Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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342. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an appeals mechanism will be available for parents under the new resource allocation when they are of the view their child is not receiving sufficient supports; if he will outline this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13594/17]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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345. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to introduce any mechanism of oversight in relation to the way in which resource hours are used in schools as part of the new model; if this was a recommendation of the NCSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13597/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 342 and 345 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.

These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.

The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, combined with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.

The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

Allocations based on the school profiles were issued to all schools on 7th March while details of the special education teaching allocations have been published on the NCSE website.

Under the previous General Allocation Model, each school decided the level of support required to be provided to children with learning difficulties and certain special educational needs e.g. high incidence special educational needs. We know that schools have done this well.

We also know that under the pilot of the new allocation model that was conducted in 2015/16 that schools welcomed the discretion that they had to allocate resources under the new allocation model to pupils based on their individual learning needs, as opposed to primarily based on a diagnosis of a disability. 

A category of disability, by itself, does not identify how much support a child should receive – two students, with the same disability can need completely different levels of support.

Schools use their own knowledge of their students to allocate teaching supports and they can also call on a wide number of support services to assist them. These include the Visiting Teacher Service, NEPS, Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) and other support services such a the Special Educational Support Services. Under the new allocation model, schools will continue to receive guidance when making decisions about supporting students’ learning needs.

Guidelines for schools on supporting children with special educational needs under the new allocation model are also currently being prepared and will be published shortly. 

Under the new model, schools will be guided as to how to identify pupils for additional teaching support and how to prioritise pupils for support taking into account the extent of their learning needs in order to ensure the appropriate level of support is being given to the child. Schools should inform parents about this process and how to request a review of their child’s additional teaching support, if this is required.

However, despite these measures, some parents, might still disagree with the level of support being given to their child. In such cases parents should discuss this first with their child’s class/subject teacher or his/her support teacher.

If parents remain unhappy with the level of support being given to their child in a school they may then raise this issue with the school principal and if necessary, at a later point with the Chairperson of the school Board of Management, who are the body which has responsibility for the management of the school.

The Guidelines for Schools Supporting Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools, which are due to be published  shortly will support schools in identifying and addressing the needs of children with special education needs and also in monitoring their deployment of resources to meet those needs. 

The Guidelines have drawn on best practice to assist schools to allocate the greatest level of resources to the pupils with the highest levels of needs.  The school self-evaluation process also supports schools to examine their own practices in the area of special education, to identify what is working well but also to identify areas that require improvement.  Schools will set targets for improvement and implement agreed actions at a whole-school level.  This process will enable schools to monitor their deployment of resources in area of special education needs.

In relation to oversight of in the way in which resource hours are used in schools, my Departments Inspectorate operates a programme of evaluation in primary and post-primary schools.  The range of evaluation models available to the Inspectorate regularly involves inspectors evaluating, advising and reporting on the provision for pupils with SEN at the various levels of the Continuum of Support. 

The Inspectorate also conducts SEN-specific evaluations at primary and at post-primary levels which allow for an in-depth focus on issues relating to special education needs.  For example, in Evaluations of Provision for Pupils with Special Educational Needs at primary level, one area of enquiry for the inspection team is the management and use of resources received to support pupils with special educational needs. 

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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344. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional provision has been made for special education needs co-ordination under the new resource allocation model, as recommended by his Department's inspectorate in relation to the review of the pilot; if schools are expected to provide this from within their resource allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13596/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.

These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.

The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support and high incidence special educational needs, and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocation process which provided additional resource teaching supports to schools, to support pupils assessed as having Low Incidence disabilities.

The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile.

Allocations based on the school profiles were issued to all schools on 7th March.  Details of the special education teaching allocations have also been published on the NCSE website.

The aim of this new model is to deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs. Substantial research, analysis, consultation with service users and stakeholders, and piloting have gone in to the development of this model and all of the evidence points to the fact that this new system will deliver better outcomes for children.

No school will lose supports as a result of the implementation of the new model. In addition, no school will receive an allocation, for the support of pupils with complex needs, less than the allocation they received to support such pupils during the 2016/17 school year. No allocation made for such pupils by the NCSE will be removed from schools as long as that pupil remains in the school.

An additional 900 teaching posts have been provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools. This is additional to an increase of 41% in the number of resource teachers allocated to schools annually by the NCSE since 2011.

The additional funding will provide additional supports to over 1000 schools who are identified as needing additional supports as a result of the new model. Supports for children with special educational needs is a key priority for this Government. The new funding will ensure that all schools receive a sufficient allocation of special education needs resources to provide additional teaching support to all pupils, including pupils who have yet to enrol in their school, who require such support. 

It will ensure that all schools receive a sufficient allocation of special education needs resources to provide additional teaching support to all pupils in their school who require such support. 

The review of the pilot project noted that the Programme for Partnership Government contains commitments to rebuild middle management capacity in schools and that SEN coordination needs to be considered within this context.

I wish to advise that Budget 2017 provides for the commencement of the restoration of middle management posts in both the primary and post-primary sector. My Department in consultation with the Education Partners are carrying out a review of the post of responsibility structure in schools, in the context of restoration of posts, to address the further development of a distributed leadership model.

Circulars 0013/2017 0014/2017 also set out the position in relation to special educational needs coordination time.

The Circulars note that the allocations for special education teaching support include provision for the conducting of planning and co-ordination activities required to ensure the most effective and optimal use of the special educational needs teaching hours provided to schools, for children. The effective use of resources will be dependent upon effective timetabling practices that ensures continuity and avoids undue fragmentation of provision.

The extent of co-ordination time required to be used by schools will vary depending on school size, the number of pupils requiring additional teaching support, and the number of teachers proving this support.

Schools are advised, however, that co-ordination time, should be kept to a minimum in order to ensure that the most teaching time that can be provided for pupils can be given to those pupils.