What this guide covers
- Why adjustments and consultation answer different questions
- Why folding a conversation into an adjustment note is not enough
- What belongs in a consultation entry
- The most common mix-up to avoid
Quick answer
A classroom change and a conversation about a student's needs are two different kinds of evidence. An adjustment entry shows what changed in practice. A consultation entry shows who was consulted, what was discussed, and what was agreed. NCCD expects to see consultation on its own, so it needs its own entry, not a line folded inside an adjustment note.
Two different questions
Adjustments and consultation sit in the same evidence file, but they answer different audit questions. Adjustments show what the school actually changed, the scaffold, the extra time, the seating change. Consultation shows that the decision to make that change was informed, by the parent, the student, a specialist, or the school's own learning support team. A file can have plenty of adjustment notes and still be quiet on consultation if every conversation was folded into those same entries instead of logged on its own.
Why this can't be folded into one entry
The Disability Standards for Education expect schools to consult with the student and, where appropriate, their parents or carers, about the adjustments being made. If a phone call with a parent is only ever mentioned in passing inside an adjustment note, that consultation is technically true but practically invisible. Reviewing the file pillar by pillar, an auditor would find the consultation pillar quiet, even though the conversation happened.
What belongs in a consultation entry
A consultation entry does not need to be long. Logging one in Superadjust takes about 3 seconds, the same as any other evidence type, so there is no reason to bury it inside something else.
- Who was involved: parent, carer, student, specialist, or learning support staff
- How it happened: a call, a meeting, or an email
- What was discussed and what was agreed
- Any follow-up or next step
Common mistake
Writing 'spoke to parent' inside an adjustment note: That sentence describes a conversation, not a classroom change, so it belongs in its own consultation entry. Left inside an adjustment note, the consultation pillar stays quiet even though the work was done.
Why this matters
Superadjust checks all four pillars separately because that is how the record gets reviewed. A strong pile of adjustment entries cannot stand in for a quiet consultation pillar, no matter how detailed those entries are.
What to do next
Once the distinction is clear, review evidence types for the full picture of all four types, or quality pillars for how the pillars connect to readiness.
Next guide
Readiness labels →
How Superadjust calculates student readiness status.