John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there is any intention within the Department to progress the development of guidelines and additional supports for schools on supporting transitions of children as they move from early years to junior infants, including the extension of AIM supports into primary education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40077/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My department recognises the importance of supporting children and young people’s transitions into and from school settings while ensuring that those students with more complex needs are supported optimally.Currently my department is working in collaboration with the Department of Children Disability and Equality to progress commitments in First Five, a whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families to promoting positive transitions from Early Learning and Care settings to Primary school. Advanced work is underway on the development of a joint policy statement on transitions. This statement will set out at a strategic level, the vision for transition practices across the ELC and wider education sectors and will be published for public consultation by the end of 2025.An extensive programme of curricular reform is being undertaken by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment for all curricula from Early Years to Post-Primary.

Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2024) and the Primary Curriculum Framework (2023) are aligned in terms of both underpinning principles and pedagogy. Both emphasise the importance of positive and coherent transitions to promote continuity in learning experiences for children.

In addition to the systems and structures set out above which support all children moving from early years into the formal school setting, as Minister for Education and Youth I am acutely conscious of the challenges faced by parents of children with special educational needs as they move in primary school for the first time.

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) operates within the ELC sector and is operated by Better Start, on behalf of the DCDE. When children enter primary education, a range of specialised supports are available through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to best meet children’s educational needs.

NCSE has published transition guidelines between all stages of education that are designed to assist parents to support their children to make successful transitions.My department has two pilot programmes to support students to make optimal transitions from school. Both pilots have been expanded and the programmes remain subject to an ongoing external evaluation. In addition, Budget 2025 has provided funding for specific targeted supports for children transitioning into new school settings.Please see attached supplementary information, for further detail on the above points.