Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

152. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of parents who have contacted him regarding problems accessing services in a school (details supplied); the length of time since his attention has been drawn to problems accessing speech and therapy, access to swimming, access to the July provision, no health nurse provision and access to multi-disciplinary teams; and the action he has taken to resolve this problem. [14951/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department has received correspondence from parents of one child attending the school to which the Deputy refers, dating back to May 2016 relating to the issues raised by the Deputy. 

The School in question participated in the School Based July Programme for several years up to and including 2015. The school did not participate in 2016. The July Programme is not mandatory and eligible schools are not compelled to participate in the programme. However, where school based provision is not feasible, eligible children may qualify for home based support. 

Details in relation to the 2017 July Programme have not been published to date and as such it is not possible to ascertain at this point if the school is likely to participate in the Programme this year.

A Whole School Evaluation was undertaken in the School to which the Deputy refers on 20 October 2016. The report of this evaluation is available at .

Whole-School Evaluations report on the quality of teaching and learning and on the quality of Management and leadership in a school. They affirm good practice and make recommendations, where appropriate, to aid the further development of educational provision in the school.

The WSE reports that there is evidence of very good quality of teaching and learning in classrooms; a broad curriculum is provided with a positive emphasis on the promotion of the pupils’ language and communication skills and their independence.

In response to the parent questionnaire as part of this WSE, almost all parents feel communication between home and school is good, that their child feels safe and is well looked after and respected in school. In relation to leadership and management, parents’ questionnaires indicate that parents feel welcome in the school. Almost all parents feel that overall they are happy with the school and that it is well run. While the school has previously had a parents’ association, it has since lapsed. The WSE recommends that consideration should now be given to re-establishing the parents’ association.

The WSE concluded that there is evidence of an effective school focused on meeting the needs of the pupils and a school community committed to the ongoing development of the work of the school.

My Department will raise the matters raised by the Deputy which are relevant to my Department with the school concerned.

Issues relating to the provision of accessing health related supports such as speech and language therapy, health nurse provision and multi disciplinary teams are matters that should be raised with the Department of Health.