Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address a matter raised in correspondence by a secondary school (details supplied) in County Cork in relation to special needs supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42959/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that under the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools, schools have been provided with a total allocation for special education needs support which includes a baseline allocation for the school and an allocation based on the school’s profile.

Details of the manner in which the allocations have been provided to schools are set out in my Departments Circulars 0013 and 0014 2017.

The provision of a profiled allocation is designed to give a fairer allocation for each school which recognises that all schools need an allocation for special needs support, but which provides a graduated allocation which takes into account the actual level of need in each school.

The school referred to in this question received an allocation of 49.55 hours special education teaching support, based on its school profile, and an enrolment of 45 pupils at the time the school profile was developed.

This is a substantial allocation of hours for a school of this size, which equates to over two special education teachers, to support a pupil enrolment of 45.

Whereas the profiled allocation had indicated a need of 35 hours for this school, based on its school profile and size, and relative to the profiled needs of all other schools, the school was allocated 49.55 hours, which was equivalent to the allocation the school received in the 2016/17 school year.

The school therefore has a retained element of 14.55 special education teachers hours within its allocation.

It is acknowledged and accepted that schools will have some additional pupils with special educational needs enrolling to their school subsequent to the profiles having been developed.

However, for the most part these will be balanced by the fact that some students who had additional teaching needs in the previous year will have left the school. The baseline is also designed to ensure that schools have some capacity to provide additional support to pupils. This school also has some additional capacity in the retained element of its allocation to absorb additional pupil movement.

Schools will therefore no longer have to make applications, for newly enrolled pupils for whom resource teaching hours may have been provided under the old model, or for pupils who have received a new diagnosis, as schools will now receive a single allocation for all of their special education teaching needs, based on their school size and profile.   

It should be noted that this is a brand new model of allocation and is not comparable to the previous model which had been in place.

By using a broad range of attainment and socio-economic criteria, it is expected that generally, a school’s profile will remain relatively constant from year to year.  Each year, some students with additional teaching needs will leave and others will enrol, broadly balancing the school profile. Resources allocated under this model will not normally be adjusted between allocations.

A process has also been put in place to address circumstances where the school profile significantly changed following the allocation process due to the fact that the school had rapidly developing status where the net enrolment numbers significantly increased.

This process also takes into account the position for new schools who may be rapidly expanding.

The criteria for qualification for mainstream school developing school posts are set out in DES Circular 17/2017 (Primary School Staffing Schedule) and DES 10,11,12/2017 (Post Primary School Staffing Schedule).

Schools who have qualified for additional mainstream developing school posts on the basis of developing growth in accordance with these criteria will also qualify for additional Special Education Teaching Allocations to take account of this developing status.

My Department has also issued guidelines for schools to support them in the management of their resources. These guidelines are available on my Departments website.

Schools are encouraged to take guidelines on board in the planning process for the 2017/18 school year. In order to determine the levels of need within each school, it will be important for schools to have properly identified students with additional learning needs and have developed plans for each student indicating how the supports available will be used.

In this context, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will be available to support schools where these plans have been developed and implemented but the school considers that further support may be required. This support may involve Continuing Professional Development or further training for school staff, advice in relation to the support plan that is in place, and possibly a review process once schools can clearly demonstrate that exceptional circumstances have arisen in the school.

The NCSE will shortly be advising how schools can seek a review of the utilisation of their allocations in circumstances where a school considers that very exceptional circumstances have arisen subsequent to the development of the profile.  

The exceptional circumstances cited by this school can be considered as part of this review process.

Finally, in relation to the provision of a special class in the school, I wish to advise that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), in consultation with the relevant education partners, is responsible for the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas where there is an identified need.

The NCSE continues to establish additional special classes to support children with Special Educational Needs, including Autism as required. 

The NCSE, in looking to open special classes, must take into account the present and future potential need for such classes, taking particular account of the educational needs of the children concerned. The NCSE will also take account of location and sustainability in looking to establish special classes in certain areas. 

The NCSE will liaise with the school referred to by the Deputy to establish whether there is a need to open a special class for pupils with Autism in this school, prior to the moving of the school to its new temporary location, and taking account of current special class placement availability in the local area.