Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 March 2021
485. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Education her plans to roll out the in-school and preschool therapy services demonstration project as a national scheme in the future; if so, the areas that will benefit from the next steps; if provision will be made for schools in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12545/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraA demonstration project to provide in-school and pre-school therapy services took place over the course of the 2018/19 school year.
The project was developed by the Departments of Education, Children and Youth Affairs, Health, and the Health Service Executive and managed and co-ordinated by the National Council for Special Education.
The purpose of the project was to test a model of tailored therapeutic supports by providing speech and language and occupational therapy within ‘educational settings’. This innovative pilot complemented existing HSE funded provision of essential therapy services.
The project took place in the Health Service Executive (HSE) Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) 7 Region of South West Dublin, Kildare and West Wicklow.
75 schools, including a representative sample of primary, post primary, and special schools took part.
75 Pre-school settings associated with primary schools participating in the project were included.
In total 150 settings participated in the demonstration project.
Children who require speech and language therapy services and who are not attending one of the pilot schools continued to access services from the Health Service Executive.
Children attending pilot schools and who received therapy supports from the HSE also continued to access such services. The in-school therapy model was designed to supplement, not to replace existing services.
It was designed to provide for a clinical Speech and Language Therapy service delivery model of Specialist, Targeted and universal supports in line with best practice for pupils which will see them receiving supports along a continuum of provision depending on the extent or severity of needs of the child/pupil.
The project was evaluated over the course of the 2018/19 school year. This evaluation report has now been completed and is available at https://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Demo-project-evaluation-fInal-for-web-upload.pdf
Although initially designed as a one year pilot, a Government decision of 12th February, 2019, in relation to the Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme, also agreed to the establishment of a pilot of a new School Inclusion Model for children with special educational and additional care needs involving up to 75 participating schools in the CHO 7 region over the course of the 2019/20 school year.
The demonstration project to provide in-school and pre-school therapy services continued, as part of the School Inclusion Model, over the course of the 2019/20 school year.
As all schools closed from 12th March, 2020, due to the COVID crisis, it was not possible to fully complete the pilot of the School Inclusion Model over the course of the 2019/20 school year.
In order to support the work of the HSE in responding to COVID, the Speech and Language and Occupational Therapists which had been assigned to the School Inclusion Model were recalled to the HSE from 12th March 2020, and continue to remain employed by the HSE.
Approval has been granted to the NCSE to directly recruit therapists to continue the Pilot of the School Inclusion Model, over the course of the 2020/21 school year, and recruitment of therapists is underway.
However, as schools were closed for a period since January the project was paused.
It was also announced that as part of the 2021 Budget measures, that funding is being made available next year to extent the School Inclusion Model (SIM), which includes therapy provision, to two other pilot areas in 2021. Consideration of the areas to which the project can be extended to and the applicable service model is underway.
