Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is giving consideration to DEIS proposals (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23326/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing these universal supports, the DEIS programme provides a targeted and equitable way to address concentrated educational disadvantage that promotes equity and has benefits for students.

I am very conscious of the benefits of the DEIS programme. Analysis has shown that since the programme began in 2006, it has helped to close the gap in achievement between schools serving the highest levels of educational disadvantage and those serving populations with little or no disadvantage. It has provided children who come to education at a disadvantage with an equitable opportunity to achieve their potential in education. 

Last year I was glad to announce the extension of the DEIS programme to benefit 361 schools. This included 79 new and existing DEIS primary schools who were included in DEIS Urban Band 1 for the first time and this year have received an increased allocation of support. This means that the highest levels of support under the DEIS programme are now provided to 306 primary schools.

This year my Department will spend approximately €180million providing additional supports to schools in the DEIS programme. This includes an additional €32m allocated to extend the programme from last September meaning the programme now includes over 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. This means 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme.

The DEIS programme targets the highest levels of resources at those primary schools with the highest levels of concentrated educational disadvantage through according DEIS Urban Band 1 status. Schools in this band receive a more beneficial staffing schedule. I have reduced the class sizes in DEIS Urban Band 1 schools in recent Budgets. This means that this year the staffing schedule for DEIS Urban Band 1 vertical schools is 20:1, DEIS Urban Band 1 junior schools is 18:1 and DEIS Urban Band 1 senior schools is 22:1.

As with all urban schools, schools in this band receive home school community liaison support as well as access to the school completion and school meals programmes. The DEIS Grant allocated to all schools in the DEIS programme is reflective of the level of disadvantage in schools. Therefore, schools in Urban Band 1 receive a higher amount per child.    

DEIS Band 1 schools also receive priority access to the support of the National Educational Psychologists Service (NEPS). My Department’s Wellbeing Policy and Framework for practice has given recognition to the importance of promoting wellbeing in education.  The approach set out in the Wellbeing Policy is a whole school and preventative approach which has multiple components that include providing children and young people with opportunities to build core social and emotional skills and competencies, experience supportive relationships within the school setting and be part of a school environment and culture that feels both physically and psychologically safe. Aligned with this policy, a number of supports are currently being offered to schools to support wellbeing and mental health.

Schools are encouraged to use a reflective, school self-evaluation approach to identify and prioritise the needs of its own school community in relation to the promotion of wellbeing and mental health, and to respond to meeting those needs. To support schools in this work the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) is currently providing training to schools to ensure that the promotion of wellbeing will be at the core of the ethos of every school. Schools will be navigated through an introduction to the Wellbeing Framework and how to use the School Self Evaluation (SSE) process in guiding wellbeing promotion in their schools. These seminars will be supported by two webinars and in-school visits.  

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) has developed training for school staff on the promotion of wellbeing and resilience in schools which include upskilling school staff on the use and implementation of therapeutically-informed approaches in schools. These include trauma-informed approaches, approaches based on the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy, and attachment-aware approaches. The approaches outlined in the training are based on research findings, on the experience of experts in their fields and on the experience of practicing psychologists working in schools. The training will build the capability of school staff in both primary and post-primary settings, including for school leaders, teachers and SNAs.

Training for school staff on the Friends for Life programme and the Incredible Years Classroom Management System has been resumed by NEPS. NEPS has launched an eLearning course - Responding to Critical Incidents in Schools.  This course is aimed specifically at the school’s Critical Incident Management Team, but open to all interested staff. 

I recently announced a pilot programme of counselling supports for primary school pupils. The model of counselling provision is currently being developed and more information on how this will be rolled out on a pilot basis will be available in the coming weeks. 

The programmes and initiatives set out above are in addition to the educational psychological support that NEPS provide to all primary and post-primary schools. NEPS’ goal is to support the wellbeing, and the academic, social and emotional development of all students in primary and post-primary schools.  NEPS provides both an Indirect and Direct Case work service to schools.  The NEPS indirect casework service involves the psychologist working collaboratively with teachers and parents, to facilitate a common understanding of the issues and agreement on a plan to support the student.  The direct case work service involves the psychologist working directly with a student for assessment/intervention in conjunction with consultation with teachers and school staff.  This system is in line with international best practice and allows psychologists to give early attention to urgent cases and also to help many more children indirectly than could be seen individually. At the beginning of each year psychologists meet with the school principal and/or the Special Education Teaching Team (SET Team) to review and plan based on the school's priority needs. Further planning meetings may happen again during the course of the school year based on the size and needs of the school. This process allows the schools to be responsive and to prioritise those pupils identified by them as having the highest level of need.

In line with the programme for Government, the Government is continuing to examine how the model of intervention in the north-east inner city could be extended to other comparative areas experiencing disadvantage.

It is important to note that the extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one phase of work in my Department’s vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. My Department recognises the need to target resources to those schools who need them most, the next phase of work will explore the allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with all relevant stakeholders and will consider information provided by schools in correspondence to my Department.