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Adequacy of training and supports available to the providers of special education and education in DEIS schools Opening statement by National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education To Joint Committee on Education and Skills We would like to thank the members of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills for affording us the opportunity to give the views of our members – schools involved in the education of pupils with special educational needs.
Who is the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education (NABMSE)?

NABMSE is the management voice of special education in Ireland.

We are a school management organisation recognised by the Minister for Education and Skills and provide countrywide representation for Boards of Management of special schools and mainstream primary and post primary schools providing education for pupils with special educational needs.

NABMSE represents over 200 schools.


In this opening statement, we will concentrate on the adequacy of training and supports for providers of special needs education.

1.

Training While there is some training available for teachers at initial teacher education level, most training is undertaken as CPD and through induction.
We have provided some detail of CPD in our submission and while this is very welcome, teachers must have some experience of special education to undertake these certificate/diploma courses and very often it is the newer entrant to the school who may be asked to teach in the special class.

We acknowledge the huge range of supports available from SESS in our submission.
However, we have also detailed the training and lack thereof of training for other members of staff involved in the support of pupils with special educational needs(SEN) in schools namely the SNA and Bus Escorts.
The issues identified by NABMSE in the training needs and associated issues include:  Lack of whole staff training  High costs of initial training of staff in a range of areas and the costs of regular renewal of this training( training areas are identified in the submission)  High cost of positive behaviour/crisis intervention and Health and Safety training  Need for training of Bus Escorts.
Suggestions identified in the submission include:  An annual training fund (with guidelines) where the school could prioritise the training needs of the school.

There would no need to use fundraising or capitation for this purpose  Some SESS training could be made available to whole school staffs involved in the education of pupils with SEN.  Re introduction of SESS training fund  Incentive for schools/individuals staff members to have inhouse staff trained to provide specific training.
 Rollout of Bus Escort training 2.

Supports NCSE Policy Advice Paper No 4 - Supporting Students with Special Education Needs in Schools (published in 2013) contains 28 recommendations relating to training/continuous professional development(CPD), early intervention, transition planning, school, buildings, curriculum, Health supports, and pupil teacher ratio among others.

Findings and recommendations of this report should be examined and implemented without delay.
One recommendation on a new allocation model of teaching resources to mainstream school has recently been introduced.

2.1 Capitation funding: Special schools and classes receive enhanced capitation grants (paid per pupil) based on the special educational needs of their students.

However, this grant has been reduced over the years and does not adequately cover the needs in a special education setting.
In these schools, capitation is required to cover the basic running costs of the schools such as light, heat, electricity, water rates, insurance, maintenance and educational materials.

In most special education settings, these costs are higher due to the complex and additional needs of the students.

to In addition training section),maintenance of specialised equipment and health/medical provisions such as dressings, gloves etc are also have to be funded from the capitation grant.
running costs, essential staff the basic training (see Some schools have experienced difficulties this year with the cost of insurance and work has started on examining this issue and it is hoped a resolution can be found.

Suggestions in our submission include:  An examination of capitation funding should be undertaken with a view to increasing the funding.
 The introduction of a training fund(mentioned previously) would ensure that the capitation funding would be used for the running costs of the school.

2.2 Staffing issues: There are a number of staffing issues identified in the NABMSE submission as follows:  Need for a reduced pupil teacher ratio- recommendation 27.2 of the aforementioned NCSE policy paper regarding a reduced pupil teacher ratio and provision of a school nurse reflects the complexity of needs in some special schools.
 Substitute cover for teacher absences for special education settings  Issues relating to posts of responsibility and the appointment of principals and deputy principals Suggestions include:  Implementation of recommendation 27.2 of NCSE policy paper on reduced Pupil Teacher ratio  NABMSE would suggest the provision of substitute cover for all teachers absences in SEN settings  All staff should be included in the determination of posts of responsibility in SEN settings ( including Principals and Deputy Principals) 2.3 Curriculum issues: We welcome all the recent curriculum developments in the areas of special educational needs(SEN) including Junior Cycle Levels 1 and 2.
However, it is essential that provision for SEN would be included in ALL new curriculum developments in the primary and post primary sectors.

Some issues identified are:  Continued development of Junior Cycle level 1  Provision of specialist subject teachers  Provision of learning materials  Provision of Home School Community Liaison for special schools (27.3 NCSE policy advice paper no.
4) Suggestions include:  A mechanism be found to increase specialist teacher hours for special education settings  Junior Cycle Level 1 to be rolled out as soon as possible  JCSP to be extended to all special schools with students over age 12  School book grant to be increased to include provision for purchase of licences and resources for special education Implementation of 27.3 – of NCSE policy report no.4 without delay.
 2.4 Planning The issues identified are:  Opportunities for inclusion  Transition planning  Future planning for special educational needs provision especially in the area of post primary provision.

It is clear that co-ordinated planning needs to take place around educational provision for special educational needs.
It is essential that early transition planning between health and education, planning for inclusion and planning for proper provision for special classes (including staff training) to ensure that students with SEN are provided with an appropriate education.

Some 2.5 Support Staff Education of students with special educational needs can depend on the ability to access the Curriculum.

This is often dependent on the correct health-related supports being available to the pupil and the school.
We have identified the need for the funding and governance of nursing staff as many special education providers are educating students with the most complex medical needs.

The current funding and governance models are not satisfactory and we recommend that 27.3 of the NCSE Policy report no.

4 be implemented without delay.

NABMSE also suggests that other therapies as detailed in the submission could be provided on a cluster basis to schools.

and that NEPS be available to all schools.


2.6 Integration between Heath and Education Substantial monies are spent in the education system.

However, a more integrated approach throughout the system might yield better results.

There needs to be more robust integration between health and education particularly in the particularly in the provision of therapies, services and nurses.
2.7 ICT and Assistive Technology The use of ICT and Assistive Technology is essential in the provision of education to pupils with special educational needs.

The current ICT Grant to schools awards a higher grant per pupil with special educational needs.

However, as the numbers of pupils in special school tends to be lower, this is still inadequate for the needs given the need for and cost of equipment.
Suggestions:  Recognise that communication technologies are essential for access to curriculum  for some children Increase the funding for ICT to special education settings to reflect the specialist nature of how these settings access teaching and learning  Establish funding for our schools for multisensory rooms/environments  Provide all schools with a budget for educational licences  Other methods of distributing the ICT grant should be explored and suggestions have been made for a separate scheme for special education or a grant per classrooms.
We would like to thank the Committee for the opportunity today and We look forward to working with all partners on these proposals for the improvement of the school experience for all students.