Written answers

Thursday, 2 June 2022

Department of Education and Skills

Special Educational Needs

Photo of Alan DillonAlan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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284. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of full school-based summer programmes in 2022 for special schools and classes in County Mayo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28796/22]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In May 2022 the Government announced this year's Summer Programme to allow all primary and post-primary schools to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

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

Building on the 2021 programme, all primary and post primary schools can offer a summer programme and in line with last year’s funding, there is up to €40 million available to provide for this year’s programme.

A key objective of this year’s scheme is to increase the number of schools offering the summer programme to their students. Steps have been taken to afford schools as much flexibility as possible, and to ease administrative requirements.

An online registration portal is currently open for schools to register their participation in this year’s programme with a closing date June 9th. Numbers of those who have registered for the Summer Programme are not yet available.

Photo of Alan DillonAlan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of home-based summer programmes for children in special schools and classes in County Mayo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28797/22]

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

In May 2022 the Government announced this year's Summer Programme to allow all primary and post-primary schools to offer a summer programme for students with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage.

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

Building on the 2021 programme, all primary and post primary schools can offer a summer programme and in line with last year’s funding, there is up to €40 million available to provide for this year’s programme.

A key objective of this year’s scheme is to increase the number of schools offering the summer programme to their students. Steps have been taken to afford schools as much flexibility as possible, and to ease administrative requirements.

An online registration portal is currently open for schools to register their participation in this year’s programme with a closing date June 9th. Numbers of those who have registered for the Summer Programme are not yet available.

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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286. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the SNA allocations for the 2022/2023 school year will be released; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28803/22]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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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. 

The SNA allocations for all schools for the 2022/23 school year were published on the 31st May and are available on the NCSE website 

SET Hours and SNA Allocations – National Council for Special Education (ncse.ie). 

Many students with Special Educational Needs (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.

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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287. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department is reviewing when the SNA allocations are released; if the information will be released earlier in the school year to reduce the stress caused by school leaders and SNAs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28804/22]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha 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. 

The availability of SNAs is critical to the inclusion of students with significant care needs in education and in school life. And the Department of Education is anxious to ensure that schools and stakeholders are aware of the SNA allocations for the 2022/23 school year at the earliest.

For this reason the Department has committed to providing schools with that clarity each year in May.

Schools have maintained their SNA allocations since 2019 and in addition an average of 1,000 SNAs per annum have been allocated to schools since that time in 2020 and again in 2021.

The Department will continue to work with education partners and staff representatives to provide the SNA allocations to schools at the earliest possible date.  

The SNA allocations for all schools for the 2022/23 school year were published on the 31st May and are available on the NCSE website 

SET Hours and SNA Allocations – National Council for Special Education (ncse.ie).

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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288. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will immediately make available the SNA allocations for secondary schools in Cork South West for the 2022/2023 academic year. [28817/22]

Photo of Josepha MadiganJosepha 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. 

The SNA allocations for all schools for the 2022/23 school year were published on the 31st May and are available on the NCSE website 

SET Hours and SNA Allocations – National Council for Special Education (ncse.ie). 

Many students with Special Educational Needs (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.

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