessment and intervention to check on this is required in early adolescence.

• That there be systemic change in Primary Health care to ensure that appropriate health assessments and interventions are implemented at appropriate ages to identify and rectify health barriers to learning.

The transient nature of the Linwood College student population as evidenced by this study identifies a need for some form of effective national tracking system for the recording of health assessments and interventions to ensure that all students receive follow-up assessments and treatment.

• That there be cross-agency cooperation in the establishment and maintenance of a database that records, amongst other things, student health assessment and interventions to address health barriers to learning. This data needs to be accessed by schools and agencies involved with each student.

This raises further questions that need to be researched:

Why are parents not ensuring their child has access to primary health care?

Why are parents not making full use of free health interventions?

Whose responsibility is it to ensure that recommended health interventions are actioned?

What is needed to ensure that all children with health barriers to learning have access to free interventions?