Written answers

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Photo of Patrick O'DonovanPatrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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329. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of the number of psychological assessments for learning support and resources hours that were successfully submitted for the allocation of hours in 2011 and 2012 which were carried out privately; the number of private assessment which did not result in the allocation of hours; the total number of assessments which were carried out by NEPS in the same period; the number of these that were successful and unsuccessful for the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31841/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from primary and post primary schools for special educational needs supports, including Resource Teaching support for children with more complex low incidence special needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such supports.

I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Where a NEPS psychologist is not assigned to a school, authorities therein may access psychological assessments through SCPA. Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly.

It should be noted that in common with many other psychological services, NEPS encourages a staged assessment process, whereby each school takes responsibility for a pupil's initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention. Only if there is a failure to make reasonable progress in spite of the school's best efforts, will a child be referred for individual psychological assessment.

It is the responsibility of the school Principal in the first instance to identify and prioritise pupils for assessment under the process described above.

The Deputy will be aware that some parents also acquire assessments for their children either privately, or through an assessment by the Health Service Executive.

As all applications low incidence resource teaching support are considered by the NCSE, I have referred the Deputy's question regarding the nauture of the supporting assessments which have accompanied such applications for support to the NCSE in 2011 and 2012, and the number of applications approved, for their consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.

The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE recently published comprehensive policy advice on Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools. This policy advice is available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.

The policy advice concluded that children with special educational needs are well supported in schools. However, the NCSE also concluded that the current allocation system does not always provide all children with special educational needs with the same access to supports, as some children may be delayed in receiving supports due to difficulties in accessing an assessment for a diagnosis of disability which is needed to trigger additional teaching support for students with more complex disabilities under the current allocation system.

I have, therefore, as recommended by the Report, requested the NCSE to establish a Working Group which will consider this issue and develop a proposal, for consideration, for a new allocation model for teaching supports for children with Special Educational Needs based on the profiled educational needs of children in schools.

Photo of Patrick O'DonovanPatrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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330. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children at primary level awaiting psychological assessments from NEPS, in tabular form by county; the maximum time a child is waiting by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31842/13]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) which is administered by NEPS.

NEPS does not keep waiting lists for assessments of children but in common with many other psychological services and best international practice, NEPS has adopted a consultative model of service. The focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe and transient to enduring. Psychologists use a problem solving and solution focused consultative approach to maximize positive outcomes for these pupils. NEPS encourages schools to use a continuum based assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and remedial intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

Teachers may consult their NEPS psychologist should they need to at this stage in the process. Only in the event of a failure to make reasonable progress, in spite of the school's best efforts in consultation with NEPS, will the psychologist become involved with an individual child for intensive intervention. This system allows psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually. It also ensures that children are not referred unnecessarily for psychological intervention. This process has been embedded by NEPS psychologists in the Primary sector with the production by the Department of Special Educatioal Needs - A Continuum of Support guidance and resource materials which has been distributed to all schools since 2007/8. In late 2010 similar support documentation was produced in relation to Emotional and Behavioural difficulties in the Primary sector and in relation to a formal Post-Primary Continuum process.

The continua described above all involve a graduated problem solving model of assessment and intervention in schools processes which moves from basic classroom based interventions to more specialised and individual interventions and comprise three distinct school based phases characterised as follows:

Classroom Support - is an intervention which is co-ordinated by the Class Teacher and is carried out in the regular classroom,

School Support - is an assessment and intervention process which is usually co-ordinated by the learning support/resource teacher working alongside the class teacher. Interventions at this stage will be additional to those provided through classroom support.

School Support Plus - is generally characterised by the school requesting the involvement by the relevant external service (predominantly NEPS) in more detailed assessment and development of intervention programmes. This level of intervention is for children with complex and/or enduring needs and whose progress is considered inadequate, despite carefully planned interventions at previous levels.

The staged model recognises that pupils present with a wide range of issues and difficulties and allows for their amelioration and intervention at the level most appropriate to the particular need. The continuum approach ensures that pupils presenting within this range are dealt with quickly and at the appropriate level without the establishment of a waiting list for formal assessment.

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