Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006
120 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science the resources which are made available by her Department to support summer activities programmes for schoolchildren, especially in disadvantaged areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25938/06]
View answerThe total provision for educational inclusion programmes in 2006 is some €647m across all levels of education provision, ranging from pre-school interventions, supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil teacher ratios, increased capitation grants, free book grant scheme, measures to tackle early school leaving and strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community. In addition, there are interventions in support of youth and in providing "second chance education" for young people and adults.
DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion, addresses the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from pre-school to completion of upper second level education (3 to 18 years). The new action plan represents a shift in emphasis away from individual initiatives, each addressing a particular aspect of the problem, with the new plan adopting a multi-faceted and more integrated approach. Its core elements comprise:
a standardised system for identifying, and regularly reviewing, levels of disadvantage
a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP) which will bring together, and build upon, some ten existing educational inclusion measures.
This includes increased access to a range of academic supports such as one to one, small group tuition, literacy/numeracy and curricular supports, individual learning plans, revision and study skills courses and non-academic supports such as sports/recreational/ extra-curricular activities, clubs & meal provision, after school supports and holiday time supports, based on best practices identified through the School Completion Programme.
There are currently 82 School Completion Programme (SCP) sites in 21 counties (108 post primary schools and 302 primary schools) with 53 second level schools in the Stay in School Retention Strand (SSR) of the School Completion Programme in 17 counties, targeting approximately 23,000 young people at risk of early school leaving.
Funding is provided to projects on the basis of multi-annual Retention Plans drawn up and agreed between the Local Management Committee and the Department of Education & Science. The Local Retention Plans contain strategies for the whole-school, targeted strategies for individual students, and those who are already outside of the formal system.
Supports are offered in-school, after-school, out-of-school and during holiday time in recognition of the fact that continuous support must be given to young people at risk of early school leaving.
Holiday Time Supports are delivered during holiday time, for example, mid-term break, Easter and Summer holidays. Holiday time supports are provided to young people at risk of early school leaving in order to provide a consistent educational experience for them all year round. Holiday supports are often delivered in conjunction with other external agencies, particularly youth services. Among the supports provided are: outward bound programmes including a mix of sporting and cultural activities; literacy and numeracy development programmes through the medium of Art; Drama and Music; youth programmes to promote teamwork, Sports and Arts camps; English language support for students for whom English is not the mother tongue; Science camps. Familiarisation days and week-long transfer programmes for new entrants to second-level schools to smooth their transition to the new school. €24.7 million has been allocated to the School Completion Programme for 2006.
Up to 800 children, aged between 7 and 11, will attend in July and August this year summer literacy camps which aim to help those with literacy difficulties learn through art, dance, music and drama. The 20 summer camps have been organised and funded by my Department. The camps involve 40 children in each centre using the arts to develop reading, literacy and thinking skills.
The project "Exploring Pathways to Literacy through Arts Activities" which began in Dublin in 2000 as a pilot initiative, has been extended to centres in Galway, Meath, Cork, Limerick and Waterford.
The summer camps are targeted at children at risk from social or academic difficulties. The project's aim is to increase the child's interest and motivation in acquiring basic literacy skills through exploring pathways to learning which reflects each child's own style and intelligence. Qualified primary teachers provide the children with exciting opportunities to develop self-esteem, motivation, imagination, concentration and discipline. These are all key aspects of pupils' attitudes to learning. The most important part of the project is that the emphasis throughout is on developing basic literacy skills through fun learning activities.
