As the Deputy is aware, my Department issued approval to the school authority in question for the provision of three special classrooms and ancillary accommodation.
The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. This programme provides project management supports to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and helps to ease the administrative workload for individual schools in relation to the management and delivery of the project.
The overall construction sector environment is challenging and the Department and the Project Management company are doing everything possible to ensure that the project is delivered as quickly as possible. My Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of this accommodation and will be working with the school to keep it updated on overall project delivery and timelines. While the project is expected to reach practical completion by 20th December 2023, it is a matter for the school authority to recruit sufficient teachers to fill the teaching posts approved by my Department and this should not be impacted by the capital project.
A senior technical official from my Department and the project manager visited the school in order to identify and advise the school on appropriate contingency arrangements to accommodate the additional enrolments pending the completion of the building project.
