Ms Breda Corr:

I must be a frequent flier. I should almost get air miles. My submission to today's meeting says that this must be couched in two things. First is the code of behaviour, which was mentioned by Mr. Goff and others. Those guidelines recognise that every school has its own unique character. Special education and special schools would look at those in that fashion. They are not the first port of call. Second is the Education Act and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, as well as the right of the other children to be educated, as Mr. Goff noted. We have received legal advice on that some time ago and there is no provision in law or Department of Education and Skills circulars for the use of the reduced timetable or the reduced day. For some pupils, the school day is too long. The shortened school day could be for medical communications or behavioural difficulties and may be necessary temporarily. When someone calls me about this I will ask what else they tried, and they will tell me they tried everything. They do not want to suspend the child but to keep him or her in school for some part of the day. There are also health and safety concerns which we will discuss. People want a positive school experience. Sometimes pupils need one-to-one support, which was alluded to earlier, which may not be in the school's resources. The last reason for use of a shortened school day would be for medical reasons, and there being no access to a school nurse would be an important factor. Crucially, the decision to use a shortened school day should be focused on the well-being of the student concerned, should be discussed and agreed in advance with parents and the multi-disciplinary team, if there is one, and should see a decrease in occurrences of undesirable behaviour where that is the cause. If it does not, then other options must be examined. It should only be used in exceptional circumstances and include a timeline and plan for increasing the time in the school and for the pupil eventually to attend for the full school day. It should be constantly monitored and reviewed. This is the advice that comes from our own group of principals. I have always advised that the reduced school day should only be for a short period and that everything else should be tried and documented. Sometimes the reduced school day for pupils with special educational needs is the only option they have to get their constitutional rights.

I always try to come with some solutions. The same solutions have probably been repeated for several years. I return to whole-school training in the areas of positive behaviour support. This should be used for all school staff, including bus escorts. There ought to be an annual training fund for schools so that they can access that as it is a very expensive form of training which is quite hard to get. I note that the new school inclusion model, which is in some of the area in which Deputy O'Loughlin and I are based, includes a new national training system for special needs assistants, SNAs, which I welcome as we have sought that for a long time.

I also recommend that we finally implement as absolute policy the recommendation of the NCSE policy advice where there is a reduced pupil-teacher ratio for children with special serious medical needs. Substitute cover for special education is another issue which arises. The first day of absence is never covered and it is very difficult for schools to break up a class of children with special education needs. I also mentioned posts of responsibility. We welcome the appointment of administrative deputy principals for schools with 15 class teachers, but we think an examination of the needs of these schools should allow consideration for further school management supports. My submission also refers to the new school inclusion model which refers to a new national nursing support and increased access to the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS. At last, after many years where we, the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, NABMSE, and other education partners looked for the guidelines on challenging behaviour, an expert group is in existence which is working on those. They should be published for the next school year. That is very important.

Some school buildings are unsuitable for purpose, particularly for special schools. Members of the committee will have seen this for themselves. They cater for pupils between four and 18 years. However, the needs of a child at 4 years are completely different from those of someone aged 18. That should be considered when applications are made to improve school buildings.

Last night I was at a garden party at the Phoenix Park school which has made a sanctuary nurture garden. It is a school for pupils with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. They remarked on the difference the garden had made, for which they had not received any funding. It was all from sponsorship, fundraising and other sources. That is a serious concern. We do need other things apart from teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs.