Requesting support from external providers

Ettalong Public School provides access to external providers.  Providers do not have an automatic right of access to a school. Any request for access to a student by an external provider funded by the NDIS (or other scheme that provides funding to individuals) must come from the student’s parent or carer in writing.

What does support from external mean?

Outside support means getting extra help for your child from people who are not part of our school. This can include:

• Assessments or checks – such as psychological, speech or occupational therapy
• Special tutoring or learning programs – run by trained professionals outside our school
• Health services – like counselling or medical support we cannot give internally
• Agency support – help with behaviour, language or social development

To meet the requirements of the school curriculum, and in the best interest of the student and the school, external providers will be able to attend Ettalong Public School between 12pm to 12:40pm or 1:25pm to 2:55pm Monday to Friday on school days. It remains the parent's responsibility to advise providers if their child will be absent from school or if there is a school activity on the day of support. Bell times can be found here

PLEASE NOTE The External Provider Engagement Agreement has changed from last year.

Please use this 2026 External Provider Engagement Agreement.

How the process works for parents and carers to engage external provider support at Ettalong Public School:

For more information and to understand your responsibilities, please read the Information for Parents & Carers Fact Sheet

Parents please fill in a  Parent/carer request  and return to the school office.

This request will be forwarded to the school principal for consideration. Support cannot start until we give approval.

If the request is supported, our office staff will contact the provider for relevant documentation.

This process must be repeated at the start of each school year.

Parents and carers role in the process

Parents and carers help this process run smoothly by:

• Making the external provider request in writing to our school using this note.
• Signing the Providers Attachment B - Consent Form on their providers letterhead before services or information sharing can occur.
• Letting providers know if their child will be away or if there is a school event on that day. ( Providers may only attend the school site when delivering the Service on the agreed day and time). Please note sessions that are missed can not be made up at school.

For more information on accessing external provider support, please read an easy read guide to organising for your child to get NDIS-funded support at school.

How the process works for external providers at Ettalong Public School:

Providers must wait until parents or carers have requested the school to involve external providers during school hours and until the Principal has granted permission. Please do not email the school before permission given.

Provider Information Sheet & Checklist

The department has established processes to support schools to meet legislative and policy requirements when considering whether to grant access to an externally funded provider to deliver its services to students on school premises and during school hours.

External providers must meet all NSW Department of Education requirements before working with our school.

All information should be sent in a single email or brought into the school office by the provider at one time.

For more information and to understand your responsibilities, please read the provider information sheet and checklist

Child Protections Responsibilities

The NSW Department of Education requires all externally funded service providers delivering allied health, disability, wellbeing and behaviour support services to students in NSW public schools to be aware of their roles and responsibilities for keeping students safe. This includes keeping up to date with the department’s mandatory child protection training requirements. Any provider working in the school is subject to mandatory reporter legislation. Providers will need to undertake child protection training and be made aware of the need to report any child safety concerns to the principal.

This factsheet explains child protection responsibilities and training requirements when delivering services to students.

School Induction

Before services begin, all provider staff who will be delivering services within a school must complete a school-based induction. This applies to all provider staff, including those engaged through the Specialist Allied Health and Behaviour Support Provider Scheme.

All providers are required to attend a school induction, which is held on set dates each term.

If you're unable to attend your scheduled session, you'll need to wait for the next available date. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to welcoming you soon.

External Provider Engagement Agreement

Before providing services, external providers must sign a written agreement with each school. This template outlines the responsibilities of both parties. 2026 Prefilled EPS External Provider Agreement

All information should be sent in a single email or brought into the school office by the provider at one time.

External providers role in the process

External providers help this process run smoothly by:

• ensuring the parent and carer has requested the schools permission for them to attend.
• ensuring the parent and carers has signed Attachment B – Consent Form on providers letterhead.
• ensuring they have completed all items on the checklist
• ensuring the documents are all under the one name/abn/organisation and have been provided in a single email or brought into the school office by the provider at one time.
• notifying parents when they are unable to attend a scheduled appointment. Please note sessions that are missed can not be made up at school.

When external providers arrive at the school

2026

At the beginning of the school year staff create safe learning environments with established timetables, routines and programs along with getting to know their new students. Taking this into consideration, the best educational interests of the students at this time is to engage and focus on their school learning environment and for this reason requests for externally funded service providers will be considered from Term 1, Week 5 onwards (Monday 23 February 2026).

Once the external agreement has been signed and onsite appointments commence, at each visit to the school the provider is to:

1. provide their government-issued photo ID and provider ID to office staff
2. record their visit in the School Visitor Check-In App on arrival
3. wear the printed visitor sticker/lanyard while on school grounds
4. return lanyard/visitor sticker to office staff on completion of visit
5. sign out using the School Visitor Check-In App.
6. Provide the completed Service update form, (formerly Therapy update form) to the School within 5 business days of visit.

If the provider visits multiple times in one day, they must sign in and out each time they leave the school between appointments.

Therapy is not to commence until therapists have received a confirmation email from our office staff approving the request.

This process is to be completed at the beginning of each school year.

Specialist Allied Health and Behaviour Support Provider Scheme

We are pleased to let you know of the exciting opportunity to apply to join the NSW Department of Education’s Specialist Allied Health and Behaviour Support Provider Scheme (the Scheme).

The Scheme involves the centralised prequalification of eligible allied health professional which supports NSW public schools to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with participating allied health providers.

Registration window now open

Key benefits of joining the Scheme include:

• Increased visibility: Your services will be featured in a searchable database, making it easier for schools to find and engage with you.

• Centralised compliance checks: All compliance requirements will be complete ready for you to work with schools.

• Simplified procurement: Schools can easily procure your services through a simplified order form.

Apply now: This one-pager includes important information, including eligibility guidelines. For more detail and to apply for prequalification, please visit the etender Portal.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact sahs@det.nsw.edu.au.

Have a question about external providers?

Contact us