Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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436. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff who took part in the summer provision programme both school-based and home-based and the DEIS summer programme in 2020. [23620/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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A significantly expanded Summer Programme was provided in 2020 for children with complex needs as a discrete response to Covid-19. The programme included a number of strands and options from which parents could choose, involving either in-school, or home-based supports by teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) to help to prevent regression among children with SEN.

The programmes aim was to support children to reintegrate / transition into their planned education setting for the 2020/21 school year with their peers.

Over 14,000 children participated in the 2020 special education summer programmes developed by the Department including 3,881 in the school based programme in 255 schools, 9,716 children in the home based programme and 450 families in the HSE programme. Approximately 6,100 teachers and 3,000 SNAs participated in the SEN summer provision programmes.

In 2020 the school based programme cost €6.5m, the home based programme cost 12.3m giving a total cost of €18.8m

In 2020 all 198 DEIS post-primary schools were offered the opportunity to run a new week long programme which was developed focusing on encouraging those students deemed most in need to reconnect with school, supporting their physical, social and emotional wellbeing and providing them with the skills they need to engage in a meaningful way with learning in the future. The summer programmes was funded to target educational and social disadvantage. 72 DEIS post-primary schools ran the week long summer programme with over 2,240 students attending with a total cost in the region of €575,000. Approximately 340 staff were involved in the DEIS post-primary summer programmes in 2020 on either a part or a full time basis.