In our last A.E.N. letter we spoke about the Principals agreeing to put some information together about A.E.N. and hopefully answer some of your questions. Below is the information they kindly provided us with.
St. Colmcille’s Junior & Senior National Schools are inclusive schools. We are committed to ensuring that children with Special Educational Needs, Newcomer children and children of the travelling community who reside within the boundaries of Knocklyon Parish are welcomed and supported as necessary within our schools.
There are approximately 100 pupils with special educational Needs, 25 children of the Travelling Community and 75 newcomer children enrolled at St. Colmcille’s National Schools. Nearly a quarter of the teaching staff at St. Colmcille’s support pupils who have additional learning needs including those who score below the 10th percentile in national standardised literacy and numeracy tests.
Approximately 40 pupils with care needs access 20 Special Needs Assistants at the schools.
Q. What additional supports are available for children with Special Educational Needs?
A. Children with diagnoses of special educational needs who are included in mainstream classes, receive resource teaching hours Some pupils with SEN who also have care needs receive access to a Special Needs Assistant (SNA)
Q.. Are There Different Categories of Special Educational Needs?
A. Yes there are high-incidence disabilities ( mild general learning disability, borderline mild general learning disability and specific learning disability (i.e. dyslexia, dyscalculia) & there are low-incidence disabilities
Q. How does one apply for support for a pupil with one of the above disabilities?
A. When a parent/guardian has a report of a professional ( educational psychologist, clinical psychologist, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, child psychiatrist, audiologist etc.) or report(s) from a multi-disciplinary team the report should be brought to the attention of the school principal at the earliest opportunity.
The principal teacher will then advise accordingly.
The parent/guardian of a child with a diagnosis of a low-incidence disability will be encouraged to give written consent for an application for support to be sent to the Special educational Needs Organiser (SENO). If the SENO grants Resource Teaching hours or access to an SNA, the Board of Management will undertake to put these supports in place as soon as practicable after receipt of the SENO decision.
The parent/guardian of a child who has been diagnosed with a high-incidence disability will be encouraged to consent to their child receiving the support of a resource /learning support teacher.
Q. Why do applications for support for pupils with Low-Incidence Disabilities go to the SENO for adjudication, while applications for support for pupils with high-incidence disabilities may be handled by the principal?
A. Schools currently receive a General Allocation of Support Teachers to assist pupils with High-Incidence Abilities, Children who need support with English as an additional language, children who require an early intervention programme in literacy or numeracy and children who score less than the 10th percentile on standardised tests. The school principal has overall responsibility for the organisation of these support teachers.
Schools must apply to the National Council For Special Education (NCSE) for supports for pupils with Low-Incidence Disabilities. The local SENO processes such applications.
Q. How does a parent/guardian organise the assessment of a professional for their child?
A. When a parent is very concerned about a child who is under 6 years of age they should ask their family doctor/ public health nurse to refer the child to a professional attached to the HSE.
Should such a professional provide a written report it should then be forwarded to the school principal.
Q When a parent is concerned about a child aged over 6 years old they should explain their concerns to the class teacher, who will in turn bring the matter to the attention of the principal.
A. The principal may encourage the parent to bring their child to the Family Doctor or to another professional e.g. Occupational Therapist. If the concern relates to learning difficulties the principal may place the child on the waiting list for assessment by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). The NEPS psychologist in consultation with the principal teacher usually prioritises Three pupils from the Junior School and Three pupils from the Senior School for assessment every year. Occasionally parents choose to pay for a private assessment or to bring their child to a different agency for assessment/support – Dyslexia Association, DCU Gifted, Play Therapist etc