Sean Fleming
Question:475. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education if a reply will issue to correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14497/24]
View answerTuesday, 9 April 2024
Questions (475)
Written answers
The Department of Education recently announced details of the 2024 Summer Programme on 21st March 2024. As in previous years, a budget of €40m has been allocated for the programme in 2024.
All schools have an opportunity to run a programme over the summer months for children with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage, so that they can be supported, nurtured and encouraged to continue to engage in a fun and inclusive educational setting.
The main priority in 2024 continues to be that those children with the most complex special educational needs, especially in special schools, should have access to a school-based summer programme.
All of the measures for the 2024 summer programme have been designed to maximise the number of schools and children taking part in the school-based programme.
There are a range of supports being provided to schools to facilitate them to run the programme which has seen the programme grow every year since 2019. In 2023, more than 50,000 children took part compared to 13,000 children in 2019. These supports include:
• In 2023, a pilot programme was developed specifically for special schools and a National Co-ordinator for Special Schools was appointed. This programme continues in 2024. The role of the National Co-ordinator has proved to be beneficial as it has resulted in an increase of more than 50% of special schools having participated.
• School Organiser Role – Since 2023, instead of preparation hours, there is a dedicated role of School Organiser in each school offering the summer programme. The School Organiser will receive additional remuneration for their role. This role is envisaged to be a key leadership role which offered development opportunities for staff in schools.
• Summer Programme Manager - In all schools (mainstream and special), the role that was previously called the Overseer is now called the Summer Programme Manager. The same person appointed as the School Organiser could also have been appointed to this role.
• Length of school day - For special schools, the length of the day was reduced from the full school day to 10am – 2pm. However, the same daily rate will have been paid to staff taking part. This was in recognition of the challenges associated with running the programme in a special school.
• Flexible grant funding - In order to reflect the unique circumstances that will arise in a special school during the summer months, additional grant funding of €2,000 will be provided for each week that a special school provides a school-based Summer Programme.
• Other enhanced measures are in place to encourage schools’ participation. These include a Centralised Application Process to reduce admin burden on schools and earlier payment of school staff.
A key barrier to the participation of schools previously has been the availability of staff, particularly those experienced staff already working in the schools. In 2023, to maximise the budget available for the summer programme, staff working on the school-based scheme, including teachers and SNAs, were paid at the higher personal rate of pay. Consequently, this has seen a much larger number of schools taking part, particularly in primary schools.
In addition, schools will be given the flexibility to engage staff that were not employed in their schools to support their summer programme. A staff portal will be available for teachers and SNAs to register their interest in working on a school-based programme. Student teachers and students in relevant disciplines such as therapy, social care and nursing and others, including early childcare workers and carers, will also be able to register their interest in working on this year’s Programme.
A role that was introduced in 2023 is that of the Summer Programme Organiser whose purpose is to design a scheme that best fits the needs and requirements of all children participating in the programme. In doing so, the Organiser will be aware of each child’s needs and they will be able to develop and tailor activities using the available resources.
In 2023, the Inclusion Programme and Special Class elements from 2022 were combined to form one cohesive scheme for mainstream schools where the aim was to bring a more targeted approach for children with special educational needs. While the capitation rate in mainstream schools was raised to €45 in 2023, the €30 rate per week for 2024 is in line with the rate for the Inclusion Programme in previous years. It should be noted that this rate is cognisant of all costs associated with running a summer programme and is very favourably compared to the normal capitation during the school year, which is approximately €5 per week. To assist schools further this year, in the special class group or the combined group setting, schools also have the flexibility to consider how best to align the existing resource allocation to accommodate more children into these groups.
The capitation rate for special schools remains at €60 to reflect the unique circumstances of running a programme in those settings.