My Department received a copy of the report referred to by the Deputy and is aware of the situation with regard to the level of international pupils in attendance at the school.
The allocation of resource teaching support and special needs assistant support to primary schools is based on the assessed needs of individual pupils with special educational needs. Therefore, any applications for such support submitted by the school should be in the context of the criteria in my Department's circulars relating to special needs provision. In this context, my Department has no plans to sanction additional resource teaching provision or special needs assistant support to meet the needs of the international pupil cohort in the school.
The school currently has an allocation of three language support teachers and this is the maximum number of such teachers that is sanctioned to any school for this purpose. Where a school meets the criteria for allocation of resources under any scheme, it will be allocated the resources as appropriate. There are no exceptional measures open to my Department under which an additional allocation can be made to the school. In making resources available, my Department has to devise processes which treat schools equitably.
Notwithstanding the above, arrangements will be made to have the case made by the school examined in more depth in the context of additional resources becoming available. Any expansion of existing schemes can only be done on a phased basis having regard to available resources and subject to spending priorities within the education sector.
