Ms Martina Mannion:

Every child with special educational needs should have a student support plan in school that identifies all the challenges talked about by the Senator. More importantly, we have moved away from the 1990s way of diagnosing children and having a diagnostic-led model. It is now a needs-based model. The student support plan is where all the challenges a student faces are documented and, more importantly, all the interventions that have been put in place for the student are being monitored by the special education teacher, the SNA, the class teacher, the school principal and the whole school community to try to ensure that child reaches his or her potential. It is important for each child with special educational needs that it is never a measurement of a point in time, but always a continuum of support and progress.