Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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190. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the senior cycle programme for students with additional needs will be ready; if her Department will attend to this as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27067/24]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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191. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason there is no senior cycle available for pupils with additional needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27068/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 190 and 191 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, in 2022 I announced an ambitious programme of work for a reimagined senior cycle, where the student is at the centre of their senior cycle experience. My Department and I are guided by the vision of a senior cycle that delivers “equity and excellence for all.”

Guided by this vision, as part of Senior Cycle Redevelopment, there will be an introduction of a new programme statement for Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes (L1/L2LPs). This is a new and much needed dimension to a reimagined senior cycle.

The introduction of Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes will allow students to access an appropriate senior cycle which meets their needs and builds on the junior cycle equivalent provision.

In September 2022, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) established a Post-Primary Special Education Development Group to develop a series of modules for students in senior cycle who follow a Level 1 or Level 2 Learning Programme at junior cycle.

The NCCA published a draft Programme Statement and initial modules for Senior Cycle L1/L2LPs and held a public consultation on same. The final Programme Statement and first modules following approval by the NCCA Council will be submitted to me as Minister for final approval.

I expect that the first group of modules will be available for implementation in schools in the coming school year, in line with my announcement. Oide, the support service for teachers and school leaders, is already advancing their work on providing Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) to support the introduction of these modules in schools.

The Level 1 and Level 2 programmes at senior cycle will be personalised programmes and will be tailored to the individual learning needs of the student. The Programme Statement will aim to support teachers, educators and school management in planning and designing senior cycle programmes at Level 1 and Level 2 which are responsive to each student's profile of strengths, needs and abilities.

This progress on ensuring students have appropriate follow-on programmes, along with progress in redevelopment across all aspects of senior cycle, will mean that my Department and I are delivering on the ambition of a more inclusive senior cycle. We want to recognise the many talents of our young people and provide them with the competencies and skills needed for their pathway of choice, once they leave post-primary education.