Written answers

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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58. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 242 of 14 May 2013, the reason resources cannot be guaranteed to support enrollment; and the reason the child must wait until they start school [24943/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. This now includes a requirement for the NCSE to have regard to an overall cap on the number of SNA posts.

The NCSE requested all schools to submit their applications for SNA support for the coming school year to them by 15th March, 2013, and will advise all schools of their SNA allocations prior to the start of the new school year.

The NCSE has advised schools that in the case of new applications for SNA support, where the professional report has identified the care needs as being related specifically to behaviour, including such applications for junior infants, in general it will not be possible to consider access to SNA support until the school has set out the specific strategies that have been employed and that have been implemented to minimise the pupil's difficulties and to promote more adaptive behaviours. In instances where applications have been made for SNA support for junior infants, for care needs such as medical or toileting needs, as opposed to for behavioural reasons, access to SNA support will be allocated for such qualifying infants.

Where SNA support was not initially allocated to a school for a child in a junior infant class, but where it can be demonstrated that the child requires SNA assistance in the classroom environment, the school may apply to the NCSE for additional SNA support or for a review of their SNA allocation.

Whereas there is no prescriptive timeframe before which a review may take place, it will be expected that schools, before requesting any such review, will be in a position to demonstrate that they have made every effort to manage pupil behaviour and also to manage any SNA allocation that has already been made to their school to best effect.

All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

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