Niamh Smyth
Question:430. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills the correct procedure for parents who seek the support of a special needs assistant for their son or daughter in primary school. [25391/16]
View answerFriday, 16 September 2016
Questions (430)
Written answers
The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide recognised schools with additional adult support staff to cater for the care needs of pupils with disabilities in an educational context, where the nature of these care needs have been outlined in professional reports as being so significant that a pupil will require adult assistance in order to be able to attend school and to participate in education and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including SNA support. Responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support individual pupils rests with the NCSE.
The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed. In making allocations to schools, the NCSE will take into account the assessed individual needs of all children with identified needs in the school. It should also be noted that SNA allocations are not made to individual children, but are made to schools to support the care needs of children with assessed special educational needs in the school.
The NCSE requests schools in Spring each year to submit applications for SNA support to the NCSE in respect of applications for such support for the coming school year. Having considered all of the applications received, the NCSE advises schools of their SNA allocation for the coming school year, taking into account the number of valid applications for SNA support and the assessed care needs of the children concerned.
Whereas the NCSE will continue to consider applications throughout the school year in cases where schools have enrolled new pupils with care needs, where new assessments have been forthcoming, or in cases of emergencies, the main allocation of SNA support is now made to schools on an annual allocation basis.
When making an application for SNA support, schools are asked to consider the importance of balancing the need of the child for necessary care support and the right of the child to acquire personal independence skills. A school's application for the services of an SNA must be based on a report from the professional who diagnosed the child's special care needs and evidence that describes the child's special care need, the reasons why the support of an SNA is necessary and the benefits that the child would gain from such care support in a school setting.
While a parent of a child with special educational needs should, in the first instance, contact the school to which the child is enrolled, to discuss the child's special educational needs and supports available, the local SENO is available to discuss any concerns that parents have about the present or future educational needs of their child. SENOs recognise that parents/guardians are the key stakeholders with regard to the child and are committed to forging good relationships with parents and parent groups.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO. Contact details are also available on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.
The NCSE has a range of Information Booklets available on its website for parents of children with special educational needs, which are written for parents to answer key questions they may have about special education, both generally and as it relates to their child: http://ncse.ie/information-booklets-pamphlets-2.