Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

471. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an SNA application by a school (details supplied). [24765/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The NCSE has responsibility for planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations.

The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.

SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management of the school. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated.

It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

Where circumstances change during the course of the 2021/22 school year that materially increase the level of care need in a school to the extent that the school can clearly demonstrate that it cannot be met within the existing SNA allocation, the school may apply to the NCSE for a review. Detailed information on the NCSE exceptional review process is published on the NCSE website ncse.ie/for-schools.

With regards to the school as outlined in the details supplied the NCSE have confirmed, that the school in question lodged an application for an Exceptional Review of the school's mainstream SNA allocation, on the 19 November, 2021. The application was considered and a school visit was made on 03 March, 2022.

The NCSE have informed my Department the outcome of the SNA Exceptional Review will be communicated to the Principal of the school Monday, 16th May.

The NCSE manages the exceptional review process and handles each case individually. Some review requests can be concluded as an office based exercise, whilst others require a school to be visited in order to observe the current deployment of SNA support in the school setting.

The timeframe for concluding a review can vary depending on the school context or the nature of the information provided.

Where a school is dissatisfied with how their exceptional review has been processed or is dissatisfied with the outcome of their exceptional review they can appeal. Applications for Appeal may be submitted through the NCSE Schools Portal: ncse.ie/school-support.

All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, and the SENO is available to offer assistance and advice to the school. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

472. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the new pay agreement for school secretaries will come into effect, particularly for those secretaries that normally sign on to social welfare over the summer months; the progress that has been made with the scheme; if is likely to be in place before the summer 2022 recess of Dáil Éireann; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24796/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

School secretaries are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools.

On the 24th February, following a series of engagements at the WRC, a package to settle a claim on terms and conditions for grant-funded school secretaries was proposed, which Fórsa agreed to recommend to its members. A ballot was undertaken and the result was 95% agreement in favour of the deal. I was very pleased to hear of this overwhelmingly positive result on what has been a long running issue, the resolution of which has been a priority for me since my appointment.

The work to implement this agreement has now commenced in conjunction with Fórsa; it requires a complex process of assimilating information to capture accurate data in respect of each individual secretary, and the application of this data to ensure that each individual secretary is correctly assigned to the new agreed terms and conditions, if they so choose. As part of the initial assimilation, secretaries will also be provided with an opportunity to confirm whether they wish to move to the new terms and conditions or whether they wish to retain their current terms and conditions, as the benefits of either option will be determined by their individual circumstances.

Additional resources are to be put in place to provide capacity to manage this process, ensuring both individual and school data is captured and correctly applied. This will also require the development of an IT system to collect the data and action the payroll obligations.

As this work is currently ongoing, it is therefore not possible to commit to an exact timeline but the Department has expedited the process and will communicate further as the work progresses.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

473. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the allocation for special needs assistants for the school period 2022-2023 will be made for a school (details supplied) in view of their enrolment of a special needs pupil for September 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24858/22]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The number of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in our schools is at unprecedented levels.

Budget 2022 provides for an additional 1,165 SNAs to provide support to children with special educational needs. This will bring the total number of SNAs to 19,169 by the end of 2022. This represents an increase of 81% in SNA numbers since 2011 when 10,575 SNAs were working in our schools.

The availability of SNAs is critical to the inclusion of students with significant care needs in education and in school life.

SNAs carry out very important care functions for children with care needs in the school. The purpose of their role is to enable children with significant care needs to attend school and participate in school activities to the maximum possible extent.

The purpose of the SNAs in the classroom is to address the immediate physical care needs of the student and encourage their independence. Over time, with their assistance and support, students will become more independent and self-autonomous in these matters.

SNAs are whole school resources to be allocated to meet the needs of those students in greatest need.

A key consideration in the allocation of SNAs is to ensure that those students with the greatest level of care needs receive the most support. This is a key principle underlying Department policy on special education. The allocation system must be objective and fair with the capacity to take account of local and individual circumstances. A core recommendation of the NCSE's Review of the SNA scheme (2018) concerned a change in the way that SNAs are allocated to mainstream classes in both primary and post primary schools. It also called for the greater proportion of SNAs in these classes to be allocated on the basis of a profile of each school before the commencement of the school year in a similar manner to the allocation of SETs.

Work is ongoing in terms of the SNA allocation for the school year 2022/2023. Department officials will engage with the education partners and it is intended that information on the SNA allocation will issue to schools shortly.

Many students with SEN enrolled in mainstream classes do not have significant care needs and are supported through the Special Education Teacher (SET) allocation in line with their need.

In mid-April Department officials issued updated staffing allocations for the 2022/23 school year to include SET allocations. This ensured that schools were aware of their teaching resources and this allowed them to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the teaching and learning needs for pupils with SEN can be properly supported. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has also provided guidance and support to schools to assist them in ensuring that the resources being provided are best managed to meet the needs of pupils with SEN. The support includes training and advice from special education professionals within the NCSE as part of the NCSE regional support teams.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are also available to support schools and teachers in providing a Continuum of Support to their students with SEN.