Ms Teresa Griffin:

We looked at lots of systems when we were trying to come up with our supports paper. However, there is no magic wand. Even in Finland, the system varies from school to school. We also found that whereas models in some countries changed six years ago or more, these countries are now returning to their previous systems. We need to look at the issue in terms of focusing on the child and its needs. This is a challenge for the system, because the needs of children change from year to year. As soon as one structure is put in place, another child comes in with a different need. Therefore, there must be flexibility in the system.

Our proposed tailored allocational model for teachers will give schools that flexibility. Therefore, the position will not be that a child is allocated three or five hours or whatever every week or that children who have not been assessed will have no hours. The model will give the schools flexibility to think about providing intensive support at key transition points and then fading those out over time. This is the position we are trying to get to. We are trying to change the system and to introduce a different culture in terms of how schools can use the supports that have been made available to focus on the needs of a specific child. It should not be just literacy and numeracy that are looked at but issues such as assistive technology, mobility and different ways of learning. That is the position we need to get to.