Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2015
557. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that a child (details supplied) in Dublin 13 is allocated a special needs assistant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45456/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support, which is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014.
All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March 2015. The NCSE has also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed. The NCSE has now published details of SNA allocations for schools for September 2015 on its website at www.ncse.ie.
SNAs are allocated to meet the assessed care needs of qualifying children in the school in the school. The management and deployment of the SNA support allocated to a school is then a matter for the school and should be organised by the school in a manner which appropriately meets the significant care needs of the children concerned. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
Schools may seek advice from their local National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) psychologist, from their NCSE Special Educational Needs Organiser, or from the National Behavioural Support Services, as to how children with behavioural needs can best be supported in school.
Published guidelines which are available to schools include:
Supporting Students with Behavioural, Emotional, and Social difficulties, which is available on the Department's website www.education.ie; the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) guidelines for schools on Developing a Code of Behaviour and the National Educational Psychological Services document Behavioural Emotional and Social Difficulties - a Continuum of Support: Guidelines for Teachers.
Circular 11/95 and the Rules for National Schools provide that the minimum length of the normal full school day at primary level comprises of a period of not less than 5 hours and forty minutes.
The Deputy has not stated the class that the child is attending but Circular 11/95 and the Rules for National Schools also provide that pupils in infant classes may have a school day that is one hour shorter than the length of the normal school day.
It is a matter for the Board of Management of a particular school to decide whether this concession should be applied in the case of its school. If pupils in infant classes are being given a shorter day, their parents should be notified accordingly and invited to collect them at time of dismissal.
Where the implementation of the shorter day for pupils in infant classes may cause issues for some parents, my Department would encourage school authorities to engage with parents locally with a view to arriving at a mutually acceptable resolution.
My Department does not support the position of any school which may take a unilateral decision to shorten the school day for any pupil, irrespective of whether the pupil may have a special educational need or not. It is the position of my Department that all school children are entitled to participate fully in their school. If there are reasons why an earlier finishing time should be applied in the case of any child, any such arrangements should be agreed with the parents of the child in advance of their implementation.
Details of the manner in which a school or parent may appeal the level of SNA allocation which has been made to support a child in school, to the NCSE, is set out on the NCSE website.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available the NCSE website.
As this question relates to an allocation for an individual child, I will arrange to have the matter referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
