I can confirm that my Department received correspondence from the school in question concerning its needs for resource and learning support teaching provision. The school's special educational teaching needs will be considered in the context of the proposed new model of resource teaching allocation and my officials will soon be contacting the school to clarify the position.
I am conscious of difficulties that could arise with the model if it were implemented as proposed, particularly for children in small and rural schools. Accordingly, I will be reviewing the proposed model to ensure that it provides an automatic response for pupils with common mild learning disabilities without the need for cumbersome individual applications, while at the same time ensuring that pupils in receipt of service continue to receive the level of service appropriate to their needs. The review will involve consultation with educational interests and the national council for special education before it is implemented next year.