NDIS Goals for Children: OT-Friendly Examples by Age and School Participation

Writing or updating an NDIS plan can feel heavy when you are trying to explain your child’s daily life in a short meeting. Many parents know what feels hard at home, kinder, school or in the community. Turning that into clear NDIS goals can be harder.

Good goals name the daily activity, the setting and the reason it matters. For a child, this may include getting dressed, joining group time, using a pencil, managing changes, staying organised or taking part in play.

Clear goals help explain what your child is working on and how support connects to daily life. A plan must have at least one goal, and supports must relate to disability and participation.

For parents who want clearer next steps, an OT assessment can help connect goals to everyday routines, sensory regulation and school participation.

Key Takeaways

• Strong NDIS goals link function to participation at home, childcare, school, or in the community.
• An OT can help turn broad family priorities into practical wording without promising a set result.
• Early childhood goals often focus on play, regulation, self-care and transitions.
• Primary school goals often focus on handwriting, organisation, classroom participation and emotional regulation.
• Teen goals often focus on daily living, executive function, routines and safe community access.

What makes a strong NDIS goal 

A strong NDIS goal says what your child wants to do, where the skill matters and how the goal links to daily life.

The NDIS explains that goals can be short-term or long-term. They can be specific, such as learning a clear life skill, or broad, such as building independence. This gives families room to write goals that sound natural. You do not have to write them like a therapist. Source: NDIS

For families getting ready for a planning conversation, the NDIS outlines ways to prepare for your plan meeting. This may include thinking about what is working now, what is hard and what supports may help your child take part in daily life.

Part	Question to ask	Example
Function	What daily task is hard?	Dressing, writing, eating, packing a bag
Setting	Where does it happen?	Home, kinder, school, shops, sport
Participation	What does this help the child join?	Morning routine, group time, classwork, play
Support link	What skill area is involved?	Sensory regulation, motor skills, planning, attention

Broad goal: “I want to be more independent.”

OT-friendly version: “I want to build dressing, toileting and mealtime skills so I can take part in daily routines at home and kinder with more independence.”

Broad goal: “I want to do better at school.”

OT-friendly version: “I want to build the fine motor, organisation and regulation skills that help me join classroom tasks, complete short written work and manage changes in the school day.”

For children with wider daily support requirements, a functional capacity assessment can help describe how disability affects daily routines, school participation, self-care and community access. This can make goal wording clearer for families, referrers and support teams.

Before an NDIS plan review, it can help to gather recent reports, therapy notes, school feedback and examples from daily life. These details can show what has changed since the last plan and what your child may require next.

NDIS guidance states that a support should help a person pursue plan goals, but a plan does not require a separate goal for every single support.

Early Childhood (0-5) Goal Examples

For children aged 0-5, goals often work best when they focus on everyday routines. At this age, participation may mean joining play, tolerating transitions, trying self-care tasks or taking part in family outings.

The NDIS early connections pathway can support children younger than 9 and their families where there are developmental concerns or disabilities. A child does not require a diagnosis to access early connections. The 2024 Australian Early Development Census found 23.5% of children were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains, up from 22.0% in 2021. It found 12.5% were vulnerable on two or more domains.

Examples of NDIS goals for early childhood:

Area	OT-friendly goal example
Self-care	“I want to build dressing, feeding and toileting skills so I can take part in family and childcare routines with more independence.”
Sensory regulation	“I want to learn ways to feel calm and ready for meals, sleep, play and community outings.”
Play	“I want to build play skills so I can join simple turn-taking games and shared play with adults and children.”
Transitions	“I want support to move between home, childcare and community routines with fewer signs of distress.”
Family coaching	“Our family wants practical strategies to support regulation, play and daily routines at home.”

Where therapy is recommended, individual therapy may focus on practical skills such as dressing, feeding, play, transitions, emotional regulation and fine motor development. Sessions can help families practise strategies that fit into everyday routines.

At Hope Kids OT, assessment may include parent information, observation and review of sensory, motor, play, social and self-care skills, then recommendations and therapy goals where relevant.

Primary (6-12) Goal Examples (Handwriting, Organisation, Regulation)

For children aged 6-12, concerns often show up through school participation. Parents may hear that their child avoids handwriting, has trouble starting tasks, finds the classroom overwhelming or has strong emotional reactions after school.

Many primary school families seek OT support for classroom participation, handwriting, organisation, big emotions and social participation. ABS data from the 2022 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers found 11% of people under 15 had disability, equal to 520,000 children. It found 67.8% of children and young people aged 0-24 with disabilities required support with everyday activities.

Examples of ndis goal examples for primary school children:

Area	OT-friendly goal example
Handwriting	“I want to build pencil control, hand strength and posture so I can complete short written tasks at school with less fatigue.”
Organisation	“I want to learn ways to pack my bag, follow a visual schedule and start classroom tasks with fewer adult prompts.”
Regulation	“I want to recognise body signals and use calming strategies during school, home and community routines.”
Attention	“I want to build strategies that help me stay with a task long enough to finish age-appropriate classroom activities.”
Social play	“I want to build skills for turn-taking, flexible thinking and joining play during recess and group activities.”

The strongest wording links the skill to a real activity. “Improve fine motor skills” may be too broad on its own. “Build fine motor skills for handwriting, lunchbox use and dressing” gives a clearer context.

Hope Kids OT provides paediatric OT services in Melbourne, including support for development, sensory processing, everyday life skills, big emotions and school participation.

Teens (13-17) Goal Examples (Independence, Executive Functioning, Community Participation)

Teen goals should include the young person’s voice wherever possible. A teenager may care more about getting ready without arguments, catching public transport, managing school work or joining social activities than using therapy language.

For teens, OT-friendly goals often focus on executive function. This means planning, starting tasks, managing time, remembering materials and checking work.

Examples of NDIS goals for teens:

Area	OT-friendly goal example
Morning routine	“I want to use a morning routine plan so I can get ready for school with less adult prompting.”
Executive function	“I want to plan homework steps, track due dates and pack materials for school.”
Daily living	“I want to build meal preparation, hygiene and laundry skills so I can take part in daily home routines.”
Regulation	“I want to identify stress signs and use strategies before tests, sport, social activities or busy settings.”
Community access	“I want to practise safe travel planning so I can take part in local community activities.”

A goal such as “improve emotional regulation” may be better written as:

“I want to learn practical ways to manage stress, plan my week and ask for help before I feel overwhelmed.”

This keeps the goal age-appropriate and functional.

School-aligned goal phrasing

School-aligned goals can help teachers, wellbeing staff, referrers and families see the link between OT and everyday participation.

A school-aligned goal should name the school activity, the functional barrier and the participation outcome. It should not make the NDIS responsible for ordinary teaching or school adjustments. NDIS guidance explains that many mainstream services sit outside the NDIS, including education. NDIS funding cannot cover supports that are the responsibility of another service system.

For children who need support across learning settings, a school kinder childcare consultation can help connect therapy goals with classroom routines, kinder participation or childcare strategies. This may include support for attention, handwriting, sensory regulation, emotional regulation and daily transitions.

Broad concern	Better goal wording
“My child cannot sit still.”	“I want to build regulation and body awareness strategies so I can join mat time, group learning and desk work.”
“My child refuses writing.”	“I want to build hand strength, pencil control and task planning so I can attempt short written activities at school.”
“My child melts down after school.”	“I want to learn regulation strategies that help me move through the school day and recover after high-demand routines.”
“My child is disorganised.”	“I want to use visual supports and routines to pack materials, start tasks and follow classroom steps.”

Hope Kids OT focuses on practical carryover across home and school, with family partnership and school collaboration built into the service approach. Its school, kinder and childcare support can help education teams use clear strategies across daily routines.

Book an Assessment at Hope Kids OT Today!

Clear goals can make planning meetings, reports, and therapy planning easier to follow. They can help your family explain what matters in everyday life, from getting dressed and joining play to handwriting, regulation and school participation.

At Hope Kids OT, we support children and families through play-based, evidence-informed occupational therapy that links goals to home, school and community life. The brand promise is simple: every session connects play with progress, supported by clear goals and practical carryover.

If your child’s NDIS goals relate to sensory regulation, emotional regulation, school participation or daily independence, an OT assessment can provide a clearer starting point. We offer sensory assessment and paediatric OT support in Melbourne, with services across clinic, mobile and telehealth pathways.

Book an OT assessment to align your child’s goals with daily function and school participation, so the next step feels clear, practical and grounded in your child’s everyday life.

FAQs

What are good NDIS goals for a child?

Good NDIS goals are clear, practical and linked to daily life. They may focus on self-care, communication, movement, regulation, play, school participation, independence or community access. The NDIS says goals should be simple and clear. Families can set goals that are short-term, long-term, broad or specific.

Can an OT help write NDIS goals?

Yes. Parents and participants choose their NDIS goals, but an OT can help turn everyday concerns into functional wording. For example, an OT may help explain how sensory regulation affects mealtimes, school mornings, handwriting, group learning or community outings.

Do NDIS goals need to mention school?

They can mention school when school participation is part of your child’s daily function. Good wording should focus on the disability-related functional skills that help your child take part. Examples include regulation, fine motor skills, planning, transitions and self-care. School teaching, curriculum support and ordinary school adjustments remain part of the education system.

Will every goal receive NDIS funding?

No. Goals help guide the plan, but supports still need to meet NDIS funding rules. The NDIS says reasonable and necessary supports must relate to disability, help a person pursue goals, support participation, offer value for money and be likely to be effective and beneficial.

Can goals change before a plan review?

Yes. A child’s goals can change as their daily routines, school setting or support requirements change. Families may review goals before a planning meeting or when getting ready for a plan reassessment. It can help to write down real examples from home, school and the community so goal wording reflects current function.