Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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943. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions she is taking in response to the poor take-up of the summer provision by special schools in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39297/21]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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945. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools which have participated in the July summer provision annually since 2016. [39299/21]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 943 and 945 together.

In May 2021 the Government announced a package of supports to allow primary and post primary to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, as a COVID-19 pandemic response measure, for summer 2021.

The total funding available to provide summer programmes this year is up to €40 million, a one hundred per cent increase on the allocation for summer programmes in 2020.

The programme was developed following extensive engagement with education stakeholders, parent and disability advocacy groups.

The programme aims are to support pupils to maintain their connection with education, to build their confidence and increase their motivation, promote well-being and for those who are at key transition stages, help to ensure that they continue their education journey in September either in school or in further/higher education or training.

The programmes on offer this summer include a new 2-3 week summer programme available to all primary schools and an expansion of the existing programmes in special schools and classes and in DEIS schools.

Existing programmes:

- Literacy and numeracy camps in DEIS primary schools

- A school-based summer programme in primary special classes and special schools.

- Home-based provision for students with complex needs where no school based programme is available.

New programmes:

- All primary schools had the opportunity to provide a 2 week summer programme for mainstream pupils with complex needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

- All Post Primary Schools had the opportunity to provide a 2 week summer programme for students with complex needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage

Similar to last year children with complex needs entering primary school next September are also eligible to participate in summer programmes.

This range of programmes on offer builds on the success of the expanded programmes that ran last year and incorporates feedback from education stakeholders as to how to better support the programme for all involved in summer 2021.

The Department has addressed concerns previously raised by stakeholders by introducing measures to support schools to encourage schools to offer the programme, funding for a Programme Overseer, preparation time, faster payments of staff, ease of administrative burden on schools and greater guidance materials on programme content.

In addition the programmes can be run at any time over the summer providing schools with autonomy to split the programme weeks to best meet the needs of pupils and staff participating in the programme. Schools were also given the opportunity to appeal any element of the resource allocation for the programme.

A home-based summer programme is available for students with complex special educational needs where a place on a school-based programme is not available to them. Under the home-based strand grant funding is made available so that parents/legal guardians can engage the services of a Teacher or an SNA to provide tuition or care support as appropriate in the child’s home. Parents of eligible children may arrange their programme over the school summer holidays to best suit their needs. An additional 10 hours has also been made available to pupils who were eligible for the Supplementary Programme earlier in the year but were unable to avail of any hours under that programme.

Further details on the different strands including available supports are available at gov.ie/summerprovision. This includes promotional materials such as posters for parents, and information videos for schools. A dedicated helpline and email address has also been available to schools since the launch of the programme.

The registrations for the 2021 programme as at the closing date for registrations of 25 June 2021 are as follows:

Post primary (no of schemes proposed to be run)

A total of 124 post primary schools have registered

Primary (number of schemes proposed to be run)

A total of 844 primary schools (including special schools have registered as providing at least one scheme.

Totals

A total of 968 primary and post primary schools registered for the programme

Claim forms for the home-based strand are submitted at the end of the programme, with a closing date of 03 September 2021, so actual participation numbers will not be available until late October/early November.

Between 2016 and 2020, the number of schools which participated in the school-based programme for Special Schools and Special Classes is broken down as follows

Last week I wrote to all schools that that had registered for the programme, to thank them for their interest and inviting them to provide feedback on their experience.

In line with policy advice received from the NCSE, a review of the July Provision programme was commenced in 2019. This review process was paused due to the impact of COVID, during which the summer education programme was significantly enhanced and expanded to take into account the effect of school closures. The review of the programme will recommence at the earliest possible stage.