Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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393. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details on the use of calming rooms in schools for children with disabilities, including any policies, protocols, or circulars issued by the Department or the National Council for Special Education; the number of schools which have calming rooms; the guidelines on the furnishing of these rooms; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14859/23]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:

Enabling children with special educational needs (SEN) to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.

It is also a key priority for me as Minister for Special Education & Inclusion, for my Department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion providing supports to children and young people with special educational needs and to their schools.

This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.

This includes funding to support children with special educational needs in mainstream classes; funding for new special classes and new special school places; additional special educational teachers and special needs assistants.

It also includes funding for the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) for an additional 54 psychologists to provide services to special schools and special classes.

For 2023, the number of teaching and SNA posts in our schools will increase with an additional 686 teachers and a further 1,194 special needs assistants in our schools next year.

For the first time ever we will have over 19,000 teachers working in the area of special education and over 20,000 Special needs assistants. Together we have almost 40,000 qualified and committed people in our schools who are focused wholly and exclusively on supporting children with special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

It is important to recognise that the vast majority of our children with special educational needs or additional needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children have more complex needs, special classes and mainstream schools and special schools are available. A professional report is required to access a special class or special school placement.

Over the last two to three years, my Department and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient special class and special school places.

These initiatives are bearing fruit with over 600 new special classes sanctioned at primary level, almost 300 new special classes sanctioned at post-primary level and five new special schools established over the last three years.

The NCSE has developed a resource regarding Sensory Spaces, titled 'Sensory Spaces in Schools’. This resource aims to highlight the importance of teachers and school staff creating and using sensory spaces in schools to enhance and promote the health and wellbeing of the whole school with a focus on both the culture and the environment. This closely links with the aims of the Wellbeing Policy Statement Framework for Practice 2018-2023. This resource provides a strengths based, student centred approach to looking at the sensory environments within a school and establishing a culture where sensory spaces and sensory strategies are utilised throughout the school day. It offers guidelines for teachers and school staff to holistically support students by collaboratively creating and using sensory spaces with their students.

My Department’s Planning and Building Unit Technical Guidance provides information on space, planning and design for school authorities and Design Teams. Typically an area of 12 m²is provided for a quiet space associated with a special class.This space should be located within or directly off the Classroom Base and is intended as a safe quiet area that a pupil, under the supervision of a staff member, can access for a short period of time. The design of the space must allow staff to observe pupils unobtrusively from the classroom. On other occasions, pupils, who may feel under pressure or who need time to themselves in order to diffuse a potential behavioural outburst will be encouraged to withdraw to this space themselves, thus learning how to self-regulate and modify their behaviour. The Quiet Space is to be designed as a quiet/sensory zone or alcove within the classroom without enclosing walls and not as a separate room. This area can have different softer finishes to the Classroom that will allow pupils to relax and sit/lie on the floor. A ‘dark’ room, using dark blues, can be created as an alcove off the Classroom to provide a different environment or to provide a different sensory experience. This is a matter for discussion and decision between the school authority and the Design Team. A window is not essential in this space but should be included if located on an external wall.