What the site does
One website with three tools. Each produces a branded Federation PDF. None of them keeps student information.
TAFE plan builder
For vocational students. Each adjustment says what might be challenging, what will happen, who does it and when. Trainers can comment on a draft before it's final.
HE plan builder
For Higher Education students. Tick impacts and adjustments from the standard lists. The student's name fills in automatically.
Forms
Consent to share information, the health care professional form and carer registration. The practitioner forms come back as fillable PDFs the site can read.
Four things to know before you start
Nothing is saved on the site
Student details stay in the open page only. Refreshing or closing the tab clears them. Nothing goes to the database except staff, course and service details.
The PDF is your save file
Every plan and form carries its own data inside the PDF. To come back to it, use Open a saved PDF and pick it up where you left off.
You send the email
The site saves the PDF and opens a pre-written email in Outlook. You attach the PDF and press send. It never emails anyone by itself.
Locks protect the student
Emailing stays locked until the privacy conversation, placement points or consent points are ticked. You can always save a PDF.
A plan from start to finish
Your account
Sign in with your Federation email and the password the site administrator gave you. Signing in only unlocks the team's shared staff, course and service lists.
You sign in once per browser. The site remembers you until you choose Sign out at the top of any page. The same sign-in works across the TAFE builder, the HE builder and Forms.
- Only
@federation.edu.auaddresses work. - It's the same login as the other staff tools on the staff tools site.
- Forgotten your password? Ask Drew, Lucie or April. They can reset it in a minute and tell you a temporary password.
- If the sign-in service can't be reached, a Continue with this browser's saved lists button appears so you can keep working.
Writing a TAFE Learning Access Plan
The form is on the left. The plan as trainers and the student will see it updates on the right as you type. On a phone or narrow screen, switch between Edit and Preview.
1Plan details
The student's preferred first name fills in across the whole plan. The email is only used for sending, and isn't printed.
- Course and Campus: click the box or its arrow to see the whole team list, or start typing to narrow it. A Save to list button appears for anything new.
- Plan starts / Plan expires: printed on the plan and used in the review wording.
- Accessibility Services contact: pick yourself from the staff list and your email and phone fill in.
2In the student's words
Optional. Two to four sentences the student is happy for trainers to read: how they learn best and how they'd like to be contacted. Untick Include to leave it out.
3Reasonable adjustments
Each adjustment has four parts: what might be challenging, what will happen, who and when.
- Add from common wording fills in all four parts with the student's name. If only one trainer is listed, their name goes in too.
- Some entries come with an officer note that isn't printed.
- Anything in
[square brackets]needs filling in. - The wording check under each adjustment flags vague words like “where possible” or “as needed”, and missing who or when.
- Mark an adjustment Being confirmed if it still needs checking. Record what's being checked, by whom, and what happens in the meantime.
4Only if it applies: placement and transition support
Tick Placement or work-based learning is coming up to open the placement section.
- Add a placement adjustment: 22 options in three groups (planning and allocation, support on placement, placement assessment), or Write your own.
- What the placement host is told: the student tells them, the coordinator shares with agreement, the student decides later, or the student chooses not to tell.
- Placement points to discuss: read all nine to the student and tick each. They print on the plan, and the final plan can't be emailed until every one is ticked.
Tick the second box if a Disability Transition Support Officer is involved.
5Referrals
Tick the services you talked about. Each shows how to book, with a link. The booking details print on the plan so the student can book themselves.
- Send the final plan to this service adds the service as a recipient. It still needs the student's agreement in step 7.
- Alternative Format referral is for genuine need only. Confirm why standard formats and tools don't work before the referral can be sent.
6Who receives the plan
List the staff who need the plan to put adjustments in place. Each card shows which adjustments name that person.
- Pick names from the staff list, or type and Save to staff list.
- Include a parent or carer: for students under 18, or with the student's consent.
- Record anything the student asked about sharing, such as “not discussed in front of other students”.
7Privacy conversation and signatures
Read each point to the student and tick it as you go: where it goes, who sees it, where it's kept, referral services, changing your mind.
- Record the student's answer to the trainer contact question.
- Tick each person or service the student agreed can receive the plan.
- Add the date and how you talked (in person, phone, video).
- Signatures: sign with a mouse, finger or stylus, or type a name. The student can sign now, sign the PDF later, or you can sign on their behalf with written permission.
8Check and send
The checklist shows what's done and what's left. Then choose how to send:
- Email draft to trainers: a draft with feedback boxes and a reply-by date. See the feedback round below.
- Final to trainers, the student, both, support services, or the Alternative Format team.
- Save final PDF only for the student's record.
The PDF downloads and Outlook opens with the email written. Attach the PDF and send.
Trainer feedback round
For anything a trainer needs to sign off on, send a draft first.
- In step 8, set a reply-by date and choose Email draft to trainers.
- Trainers open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Microsoft Edge, tick one of Happy as written, Happy, with a small change or Not able to do this under each adjustment (with a comment if it's a change or a "not able"), save, and email it back.
- Open your saved draft and all the returned PDFs together with Open a saved or returned PDF. You can select several files at once.
- Comments appear in a panel and beside each adjustment. Make changes, then Mark as dealt with.
Writing an HE Learning Access Plan
Built from the 2023 HE plan. Tick what applies and the student's name fills in. Every entry can be edited after you tick it.
1Student information
Name, ID, program, campus and the LAP valid until date. Program and campus come from the team list. Type a new one and save it.
2–3Impacts and program adjustments
Tick each way study is affected and each adjustment the School will put in place. Describe the effect on study, not the condition. Use Add your own for anything not listed.
4–5Exams, Moodle and in-class tests
Choose the extra working time per scheduled hour, then tick exam conditions. Tests have their own time setting, pro rata.
4Request the exam adjustments in ServiceNow NEW
Once you've ticked any exam adjustments, a Request these in ServiceNow box appears under them. Scheduling Services still need a ServiceNow request, and this writes it for you.
- Add the unit code if there is one, and anything they need to know, like "the exam is this Friday".
- Press Copy the request and open ServiceNow. The request is copied and the Scheduling Services form opens in a new tab.
- In the form: Sector is Exam Timetables, Related to a unit or course is Yes, then the campus and unit code.
- Click in Description and paste (Ctrl+V). Then press Copy the subject back in the builder and paste it into Subject.
- Check it and press Submit.
6Placement
The same placement dropdown and nine discussion points as TAFE, worded for HE programs. The InPlace and change-of-address lines always print when placement applies.
7–8Other provisions, privacy and agreement
Read the privacy points, record the date and how you talked, and tick that the student has seen and agrees with the plan, and that you recommend the adjustments. Then sign.
9Check and send
Email LAP to student saves the PDF and opens an email explaining how to share it with teaching staff each semester. Save PDF only is for the record.
Consent, health professional and carer forms
One page with three tabs. Student and officer details carry across the tabs, so you can do a consent and a health form for the same student without retyping.
Consent to share information
For specific, time-limited sharing: asking a GP for information, talking with a school, supporting an NDIS application. It isn't needed to send a learning access plan to teaching staff.
2Who and why
Choose whether Accessibility Services will share, ask, or both. Name the person and organisation and pick a purpose.
3What, how and for how long
Tick the information covered and add detail if needed. Only what's listed can be shared. Set the end date: twelve months at most, and shorter if the purpose allows.
4Explain and sign
Read the five points: what and why, it's your choice, you can change your mind, privacy, a copy for you. Then both sign.
- A parent, guardian or authorised representative can give consent instead. Their name and relationship print on the form.
- If the student is under 18, the builder reminds you to decide whether they can consent themselves.
5Check and send
Email a copy to the student, email the signed form to the other party, or save the PDF. The other party only gets it once both signatures are on it.
Health care professional form
1Fill in and talk it through
Add the practitioner's name and email if you know them. Read the five points with the student. The last one asks if they're happy for you to contact the practitioner to clarify the form. Their answer prints on the form.
2Send the pre-filled form
Email it to the student to pass on, or straight to the practitioner. They get a three-page fillable PDF:
- Page 1 explains what's needed, who can complete it, and the medical certificate alternative.
- Pages 2 and 3 are the form, with the student's name and ID already filled in.
It works on screen in Acrobat Reader or Edge, or printed.
3Read the returned form
When it comes back, choose Open a saved or returned PDF. The practitioner's answers appear beside the form, with flags for anything missing or worth checking.
Copy impact and recommendations for the LAP puts the key text on your clipboard, ready to paste into the plan builder.
Carer registration
For students caring for someone covered by the Carer Recognition Act 2010. It's the same round trip as the health form, but completed by the cared-for person's practitioner.
- Record the student's relationship to the person they care for.
- Confirm the person cared for has agreed to their practitioner sharing information. The form can't be emailed until you tick this.
- The practitioner also ticks that their patient agreed. The returned-form check flags it if they didn't.
What the PDFs look like
First pages of each output, from the fictional examples. Select one to see it full size.
Courses, campuses, staff and services
The drop-downs come from a shared team list. It holds staff, course, campus and service details only. No student information ever goes in it.
- Select Saved lists at the top of a builder to add, edit or remove entries.
- Anything you save while filling in a plan, using the Save to … buttons, appears for everyone straight away.
- TAFE, HE and Forms each keep their own lists. Changes in one don't affect the others.
- In the TAFE builder, Saved lists also holds each referral service's email and booking link.
- Export lists downloads a backup copy.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the student's information stored?Privacy
Only in the open browser tab while you work, and inside the PDF you save. It's never written to the browser's storage or sent to the database. Close the tab and it's gone from the site.
What does the team database hold, then?Privacy
Staff names, roles, emails and phone numbers, course and program names, campuses, and referral service emails and booking links. Nothing about any student.
I closed the tab by accident. Have I lost the plan?Plans
If you saved a PDF (a draft or final), no. Choose Open a saved PDF, pick the file and carry on. If you hadn't saved one yet, the work is gone. Save a draft PDF if you need to stop partway.
How do I update a plan later in the year?Plans
Open the last PDF you saved in the same builder. Everything reloads. Make your changes, get it signed again, and send the new version. Use the HE builder for HE plans and the TAFE builder for TAFE plans.
Why do signatures disappear when I reopen a plan?Plans
Signatures are drawn onto the PDF but never stored in its reopen data. A signature belongs to the exact wording it was given for, so a reopened or changed plan has to be signed again.
What does “Being confirmed” mean on an adjustment?Plans
The adjustment is agreed in principle but something still needs checking, such as a room booking or an assessment requirement. The plan shows what's being checked, who's checking, by when, and what happens in the meantime. Everything else in the plan applies straight away.
Why can't I email the plan until all the placement points are ticked?Plans
The points cover things students most often say they weren't told: adjustments aren't guaranteed, they may slow progress, and requirements don't change. They print on the plan, so ticking them is your record that the conversation happened.
Can I write my own wording instead of using the lists?Plans
Yes. Every entry can be edited, and each section has an Add your own or Write your own option. If you find yourself writing the same thing often, tell the site administrator so it can be added to the standard list.
What's the wording check looking for?Plans
Vague phrases (“where possible”, “as needed”, “consider”), adjustments with no one responsible or no timing, and diagnosis words that shouldn't be in a plan teaching staff read. It's a prompt, not a block.
The email opened but there's no attachment.Sending
That's expected. Browsers can't attach files to an email, so the site saves the PDF to your Downloads and opens the email. Drag the PDF into the email before sending.
No email opened at all.Sending
Your computer may not have a default email app set. The To, Subject and Message appear under the send buttons with Copy buttons. Paste them into a new Outlook email.
A trainer says they can't type in the feedback boxes.Sending
Ask them to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Microsoft Edge. Mac Preview and some phone mail apps don't handle fillable fields well. They can also reply by email.
A trainer's comments aren't showing when I open their PDF.Sending
They may have printed and scanned it, or replied without saving the form. Open their PDF to read it, or ask them to fill it in on screen and save.
The student can't come in to sign. What now?Sending
- Signs the PDF later: a blank signature box is left for them to sign with Adobe Fill & Sign and send back.
- Officer signs on their behalf: only with written permission. Record when and how it was given and confirm it's on their record. The plan says so.
Can I use the consent form to send a student's plan?Forms
No. Sharing the plan is covered by the privacy conversation in the plan builders. The consent form is for specific, time-limited sharing with someone outside the plan, such as a GP or a school.
Does the GP need special software?Forms
No. Any PDF reader shows the form. To type into it they need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) or Microsoft Edge. They can also print it, fill it in by hand and stamp it.
The returned health form shows “No on-screen answers found”.Forms
The practitioner filled it in by hand or scanned it. Read the PDF itself. Nothing is wrong with the form.
What if the practitioner won't use our form?Forms
A medical certificate is accepted if it has their provider or registration number and stamp, the consultation dates, and their opinion of how the condition affects study. Page 1 of the form spells this out for them.
The student is under 18. Who signs the consent?Forms
If they understand what they're agreeing to, they can usually consent themselves. Otherwise choose A parent or guardian and record their name and relationship. Note your decision in the case notes.
I've forgotten my password.Account
Ask Drew, Lucie or April. They'll reset it on the Staff access page and tell you a temporary password in person or by Teams. You'll choose your own next time you sign in to any staff tool.
Can I use it on an iPad or phone?Account
The pages work on tablets and phones, and signing with a finger is easy on an iPad. Saving PDFs and attaching them to emails is smoother on a computer.
Are the PDFs accessible to screen readers?Privacy
Not fully yet. The text can be read, but the PDFs aren't tagged with headings and reading order. If a student uses a screen reader, let the site administrator know so an accessible version can be arranged.
No questions match. Try a different word, or ask the site administrator.
When something doesn't work
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| “The PDF tools didn't load” | Reload the page. If it keeps happening, try Edge or Chrome. |
| “That email and password didn't match” | Check you're using your full @federation.edu.au address. If it still fails, ask the administrator to reset your password. |
| “Couldn't reach the sign-in service” | Choose Continue with this browser's saved lists and keep working. The shared lists come back when the service does. |
| The drop-downs are empty | Check you're signed in (top right). If you are, ask the administrator to check the team database. |
| “That PDF can't be opened here” | Only PDFs made by these tools can be reopened, and plans open in the builder that made them. TAFE plans open in TAFE, HE plans in HE, and forms on the Forms page. |
| The download didn't appear | Check your browser's Downloads list, and allow downloads from the site if your browser asked. |
| A signature says “out of date” | The content changed after signing. Select Clear and sign again. |
Looking after the site
For whoever manages accounts and updates. Officers can skip this part.
Add or remove a staff account
- Open Staff access (Drew, Lucie and April only) and press + Add a person.
- Type their name and
@federation.edu.auemail and press Make their login. A temporary password shows on screen. - Tell them the password in person or by Teams, not email. They choose their own the first time they sign in.
- Reset password does the same for anyone who's forgotten theirs. One login works for the LAP builders and every other staff tool.
Publish an update
Changes are made, tested and published straight to Netlify, usually batched into one deploy to save credits. There are no zip files to upload any more.
To roll back, open an earlier deploy in Netlify's Deploys list and choose Publish deploy.
Changing standard wording
The common wording, HE option lists, placement options and form text live in the page code, not the database. Collect the changes, then update and republish the site.
Backups
Use Saved lists → Export lists in each builder now and then. Plans and forms don't need backing up here, because they live in the PDFs on each student's record.
Terms used in the tools
- LAP
- Learning Access Plan: the agreed reasonable adjustments for a student, and who does what.
- Common wording
- Pre-written adjustments in the TAFE builder that fill in all four parts at once.
- Officer note
- Guidance shown to you while you edit. It never prints.
- Being confirmed
- An adjustment still being checked, with an interim arrangement.
- Draft round
- Sending a draft with feedback boxes to trainers before the final plan.
- Placement points
- The nine conditions read to the student when placement applies. They print on the plan.
- Signs on their behalf
- The officer signs for the student, only with written permission that's kept on record.
- Returned form
- A health or carer form the practitioner filled in on screen and sent back. The Forms page reads its answers.
- Saved lists
- The shared team list of staff, courses, campuses and services. It never holds student details.