Education Service
Team (QEST)
What is QEST?
QEST is our comprehensive consulting service that can be tailored to your school’s context and needs. QEST aims to improve access, participation, learning, and achievement for school students with intellectual disabilities or complex profiles. We do this by supporting and collaborating with school staff through professional development workshops, curriculum planning support, and observations and consultations in schools.
QEST is funded by the Queensland Department of Education’s NSSNO Program.
Services offered through QEST
Observation & Consultation
Our QEST Observations and Consultations provide a comprehensive consulting service, individualised for a particular student’s profile. This service delivers ongoing support throughout the school year through a 6-phase process, offering in-depth strategies and recommendations to improve learning environments, curriculum, teaching and learning strategies, and educational outcomes.
Professional Development Sessions
Our Education Team delivers tailored professional development sessions, designed to meet the context and needs of your school. Example topics include:
Creating an inclusive school culture
Understanding Down syndrome, intellectual disability, and/or developmental delay
Reframing and reducing barriers to inclusion for students with Down syndrome, intellectual disability, and/or developmental delay
Tier 1 supports: Differentiation and Universal Design for Learning
Inclusive unit/lesson planning
Planning adjustments for students with complex profiles to participate in year level learning (including students on individual curriculum plans)
Effective use of teacher aides/school officers
These services can be delivered both in-person or virtually.
Curriculum Planning Support
One of our Education Team consultants can join your curriculum planning session to help collaboratively design inclusive units and lessons. We also work with inclusion and curriculum leaders to develop whole-school processes that promote inclusive planning.
Our team supports schools to plan for inclusion through universal Tier 1 strategies, as well as individualised adjustments for students with an intellectual disability or complex profiles.
Key Word Sign Workshops
Our accredited Key Word Sign Australia presenter will visit your school to provide an interactive workshop on Key Word Sign (KWS) to school staff. No previous signing experience (by staff or students) is required!
This workshop is ideal for teachers supporting students with receptive or expressive communication challenges who benefit from multimodal communication.
Online Key Word Sign (KWS) Catch Ups
Our accredited Key Word Sign presenter hosts free, monthly online Key Word Sign Catch-Ups.
On the first Wednesday of every month, we welcome you to join us and other like-minded educators and support staff to learn and practice signing.
No previous signing experience required; just bring your curiosity and willingness to have a go!
Stay for a few minutes or stay for the whole session, whatever you can manage in your busy schedules. We are here to support you on your signing journey!
Professional Teaching Cluster
The DSIDQ Professional Teaching Cluster is designed to provide ongoing support, advice, and connection to teachers of students with intellectual disability or complex profiles across Queensland. Membership is free for schools who have engaged with our QEST or ID:8 services. Meetings are held once per term via Zoom and are hosted by our DSIDQ Education Consultants. The cluster offers a supportive and safe platform for teachers to share and learn.
Each session begins with a short professional development presentation delivered by the DSIDQ Education Team, with a new topic each term. This is followed by an open discussion where teachers can share successes and challenges, ask questions, seek advice and support, and make connections with other schools.
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