Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for the opportunity to be here to talk about the summer programme. It has been a particular focus for me as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion. I had the pleasure of visiting many of these summer programmes and I have seen first-hand the immeasurable difference this programme makes to children with special educational needs and those experiencing educational disadvantage.

The provision of education for children with special educational needs is an ongoing priority for this Government, and my main focus as the first ever Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion. I am determined to ensure continuous development of special education provision and policy to allow all children achieve the best possible outcomes in their lives. The summer programme is a very important scheme for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage. I want to see it supporting families and students with special educational needs during the summer months.

Before we talk about what we are going to do for next year, I want to reflect on the significant progress we have made over the last number of years. As Senators will know, until 2020, the programme was called July provision, and for many years catered for children in special schools and classes with autism. When the provision was significantly expanded, it then became known as the summer programme. Senators may recall this was just after the first school closures that occurred in 2020 due to Covid-19.

The 2020 programme provided children with an opportunity to continue or re-engage with learning at school or, indeed, at home. The eligibility criteria widened and significantly increased the number of primary-age children with complex special educational needs who were eligible for this scheme. All special schools and primary schools with special classes could provide the school-based summer provision at this time.

In 2021, the summer programme was expanded further so that mainstream schools could now provide a school-based inclusion programme. This was introduced as a further Covid-19 measure to support children with complex needs and also those students at greatest risk of educational disadvantage. For the summer programme in 2022, we matched the funding from last year of €40 million. This has helped well over 1,000 Ukrainian children integrate into their new learning environments through the inclusion programme. It built upon the 2021 programme, which introduced the first ever inclusion programme and allowed all schools to offer a summer programme to pupils in primary and post primary, whether they are mainstream or special schools.

I understand the importance of this crucial scheme for families and the children who participate in them. The summer can be a really daunting time for families of children with additional needs and for some children who do not have enough interaction with friends or peers. It is, therefore, really important that the Department engages and encourages schools to interact with the summer programme.

The Department has listened to feedback and is striving to make the scheme as good as it can be, as am I, and that it is available to every eligible student who needs it. The programme that was provided in 2022 was developed following extensive engagement with stakeholders, parents and disability advocacy groups.

The current programme aims to support pupils to maintain their connection with education, build their confidence, promote well-being and increase their motivation. For those who are at key transition stages, it helps to ensure they continue their education journey in September either in school or in further or higher education or training.

The programmes on offer last summer included the inclusions programme in primary schools, which I spoke about earlier, a special classes and special schools programme in primary schools, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, numeracy and literacy camps, or campaí samhraidh, in DEIS primary schools and inclusive programmes for all post-primary schools. A home-based summer programme was also available for up to four weeks with ten hours per week for students with complex special educational needs where a place on a school-based programme was not available to them.

A key objective of the 2022 scheme was to increase the number of schools offering the summer programme to their students. Steps were taken to afford schools as much flexibility as possible and ease administrative requirements. To support and facilitate schools and principals with organising and running the programme, the 2022 summer programme allowed principals delegate these functions to other members of staff through the provision of support roles of overseer and preparation hours. The overseer and preparation roles provided an excellent opportunity for teachers to develop their leadership skills and experience with recognition at a whole-school level.

Again, for the 2022 programme, the Teaching Council and Irish Primary Principals Network, IPPN, promoted the summer programmes with graduate teachers, professional masters of education, student teachers and undergraduate students registered under route 5 to increase the supply of available teachers.Graduate teachers and student teachers could work on the summer programme where they had commenced their registration process with the Teaching Council and where certain conditions were fulfilled. It is important to say schools were given the flexibility to engage staff not currently employed by them, including those in the early years or youth sector, to run their summer programme. Other examples that schools have previously availed of successfully include students from therapy, nursing and other healthcare-related disciplines. Other enhanced measures have been put in place to encourage participation of schools, including a centralised application process to reduce the administrative burden on schools, the earlier payment of school staff, an additional capitation to cover the running costs of the scheme, as well as enhanced capitation for special schools and classes.

In 2022, the Department had productive engagements with the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, NABMSE. This led to positive initiatives to assist special schools, such as through the hosting of information webinars and the introduction of a new grant for these special schools. I expect these engagements will lead to more positive measures for the 2023 programme and beyond. Participation in the programme has grown over recent years, with 2022 seeing more schools and more students participate than ever before. Final figures for this year's programme will be known later in the year, but based on the information available to date, it is anticipated that in excess of 45,000 pupils will have participated, with more than 1,000 schools running a programme. That is an increase of approximately 18% on the 2021 numbers of participating students.

This year, for the first time, schools were able to submit the details of staff who worked on their programme through an online portal. The first payments were issued in July and payments continued throughout the summer. To date, more than 9,000 staff members have been paid for their participation in the school-based programme. This represents almost all of staff who participated in the programme. Feedback on the payments system has been generally positive, and the earlier payments for staff have also been welcomed. Payments have been issued fortnightly for submitted claims since the first tranche of payments was issued in July.

Members will no doubt have seen the announcement the Minister for Education and I made about the 2023 programme. I am delighted to confirm that funding has been approved under budget 2023 to continue the expanded summer programme for 2023. I recognise the delay in announcing the summer programme in previous years meant some schools had insufficient time to prepare adequately and were not able commit to running the programme. This early announcement for 2023 affords schools every opportunity and gives them several extra months to plan for a summer programme next year. As Members will also be aware, I have asked my Department to review the programme so that for 2023, we can build further on all we have achieved so far to have the best possible programme available. I am very conscious parents want this programme to be available in more schools in 2023.

As part of the planning that has already begun for next year, it is a priority of next year's development that children in special schools have access to a school-based programme. It must be noted that while it is important to support a summer based programme in our special schools and special classes, it is also essential to ensure the children with complex special educational needs who are in our mainstream settings also have access to this critical support. As our system has become more inclusive and many of these children with more complex needs now attend mainstream settings, it is recognised that they, too, will be impacted by school holidays and require that additional support to ensure they achieve their potential.

The Department is committed, and indeed it has already started intensively, through the review process, to engage with the management bodies, schools and the sector as a whole with a view to encouraging schools and supporting them to participate in next year's programme. We want to support schools fully in terms of organisation, workforce availability, administration, resources and training to make it as successful as possible. As part of the review, the Department is engaging with stakeholders, including the Special Education Consultative Forum, to ensure voices on the ground are being heard. The Department has already met with officials from Malta to utilise some of the learnings from their system in terms of the planning and organisation, and it will be engaging directly with the National Parents Council. The inspectorate in the Department has also visited schools, including special schools, as part of that process, and it is liaising with the staff, parents and children who participated to help ensure the review takes account of the lived experience. The Department will also look at innovative ways to promote and publicise the programme for next summer to raise awareness of the scheme further and publicise the benefits of running a scheme. Alternative solutions for how schools can accommodate the summer programme will also form part of the approach to the programme in 2023. Other aspects of the planning for next year include liaising with colleagues in other Departments and agencies with a view to expanding the potential workforce to support this essential programme. Over the past two years, schools have been given the flexibility to engage staff who are not currently employed in the school, including those in the early years sector, to run their summer programme. They have also been allowed to recruit final-year students graduating in the summer. In 2022, this was further expanded to allow route 5 undergraduate student teachers to participate. It makes sense to expand the workforce as this gives each school more access and support to run a programme. For many workers in the early years sector, who work 38 weeks in the year and often are looking for work during the summer, the summer programme is a great option. I will discuss how best to promote it with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman.

Following the review of this year's programme and finalisation of planning for next year, the details of the 2023 summer programme are intended to be published by the end of January next year. I reiterate my commitment to ensuring children who need it most have access to this important educational initiative. Both I and my Department will be working hard to make sure this is achieved. I look forward to hearing statements from Members, which I am sure will be helpful to us in our endeavours.